“I’m here to say on behalf of the president what I hope you already know: You can count on us. Period.   We do what we say, and we mean what we say.”

Well, unless you’re talking about Iran (Green Revolution we let get wiped out), Egypt (where we hurried in the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood), Syria (and that whole “red line” thingy), Iran again (the sanctions lifted so they can have a nuke), Israel (the target of the Iranian nuke), Ukraine (they really didn’t need the whole Crimea thing), Canada (and that pesky on-again/off-again election year keystone issue), South Korea (as we watch N-Korea fire missiles at them).   Other than that, you can count on us.  Maybe…..

Hey now,… “if you like your country – you can keep your country”.  “Period”.

(Via The Hill) Vice President Biden on Tuesday sought to reassure Romania that the U.S. would defend its borders amid concerns that Russia’s incursion into Ukraine could spread into other parts of Eastern Europe.

“I’m here to say on behalf of the president what I hope you already know: You can count on us. Period,” Biden said while touring a Romanian air base. “We do what we say, and we mean what we say.”

The borders of Romania, which, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet republic, lie less than 250 miles from Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Moscow earlier this year. (more…)

Someone, (probably a Russian infantry unit that had to scram because they are technically not supposed to be there), left a fully operational -albeit apparently stalled- BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicle in the middle of an intersection in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Abandoned.    Fully operational – but abandoned.

Apparently, curiosity got the best of the locals (who are probably sympathetic to the Russians who had to quickly disappear).   What happens next is not funny, but I’ll admit I just couldn’t stop laughing:

Watch the video.   With two precursor tips.  #1) Pay attention to the @50 sec. mark (duh, obviously).   But more importantly #2) listen to the person shout @1:05 (in English).

(more…)

HatTip WeeWeed: You won’t find an article like this in U.S. media because it is the antithesis of Obama’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the dragon slayer of radical Islam. Unfortunately it’s Russia who has stepped in to assist El-Sisi in the fight against the radicals. Russia, because the United States, under Obama’s direction has supported the now ousted President Morsi.

We previously shared that prayers are needed for protection of El-Sisi as he swings a battle axe against the Islamist radicals and tries to bring Egypt into the 21st century without Sharia.  

The Muslim Brotherhood was the ideological origin of al-Qaeda.

The Muslim Brotherhood has a history, a long sordid history, of assassination – including Anwar Sadat (pictured above).

CAIRO, EGYPT — The Egyptian presidential elections have begun—with wide expectations that former Defense Minister Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be the winner.

El-Sisi—the most powerful man in Egypt—and maybe in the whole Middle East now—is the man who toppled the Muslim Brotherhood, killed, arrested, displaced their leaders, orphaned their children, widowed their wives, ruined their business, confiscated their money,  and turned their dreams into nightmares.

Anyone who reads the history of the Muslim Brotherhood knows that assassinations were always their favorite way to get rid of their enemies or whomever stood in their way. El-Sisi, who utterly shattered their dreams —which they’ve been working on for eighty long years— delivered the knockout punch.

Recently, El-Sisi revealed during his first televised debate that he survived two assassination attempts, without disclosing details.

It seems that the Assassination of El-Sisi has already become the ultimate goal of the Brotherhood and their militias. Sources reveal that Russian and Egyptian intelligence services have discovered 3 different plans for the assassination of El-Sisi.

The sources point out that the first assassination plot was right after the June 30 revolution, and that this scheme was planned in a German city with the presence of members of the international Muslim Brotherhood organization—and the representatives of three different countries intelligence agencies, who support the Brotherhood. (more…)

Sevastopol, Crimea (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Friday to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol, in what is his first visit to the disputed territory since Russia annexed it from Ukraine.

The President arrived in the port of Sevastopol by sea, in an event televised by Russian state TV, and watched while flanked by senior officers as Russian warships took part in a naval display in the Black Sea.

The military parades, held each year to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, come amid soaring tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are planning a weekend referendum on autonomy.  (continue reading)

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia that the “window to change course is closing” in what appeared to be a final warning to Moscow that the U.S. was readying severe economic sanctions over the situation in Ukraine.
“Let me be clear,” Kerry said. “If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake.”
Speaking at the State Department one week after foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and European Union penned an agreement designed to de-escalate the crisis there, Kerry accused the Kremlin of “a full-throated effort to actively sabotage the democratic effort” in Ukraine. (more…)

Yes Alice, I’ll be right along !

