Seraphim Hanisch
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The pattern of slandering all things Russia with or without (usually without) the burden of proof continues in the US.
The US State Department made the decision to impose new sanctions on Russia, based on the insinuation that Russian agencies were involved in the poisoning of Sergey and Yuliya Skripal in Salisbury, England this past March.
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The US is imposing new sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK. The measures are scheduled to go into effect on or around August 22, according to the State Department.“The United States…determined under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) that the government of the Russian Federation has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law, or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Wednesday.
The accusation comes despite there being zero evidence suggesting Moscow was behind the attack.A State Department official told reporters in a conference call on Wednesday that Washington informed Russia “this afternoon” about the sanctions. The US still wants to maintain relations with Moscow, despite the new sanctions. “We are tough on Russia, at the same time we are quite committed to working to maintain relations because there are important things at stake here,” the official said, as quoted by Sputnik.
London was predictably delighted and rushed to welcome Washington’s announcement of new punitive actions against Moscow. “The UK welcomes this further action by our US allies,” a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said in a statement. “The strong international response to the use of a chemical weapon on the streets of Salisbury sends an unequivocal message to Russia that its provocative, reckless behavior will not go unchallenged.”
The Duran has followed this case very closely, and there has never been evidence provided by British or international agencies investigating this incident or its sequel that happened last month, to prove conclusively that Russian agencies were involved in poisoning former USSR Spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yuliya, in Salisbury in March of this year.
The news of this new set of sanctions was apparently enough to create jitters on the Russian stock exchanges, and the Russian Ruble has fallen to a new 2018 low against the American dollar. Trading went over 66 rubles to the dollar. This marks almost a 20% devaluation in the currency since April of this year, and the worst valuation since mid-November, 2016.
This incident has not gone unanswered in Moscow. The Russian Embassy in the United States called for documentation about the source and reasoning behind these new sanctions, as reported by TASS:
The Russian embassy in the United States has called on the US Department of State to publish correspondence on the introduction of new sanctions on Moscow over the Skripal incident, the embassy said in a statement.
“We suggested publishing our correspondence on this issue. No answer has followed so far,” the Russian embassy added.
This pattern of throwing out destructive slander while refusing to provide opportunity for a real answer has permeated American policy towards the Russian Federation with increasing intensity since 2013. It reveals the machinations of a very divided American government, with the “deep State” or establishment politicians and foreign policy makers completely unwilling to even give Russia a fair shake at representing itself.
This policy is shared by the United Kingdom, as this piece by The Duran’s Editor in Chief, Alexander Mercouris shows, with this summary of violations of due process the British authorities are committing with regard to Russia:
(1) The British government is interfering in the conduct of a criminal investigation, with Prime Minister Theresa May and especially Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson pointing fingers at who they say is guilty (Russia) whilst the criminal investigation is still underway;
(2) The British government has said that unless Russia proves itself innocent within a specific time the British government will conclude that it is guilty. As I have explained previously this reverses the burden of proof: in a criminal case it is the prosecution which is supposed to prove the defendant’s guilt, not the defendant who must prove his innocence;
(3) The British government refuses to share with Russia – the party it says is guilty – the ‘evidence’ upon which it says it has concluded that Russia is guilty, the evidence in this case being a sample of the chemical with which it says Sergey and Yulia Skripal was poisoned.
This violates the fundamental principle that the defendant must be provided with all the evidence against him so that he can properly prepare his defence;
(4) The British government is not following the procedure set out in Article IX (2) of the Chemical Weapons Convention to which both Britain and Russia are parties. This reads as follows
States Parties should, whenever possible, first make every effort to clarify and resolve, through exchange of information and consultations among themselves, any matter which may cause doubt about compliance with this Convention, or which gives rise to concerns about a related matter which may be considered ambiguous. A State Party which receives a request from another State Party for clarification of any matter which the requesting State Party believes causes such a doubt or concern shall provide the requesting State Party as soon as possible, but in any case not later than ten days after the request, with information sufficient to answer the doubt or concern raised along with an explanation of how the information provided resolves the matter.
(5) The British authorities are denying the Russians consular access to Yulia Skripal, though she is a Russian citizen who the British authorities say was subjected to a criminal assault on their territory.
