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Why Won’t the US Help Negotiate a Peaceful End to the War in Ukraine?

In the course of 2014, Putin called repeatedly for a negotiated peace, and this led to the Minsk II Agreement in February 2015 based on autonomy of the Donbas and an end to violence by both sides. Russia did not claim the Donbas as Russian territory, but instead called for autonomy and the protection of ethnic Russians within Ukraine. The UN Security Council endorsed the Minsk II agreement, but the U.S. neocons privately subverted it. Years later, Chancellor Angela Merkel blurted out the truth. The Western side treated the agreement not as a solemn treaty but as a delaying tactic to “give Ukraine time” to build its military strength. In the meantime, around 14,000 people died in the fighting in Donbas between 2014 and 2021.

Jeffrey Sachs, 19 June 24,  https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/role-of-us-in-russia-ukraine-

For the fifth time since 2008, Russia has proposed to negotiate with the U.S. over security arrangements, this time in proposals made by President Vladimir Putin on June 14, 2024. Four previous times, the U.S. rejected the offer of negotiations in favor of a neocon strategy to weaken or dismember Russia through war and covert operations. The U.S. neocon tactics have failed disastrously, devastating Ukraine in the process, and endangering the whole world. After all the warmongering, it’s time for Biden to open negotiations for peace with Russia.

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. grand strategy has been to weaken Russia. As early as 1992, then Defense Secretary Richard Cheney opined that following the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, Russia too should be dismembered. Zbigniew Brzezinski opined in 1997 that Russia should be divided into three loosely confederated entities in Russian Europe, Siberia, and the far east. In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO alliance bombed Russia’s ally, Serbia, for 78 days in order to break Serbia apart and install a massive NATO military base in breakaway Kosovo. Leaders of the U.S. military-industrial complex vociferously supported the Chechen war against Russia in the early 2000s.

To secure these U.S. advances against Russia, Washington aggressively pushed NATO enlargement, despite promises to Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin that NATO would not move one inch eastward from Germany. Most tendentiously, the U.S. pushed NATO enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia, with the idea of surrounding Russia’s naval fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea with NATO states: Ukraine, Romania (NATO member 2004), Bulgaria (NATO member 2004), Turkey (NATO member 1952), and Georgia, an idea straight from the playbook of the British Empire in the Crimean War (1853-6).

Brzezinski spelled out a chronology of NATO enlargement in 1997, including NATO membership of Ukraine during 2005-2010. The U.S. in fact proposed NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia at the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit. By 2020, NATO had in fact enlarged by 14 countries in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union (Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 1999; Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in 2004; Albania and Croatia, 2009; Montenegro, 2017; and Northern Macedonia, 2020), while promising future membership to Ukraine and Georgia.

The White House is dead wrong to evade negotiations just because of disagreements with Russia’s proposals. It should put up its own proposals and get down to the business of negotiating an end to the war.

In short, the 30-year U.S. project, hatched originally by Cheney and the neocons, and carried forward consistently since then, has been to weaken or even dismember Russia, surround Russia with NATO forces, and depict Russia as the belligerent power.

It is against this grim backdrop that Russian leaders have repeatedly proposed to negotiate security arrangements with Europe and the U.S. that would provide security for all countries concerned, not just the NATO bloc. Guided by the neocon game plan, the U.S. has refused to negotiate on every occasion, while trying to pin the blame on Russia for the lack of negotiations.

In June 2008, as the U.S. prepared to expand NATO to Ukraine and Georgia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed a European Security Treaty, calling for collective security and an end to NATO’s unilateralism. Suffice it to say, the U.S. showed no interest whatsoever in Russia’s proposals, and instead proceeded with its long-held plans for NATO enlargement.

The second Russian proposal for negotiations came from Putin following the violent overthrow of Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, with the active complicity if not outright leadership of the U.S. government. I happened to see the U.S. complicity up close, as the post-coup government invited me for urgent economic discussions. When I arrived in Kiev, I was taken to the Maidan, where I was told directly about U.S. funding of the Maidan protest.

The evidence of U.S. complicity in the coup is overwhelming. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was caught on a phone line in January 2014 plotting the change of government in Ukraine. Meanwhile, U.S. Senators went personally to Kiev to stir up the protests (akin to Chinese or Russian political leaders coming to DC on January 6, 2021 to rile up the crowds). On February 21, 2014, the Europeans, U.S., and Russia brokered a deal with Yanukovych in which Yanukovich agreed to early elections. Yet the coup leaders reneged on the deal the same day, took over government buildings, threatened more violence, and deposed Yanukovych the next day. The U.S. supported the coup and immediately extended recognition to the new government.

