FINIAN CUNNINGHAM -- Russian Spy Poison Attack: Is Nord Stream 2 the Bigger Target?

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM | 10.03.2018 | FEATURED STORY

Russian Spy Poison Attack: Is Nord Stream 2 the Bigger Target?

The mysterious apparent murder bid on an ex-Russian spy in Britain has taken on a wider European dimension.

Predictably, the incident was used to whip up anti-Russian claims in the British media. But, in addition, the European Union soon came under pressure to show “solidarity” with Britain in the supposed Russian assault on its sovereignty.

Former British officials were reported bemoaning the lack of solidarity from EU states over the alleged Russian violation on British soil. The EU then responded with an obligatory statement of “solidarity” with Britain, with the tacit acceptance of Russian malfeasance at play.

The allegations of Russian state involvement in the apparent lethal poisoning of exiled Kremlin agent Sergei Skripal in England last Sunday have been leveled with deplorable disregard for due legal process.

Within hours of the incident – which saw 66-year-old Skripal and his adult daughter rushed to intensive hospital care – British media were speculating that Russian agents had carried out a revenge assassination attempt.

Skripal was exiled from Russia in 2010 after being convicted for treason as a double agent for Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6. He was living in the southern English town of Salisbury, where he was found paralyzed in a public park along with his 33-year-old daughter.

British counter-terrorism officers have disclosed that the pair were victims of a toxic nerve agent attack, without identifying the chemical used. They have claimed that the attacker or attackers must have been state-sponsored to carry out such a lethal operation. British police have not yet specified any particular agency for the attack, but as noted the British media quickly jumped to reckless speculation of Russian involvement. The speculation has been fueled by government ministers like Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson using innuendo.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations of Moscow’s involvement as “more irresponsible Russophobia”.

Finian Cunningham -- Korea Crisis Exposes Orwellian West

Korea Crisis Exposes Orwellian West

By Finian Cunningham

September 02, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - The Western media would have us believe that North Korea and its nuclear arsenal is the world’s number one threat. The continual depiction of a "rogue" state in the Western media plays into the US agenda of a pre-emptive attack on North Korea.

But let’s get this straight. North Korea has an estimated 10-20 total number of nuclear warheads, according to the latest annual report from the respected Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). That represents a minuscule fraction – some 0.1 per cent – of the world’s total stockpile of nuclear weapons.

The United States has a nuclear arsenal of some 5,000 weapons – more than 300 times the size of North Korea’s. The US along with Russia (also 5,000 warheads) account for 93 per cent of the world’s total inventory of nuclear weapons.

What distinguishes the US are the following pertinent facts. (Yet these facts are rarely if ever considered in Western media news coverage.)

It was the first country to develop such weapons of mass destruction, in 1945. Russia, the second country, developed its first atomic bomb four years later in 1949.

The US is the only country to have used nuclear weapons, when it dropped two atomic bombs on Japan – just three weeks after it successfully tested the weapon in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945. The attacks on Japan killed at least 200,000 civilians. Official US justifications about swiftly ending the Pacific War with Japan are dubious and arguably irrelevant to the immoral barbarity.

Since the end of the Second World War, the US has engaged in dozens of wars in dozens of countries, according to respected historians such as William Blum, with an estimated death toll of 20 million. Since the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the US has been in a state of permanent war over the past two decades, carrying out aerial bombardments in up to seven countries simultaneously. Official US justifications for these wars are dubious if not contemptible.

The incontestable fact is that the US is the biggest serial violator of international law with the blood of millions of civilians on its hands. It is arguable that Nazi Germany’s Third Reich was succeeded by a Fourth Reich in the US.

The US may not have used nuclear bombs since the mass destruction carried out in Japan in 1945. But in spite of the heinous shame of its unique criminality, American leaders continually reserve the right to threaten other nations with nuclear annihilation. The oft-repeated phrase "all options on the table" is the Orwellian language used by the US to refer to its self-ordained prerogative to use nuclear weapons, codified in its "first-strike doctrine."

US President Donald Trump routinely invokes the veiled threat of nuclear annihilation against North Korea. His warning of "fire and fury like the world has never seen before" is a chilling reference. While Trump’s senior administration have sought to temper his comments with vaguely worded possible diplomacy, they too at other times openly use the "all options on the table" nuclear threat.

North Korea’s defiant testing of ballistic missiles is wrongly presented by Western media in complete isolation from the crucial context of the United States habitually threatening Pyongyang with pre-emptive war.

