RUSSIA & NOVOROSSIYA

OLIVER BOYD—BARRETT—I propose that Putin’s and Lavrov’s continuing “softness” on the matter of remaining open to talks with a congenitally agreement-incapable, murderous rogue state no longer comes from a place of naivety or weakness but, first of all, from a desire to be seen to be doing everything they can possibly do to project reasonableness to the world at large, so that, should Russia consider itself obliged or provoked enough to use its weapons, nobody can argue that fair warning was not given and with generous reaction time to boot

COL BILL ASTORE—Imagine if Venezuela attacked the U.S. Imagine if President Trump and Melania Trump were seized, and that the Venezuelan attorney general said they would face justice in Venezuela. I’d imagine that nearly all Americans would see this as an act of war, a gross violation of national sovereignty. American vengeance would be swift.

DON HANK—The people who make decisions about war and regime change in Washington – primarily the lawmakers, White House officials, Pentagon and State Department – are almost all believers in the doctrine of the indispensable or exceptional nation, and to them, this special status they have assigned themselves, entitles them to deny other countries their own sovereignty, subjugating them to the US and its policies and view of the world.

K. SANCHEZ—In October 1943, at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the USSR, Britain and the United States in Moscow–-it was held in the Mansion of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Spiridonovka-–among other agreements, it was recorded that cooperation in identifying criminals and bringing them to justice would be established and organized. This idea was finally formalized in Yalta, and on “paper” it was legally enshrined in October 1945 in London, when the tribunal was created. The charter of this tribunal was signed, which formed the basis for all further activities.

JON COOK—Israel has repeatedly attacked UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, while the presence of UN forces has done nothing to curb Israel’s continuing “ceasefire” violations.

A stabilisation force will be able to do little to stop Israel meddling directly in Gaza through drone assassinations; restrictions on imports of concrete, food and medical supplies; and a naval blockade of the enclave’s territorial waters.

Trump’s vision of “peace” is of Palestinians eking out a bare existence among Gaza’s ruins, at the mercy of Israel’s ever-watching drones.

Ramy Abdu, chair of Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, told the Intercept this week that what we are most likely to see over the coming weeks and months is a move by Israel from wanton genocide to what he called a more “managed genocide, a managed forcible displacement”.

Israel will now be able to sit back, obstruct the rebuilding of the enclave, sending a clear message to a destitute population that their salvation will never be found in Gaza.