USA is Building its Case for a War on Russia

 From State Department to Aspen Security Conference, Cold Warmongering Intensifies as War on Russia is Openly Discussed over Baseless Allegations Government officials in the United States said Thursday that Russia is firing artillery across the border into Ukrainian territory, but refused to provide any evidence when grilled by an Associated Press reporter. Matthew Lee, a veteran AP journalist known for his frequent showdowns with spokespeople during US State Department briefings, raised questions about the latest claims during Thursday’s scheduled press conference. “We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine, and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters during the Thursday afternoon briefing. When asked by Lee for any evidence, however, Harf said the State Dept. is unwilling at this time to disclose further details because doing so could expose the secret intelligence operations involved in making such claims. “I would like to know what you’re basing this new evidence that the Russians intend to send any heavier equipment,” Lee asked. The details, Harf responded, are “based on some intelligence information.” “I can’t get into the sources and methods behind it,” Harf insisted to Lee’s chagrin. “I can’t tell you what the information is based on,” she said at one point during the back-and-forth. According to Lee, previous allegations made by the Department of State have, to some, fallen short of being considered “definitive proof.” Nevertheless, Harf responded that evidence so far has suggested that Russia has indeed played a role in the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine, where militia have taken up arms against the Kiev government spawning an international incident. Now one week after Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over the region in the midst of the uproar, the State Dept. says weapons are “continuing to flow across the border.” When Lee questioned the State Dept.’s decision to withhold any evidence to support the spokesperson’s allegations, Harf asked: “If I can’t give you the source and method, would you prefer that I not give you the information?” “I think that it would be best for all concerned here if when you make an allegation like that you’re able to make it up with something more than just ‘because I said so,’” Lee countered. “You guys get up at the UN security council making these allegations , the secretary [of the State Dept., John Kerry] gets on the Sunday shows and makes these allegations, and then when you present your evidence to back up those allegations, it has appeared to, at least for some, fall short of definitive proof,” Lee continued. For now, Harf said, “the rest of the world… has seen these separatists shot down a dozen planes,” and can rely on the admission of a militia leader who took credit for downing a Ukrainian plane as being among the “preponderance of evidence” available to the public. Previously, the US ambassador to the United Nations said “it is impossible to rule out Russian technical assistance” with regards to the surface-to-air missiles blamed for taking down MH17 last Thursday. In the week since, however, the Obama administration has been unable to directly link Moscow to the event. During a highly publicized intelligence briefing where US officials were expected to present an assessment of MH17 downing on Tuesday, government representatives were forced to admit that no evidence currently points towards any Russian involvement. “[W]e don’t know a name, we don’t know a rank and we’re not even 100 percent sure of a nationality,” one official at the briefing told the AP this week. Other evidence touted by the administration as supposed proof of Russia’s involvement in the crisis has turned out to be inaccurate, including images purported to show the Russian military fighting alongside an anti-Kiev militia printed by the New York Times later reported to be an “incorrect” representation.
Russia is not the Aggressor

The United States military’s top commander said during a security summit this week that the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine has prompted the Pentagon to revisit old contingency plans unused since the days of the Cold War.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum that the US Department of Defense has been “looking inside of our own readiness models to look at things we haven’t had to look at for 20 years.”

Commenting on the latest allegations against Russia to surface in the midst of the escalating situation in Ukraine, Gen. Dempsey said that the Kremlin “has made the conscious decision to use its military force inside of another sovereign nation to achieve its objectives.”

“They clearly are on a path to assert themselves differently not just in Eastern Europe, but Europe in the main, and towards the United States,” Dempsey said of Putin’s government.

Hours before Dempsey delivered his address at the Aspen Security Forum, US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said during a scheduled press briefing that new intelligence has surfaced suggesting Russia has been firing artillery at Ukrainian military positions from within its own borders. As RT reported at the time, however, Harf’s remarks were quickly questioned by Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee, who in turn called upon the State Dept. to present any evidence beyond the spokesperson’s otherwise unsubstantiated allegations.

Russia is being accused of firing artillery into Ukraine from its own territory and that put the conflict in the region at the top of the docket at the Aspen Security Forum. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General Martin Dempsey says Russia’s decision to escalate the attack could essentially backfire.

“From Terrorism to Cold War-like Conventional Military Adventurism. Is Europe Up to the Test?”: It was not that long ago that NATO was a solution in search of a problem, an alliance in need of an enemy to defend against. With Putin’s apparent determination to reclaim at least some parts of the Soviet empire, NATO’s raison d’etre has never seemed clearer. Moreover, the post-9/11 threat of terrorism remains; if anything, it appears to be intensifying. Does Europe have the means and the will to respond to these threats?