Both Russia and China have rebuked the US for its current display of military force during its annual “war games” on the Korean Peninsula as being destabilizing. But with incorrigible arrogance, Washington insists on its right to conduct such “defensive” maneuvers, and the Western media dutifully indulge this irrational distortion.

North Korea has not been at war with any country since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War when it fought against the US-backed South. By contrast, the US has gone on to launch wars against dozens of countries under various pretexts, as well as retain a war-footing against North Korea by refusing to sign a peace treaty. If that’s because Kim Jong-un is a "dictator," then what about Saudi Arabia?

Nearly 50 years after signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which mandates nuclear weapons states to disarm, the US is the process of upgrading its nuclear arsenal at a cost of $400 billion over the next 10 years, or at least $1,000 billion over the next 30 years, according to SIPRI. (That financial outlay will no doubt bring cheer to the millions of survivors of Hurricane Harvey.)

Out of the 193 member states of the United Nations, only nine are believed to possess nuclear weapons. The US, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. All of them are in the process of upgrading their nuclear stockpiles, not disarming.

Russia, being a top nuclear power along with the US, has an onerous responsibility to lead the world towards nuclear disarmament.

But there is a huge difference between Russia and the US. The record shows that Russia is not a warmongering state, nor a systematic violator of international law from waging wars of aggression on other nations. Unlike Washington, Moscow has never verbally threatened anyone with a nuclear first strike.

In the current crisis between the US and North Korea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated again this week that diplomacy and dialogue was the only permissible option. Lavrov said that the day after US President Trump made the sinister comment that "talking was not a solution."

It is the function of Western news media to present the world in a form that is favorable to Western governments. Put less delicately, the Western media’s function is to distort the world in a way that justifies conduct by Western governments which would otherwise cause outrage due to flagrant violation of international law.

Two instances of that can be seen from the way the US and its NATO partners invaded and destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan under bogus pretexts. Another instance is the way the US and its NATO allies sought to destroy Syria with a covert war of regime change involving the sponsorship of terrorist proxies.

In every case, the Western media distort and sanitize the criminal conduct of their governments.

The crisis with North Korea is another classic case of Western media distorting reality and audaciously inverting the problem.

The objective facts clearly show that, by far, the biggest threat to world security – perhaps even world survival – is the United States with its track record of war-making and systematic decimation of international law.

For every nuclear warhead suspected to be in North Korea’s possession, the United States has nearly 333 weapons, each one manifold more destructive than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The US, uniquely, continues to arrogate the right to drop nuclear bombs on civilians. The US is holding massive military maneuvers on North Korea’s border, not the other way around. It refuses to hold talks for mutual disarmament.

Only in a thoroughly Orwellian brainwashed world, as presented by the Western media, could North Korea be viewed as "the threat."

Infernally, not only is such a warped view of the world making a catastrophic war more likely, it is also precluding the morally rational option of a diplomatic, peaceful solution.

Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.

This article was first published by Sputnik -

Finian Cunningham sobre Trump e Putin contra o Estado Profundo Americano

Finian Cunningham sobre Trump e Putin contra o Estado Profundo Americano  

July 9, 2017 

Finian Cunningham sobre Trump e Putin contra o Estado Profundo Americano 

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201707091055380659-trump-putin-up-against-us-deep-state/

Trump e Putin contra o Estado Profundo Americano  

14:04 09.07.2017(updated 14:23 09.07.2017) Get short URL

Finian Cunningham

Tópico: Cimeira do G20 2017, em Hamburgo. (101)

Foi auspicioso ver Donald Trump e Vladimir Putin cumprimentarem-se cordialmente na cimeira do G20. Após a esta primeira reunião, espera-se que os dois líderes tenham uma base pessoal para cooperação futura.

Numa conferência de imprensa posterior, em Hamburgo, onde foi realizada a cimeira do G20, o Presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, disse acreditar que havia uma oportunidade de restabelecer as relações muito desgastadas, entre os EUA e a Rússia. Elogiou Trump por ser profundo e racional. "A personalidade de Trump que é exibida na TV, é muito diferente da que encontramos na vida real", ironizou Putin.

Entretanto, a Casa Branca emitiu uma declaração, saudando a discussão de duas horas (quatro vezes mais do que o que foi programado originalmente) entre os dois líderes, como um bom começo para trabalhar juntos nos principais problemas mundiais.