In my view, this was a standard CIA-led covert regime change operation, of which there have been several dozen around the world, including sixty-four episodes between 1947 and 1989 meticulously documented by Professor Lindsey O’Rourke. Covert regime-change operations are of course not really hidden from view, but the U.S. government vociferously denies its role, keeps all documents highly confidential, and systematically gaslights the world:

“Do not believe what you see plainly with your own eyes! The U.S. had nothing to do with this.” Details of the operations eventually emerge, however, through eyewitnesses, whistleblowers, the forced release of documents under the Freedom of Information Act, declassification of papers after years or decades, and memoirs, but all far too late for real accountability.

In any event, the violent coup induced the ethnic-Russia Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine to break from the coup leaders, many of whom were extreme Russophobic nationalists, and some in violent groups with a history of Nazi SS links in the past. Almost immediately, the coup leaders took steps to repress the use of the Russian language even in the Russian-speaking Donbas. In the following months and years, the government in Kiev launched a military campaign to retake the breakaway regions, deploying neo-Nazi paramilitary units and U.S. arms.

In the course of 2014, Putin called repeatedly for a negotiated peace, and this led to the Minsk II Agreement in February 2015 based on autonomy of the Donbas and an end to violence by both sides. Russia did not claim the Donbas as Russian territory, but instead called for autonomy and the protection of ethnic Russians within Ukraine. The UN Security Council endorsed the Minsk II agreement, but the U.S. neocons privately subverted it. Years later, Chancellor Angela Merkel blurted out the truth. The Western side treated the agreement not as a solemn treaty but as a delaying tactic to “give Ukraine time” to build its military strength. In the meantime, around 14,000 people died in the fighting in Donbas between 2014 and 2021.

Following the definitive collapse of the Minsk II agreement, Putin again proposed negotiations with the U.S. in December 2021. By that point, the issues went even beyond NATO enlargement to include fundamental issues of nuclear armaments. Step by step, the U.S. neocons had abandoned nuclear arms control with Russia, with the U.S. unilaterally abandoning the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002, placing Aegis missiles in Poland and Romania in 2010 onwards, and walking out of the Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty in 2019.

In view of these dire concerns, Putin put on the table on December 15, 2021 a draft “Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Security Guarantees.” The most immediate issue on the table (Article 4 of the draft treaty) was the end of the U.S. attempt to expand NATO to Ukraine. I called U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the end of 2021 to try to convince the Biden White House to enter the negotiations. My main advice was to avoid a war in Ukraine by accepting Ukraine’s neutrality, rather than NATO membership, which was a bright red line for Russia.

The White House flatly rejected the advice, claiming remarkably (and obtusely) that NATO’s enlargement to Ukraine was none of Russia’s business! Yet what would the U.S. say if some country in the Western hemisphere decided to host Chinese or Russian bases? Would the White House, State Department, or Congress say, “That’s just fine, that’s a matter of concern only to Russia or China and the host country?” No. The world nearly came to nuclear Armageddon in 1962 when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba and the U.S. imposed a naval quarantine and threatened war unless the Russians removed the missiles. The U.S. military alliance does not belong in Ukraine any more than the Russian or Chinese military belongs close to the U.S. border.

The fourth offer of Putin to negotiate came in March 2022, when Russia and Ukraine nearly closed a peace deal just weeks after the start of Russia’s special military operation that began on February 24, 2022. Russia, once again, was after one big thing: Ukraine’s neutrality, i.e., no NATO membership and no hosting of U.S. missiles on Russia’s border.

Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky quickly accepted Ukraine’s neutrality, and Ukraine and Russia exchanged papers, with the skillful mediation of the Foreign Ministry of Turkey. Then suddenly, at the end of March, Ukraine abandoned the negotiations.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, following in the tradition of British anti-Russian war-mongering dating back to the Crimean War (1853-6), actually flew to Kiev to warn Zelensky against neutrality and the importance of Ukraine defeating Russia on the battlefield. Since that date, Ukraine has lost around 500,000 dead and is on the ropes on the battlefield.

Now we have Russia’s fifth offer of negotiations, explained clearly and cogently by Putin himself in his speech to diplomats at the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 14. Putin laid out Russia’s proposed terms to end the war in Ukraine.

“Ukraine should adopt a neutral, non-aligned status, be nuclear- free, and undergo demilitarization and de-nazification,” Putin said. “These parameters were broadly agreed upon during the Istanbul negotiations in 2022, including specific details on demilitarization such as the agreed numbers of tanks and other military equipment. We reached consensus on all points.

“Certainly, the rights, freedoms, and interests of Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine must be fully protected,” he continued. “The new territorial realities, including the status of Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions as parts of the Russian Federation, should be acknowledged. These foundational principles need to be formalized through fundamental international agreements in the future. Naturally, this entails the removal of all Western sanctions against Russia as well.”

Let me say a few words about negotiating.

Russia’s proposals should now be met at the negotiating table by proposals from the U.S. and Ukraine. The White House is dead wrong to evade negotiations just because of disagreements with Russia’s proposals. It should put up its own proposals and get down to the business of negotiating an end to the war.

