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Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby made the announcement Tuesday, characterizing the deployment of approximately 600 troops as "exercises" that would last about a month.
The soldiers, said Kirby, should be seen as "a very tangible representation of our commitment to our security obligations in Europe" against what he described as "Russian aggression."
Regarding the upcoming rotation of U.S. troops, he added, "We encourage our NATO partners to likewise look for opportunities of their own to do this same kind of thing for one another."
On Wednesday morning, Russia announced "snap" naval exercises for members of its fleet in the Caspian Sea.
With U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine on Tuesday, high-level promises of new aid from the U.S. government were promised to the interim government in Kiev as new violence in the eastern regions of the country called into question the ability of a fragile truce to maintain itself.
According to agency reporting and the Guardian:
The [Russian naval drills] will last seven days and involve around 10 naval vessels and 400 sailors. The Caspian Sea is bordered by Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan - a region that is crisscrossed by oil and natural gas pipelines.
Ukraine relaunched military operations against pro-Kremlin separatists late on Tuesday, hours after Biden ended his visit to Kiev in which he warned Russia over its actions in the former Soviet republic.
Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said he was ordering the military to restart operations against the rebels after the discovery of two "brutally tortured" bodies in Slavyansk.
One of them, he said, was that of a recently kidnapped local councilor from a nearby town who belonged to his party.
Speaking with radio host John Batchelor, Stephen F. Cohen, professor of history at New York University and Princeton, says the most recent events have more or less proven that a new 'Cold War' is now underway with the Obama administration executing what appears to be a policy of "containment" against the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, independent journalist and editor of Consortium News Robert Parry is warning that the continued propaganda emanating from Washington over the conflict is designed to prepare the American people "to accept and perhaps even cheer a massacre of eastern Ukrainians who have risen up against the coup regime in Kiev."
In "Official Washington," Parry argues:
the stage is now set for what could be a massacre of Ukrainian civilians who have risen up against the putschists who seized control of Kiev in a Feb. 22 coup that overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych. The violent putsch was spearheaded by neo-Nazi militias, some of which have now been incorporated into Ukraine's National Guard and dispatched to the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
If the slaughter of the eastern Ukrainian protesters does come, you can expect Official Washington to be supportive. Whereas the Kiev protesters who seized government buildings in February were deemed "pro-democracy" activists even as they overthrew a democratically elected leader, the eastern Ukrainian protesters, who still consider Yanukovych their legitimate president, are dismissed as "terrorists." And, we all know what happens to "terrorists."
_________________________________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby made the announcement Tuesday, characterizing the deployment of approximately 600 troops as "exercises" that would last about a month.
The soldiers, said Kirby, should be seen as "a very tangible representation of our commitment to our security obligations in Europe" against what he described as "Russian aggression."
Regarding the upcoming rotation of U.S. troops, he added, "We encourage our NATO partners to likewise look for opportunities of their own to do this same kind of thing for one another."
On Wednesday morning, Russia announced "snap" naval exercises for members of its fleet in the Caspian Sea.
With U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine on Tuesday, high-level promises of new aid from the U.S. government were promised to the interim government in Kiev as new violence in the eastern regions of the country called into question the ability of a fragile truce to maintain itself.
According to agency reporting and the Guardian:
The [Russian naval drills] will last seven days and involve around 10 naval vessels and 400 sailors. The Caspian Sea is bordered by Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan - a region that is crisscrossed by oil and natural gas pipelines.
Ukraine relaunched military operations against pro-Kremlin separatists late on Tuesday, hours after Biden ended his visit to Kiev in which he warned Russia over its actions in the former Soviet republic.
Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said he was ordering the military to restart operations against the rebels after the discovery of two "brutally tortured" bodies in Slavyansk.
One of them, he said, was that of a recently kidnapped local councilor from a nearby town who belonged to his party.
Speaking with radio host John Batchelor, Stephen F. Cohen, professor of history at New York University and Princeton, says the most recent events have more or less proven that a new 'Cold War' is now underway with the Obama administration executing what appears to be a policy of "containment" against the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, independent journalist and editor of Consortium News Robert Parry is warning that the continued propaganda emanating from Washington over the conflict is designed to prepare the American people "to accept and perhaps even cheer a massacre of eastern Ukrainians who have risen up against the coup regime in Kiev."
In "Official Washington," Parry argues:
the stage is now set for what could be a massacre of Ukrainian civilians who have risen up against the putschists who seized control of Kiev in a Feb. 22 coup that overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych. The violent putsch was spearheaded by neo-Nazi militias, some of which have now been incorporated into Ukraine's National Guard and dispatched to the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
If the slaughter of the eastern Ukrainian protesters does come, you can expect Official Washington to be supportive. Whereas the Kiev protesters who seized government buildings in February were deemed "pro-democracy" activists even as they overthrew a democratically elected leader, the eastern Ukrainian protesters, who still consider Yanukovych their legitimate president, are dismissed as "terrorists." And, we all know what happens to "terrorists."
_________________________________________

Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby made the announcement Tuesday, characterizing the deployment of approximately 600 troops as "exercises" that would last about a month.
The soldiers, said Kirby, should be seen as "a very tangible representation of our commitment to our security obligations in Europe" against what he described as "Russian aggression."
Regarding the upcoming rotation of U.S. troops, he added, "We encourage our NATO partners to likewise look for opportunities of their own to do this same kind of thing for one another."
On Wednesday morning, Russia announced "snap" naval exercises for members of its fleet in the Caspian Sea.
With U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine on Tuesday, high-level promises of new aid from the U.S. government were promised to the interim government in Kiev as new violence in the eastern regions of the country called into question the ability of a fragile truce to maintain itself.
According to agency reporting and the Guardian:
The [Russian naval drills] will last seven days and involve around 10 naval vessels and 400 sailors. The Caspian Sea is bordered by Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan - a region that is crisscrossed by oil and natural gas pipelines.
Ukraine relaunched military operations against pro-Kremlin separatists late on Tuesday, hours after Biden ended his visit to Kiev in which he warned Russia over its actions in the former Soviet republic.
Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said he was ordering the military to restart operations against the rebels after the discovery of two "brutally tortured" bodies in Slavyansk.
One of them, he said, was that of a recently kidnapped local councilor from a nearby town who belonged to his party.
Speaking with radio host John Batchelor, Stephen F. Cohen, professor of history at New York University and Princeton, says the most recent events have more or less proven that a new 'Cold War' is now underway with the Obama administration executing what appears to be a policy of "containment" against the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, independent journalist and editor of Consortium News Robert Parry is warning that the continued propaganda emanating from Washington over the conflict is designed to prepare the American people "to accept and perhaps even cheer a massacre of eastern Ukrainians who have risen up against the coup regime in Kiev."
In "Official Washington," Parry argues:
the stage is now set for what could be a massacre of Ukrainian civilians who have risen up against the putschists who seized control of Kiev in a Feb. 22 coup that overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych. The violent putsch was spearheaded by neo-Nazi militias, some of which have now been incorporated into Ukraine's National Guard and dispatched to the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
If the slaughter of the eastern Ukrainian protesters does come, you can expect Official Washington to be supportive. Whereas the Kiev protesters who seized government buildings in February were deemed "pro-democracy" activists even as they overthrew a democratically elected leader, the eastern Ukrainian protesters, who still consider Yanukovych their legitimate president, are dismissed as "terrorists." And, we all know what happens to "terrorists."
_________________________________________