"Nenhum problema foi resolvido. Ninguém esperava que algum problema fosse resolvido nessa reunião. Mas foi o ponto de partida para um diálogo sobre alguns conjuntos de problemas difíceis que, agora, vamos começar a trabalhar juntos ", disse HR McMaster, o Conselheiro máximo de Trump, sobre Segurança Nacional.

Trump merece importância e consideração pela maneira como se conduziu. Travou conhecimento com Putin em termos iguais e com respeito. "É uma honra conhecê-lo", disse o Presidente americano, ao dar um aperto de mão.

O encontro tão aguardado ocorre quase sete meses depois de Trump ter sido empossado na Casa Branca. Durante esse período, grandes sectores da comunicação mediática dos EUA, elaboraram uma campanha implacável, acusando Trump de ser um robot russo e alegando que Putin ordenou uma operação de interferência nas eleições dos EUA, do ano passado, para beneficiar o Trump.

Além das insinuações e das reivindicações dos serviços secretos anónimos dos EUA, recicladas infinitamente, pelas organizações de notícias conhecidas e respeitadas, não há provas de conluio de Trump com a Rússia ou de pirataria informática confirmada por Putin. Trump descartou as reivindicações como "notícias falsas", enquanto Moscovo rejeitou, logicamente, as alegações, como Russofobia sem fundamento.

Não obstante este panorama tóxico de propaganda anti-russa, o Presidente Trump encontrou-se com Putin, no fim de semana. Os dois homens deveriam falar, frente a frente, durante 30 minutos. Quando se realizou, as conversações prolongaram-se por duas horas. Disseram que, entre outras coisas, trocaram pontos de vista sobre questões urgentes a respeito da Síria, da Ucrânia e da Coreia do Norte. Trump abordou o problema da suposta interferência russa nas eleições dos EUA e Putin respondeu detalhadamente, para garantir que a contrapartida americana era um boato fabricado e que a Rússia não tinha nada a ver com o mesmo.

Poucos dias antes do grande encontro, editorialistas e especialistas da comunicação mediática norte-americana estavam a advertir Trump para enfrentar Putin de forma agressiva. O Washington Post, uma das principais vozes anti-russas, exortou Trump a atacar Putin sobre a "interferência na eleição dos EUA" como se a reivindicação fosse um facto comprovado. Também exortou o Presidente a avisar Putin de que a Rússia tinha de aderir à mudança de regime na Síria. Era uma ordem difícil.

Para a sua credibilidade, Trump não permitiu que a Russofobia da comunicação mediática dos Estados Unidos, influenciasse o seu comportamento com Putin. Foi cordial, respeitador e aberto ao escutar o ponto de vista russo, numa série de questões. Tanto que, daqui para a frente, parece que ambos os líderes concordaram em trabalhar juntos.

Agora a dúvida é: O que virá a seguir? Evidentemente, Trump e Putin, deram início a um bom começo, apesar do atraso excessivo e do fundo tóxico. Mas o que é que, realmente, significa na prática, a vontade de Trump de envolver-se positivamente com Moscovo?

O Estado Profundo dos Estados Unidos, que compreende a ligação dos serviços secretos militares com a máquina política e com a comunicação mediática, em Washington, não quer normalizar as relações com a Rússia. A independência da Rússia como sendo um estado poderoso estrangeiro, sob a tutela do Presidente Putin, é um problema que condiciona as ambições globais dos EUA. Por essa razão é que  o Estado Profundo queria que o falcão anti-Rússia, representado por Hillary Clinton, vencesse as eleições. A vitória de Trump perturbou os seus cálculos.

Sob uma pressão imensa, Trump pareceu, às vezes, curvar-se ao ‘establishment’ político dos EUA no que se refere à projeção da hostilidade em relação à Rússia, como se viu no prosseguimento da guerra secreta na Síria, e nas novas sanções contra Moscovo.

No dia anterior a encontrar-se com Putin, na Alemanha, Trump esteve na Polónia, onde proferiu um discurso, em Varsóvia, no qual acusou a Rússia de "desestabilizar países", entre outros temas. O Presidente americano também referiu que a Rússia estava a prejudicar a "civilização ocidental". Foi um discurso provocativo que se assemelha à Russofobia banalizada. Não foi bom para o encontro imediato com Putin. Parecia que estava para chegar um choque, tal como a comunicação mediática dos EUA tinha estado a preparar.

 No entanto, no dia seguinte, a reunião com Putin foi surpreendentemente amigável. E a substância das discussões indica um desejo genuíno de cooperação de ambas as partes.