Can you believe that our international diplomacy efforts are now being reduced to Twitter Hashtags ?

The world stands #UnitedforUkraine. Let’s hope that the #Kremlin & @mfa_russia will live by the promise of hashtag

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) April 24, 2014

 
 

UKRAINE – A  flyer ordering Jews in eastern Ukraine to register with pro-Russian forces or face deportation has been branded a fake by religious leaders, including the area’s rabbi.

Pamphlets circulating in Donetsk demanded ‘citizens of Jewish nationality’ over the age of 16 pay $50 to register and be issued special passports ‘marking the confession of faith’. But the flyer, described as ‘grotesque’ by US Secretary of State John Kerry, has now been classed by the leader of the city’s Jewish community as a hoax, aimed at stirring up trouble.
The handouts, a chilling echo of Nazi persecution, were given to Jews leaving a local synagogue by three men in ski masks holding the flag of the Russian Federation, Israeli media reports. (more…)

Earlier in the day today the State Department was questioned about sending U.S. support to Ukraine.    In response State Dept. Spokewoman said:  “we are not going to get into a proxy war with Russia” [ergo we are not going to send arms or weaponry to the Ukraine government]  Yet Russia is acting specifically and intentionally with a proxy war mentality toward us.
When CBS’s Major Garrett questions President Obama about the rising tensions yet again Obama reflects a limp-wristed and disconnected response:

Nothing the Obama administration has done in his entire presidency reflects an actual accomplishment, ever.
As an example -and to give you context for what Putin references- here’s just a brief un-updated rundown of prior Obama statements on Iran. You decide for yourself: (more…)

A very similar historical pattern is evolving.   First, Vladimir Putin used the concern for Russian nationalists in Ukraine as justification for military incursion into Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.   This is the same justification Adolf Hitler used to move troops into Poland.

Now, just like before, Jews in Eastern Ukraine are told they need to register their personage or their property will be confiscated.  “Register or be Deported”.

UKRAINE – A leaflet distributed in Donetsk, Ukraine calling for all Jews over 16 years old to register as Jews marred the Jewish community’s Passover festivities Monday (Passover eve), replacing them with feelings of concern.

The leaflet demanded the city’s Jews supply a detailed list of all the property they own, or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated.
Donetsk, a Ukraine province with 4.3 million people – 10 percent of Ukraine’s population – and 17,000 Jews, is home to much of the country’s heavy industry, and is thus the biggest prize of the eastern regions where pro-Russian separatists have captured government buildings in the past week.
The leaflet, signed by Chairman of Donetsk’s temporary government Denis Pushilin, was distrbiuted to Jews near the Donetsk synagogue and later in other areas of the city where pro-Russians activists have declared Donetsk as an independent “people’s republic”, defying an ultimatum from Kiev to surrender. (more…)

*tap*tap*tap,… *ahem*… Not to be all Captain Obvious, but what was the CIA Benghazi mission about again ?

The dots are all brutally obvious.   Team Putin (Iran/Russia) squishing Team Bam-Bam in EU and Syria.   In retort, Team Bam-Bam (Saudi Arabia/USA) poke eye of Assad.   Bam-Bam’s BFF Erdogan (Turkey) openly planning false flag operation against Assad.  …. and Who was Ambassador Stephens meeting with on 9/11/12 ?   Uh huh. 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — (<– Huffington Post ) The Obama administration is considering allowing shipments of new air defense systems to Syrian rebels, a U.S. official said Friday.
President Barack Obama’s possible shift would likely be welcomed by Saudi Arabia, which has been pressing the White House to allow the man-portable air-defense systems, known as “manpads,” into Syria. Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening for meetings with King Abdullah.
Allowing manpads to be delivered to Syrian rebels would mark a shift in strategy for the U.S., which until this point has limited its lethal assistance to small weapons and ammunition, as well as humanitarian aid. The U.S. has been grappling for ways to boost the rebels, who have lost ground in recent months, allowing Syrian President Bashar Assad to regain a tighter grip on the war-torn nation. (more…)