There are three core issues for Russia: Ukraine’s neutrality (non-NATO enlargement), Crimea remaining in Russian hands, and boundary changes in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. The first two are almost surely non-negotiable. The end of NATO enlargement is the fundamental casus belli. Crimea is also core for Russia, as Crimea has been home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet since 1783 and is fundamental to Russia’s national security.

The third core issue, the borders of Eastern and Southern Ukraine, will be a key point of negotiations. The U.S. cannot pretend that borders are sacrosanct after NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to relinquish Kosovo, and after the U.S. pressured Sudan to relinquish South Sudan. Yes, Ukraine’s borders will be redrawn as the result of the 10 years of war, the situation on the battlefield, the choices of the local populations, and tradeoffs made at the negotiating table.

Biden needs to accept that negotiations are not a sign of weakness. As Kennedy put it, “Never negotiate out of fear, but never fear to negotiate.” Ronald Reagan famously described his own negotiating strategy using a Russian proverb, “Trust but verify.”

The neocon approach to Russia, delusional and hubristic from the start, lies in ruins. NATO will never enlarge to Ukraine and Georgia. Russia will not be toppled by a CIA covert operation. Ukraine is being horribly bloodied on the battlefield, often losing 1,000 or more dead and wounded in a single day. The failed neocon game plan brings us closer to nuclear Armageddon.

Yet Biden still refuses to negotiate. Following Putin’s speech, the U.S., NATO, and Ukraine firmly rejected negotiations once again. Biden and his team have still not relinquished the neocon fantasy of defeating Russia and expanding NATO to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian people have been lied to time and again by Zelensky and Biden and other leaders of NATO countries, who told them falsely and repeatedly that Ukraine would prevail on the battlefield and that there were no options to negotiate. Ukraine is now under martial law. The public is given no say about its own slaughter.

For the sake of Ukraine’s very survival, and to avoid nuclear war, the President of the United States has one overriding responsibility today: Negotiate.

June 21, 2024 Posted by | history, politics international, Ukraine, USA | Leave a comment

Sweden opens doors to possible US nukes deployment

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 ,  https://www.sott.net/article/492419-Sweden-opens-doors-to-possible-US-nukes-deployment

The opposition is worried that a new defense pact does not prohibit acceptance of American nuclear weapons

Lawmakers in Stockholm have approved a controversial defense pact with Washington, which allows American troops onto 17 Swedish military bases and training sites. Critics have blasted the agreement for not explicitly barring US nuclear weapons from being deployed in the Nordic country.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) was signed between Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in December of last year, but needed parliamentary approval to take effect.

On Tuesday, lawmakers in Stockholm overwhelmingly backed the DCA, with 266 members of parliament voting in favor and 37 against, while 46 were absent. As a high-stakes vote, a three-quarters supermajority with more than half of lawmakers present was required for the bill to pass.

The agreement was opposed by the Left and Green parties, who argued that the terms should explicitly state that Sweden would not host nuclear weapons.

“We want to see legislation that bans nuclear weapons from being brought onto Swedish soil,” Green Party MP Emma Berginger said in parliament during Tuesday’s proceedings, arguing that the pact “doesn’t close the door to nuclear weapons.”

The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association, a major anti-war non-profit organization, slammed the move as one that increases tensions and security risks for Sweden, claiming it betrays voters’ expectations for a nuclear-free nation.

“Unlike in Norway and Denmark’s DCA pacts, the Swedish agreement contains no reservation against nuclear weapons,” the group’s leader, Kerstin Bergea, wrote in an op-ed after the vote. Sweden’s neighbor Finland, which joined NATO in 2022, has a national law barring nuclear weapons from its territory, and their DCA pact with the US refers to it, Bergea pointed out.

Sweden, a member of the US-led military bloc since March, will allow American troops, vehicles and aircraft unimpeded passage across the country. The Pentagon will also be allowed to set up its own facilities at existing Swedish military bases. The presence of US personnel will be regulated by the US rather than local laws.

Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that numerous waves of NATO expansion have made Europe less safe. Moscow has no territorial disputes or points of tension with the bloc’s new members Sweden or Finland, he stressed, while acknowledging that NATO military infrastructure will no doubt be hosted on their soil. Stockholm and Helsinki “understand this would lead to consequences for their own security,” he said.

Comment:
1) If the agreement or surrender allows the US: “unimpeded passage across the country … set up its own facilities at existing Swedish military bases … will be regulated by the US rather than local laws.” then whether the agreement is explicit about the stationing of nuclear weapons could be said to be irrelevant, since there will be nobody to control what goes on in the US areas of the country except the US. Besides, with enough pressure even an informed government could be made to keep silent as Denmark and Sweden most likely did about the Nord Stream bombing, which was for the most part brushed under the carpet due to considerations of national security.