É bom que ambos os presidentes tenham conseguido um bom relacionamento e compreensão pessoal. No entanto, é importante não confiar demais nesta situação.

Imediatamente após o encontro construtivo entre os dois líderes, a imprensa dos EUA começou a intensificar, novamente, a Russofobia. A comunicação mediática norte-americana transmite, violentamente, a hostilidade do Estado Profundo em direcção a Trump e à sua agenda para normalizar as relações com Moscovo.

O New York Times relatou outra história de cortar o fôlego, sobre a campanha eleitoral de Trump, que tinha contacto com pessoas "ligadas ao Kremlin". A CNN transmitiu excertos de opiniões sobre a maneira como o Presidente tinha caído numa armadilha, colocada por Putin.

É difícil digerir esta discussão estranha que se arroga de ser jornalismo. E é surpreendente que um encontro amistoso entre líderes de poderes nucleares não seja recebido como um acontecimento benéfico.

Mas, mostra que Trump enfrenta forças profundas muito poderosas dentro do ‘establishment’ dos EUA, que não quer uma normalização com a Rússia. O Estado profundo dos EUA depende do confronto, da guerra e de um militarismo sem fim, para poder existir. Também requer um mundo povoado de vassalos sobre os quais, as corporações dos EUA, têm soberania. Uma Rússia ou China independentes ou qualquer outro poder estrangeiro não podem ser tolerados, porque derrubam as ambições americanas de conseguir uma hegemonia unipolar.

O encontro de Trump com Putin foi louvável porque ele não sucumbiu à Russofobia tóxica e não adoptou uma postura cruel e brutal. Em vez disso, Trump agiu em relação a Putin de maneira genuína, como dois seres humanos deveriam fazer.

O Estado profundo dos EUA não tem nada a ver com humanidade ou compreensão. Trata-se de manter o domínio percebido sobre outros seres humanos, onde qualquer um que é visto como um obstáculo, é descartado da maneira mais implacável.

O Presidente John F Kennedy foi assassinado, em plena luz do dia, pelo Estado Profundo dos Estados Unidos, porque ousou atingir uma normalização e convivência pacífica com Moscovo. O Estado Profundo não quer a normalização ou a paz com a Rússia ou com qualquer outra pessoa, sobre este assunto, porque há muitos interesses lucrativos adquiridos na manutenção da máquina de guerra, que é o capitalismo americano.

Refiro este ponto, não para prever uma morte violenta o Trump. O Estado profundo tem outros métodos, como a orquestração da comunicação mediática e outros truques sujos.

A abertura amigável de Trump à Rússia é, pelo menos, um sinal promissor. Mas dada a estrutura de poder dos EUA, e a sua beligerância incorrigível, é duvidoso que Trump possa ir além de promessas. Se ele tentar, podemos esperar que as forças das trevas se intensifiquem.

O que precisa mudar é a estrutura de poder dos EUA, através de uma revolta democrática. 

Até que a mesma aconteça, qualquer Presidente na Casa Branca é simplesmente um refém das forças das trevas do Estado Profundo.

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM The Deep History of US, Britain’s Never-Ending Cold War On Russia

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM | 04.05.2017 | OPINION

The Deep History of US, Britain’s Never-Ending Cold War On Russia

After decades of delaying, the United Nations finally released archives from the Second World War-era war crimes commission investigating the Nazi Holocaust. The source of those archives on Nazi war crimes were Western governments, including those in exile at the time of the war, such as the Belgian, Polish and Czechoslovakian. The time period covered is 1943-1949. Washington and London had long sought to halt the release. Why?

Notably, the landmark publication of the files last month was given scant Western media coverage. Surprisingly, perhaps, because the story that can be gleaned from the documents tells of a hidden history of the Second World War, namely the systematic collusion between the American and British governments and the Nazi Third Reich.

As a report in Deutsche Welle remarked on the released archives: «The files make clear that [Western] Allied forces knew more about the Nazi concentration camp system before the end of the war than has generally been thought».

This revelation points to more than just «knowledge» among the Western allies of Nazi-era crimes; it points more damningly to state collusion. This would also explain why Washington and London have been reluctant to make the UN war crimes files publicly available.

There has long been a controversial debate among Western nations about why the US and Britain in particular did not do more to bomb the Nazi infrastructure of death camps and railroads. Washington and London have often made the claim that they did know the full extent of the horror being perpetrated by the Nazis until the very end of the war when extermination centers such as at Auschwitz and Treblinka were liberated – by the Soviet Red Army, it should be noted too.