This is a potentially serious matter since by preventing consular access to Yulia Skripal the British authorities are not only violating the interstate consular arrangements which exist between Britain and Russia, but they are preventing the Russian authorities from learning more about the condition of one of their citizens who has been hospitalised following a violent criminal assault, and are preventing the Russian authorities from carrying out their own investigation into the assault on one of their citizens which the British authorities say has taken place.
I would add that this obstruction of Russian consular access to Yulia Skripal has gone almost entirely unreported in the British and Western media.
The Americans are playing the same game here, and, regrettably, President Trump’s overtures towards repairing this relationship are almost sure to be torn out from under him by the actions of this virulent group of people. It is quite possible that this is the very reason for these new sanctions.
The perspective of the American government as one divided, with a rabid force in favor of continuing to isolate and vilify a great power in the world for no good reason, is sure to have repercussions. However, given the gradual realignment of Russia and China to be in closer and closer partnership, and Russia’s increasing prominence in Asian and Eastern Hemisphere affairs, the end result of this behavior is likely to damage the United States and its standing in the world over the long run.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The Skripal poisoning is a hoax but more aptly should be called a classic false flag attack. The CIA/MI6 use the false flag to enforce the hate and fear Russia narrative to push along the evolving Cold War v2 that they love so much (vermin that they are).
Most will never regret what they did even into old age as they are so wrapped up and identify with their sick worldview. The are criminals aided and abetted by US elites.
Two people, who clearly look like and act like drug addicts, and who admit they are drug addicts, and who admit they had just been to a drug den before the poisoning, were poisoned with novichok. This drug den is located nearby to the park where the Skripals were found poisoned. Did the Skripals just ingest some recreational drug that they obtained by the nearby drug den? It’s growing more ridiculous and obvious by the day, and the more obvious it becomes that Russia did not do it, the more sanctions they are imposing on them. It is almost as… Read more »
The reason is quite clear to anyone with eyes to see.. It’s about making money for people inside government and their oligarchs on the outside of government. They want to weaken Russia economically and wipe out the competition on the gas
The evidence is mounting, especially with the drug addicts getting poisoned after leaving their drug den, that someone other than Russia is using novichok poison.
Release the Soviet files showing the holocaust is a total Soviet/ US lie. Say it over and over. Then aim all retaliation at israel.
The Israelis are on a killing spree in Gaza and the Saudis just blew up a bus full of children in Yemen, but the degenerate US congress and president are laying draconian sanctions on Russia and Iran for … committing … no crimes … whatsoever.
Look at how the US State Department handles unsubstantiated claims against Russia or Syria and how they handle claims against Saudi behaviour in Yemen? The pure hypocrisy.
Watch Reporters Slam US For Refusing To Condemn Saudi-US Airstrike On Yemen School Bus In Live Briefing… https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-09/watch-reporters-slam-us-refusing-condemn-saudi-coalition-airstrike-yemen-school-bus
We all know that Skripals are another pretext. Where there is a will there is a way so do not forget that American politician are acting not only on their own but under a huge lobby of influential not satisfied Russians who live in US and moreover by Jews of Russian origin who together want overthrow patriotic Gov of Putin’s Russia and put instead in the helm somebody like former president Yelcin to subjugate the country which enable them exploit and rob Russia of valuable natural resources stuffing their pockets and making Russians their slaves. So Putin has to act… Read more »
“The pattern of slandering all things Russia with or without (usually without) the burden of proof continues in the US.”
Terrible article, implying there sometimes IS proof. I don’t usually swear but I really am tired of the bollocks Hanisch writes.
Time for Russia to recall its ambassador to Washington and break diplomatic relations with the Empire altogether. Sooner or later, Russia will be forced to do so by said Empire anyway. In actual fact, this is war, total war, unavoidable war, as has been crystal clear all along. Come to terms with it, Russia, before it’s too late!
there is ample evidence; cctv, witnesses, etc. but it isn’t being put into the public domain because this remains an ongoing investigation, but USA issuing more sanctions against russia seems to indicate the the intelligence agencies are sharing information and that information has convinced the USA to sanction more
So Trump is either impotent (unable to control the rats that infest the US state department) or a fool… perhaps he is both but the author of this piece will no doubt continue to excuse his many failings as commander in chief. I’m tired of all the excuses, all the misderections regarding the myserious ‘deep state’ upon whose shoulders is placed the blame for the insanity that has gripped Washington DC. Trump owns this mess and has done from day one of his presidency.