2) The move from the US has been well prepared. Sweden is a somewhat fragmented country with much energy spent on parallel society areas influenced by minority laws, whether religious, criminal or both. Still some mental preparations have been needed to get the Swedes formally into NATO.
Sweden won’t allow citizens referendum vote over NATO membership (April 2022) which has:

Sweden does not plan to hold a referendum on the subject of NATO membership if its parliament approves of the measure, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced on Thursday, suggesting that putting the matter to a vote would be a “bad idea.”

“I don’t think it is an issue that is suitable for a referendum,” the Swedish leader told reporters, implying that Parliament’s support was sufficient. “There is a lot of information about national security that is confidential, so there are important issues in such a referendum that cannot be discussed and important facts that cannot be put on the table,” she explained.

The Swedish parliament is conducting an overview of security policy, with plans to release a report on the subject by the middle of next month. With a majority of Parliament reportedly backing membership in NATO, Andersson’s own party, the Social Democrats, is considered the primary obstacle to Stockholm signing on to the 30-country alliance. However, Ulf Kristersson, head of the leading opposition party, the Moderates, agrees that a referendum is a bad idea.

3) With the military US-SE agreement in the central country on the Scandinavian Peninsula the road is paved for more influence. As a possible example, from Russia there was this claim: US preparing major anti-Russia propaganda campaign in Scandinavia – Moscow (May 30)

At the same time, high-ranking Swedish and Finnish officials are being trained, “like diligent students,” to repeat the “Russophobic mantras of their American patrons without hesitation,” the service wrote.

Specifically, it mentioned the commander-in-chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, Micael Byden, who recently claimed that Russia is planning to invade the island of Gotland to establish control in the Baltic Sea; and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has claimed that Russia poses an “existential threat” and has insisted that the only way to achieve peace is “through the battlefield.”

If ‘the only way to achieve peace is “through the battlefield.”‘ the invitation for the Scandinavians to join the effort is open, even if for now the active game is by proxy and military-financial aid.

June 21, 2024 Posted by | Sweden, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reinforced his party’s commitment to nuclear energy 

Rishi Sunak talks energy during Sizewell trip in Suffolk.  Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reinforced his party’s commitment to nuclear
energy during a tour of Sizewell B. Building permission for Sizewell C on
the Suffolk coast, which will generate 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity,
was granted in July 2022 and was expected to cost £20bn. Quizzed about
whether government had received any more assurances on further sources of
private investment for the project, Mr Sunak told reporters: “We are
confident of delivery of our nuclear plant”. In its manifesto, Labour said
it would “end a decade of dithering” on nuclear power, and would ensure the
long-term security of the sector.

 BBC 19th June 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmjjg56pz5po

June 21, 2024 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Extreme heat and flash floods: Scientists warn of hazardous summer weather in Europe

Europe may not break records like 2023 but it could be in store for extreme heat, storms and floods

While the UK experienced a wet and
mild June, much of the rest of Europe has been hit by extreme weather,
including heatwaves and flooding. Flights heading to Palma airport, on the
popular tourist island of Mallorca, had to be rerouted last week following
heavy rainfall that caused flooding on the Balearic Islands and parts of
mainland Spain. It came one week after flooding resulted in mass
cancellations throughout Germany’s railway system. Meanwhile, schools and
popular tourist sites were closed throughout Greece last week as the
country experienced a heatwave that saw temperatures reach 43°C. The
heatwave has been linked to a series of tourists’ deaths, including
British broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley. The scenes have left climate
scientists worried that Europe could be in for another summer of extreme
weather, following the record-breaking heatwave of 2023.

 iNews 18th June 2024

https://inews.co.uk/news/extreme-heat-flash-floods-hazardous-weather-europe-summer-scientists-3117553

June 21, 2024 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Specialised device tried to recover melted fuel at Fukushima plant

By FUMI YADA/ Staff Writer, June 19, 2024 [includes VIDEO] , Asahi Shimbun

KOBE–A specialized device resembling a fishing rod will be used to “hook” tiny bits of melted nuclear fuel debris from one of three damaged reactors at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the work is expected to begin no later than October and will be done on a trial basis.

The equipment was shown to reporters on May 28.

The removal of melted fuel is regarded as the trickiest phase of decommissioning work, because the wrecked facility is still plagued by extremely high levels of radiation.

TEPCO plans to remove a few grams of melted nuclear fuel from the No. 2 reactor because radiation levels there are relatively low.

An extendable pipe to be used for the delicate maneuver was demonstrated at a facility in Kobe operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

Designed like a fishing pole, the 22-meter-long device was inserted into a model of the pedestal to support the reactor’s pressure vessel.

The aim was to ascertain whether pebbles representing fuel debris could be grasped with the claw-like arm……………………more https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15288064

June 21, 2024 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Strike action suspended at Dounreay

 Strike action on Wednesday 19 June by around 600 Unite members employed by
Nuclear Restoration Services Limited (NRS) at Dounreay nuclear power
station has been suspended to allow workers to be balloted on a new pay
offer. Unite can confirm that an overtime ban and an end to working
voluntary appointments will continue during the ballot process. If the new
offer is rejected by the membership, fresh strike action will be announced.