However, what the latest release of UN Holocaust files shows is that Washington and London were indeed well aware of the Nazi Final Solution in which millions of European Jews and Slavic people were being systematically worked to death or exterminated in gas chambers. So the question again is: why did the US and Britain not direct more of their aerial bombing campaign to destroy the Nazi infrastructure?

One possible answer is that these Western allies had a callous disregard for the Nazi victims. Washington and London establishments were themselves accused of harboring antisemitic prejudices, as can be seen from the scandals when both these governments spurned thousands of European Jewish refugees during the Second World War, in effect sending many of them to their deaths under the Nazi regime.

Finian Cunningham -- World Held Hostage by American Military Madness

World Held Hostage by American Military Madness

© Photo: U.S. Department of Defense

COLUMNISTS

17:04 14.04.2017(updated 17:08 14.04.2017) Get short URL

Finian Cunningham

Whether a nuclear war breaks out within the next few days or not – the despicable fact remains, that the entire world is being held hostage by American military madness.

It seems only a matter of time before the US finally triggers a war with any number of foreign states that it designates as "enemies" – North Korea, Syria, Iran, Russia or China.

Or any other state whom Washington deems to be a "threat" in its paranoid hegemonic view of the world. The common denominator here is US military aggression.

And what makes US military power so dangerous is that the people who run that country are, to be blunt, so stupid – full of their own delusion self-righteousness and ignorance.

US news outlet NBC is reporting that the Trump administration is ready to launch pre-emptive military strikes on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Meanwhile, North Korea says that it is prepared to pre-empt any US strikes with a nuclear attack on America or its allies in response to what Pyongyang says is provocative aggression.

This weekend marks a major anniversary for North Korea, the 105th birth date of its founder Kim Il Sung. His grandson, Kim Jong Un, the current leader, may be tempted to carry out a sixth underground nuclear weapon test to "celebrate" the occasion, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Let's keep in mind, however, that such action by North Korea is only a "test" – not an act of war.

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM -- US Targets China & Russia Under Guise of ‘Korea Protector’

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM | 10.03.2017 | OPINION

US Targets China & Russia Under Guise of ‘Korea Protector’

The sped-up deployment of America’s THAAD missile defense system in South Korea this week has triggered alarm over a new arms race in the Asia-Pacific region. Central to regional concerns is the following question: why is the US missile system capable of penetrating deep inside Chinese and Russian territory?

The installation of the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea this week has gone ahead despite earlier protests from China and Russia that it would upset the strategic balance in the region. China’s reaction has been particularly furious, with media outlets there calling for economic sanctions on major South Korean commercial ties between the two countries.

Deployment of the THAAD system near South Korea’s capital Seoul has also been brought forward by several months since it was first announced by Washington and its South Korean ally last year.

The apparent prompt for the latest move was the test-firing of four ballistic missiles by North Korea earlier this week in the Sea of Japan. That test reportedly spurred the Americans to deploy the THAAD in South Korea. Components arrived this week onboard giant C-17 military transport planes from a base in Texas.

Both Japan and South Korea have been unnerved by a spate of nuclear and ballistic weapons testing in recent years carried out by North Korea in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Washington says it is obliged by long-held defense pacts to allay its allies’ fears by installing THAAD.

However, Beijing and Moscow are apprehensive that their territories are the real target for the American missile system and that they represent the ultimate strategic objectives behind Washington’s declared defense commitments. In other words, Washington is playing a charade of acting as a virtuous protector when in fact it is being an aggressor.

According to China’s Xinhua news outlet, South Korea earlier had claimed that the THAAD would be deployed with a detection range of some 600 kilometers, sufficient to cover its North Korean foe.

Now though it appears that the US Pentagon is upgrading the radar working range of the system to reach 2,000 kms. With that much greater additional scope, the American missile system on the Korean Peninsula will be able to penetrate deep into Chinese and Russian territory. Beijing and Vladivostok are less that 1,000 kms from South Korea’s capital Seoul.

The extended missile systems being deployed by Washington on the Korean Peninsula have a disturbing resonance with similar American deployments in the eastern European countries of Romania and Poland. In the latter case, the Aegis missile system is officially said by Washington to be in defense of Europe from Iranian ballistic weapons. Moscow has dismissed those US claims as a flagrant ruse to conceal the real purpose of targeting Russian defenses.