This probably goes into the twiight zone if one is searching for logic; state dept neo con thugs unfortunately have trumps ear as I do not believe that trump could dream up something this stupid by himself.
This skripal hoax has been laughed out of the park world wide and to come up with this now after trump did try to act responsibly by meeting with putin, it goes beyond what any rational person could conceive.
Is Trump so badly influenced that he doesn’t see that Tarese May has accused but not proven any thing
Trump is the POTUS but not in power. Like love-struck teenagers he is even not allowed to meet Putin on his own. As if the two would spawn the son of Satan together in their long-delayed honeymoon in Helsinki.
H-E-L-L-L-L-L-S-I-N-K-E-E-E-E!!!
Trump will sign any sanction against Russia. The only question is if he will give the orders that will start WW3, especially if the “US intelligence agencies” were to hold his family hostage.
That letter from Trump, carried by the only loyal US senator Rand Paul, really looks ominous.
The novichok magic cream
if it wasn’t the cream, it would have been some other nonsense excuse like “The Russian Cows are emitting more CH4 than any others!”
The United States of Terrorism is quickly eroding in terms of POWER! Their society is dying… And that’s why they need to bring everyone down.
‘Destructive slander’ – what does the US gain, besides trying to divert media attention, from other stories? Create problems, with the financial markets. Timing – when the US is desperate to go to war with Iran, whilst nobody is backing them up. Theresa May is horse trading her ‘Remoaner friendly BREXIT’ script, over in the EU. Christopher Steele – Trump Dossier – Skripal – $US millions invested in Porton Down, just around the corner from Salisbury. Rand Paul, who passed a private letter from President Trump, to be handed over to President Putin. ……………………. Is it the official view of… Read more »
Russia’s weakness will cost it dearly because of Putin’s passivity and aloofness, contemptible timidity, and unprincipledness . It’s time for Russia to stop answering all questions relating to election meddling to poisoning, and being nice to Trump, for respect because Putin wants to meet and interact with Trump at all cost to feel relevant to the US , which is pathetic and a humiliation to all Russians I am also sad. The so-called western world just makes Russia looks stupid internationally. I also don’t understand why Russia is “soooooo” eager to work or to be in the good books of… Read more »
The game being played is asymmetric sanctions. No US airlines fly directly to Russia, but Aeroflot flies directly from Russia to the US. So a simple-minded view of this is that sanctioning Aeroflot doesn’t harm US interests, and it lets Trump appear like he’s being hard on Russia (he has elections coming up). It’s a game of appearances – nobody in the US (except the simple-minded) actually believe the Novachuk nonsense, but it’s a good club to pound on political opponents. The question is whether Russia will let Trump do this – suffering minor economic damage and turning the other… Read more »
Here is an interesting look at how the anti-Russian narrative began in the United States and who really rigged the 2016 U.S. election:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-genesis-of-russian-interference.html
Main Street America is being manipulated into believing that Russia is the enemy, giving Washington a complete pass on how business is done in America’s political capital.
They are desperate to start a war,its going to get worse.
Thankfully Russia has the means to stop these clowns in their steps,if and when the time comes.
“there has never been evidence provided by British or international agencies investigating this incident or its sequel that happened last month, to prove conclusively that Russian agencies were involved”
What do you mean “prove conclusively”? This “conclusively” is a weasel word. It implies there’s a lot of proof out there but none that could be called conclusive. There’s been no proof of any kind whatsoever.
Another round of the echo chamber of lies. Novichok a story cooked up by retired MI6 spooks to feed their pension pots drags itself onto the geopolitical stage again… What’s it about and who benefits? Well it ain’t about facts as there are none. But it gives the Neo-cons another pop at Trump, the Tories another distraction from the impending BREXIT chaos and Browder another attempt to avoid prosecution in Russia for fraud and the US for perjury. The WMSM are dutifully using this as another attempt to reinforce the lies it has been spinning about Russia since the Georgian… Read more »