 Unite 18th June 2024

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2024/june/dounreay-nuclear-station-strike-postponed-following-improved-pay-offer

June 21, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

TODAY What a disaster, if the anti-war movement brings Donald Trump back to the White House!

If there ever was a time for clear thinking, that time is now! There is a real danger that good , caring Americans might decide to vote for Donald Trump, because he promises to prevent World War 3.

Donald Trump is promising to bring peace to Ukraine. And he’s promising to stop the massive haemorrhaging of tax-payers’ money to Ukraine’s suicidal fight against Russia.

” Trump has repeatedly argued that US President Joe Biden’s policy of open-ended military support for Ukraine is leading the US toward a “third world war,” and has promised that he would end the conflict “in 24 hours” if he defeats Biden in this November’s presidential election“-https://www.sott.net/article/492394-No-more-endless-payments-to-Zelensky-Trump“

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The only problem is – you can’t believe a word that Donald Trump says.

Yes, Trump accidentally tells the truth sometimes. He sure is right about the endless gravy train of money to the sainted Zelensky – and that it should be stopped.

But note –  “Trump did not lobby his Congressional allies to block the $61 billion aid package in April, and said at the time that he would support lending, rather than gifting, money to Zelensky in future.“

Donald Trump’s history of lies and deception would fill a book- and indeed, it has filled several – and documentaries, too.

And do you think for one moment, that the ruthless money machine of the big corporations that fund Trump, would let him stop the weapons buying, even if he wanted to?

No USA President can stop the funding of weapons for USA’s permanent overseas wars – because no man or woman can ever get into political office without the financial backing of big corporations – and there are none bigger than the weapons-makers

June 20, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Blinken made secret weapons promise to Israel – Netanyahu

 https://www.sott.net/article/492412-Blinken-made-secret-weapons-promise-to-Israel-Netanyahu 18 June 24

The Secretary of State said the White House “is working day and night” to resume all arms shipments, according to the PM.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed to have pressured the United States over arms supplies that his country needs in its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The US paused delivery of weapons to Israel in early May amid calls for it to scale back its assault on the densely-populated city of Rafah in southern Gaza. The shipment reportedly included 3,500 bombs for fighter jets. The Jewish state’s offensive on Rafah has left thousands of Palestinians dead and injured, according to the local Hamas-run authorities.

In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Netanyahu said in English that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured him the White House“is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks,” referring to arms supplies.

The statement confirms the latest media reports that during a meeting with Blinken last week in Jerusalem, Netanyahu had demanded the removal of barriers to the flow of munitions.

Netanyahu stated:

“When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation. I said I deeply appreciated the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war. But I also said something else, I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”

The Israeli leader stressed that an increased flow of US weapons would help bring the end to the struggle with Hamas.

“During World War II, [Winston] Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job.’ And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”

Comment: When Israel demands, US complies.

Netanyahu has reportedly told Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other high-ranking officials to make sure that arms transfers are fully resumed during upcoming meetings with American counterparts in Washington this week.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned Israel he would halt arms shipments over the situation in Rafah, but despite those warnings his administration had reportedly kept weapons and ammunition flowing. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the US proceeded with a transfer of $1 billion worth of ammunition and vehicles for Israel in May, the same month it stopped the delivery of bombs.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the White House had successfully pressured Democrats in Congress to support a major arms sale to Israel that includes 50 F-15 fighter jets worth more than $18 billion.

Israel declared war on Hamas after militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage in a surprise attack on October 7. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the months of fighting that have followed, according to the latest figures from Gaza’s health ministry.

Comment: Regarding his recent reticence, Biden is roleplaying for the masses in an election year. He supports only one outcome: fulfilled, unimpeded.

June 20, 2024 Posted by | Israel, politics international, USA | 2 Comments

‘Lax’ nuclear security leaving UK at risk of cyber attacks from hostile nations

Official figures show 20 per cent drop in nuclear inspections amid 45 per cent rise in security threats.

By Richard Vaughan, June 19, 2024 The i

The average number of inspections at UK nuclear facilities has plunged by a fifth in recent years despite a significant rise in the number of security incidents over the same period, official figures show.

The “unacceptable” numbers have prompted nuclear safety experts to warn that the Government has taken a “laissez-faire” approach to nuclear power inspection.

According to data from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), between 2015 and 2019 there were an average of 194 security inspections per year, a figure that dropped to 153 per year between 2020 and 2023 – a decline of 20 per cent.

This is despite a dramatic rise in the average number of major security incidents over the same period, with 531 such incidents per year between 2015 and 2019, rising to 771 between 2020 and 2023 – an increase of 45 per cent.

Security incidents reported to the ONR are both physical and cyber, with protesters and individuals gaining unauthorised access to the sites as well as hostile states targeting the UK’s nuclear infrastructure.