Pentagon public relations of declaring THAAD and Aegis as being «defensive anti-missile systems» does not bear scrutiny either. For such missile «shields» act, in effect, to destabilize the existing strategic balance of forces, by giving the US side a «first-strike» capability, or at least the temptation of such, because in theory the system nullifies counter-strikes. That is, these systems are far from «defensive». As part of a concerted military arsenal, they are offensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that the unilateral American deployment of anti-missile systems in eastern Europe is undermining regional security.

Likewise, Washington’s headlong rush to deploy THAAD in South Korea can be viewed as a dangerous military escalation in a region historically fraught with tensions. Washington’s claims that it is merely protecting its allies in Seoul and Tokyo from North Korean «aggression» are hardly convincing when the new missile system has the capability to target China and Russia as well. From China and Russia’s standpoint, the latest American move in Korea is just part of an ongoing process of offensive US military encirclement against them.

Last week, Washington provoked Beijing’s ire when it made the surprise announcement that it was dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group to the South China Sea. The USS Carl Vinson carries 60 warplanes and will be accompanied by the guided missile destroyer, USS Wayne E Meyer. That deployment is but the latest in a series of American military forces ramped up near Chinese territory under the former Obama administration and with renewed impetus by President Trump.

Washington justifies its military presence in Asia-Pacific as being in the interest of protecting international «freedom of navigation» in maritime territory disputed by China and American regional allies. But again, just like Washington’s claims of «protecting» its allies against North Korea, the use of euphemism seems intended to conceal a hidden agenda of projecting US hegemonic interests.

The grim dynamic over the latest Korean tensions has the torque of a death spiral. North Korea said its testing of four ballistic missiles was a drill for hitting US bases in Japan. Then the US responds by installing its THAAD system in South Korea. But, as noted, the system destabilizes Chinese and Russian defenses, which will inevitably be bolstered by deploying missiles that can overcome the THAAD shield. And all the while, tensions between North Korea and South Korea and Japan keep spiraling.

North Korea’s claim of running a ballistic missile drill to hit US bases in Japan may sound provocative – but only if heard in narrow isolation.

The communist government of Kim Jung-un had warned that the latest ballistic test firing would go ahead in response to the current US war maneuvers being conducted with its South Korean ally. The Foal-Eagle US war exercises are carried out every year and last for two months, involving up to 300,000 troops, aircraft carriers and aerial bombers. The annual «war games» have been going on for decades since the end of the Korean War in 1953, which North Korea has repeatedly denounced as a drill for the eventual invasion of its territory. Shouldn’t North Korea’s grievances of having to endure nuclear-armed American aggression year after year be considered? Arbitrated upon?

Finian Cunningham -- Moscow sightsWestern Russophobia in Psychotic Phase

• One Victim in Germany's Heidelberg Ramming Attack Dies

Western Russophobia in Psychotic Phase

© Sputnik/ Grigoriy Sisoev

COLUMNISTS

17:04 22.02.2017Get short URL

Finian Cunningham

203229542

Western irrational fear of Russia – Russophobia – is no longer a random prejudice. It has become endemic pathological thinking among Western states.

Divorced from reality this mindset has become psychotic.

© SPUTNIK/ RAMIL SITDIKOV

Keep Calm and Blame Russia: 'Was There a Coup Attempt at All' in Montenegro?

Western politicians, military leaders and corporate news media increasingly blame Russia for all manner of perceived transgressions. Whether it is alleged interference in national elections or alleged aggressive military maneuvers, the unremitting demonizing of Russia is astonishing.

It is all the more astounding because the anti-Russia accusations are leveled with such high-handedness and yet with so little evidence to support.

This week saw outlandish claims in British media of Russia sponsoring a coup in the Balkan state of Montenegro and of trying to assassinate the country’s prime minister. No evidence provided. Just sensational, irresponsible innuendo. The gravity of this slander is enough to start a war, and yet it is spouted with reckless abandon. Only a few weeks ago, US media were also calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer”.

Then we have American lawmakers intensifying investigations into unfounded allegations of Russian hacking of the US presidential election and of “treasonous” contacts with the new Trump administration. Rabid US politicians have even labelled the alleged Russian misconduct an “act of war”.

That has in turn led to British, French and German claims that Russia is interfering in their elections. Similar fears of Russian hacking and “influence campaigns” have been issued for elections in the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Estonia, among other places.