Free Republic

Obama intel chief violating Iran sanctions? Board member of Chinese government-owned company in deal with Tehran Charles "Chas" Freeman JERUSALEM – President Obama's nominee for a top intelligence post sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is in the midst of a multibillion dollar deal with Iran which may violate U.S. sanctions, WND has learned. The oil company is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China's influence worldwide. One of its recent attempts to purchase a large U.S. oil firm drew bipartisan congressional opposition amid fears the deal would...

WARSAW, Poland -- Do unarmed protestors who risk their lives to replace murderous and corrupt regimes with law-based, liberal democracies deserve our support or not? For simple folk like you and me, this is not one of life's more demanding ethical conundrums. But then again, you and I are no match for some of the great brains at Britain's Guardian newspaper, who -- along with like minded members of the international left -- are currently mounting something approaching a hate campaign against the brave men and women fighting for democracy in Ukraine, and indeed against their predecessors across eastern Europe...

Kremlin aide on threats to Russian sovereignty 20:38 | 03/ 03/ 2006 MOSCOW, March 3 (RIA Novosti) - International terrorism, economic non-competitiveness and the possibility of "color revolutions" were the principal threats to Russia's national sovereignty a presidential aide said in a text published on Friday. Vladislav Surkov, speaking at a meeting of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party on February 7 and quoted on the party's official site, said a "soft takeover" based on modern "orange methods" in the face of the nations' reduced ability to counter foreign interference posed a serious danger. The "orange revolution" that swept Ukrainian President...

Ukraine intends to join to the Group of State against the Corruption. The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko said about it, coming out on the plenary session of the 3rd Summit of EC-Council heads of states and governments. According to his words, the new Ukrainian power declared the war against the corruption and wishes to win by all means including the legal mechanisms created by the Council of Europe, reported "UNIAN." As used here, mentioned Yushchenko, Ukraine ratified the Civil Convention against the Corruption and is going to join the Group of the States against the Corruption. He also pointed...

KIEV, Ukraine — The crisis over Ukraine's disputed presidential election intensified Sunday, as a key eastern province called a referendum on autonomy andthe opposition demanded the current president fire his prime minister, the official winner of last week's votethat has bitterly divided this former Soviet republic. The opposition warned President Leonid Kuchma it would block his movementsunless he fired PrimeMinister ViktorYanukovych and fulfilled other demands within 24 hours. Earlier, Kuchma called on the opposition to end its four-day blockade of government buildings, saying compromise was the only solution to the crisis that has developed into a tense political tug-of-war between...

MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) -- It is almost forty years since those fine falsettos, the Bee Gees, put their pop classic, “Massachusetts”, on the top of the charts. They had no idea that their lyrics might become the alleged plot of a scheme by a trio of Ukrainian metal men to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from the processing of manganese ore, and the sale of ferromanganese, ferrosilicon, and silicomanganese to steelmakers around the world. “And the lights all went out in Massachusetts,” sang Robin and Barry Gibb. “They brought me back to see my way with you.” On...

A few years ago, a friend of mine was sent to Kiev by the British government to teach Ukrainians about the Western democratic system. His pupils were young reformers from western Ukraine, affiliated to the Conservative party. When they produced a manifesto containing 15 pages of impenetrable waffle, he gently suggested boiling their electoral message down to one salient point. What was it, he wondered? A moment of furrowed brows produced the lapidary and nonchalant reply, 'To expel all Jews from our country.' It is in the west of Ukraine that support is strongest for the man who is being...

...During NATO's 2008 summit in Bucharest, Romania, the issue was discussed and, after opposition from France and Germany, a decision was made to offer neither Ukraine nor Georgia a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) — essentially a path for Ukraine to receive membership — at that moment. Vague promises of NATO membership in the future were made, but the United States later appeared to drop its support for NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Russia's brief war with Georgia in August 2008 helped underscore the decision's importance, but NATO and Ukraine held further talks in December. Again, however, no specific...

The firm headed by Hillary Clinton’s former chief strategist, Mark Penn, is helping run incumbent President Victor Yushchenko’s campaign. Meanwhile Paul Manafort, whose firm worked on Republican John McCain’s losing effort, and Tad Devine, a top strategist on the Democratic presidential campaigns of Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, are consulting for Victor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian frontrunner in the polls.

Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky has never made any secret of his loathing for President Vladimir Putin, but in an interview in his London exile the controversial tycoon went one step further with a vow to mount a coup. "President Putin violates the constitution and any violent action on the opposition's part is justified today, and that includes taking power by force, which is exactly what I am working at," the oligarch, looking vibrant despite five years in self-imposed exile, told AFP at his Piccadilly office. For the past 18 months, "we have been preparing to take power by force in...

"The polonium trail started on 16 October 2006 when Litvinenko met Lugovoi and Kovtun in London. ..." "When Lugovoi and Kovtun's movements were mapped against the sites of polonium contamination, there was an exact match. The evidence of guilt was strong. In May 2007, the then Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald announced that Andrei Lugovoi was to be charged with murder and his extradition would be sought from Russia. Kovtun was charged in 2010. ..." Prof Norman Dombey, a physicist who has a deep knowledge of Russian nuclear sites, gave evidence at the public inquiry. Dombey says there is...

LONDON — It has consumed more than eight years of maneuvering, obstruction and a widow’s dogged legal campaign, fought often on a shoestring. But finally, on Tuesday, a public inquiry is set to begin its quest for an answer to the question that has driven the whole process: Why did Alexander V. Litvinenko have to die? On Nov. 1, 2006, Mr. Litvinenko, a former officer of the Soviet K.G.B. in self-exile in London and a vocal critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, sipped tea from a poisoned pot, took sick and died 22 days later. Only after his death did...

KIEV, Ukraine — To Viktor Yushchenko, the man at the heart of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution a decade ago, March 2014 looks a lot like August 1939. Europe, once again, is at war. But Europe is also, once again, refusing to realize it and react. Yushchenko, the former Ukrainian president who has spent much of his political life at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and incurred his wrath, says there should not be any doubt about what is going on: Putin’s Russia has been waging economic and information war on his country for years. It has now added a territorial...

Another embarrassing moment: Obama Bows To Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during a visit w/ Senator DIck Lugar

Obama greeting Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during a visit Republican with Senator Dick Lugar

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s open letter and Aug. 11 video blog attacking Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko turned out to be a PR windfall for Ukraine, judging from international reaction...Many outside of Russia – and some within -- sided with Ukraine and Yushchenko. "The language [of Medvedev] was reminiscent of [former Soviet leader] Leonid Brezhnev in its detachment from reality,” wrote Anders Aslund, author of “How Ukraine Became A Market Economy and Democracy,” in an Aug. 17 opinion piece published by the Financial Times.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has strongly criticized Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his government, accusing them of everything from supporting Georgia in last year's war to suppressing the use of the Russian language in Ukraine. He also announced he is postponing sending a new ambassador to the former Soviet republic. In a "video blog" posted today on the Kremlin's website, the Russian president said he had outlined his views in an open letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Dmitri Medvedev said bilateral relations between Russia and Ukraine have hit an "unprecedentedly low" level and that tensions between the two countries...

Benign skin growths that erupted on the face of Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko helped save his life after he was poisoned with dioxin five years ago. That's the verdict of doctors who have treated and monitored Yushchenko since an unknown assassin made the attempt on his life by lacing his soup with dioxin during a dinner in Kiev on 5 September 2004. It now turns out that the lumps that grew on his face and body as a result probably saved his life by isolating the dioxin away from his vital, internal organs. They also helped to detoxify the poison,...

The President had yet another busy and no doubt worrying day first of all making a statement on the financial rescue legislation early morning on the South Lawn of the White House. He also met with at the White House President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania and Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko. After his meeting with Yushchenko the President spoke about the failed bailout On a somewhat lighter and more pleasant note the President presented the 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation Medals. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2938 - McCain/Palin--Day 32 Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke to students of...

Ukraine's pro-Western government has collapsed after the Russian invasion of Georgia triggered a political struggle between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko over whether the country's destiny lies with the West or Moscow. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaker of the Ukraine's parliament, told MPs on Tuesday that the governing coalition linked to the popular "Orange Revolution" of 2004 was over. "I officially declare the coalition of democratic forces in Ukraine's parliament dissolved," he said. "This has been long expected, but for me it is extremely sad." Ukraine's MPs now have 30 days to try and form a new ruling government...