In December, it was revealed that cyber groups linked to Russia and China had hacked into the Sellafield site in Cumbria, prompting fears that sensitive information around how Sellafield moves radioactive waste may have been compromised.

It follows warnings from the National Cyber Security Centre of the heightened threat of “state-aligned groups against western critical national infrastructure” linked to Russia, including the UK’s nuclear power stations.

The National Risk Register, a government document which assesses “the most serious risks facing the UK”, recently highlighted the danger of both conventional and cyber attacks on UK civil nuclear infrastructure.

Nuclear safety experts said the drop in inspections coincided with the Covid pandemic that allowed for “at distance” virtual inspections, which have continued creating more “lax nuclear regulation”.

The overall number of inspections has fallen by 30 per cent since 2015, when there were 240 inspections, compared to 2023 when 153 checks were carried out.

Dr Paul Dorfman, the chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group and a former secretary of the government’s committee examining radiation risks of internal emitters (Cerrie), told i: “Covid allowed ONR to ramp ‘at-distance virtual inspection’. This is a problem because ONR needs to be in close, on-site touch with nuclear facilities to get a good view on what’s really going on – and they seem to be carrying on this ‘arms’-length’ inspection regime post-Covid.

“Basically, it looks like the ONR’s nuclear inspections are being hit by the current Govternment’s ‘laissez faire’ attitude – hence we seem to be seeing more lax nuclear regulation.”……………………………………… more https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/government-approach-nuclear-safety-drop-inspections-3120112

June 20, 2024 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Very late and over budget: Why newest large nuclear plant in US is likely to be the last

Fereidoon Sioshansi Jun 20, 2024

With a lot of exaggerated fanfare, in early May 2024 the Georgia Power Company announced that the 1,114 MW Unit 4 nuclear power reactor at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia, entered commercial operation after 11 years of construction.

The former CEO of the company reportedly had installed a TV screen in his office remotely monitoring the progress of the work at the construction site. It must have been the most boring show to watch since on most days very little was actually happening at the site. He was mostly watching delays.

Vogtle unit 3 began commercial operation in July 2023. The plant’s first two older reactors, with a combined capacity of 2,430 MW, began operations in 1987 and 1989, respectively. The Plant Vogtle’s total generating capacity is nearly 5 GW surpassing, the 4,210-MW Palo Verde nuclear plant near Phoenix in Arizona.

Construction of the last 2 reactors began in 2009 and was originally expected to cost $US14 billion with a start date in 2016 and 2017. But as often happens the project suffered construction delays and cost overruns – exceeding $US30 billion ($A45 billion).

It is the latest – and possibly the last – addition to the US nuclear installed capacity, which is currently around 97 GW and accounted for nearly 19% of domestic electricity production in 2023, making it the second-largest source of electricity generation after gas, which was around 43% last year. 

Vogtle Units 3 and 4 use the Westinghouse AP1000 design (cited enthusiastically by Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton this week) which includes new passive safety features that allow the reactors to shut down without any operator action or external power source. 

Two similar reactors were planned for South Carolina, but the utilities halted construction in 2017 amidst escalating costs and delays.

The Executive Director of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Craig Piercy congratulated Southern Company, the parent of Georgia Power Company, and Westinghouse:

“This milestone … secures a generational investment in clean energy. Now complete, Vogtle 3 and 4 will deliver 17 million MWhrs of carbon-free power to Georgia annually – equivalent to the energy from all California’s wind turbines – and will be available 24/7.”

Fair enough but Mr. Piercy failed to mention that it took 11 years and $US30 billion of ratepayer money to build it – few private investors can afford the time or the capital.

Nor did he mention that currently there are no other nuclear reactors under construction anywhere in the US and none are presently contemplated. It may be the end of an era despite ANS’ obviously biased praise of the technology.

The story is much the same in France where the state-owned nuclear power giant Électricité de France (EDF), which operates a fleet of 56 reactors in one of the most nuclear dependent countries in the world, has been struggling to complete its last reactor.

The 1.6 GW Flamanville plant in northwest France is 12 years behind schedule and more than four times over budget – for the usual reasons. A faulty vessel cover needs to be fixed, pushing operation date to 2026.

In the meantime, the estimated cost to construct 6 new nuclear reactors, ordered by President Emanuel Macron, has risen to €67.4 billion ($A110 billion), from the original €51.7 billion, and is likely to go higher before they are completed. Nuclear plants are not cheap…………………………………………………

One of the few places where new reactors are being built without long delays is China, but even there the scale of nuclear build is dwarfed by solar and wind by orders of magnitude. 

 In the past 10 years, more than 34 GW of nuclear power capacity were added in China, bringing the country’s number of operating reactors to 55 – barely shy of the 56 in France – with net capacity of 53.2 GW as of April 2024 (visual on right on original ). Some 23 reactors are reported under construction in China

Globally, nuclear, while a low-carbon and baseload form of generation, is struggling to make much of a dent despite a few isolated places where it is maintained on the agenda – generally by government fiat and through generous subsidies.

