NATO using Romania as ‘door for war’

RT

NATO is using Romania as “a door for war,” aiming to launch a major offensive into Russia, independent presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has warned.

During an episode of ‘The Shawn Ryan Show’ published on January 11, Georgescu and former US Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan discussed the coup d’etat in Romania and the potential implications of the military buildup at the Mihail Kogalniceanu (MK) Air Base, the largest NATO facility near the Black Sea. The presidential candidate has raised concerns over the bloc’s military presence in Romania, warning that the country’s NATO bases could be used to trigger a war with Russia.

“What is happening now in Romania and the fact that there is no reaction from abroad, especially from the United States, shows that they do not understand what is going on here. Because if they use Romania as a door for war, what would be next,” Georgescu told the host in response to a question about whether Romania is “in the midst of a coup right now.”

“We do not need a war,” he said. 

Romania, a NATO member since 2004, has been expanding the MK Air Base to accommodate more troops and military equipment. The project is intended to be NATO’s largest base in Europe. The development was criticized by Moscow, with Andrey Klimov, the deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, calling it a “threat for Bucharest.”

According to Klimov, the larger the “anti-Russian” military base and the “closer it is to Russia’s borders, the more likely it is to be among the first targets for retaliatory strikes.”

Asked whether the base would be used to conduct “a major offensive into Russia,” Georgescu responded, “Exactly. This is the word – offensive – which is wrong. And we cannot accept this,” he stated. “Because this is not our business. It’s not our war.”

Georgescu, who is known for his strong Euroskeptic and anti-NATO views, emerged as a frontrunner in Romania’s presidential race in November, securing 22.94% of the vote. His rise fueled speculation that he would push for Romania’s withdrawal from NATO or at least attempt to reduce military cooperation with it.

Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the election ahead of the second-round vote, citing intelligence documents alleging “irregularities” in Georgescu’s performance. This decision sparked rounds of street protests in Bucharest.

On January 10, thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Romania’s top court, demanding transparency and accusing the authorities of orchestrating an electoral coup.

“Nine people inside, they decide instead of 19 million what they have to do,” the presidential candidate told the host while discussing the cancelation of the second round of the elections. “We ask for help for the democratic institutions, and we want to protect our life, our family, our nation,” he added.

Cuba joins ICJ genocide case

 

Cuba joins Türkiye, Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine and Spain in supporting South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 

On Monday, Cuba filed a declaration to intervene in the case concerning obvious Israeli violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza, invoking Article 63 of the ICJ Statute. 

South Africa initiated the proceedings in December 2023, accusing Israel of genocide related to its atrocities in Gaza.

Where are the rest of the world's nations? 

This case is a no brainer....

Oliver Stone & Professor Peter Kuznick on nuke war with Russia

America’s proxy war with Russia isn’t anything new. 

It’s been decades in the making. 

Oliver Stone and Professor Peter Kuznick (American University) explain what nuclear war would actually look like.

They cover the globe and all the many wars now being run by the collapsing western colonial empire.

Very important interview.   

Be sure to watch the historical series by Stone & Kuznik called the Untold History of the United States. 

See episode one below.

CBS finally covers Gaza - what took so long?

CBS 60 Minutes

As the Israel-Hamas war continues and the Gaza death toll rises, former State Department officials tell 60 Minutes their concerns about how the Biden administration has handled the war.

Grabbing men on Ukraine streets for Army amidst record desertions

SouthFront

Ukraine has long tried to use forced mobilization – which has been marred by widespread corruption – to replenish battlefield losses, lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 and tightening conscription regulations last spring.

Recently the US demanded that Zelensky now lower the draft age to 18 years old. So this grabbing men on the street is now going to escalate dramatically as they go for the young guys.

One of the main problems of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in recent months has been the mass desertion of personnel. On December 14, Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov described the catastrophic situation in the 155th Anna Kievskaya Brigade. It was trained in France and then sent to contain the Russian offensive near Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk). The Operational Command “West” and the Ground Forces Command of the AFU staffed the brigade with conscripts.

“Several thousand people were recruited into the brigade literally from the street, the so-called ‘bussified’. They were dressed in uniforms and pretended to be a full brigade. A competent commander was assigned, but he was not given time to form a cohesive team. As a result, among those who were forced into the brigade, there were many cases of unauthorized abandonment of the unit,” Butusov said.

The result was predictable. About a thousand men deserted. Poorly trained mobilized men went home. The brigade commander was found guilty and dismissed from his post. According to the journalist, this decision was unfair, since the commander was not responsible for the training of the personnel. However, this is the style of the Ukrainian leadership.

At the end of December, the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case on this fact. It turned out that even before entering the first battle, the Anna Kievskaya Brigade had been abandoned by 1,700 (!) men.  900 million euros were spent on training the brigade. But the unit began to disintegrate during training in the French Republic. Fifty men ran away from the French training grounds.

“This raised a question from the French leadership about the seriousness of the Ukrainians’ attitude to the realization of such an expensive project. Such an approach seriously discredits Zelensky’s entire plan”, said Butusov.

Around half a million Ukrainian men are suspected of evading conscription, according to the country’s military.

The Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that financial support for Ukraine from international organizations and countries has already exceeded $300 billion in 2022-2024.

Palestine solidarity in Lewiston (and Bangor)

Fourteen folks gathered on Saturday in Lewiston, Maine during a wet snow in an event organized by Healthcare Workers for Palestine.

We formed a circle where everyone was invited to share their feelings about the current situation in Gaza. 

While all of us are suffering to some degree as we witness these daily war crimes in real time, we acknowledged that our 'pain' was little in comparison to the constant enormous deep trauma being experienced by the people in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

Following the circle we walked thru the center of the business district chanting as we headed toward the local hospital where the chants continued making the links between genocidal Israel-US-UK-German supported attacks on the life blood of Gaza - particularly the hospitals, medical staffs and ambulances that are often targeted as they pick up those wounded by the brutal IOF forces.

I noted as we walked that the vast majority of honks and waves we received were from the African Muslim immigrant community which is quite large in Lewiston. 

Soon after MB and I moved to Maine in 2003 there was huge controversy across the state as the then mayor of Lewiston publicly called on the Muslim community to tell their relatives to stop coming to the city because far too many had already moved there.

Welcome to America....

Bruce 

PS A similar protest in Bangor got TV coverage here

Protesters urge Poland to arrest Netanyahu

RT

Hundreds of people marched in Warsaw on Friday to protest against the Polish government’s confirmation that it won't arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the country. 

In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza. On Thursday, the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Warsaw would not arrest Netanyahu if the Israeli leader travels to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp during World War II.

Protesters rallied outside the Presidential Chancellery building, waving Palestinian flags and posters with anti-Netanyahu slogans.

The crowd chanted “arrest Netanyahu,” as well as accusations that Tusk and Polish President Andrzej Duda are “defending genocide.”

Because the ICC lacks any police force or enforcement powers of its own, it relies on the countries that signed the Rome Statute to enforce its warrants. Poland signed the treaty, but Israel did not. Netanyahu has denied the accusations of war crimes and reaffirmed that the Jewish state does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing the imposition of sanctions on the ICC if the court charges Americans or citizens of allied nations. The US does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and has refused to back the outstanding warrant for Netanyahu.

Sunday song

 

Rest in peace Peter Yarrow