Russia has accused the US of launching a “smear campaign” over its alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

The foreign ministry in Moscow said on Friday it rejects “unfounded public insinuations” from the US government.

But the Pentagon says it believes the movement of Russian heavy-calibre artillery systems across the border into Ukraine is “imminent.”

The row comes as more bodies of victims from flight MH17, which crashed in Ukraine, arrived in the Netherlands.

Separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine have been accused of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane.

The US says it believes rebels shot down the passenger jet with a Russian-provided SA-11 Buk surface-to-air missile, probably by mistake.

Russia has frequently denied sending heavy weapons into Ukraine but rebel leaders have given conflicting accounts of whether they had control of a Buk launcher at the time the plane was downed.

The Pentagon said on Friday that it had evidence to suggest Russia is preparing to transfer more rocket launcher systems to the rebels.

“We have indications that the Russians intend to supply heavier and more sophisticated multiple-launch rocket systems in the very near future,” Col Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday.

On Thursday, a US state department spokesperson said there was also evidence Russian troops were firing on Ukrainian soldiers from within Russia.

But in a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said the US was pushing “anti-Russian cliches” to protect their allies in Kiev by obscuring the “real reasons for events in Ukraine”.

The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford in Moscow says that amid all the accusations of war-mongering, it seems Russia is keen to stress that so far, it has actually shown restraint.

Meanwhile, the EU has formally announced that it is strengthening sanctions against Russia, adding “15 further persons and 18 entities” to an asset freeze and a visa ban.

A statement released on Friday said that those targeted are “responsible for action against Ukraine’s territorial integrity”.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.

On Friday, the Ukrainian army said its troops had come under artillery fire from the Russian side of the border overnight and were attacked by rebels in several areas in the east.

The US has repeatedly accused Russia of fuelling separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine and has toughened its rhetoric since flight MH17 was downed.
‘Spy or a big one?’

Ukraine officials published the latest in a series of audio recordings on Friday that appears to be a conversation between rebels, minutes before MH17 crashed.

In the recording, which has not been independently verified, a rebel tells a commander that a “bird had flown” in his direction.

When the commander asks if it was a “spy or a big one?” the rebel says that he cannot tell because it is flying too high.

All 298 people on board the flight died in the crash on 17 July, including 193 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians and 27 Australians.

About 200 bodies were recovered from the crash site in eastern Ukraine and are being flown to the Netherlands, where forensic experts are working on identifying them.

The Dutch and Australian foreign ministers are negotiating with Ukrainian officials in Kiev to send police to the crash site, which is controlled by the rebels.

They hope that such a deployment would allow experts, who have faced difficulties gaining access to the site, to proceed with the investigation amid continuing fighting in the region.

Statement on Ukraine by Alexander K. Lukashevich, Spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow, July 23, 2014

Pentagon “Confirms” Russian Attack On Ukraine Military Missile Launches. The Obama administration on Thursday accused Russia of firing artillery from its territory into Ukraine to hit Ukrainian military sites and asserted that Moscow is boosting its supply of weaponry to pro-Russian separatists. “We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to separatist forces in Ukraine and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russian to attack Ukrainian military positions,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters. She said the evidence derived from “human intelligence information” but declined to elaborate, saying it would compromise sources and methods of intelligence collection. The felonious allegations come amid an increasingly bitter war of words against Moscow by Washington over their ongoing war efforts for war on Russia. The U.S. has repeatedly accused Russia without evidence of stoking the Ukraine rebellion while stoking it themselves.
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf July 24 2014 described Russia’s statements on MH17 plane crash as “misinformation” – but when reporters asked her whether Washington would be releasing their intelligence and satellite data, Harf only replied “may be.” So far the US has been backing its statements by social media and “common sense.” Full State Department Press Briefing from day in question here – http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.ca/2014/07/state-dept-accuses-russia-of-firing.html During a press briefing July 25 2014, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf accused Russia of firing artillery across the border into Ukraine, but refused to give any evidence supporting her claim. When Associated Press reporter Matt Lee attempted to follow up by asking if this information was based on a YouTube video, Harf brushed off his question and then said “I just said I wasn’t going to give you the underlying source for it.” A bitter back-and-forth then followed. Full State Department Press Briefing from day in question here – http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.ca/2014/07/state-department-daily-press-briefing.html

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