It is hard to come up with a conceivable scenario where its fortunes will significantly improve. A hefty global carbon tax, for example, may help but even in this case, it will simply make renewables, not nukes, even more attractive than they already are.

Fereidoon Sioshansi is editor and publisher of EEnergy Informer, and president of Menlo Energy Economics, based in California.  https://reneweconomy.com.au/why-the-newest-large-nuclear-plant-in-the-us-is-likely-to-be-the-last/

June 20, 2024 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear power’s financial problems exposed in new report

Greenpeace European Unit, 19/06/2024,  https://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/climate-energy/47124/nuclear-powers-financial-problems-exposed-in-new-report/

Brussels, 19 June 2024 – Nuclear power is a risky gamble with taxpayers’ cash, according to a comprehensive review of financing models published as the European Investment Bank prepares to discuss new support for nuclear energy at a meeting on 21 June.

The report, Fission for Funds: The Financing of Nuclear Power Plants, gives an overview of financing models and reveals how the profitability of nuclear power plants heavily relies on government involvement in de-risking investments. The report was commissioned by Greenpeace Germany and carried out by Jens Weibezahn from the Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure, and Björn Steigerwald from the Technische Universität Berlin.

Greenpeace EU political campaigner Lorelei Limousin said: “Nuclear power is a black hole for taxpayers and consumers. High upfront costs, long construction times, and government bailouts make nuclear projects a burden on public coffers and a threat to credible climate action. Wind and solar energy are already much cheaper, and their cost is declining. Not a single euro of EU public money should go to nuclear power – it’s time to put people’s needs ahead of nuclear greed, and invest in a safer, cheaper future.”

The report shows that nuclear power plant projects are unreliable due to budget overruns, construction delays, and reliability problems in the operational phase, and therefore often lose investor interest. Hidden costs are also often not included in initial calculations, such as liability insurance, decommissioning and waste management. These become a burden for taxpayers in the future. The report highlights that the cost of solar and wind energy are already much lower than new nuclear projects.

Jens Weibezahn, Assistant professor Ph.D., Copenhagen Business School, co-author of the report, said: “In our review of current nuclear power plant projects, we found that almost all financing models rely – either directly or indirectly – on government support to make them viable. This places an unreasonable burden on either taxpayers or electricity ratepayers, as they, ultimately, bear a large part of the associated financial risks.”

Although most global economies are focusing on renewables  to reach net-zero targets, some EU countries, such as France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, are betting on nuclear power, despite major issues in securing funding for new projects and maintaining their existing ageing fleets. This report highlights that government support for these costly, long-term, and high-risk nuclear projects is becoming harder to justify, particularly at a time of high inflation and rising cost of living.

In the past two decades, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has invested €845 million in nuclear power activities. For the first time, the EIB intends to support research and development in so-called small modular reactors (SMRs), according to a draft strategic roadmap, which will be adopted on 21 June. Many uncertainties persist regarding the overall economic viability of SMRs, not to mention safety risks and the radioactive waste problem. Greenpeace calls on EU finance ministers, who govern the EIB, to oppose any funding for nuclear energy, including small modular reactors.

 Please find more information about the various financing models used in European countries in this briefing and read more in the full report. 

June 20, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE | Leave a comment

Top lawmakers sign off on massive US arms sale to Israel

The approval of the F-15 sale comes the month after US President Joe Biden promised to hold off on arms to Israel if it chose to expand the assault on Rafah

The Cradle News Desk, JUN 18, 2024

Two Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress have signed off on a massive arms sale to Israel, which will include $18 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets, the Washington Post reported on 17 June. 

Representative Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin agreed to the deal after months of holding up the sale due to concerns over Israel’s conduct in its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. 

“Any issues or concerns that Chair Cardin had were addressed through our ongoing consultations with the administration, and that’s why he felt it appropriate to allow this case to move forward,” Eric Harris, Communications Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the Washington Post……………………

The end of the informal consultation process will allow the US State Department to move ahead with officially notifying Congress of the arms sale, marking the last step before the deal is fully approved. 

The State Department has declined to comment on the arms sale to Israel, which was one of the largest in years……………………………………

The Biden administration has already approved over 100 US arms sales to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza in October. https://thecradle.co/articles/top-lawmakers-sign-off-on-massive-us-arms-sale-to-israel

June 20, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, Israel, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Leaked doc reveals Israeli military KNEW of Hamas plan to raid and take hostages 2 weeks before Oct 7, Israeli news reports

SOTT, Grace Eliza Goodwin, Business Insider, 2024-06-18

The Israeli military knew about Hamas’ plans to attack southern Israel weeks before October 7 — even how many hostages the militant group planned to capture, according to a report from Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

The Israel Defense Force’s Gaza Division reportedly distributed an internal intelligence document on September 19, 2023, outlining the details of Hamas’ planned raid, according to Kan.

