That's Really Cool - how we got from 'State-Sponsored Terror' to here

I’d like to recommend this typically wise and nonconformist article by Simon Jenkins, in today’s ‘Guardian’. If only he was as nonconformist about drugs as he is about foreign affairs.

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/25/mock-putin-pride-paranoia-mh17-excuse-punish-russia

 

 

I’d also draw attention to the very muted coverage of the resignation of Ukraine’s Prime Minister, surely a rather significant event just now,  partly because he has lost the support of the unpleasant ‘Svoboda’ party, discussed here in the past.

 

And to a BBC reporter’s use of the phrase ‘February Revolution’ to describe the overthrow of the legitimate Ukrainian Government earlier this year (chapter and verse to come later).

 

And to what seems to me (this could be a fault in my search skills, I’d be grateful for any other sightings) extraordinary paucity of coverage in British media of the US Intelligence briefing which I discussed at length here, and whose existence was revealed to Radio 4 listeners by BBC reporter Aleem Maqbool:

 

http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2014/07/the-official-rhetoric-cools-as-i-said-it-should-days-ago.html

 

 

...apart from this glancing reference in today’s Daily Telegraph

 

‘Mr Antonov [Russian Deputy Defence Minister] said US intelligence experts had claimed they could "prove the guilt of the [pro–Russian] militia and almost Russia itself" and were in possession of technical data and satellite photographs to back up their accusation.

 

‘"So where is this evidence?" he asked on the Rossiya–24 channel. "Why is it not presented to the public? Is it, if I may say so, still being finished off?" Barack Obama, the US president, said earlier this week that flight MH17 was brought down by a surface–to–air missile that was fired from "territory that is controlled by Russian separatists". Samantha Powers, the US ambassador to the UN, went further, adding "we cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the systems".

 

‘US intelligence officials appeared to backtrack somewhat later, saying they had no definitive evidence about who exactly fired the missile, or about Russian involvement. However, the officials said it was implausible that Ukrainian forces fired the missile, and that they still believed that separatists were likely to blame.’

(So do I. I have from the start.  I didn't need satellite pictures or intercepts to work it out, either). 

I'd just add one small thing. I have now contacted the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) at their Vienna HQ, and tracked down the civilian figures for casualties in the UKraine conflict, which have not had much play in Western media, though RT and othrs have of course made much of them.

 

They are not, I stress, OSCE figures. Their report here makes it plain that this is what they heard from credible sources in Lugansk 

http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/121431

 

They cannot be verified (very little can be verified, in war zones). But here is an extract (SMM is 'Special Monitoring Mission') : 

'The situation in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions remained tense with on-going fighting around the city of Luhansk. While patrolling the city centre of Luhansk, close to the occupied building of the Regional Administration, the SMM heard the sound of a shell hitting a garage, located about 200 metres away. Within two minutes the SMM arrived at the scene and found one man killed lying on the pavement; the garage and a car were totally demolished.

'On 17 July, the SMM met with four members of Luhansk emergency first aid brigade. They reported that the day before, the first aid team responded to a call after firing in Luhansk had taken place, but before they were even able to see the patients, firing resumed and they had to run to a basement. One paramedic was injured by shrapnel. The doctors said that in June and July alone there were 250 killed and 850 wounded in the Luhansk region. (my emphasis, PH) The doctors also informed that on 16 July alone three persons were killed and 30 were wounded in Luhansk city. This last number does not include civilians killed in close vicinity of combat zones outside of the city and causalities among combatants. They also claimed that increasingly more people were being killed by booby traps and mines.'

This seems to me to be quite serious. I think we should hear more about it, especially as it results from a surprisingly vigorous assault on the rebels by a newly-invigorated Ukrainian Army, which a few months ago was decrepit and demoralized. Whatever has happened? have they taken up Pilates yoga, or is it vitamin pills or the Alexander technique? Or is it possible, whisper it not, that they (like the rebels) are getting outside help?