The document, which Kan reportedly saw, states that the IDF had observed Hamas conducting a series of trainings where militant fighters practiced attacking both Israeli military stations and civilian kibbutzim communities.

The IDF also knew, according to the document viewed by Kan, that Hamas trained its units on how to capture hostages and how to guard them once they were taken back to the Gaza Strip.

Comment: The following is a AI dubbed translation of the report: English dub of an Israeli news report about a document the IDF distributed internally on September 19th, 2023, titled “Detailed End-to-End Raid Training” — it described the impending 10/7 attack in close detail, down to the number of hostages and how Hamas planned to handle them.  https://x.com/BoltzmannBooty/status/1802780095934796125?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1802780095934796125%7Ctwgr%5E03c00f0d7a7896eeb5714ea82f7f7840b511a996%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sott.net%2Fembed%2FrqC_5-5FwJyE6YzTfNGB8znT2Ak

The IDF’s Southern Command and Gaza Division also wrote in the document, according to Kan, that they expected Hamas to take between 200 and 250 hostages. The officials even had intel on how Hamas intended to treat the hostages in certain extreme circumstances and what rules Hamas set for executing hostages, Kan reported.

Comment: The recent hostage ‘rescue’ (and ensuing massacre) reveals that Hamas has been treating the hostages very well.


Israel mistakenly believed, the Times of Israel reported, that Hamas would never be able to get past its high-tech border security — an “Iron Wall” composed of concrete, tunnels, and razor wire, complete with remote-controlled machine guns, that was installed two years before the attack.

That oversight prevented top Israeli intelligence leaders from doing anything about the internal report detailing Hamas’ plans, Kan News reported.

And it wasn’t just a few weeks before October 7 that Israel reportedly knew about Hamas’ plans.

More than a year before the attack, Israel had a 40-page document detailing, play-by-play, exactly how Hamas would attack the southern border, The New York Times reported last year. But, Israel never took Hamas’ plans seriously, assuming the militant group would never get past Israel’s defenses, the Times reported.

Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage, many of whom are still being held in captivity.

The exact number of hostages Hamas took is unclear, but Israel has estimated it was around 240, with about 116 still in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Israel’s subsequent airstrikes and war against Hamas in Gaza have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities…………………………………https://www.sott.net/article/492398-Leaked-doc-reveals-Israeli-military-KNEW-of-Hamas-plan-to-raid-and-take-hostages-2-weeks-before-Oct-7-Israeli-news-reports

June 20, 2024 Posted by | Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Vandenberg Conducts Test Launch for Development of New Weapon System

by Janene Scully | Noozhawk North County Editor, June 18, 2024 

A Minotaur I rocket launch late Monday night at Vandenberg Space Force Base tested a new re-entry vehicle, which carries the warhead, under development for the Air Force for the intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system.

The Minotaur I rocket equipped with an unarmed Mk21A reentry vehicle blasted off at 11:01 p.m. flying over the Pacific Ocean as Vandenberg officials remained mostly mum about the mission beyond issuing a warning notices for boaters and pilots. Vandenberg officials finally released vague details a few hours before the launch window opened Monday night……………………………

The Air Force has contracted with Lockheed Martin for the Mk21A engineering and manufacturing development phase. 

Once deemed fully operational, the Mk21A RV will be integrated on the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system. 

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, based in New Mexico, is currently spearheading development of Mk21A. …………

Northrop Grumman equipped the rocket with modern flight-proven avionics and other subsystems to produce what the military calls “cost-effective, responsive launch vehicles to support missile defense testing and other suborbital applications.” 

A similar test took place two years ago, but ended in failure 11 seconds after launch from Vandenberg.

The Air Force is developing a next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile under the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent weapons system, also known as Sentinel………………………………. more https://www.noozhawk.com/vandenberg-conducts-test-launch-for-development-of-new-weapon-system/

June 20, 2024 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Chutzpah: Netanyahu demands Biden give him more genocide weapons “to finish the job a lot faster.”

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 19 June 24

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seething that President Biden withheld one measly shipment of 2,000 lb. bombs Israel uses to obliterate most of Gaza’s 139 square miles. All schools, hospitals, sewage and water infrastructure kaput under Joe’s billions in genocide weapons, and still Netanyahu is not satisfied.

He released a scathing video charging “When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation. I said I deeply appreciate the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war. But I also said it is inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel.”

Netanyahu then pivoted to the Good War: “In WWII Churchill told the US, ‘Give us the tools and we’ll do the job…and I say, ‘give us the tools and we will finish the job a lot faster.”

Netanyahu then pivoted to the Good War: “In WWII Churchill told the US, ‘Give us the tools and we’ll do the job…and I say, ‘give us the tools and we will finish the job a lot faster.”

June 20, 2024 Posted by | Israel, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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