Ukraine and the West Now in Possession of Russia’s War Plans

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022 by Denise Simon

It was just a few days ago, this website published a piece how Ukraine with the help of the United States was exploiting abandoned Russian equipment on the battlefield. This included interrogations of Russian conscripts, weapons, manuals and military gear. But as days go by, the Russian foot soldiers are proving to be quite unprepared and even sloppy. How so you ask?

Is the Ukraine-Russia meeting a path forward or political sideshow? - CNN source

If you don’t think our enemies and adversaries keep a close tab on all things military and political, this should change your mind. Putin’s war plan for Ukraine is for the most part the exact military strategy the United States used for the Iraq conflict.

Russia’s war plan for the battle for Ukraine was to last 15 days…it is no wonder that Putin has in fact authorized the hiring of Syrian urban war-fighters to join his forces.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine: What's going on on the battlefield source

But read on…

Source: Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its armed forces had seized secret battle plans left behind by Russian soldiers. It said the documents suggested Russia’s war with Ukraine would last 15 days.

The seized documents were posted on Facebook by the ministry and showed the war plans of one of the units of the battalion tactical group of the 810th Separate Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the ministry said.

An invasion map, a table of call signs, and a list of personnel were in the documents, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

The ministry’s Facebook post followed a similar disclosure on the social-media site by Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation.

“Thanks to the successful actions of one of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s units, Russian occupiers are losing not only equipment and manpower,” the defense ministry said. “In panic attacks, they are leaving classified documents.”

The ministry said that based on the documents, Russia approved its invasion of Ukraine on January 18.

The operation was meant to last 15 days from February 20 to March 6, the ministry said based on its review of the documents. Insider could not independently verify this conclusion.

One of the documents posted by the ministry appeared to be dated January 18, a full month before Russia attacked — while another planning document of call signs for different units spanned the dates February 20 to March 6, with daily code-name changes for different Russian commands to contact each other without disclosing their identities.

The documents did not appear to give any information about Russian forces taking any Ukrainian city.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his country’s invasion of Ukraine in the early-morning hours of February 24. The full extent of Putin’s plan to assault Ukraine has been unclear, but a former Russian deputy foreign minister told Al Jazeera that he had information that the Russian leader wanted to declare victory within a week — a goal that now appears extremely unlikely, with Russian forces having seized only one major Ukrainian city after six days of fighting.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the “final objective” by these Russian forces who had the planning documents “was to block and seize” the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.

“That is why you should not trust when a prisoner of war is saying again that he or she came to the exercises and got lost! They knew, they planned precisely and they had been preparing,” the ministry said on Facebook.

It added, “Our response to the Russian occupiers is the following: Keep leaving your vehicles and classified documents, they will be useful for our defenders and The Hague.”

Translations by Nikita Angarski.

Russia a No-Show at the International Court of Justice

Posted on March 7, 2022March 7, 2022 by Denise Simon

We have heard that the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into Putin and being a war criminal. Not only is it on full display for more than a week, but his war crimes go back to the conflict in Syria. At least 39 countries have sent referrals to the ICJ regarding Putin’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. The ICJ is expected to fast track the investigation. This could get messy as Russia is not a member of the International Criminal Court and for that matter neither is the United States.

Putin has justified his invasion of Ukraine claiming genocide of Russian citizens as well as ongoing military hostilities. Yeesh.

Many don’t realize that many within Putin’s inner circle have not only turned on him, and have provided intelligence to the West including Ukraine to be able to take offensive measures especially in the matters of the assassination squads sent to kill the members of the Ukraine government including President Zelensky. Additionally, there are others within Putin’s orbit that have resigned and fled Russia for fear of prosecution which really means execution.

One of Putin’s lawyers, Alain Pellet resigned last week and described the reason to be the widely known fact that the Kremlin despises law…including international law. You can read his letter here.

The truth is, the ICJ should not begin or end with Putin as a war criminal, it should included the oligarchs and other Duma operatives that have enabled this war and the illegal activities associated with it including Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin.

Prigozhin is on the FBI’s most wanted list.

He has a long list of criminal charges against him including that troll factory that was located in St. Petersburg that interfered with the 2014 U.S. election process. He has ties to Indonesia and Qatar as well.

The UK is the first country to not only step up in cooperation with the ICJ but has a team that is working the critical task to preserve all evidence of war crimes including shelling location, types of missiles including cluster-bombs and the fact that Russia violated at least 2 cease fires after agreeing to humanitarian escape corridors in Ukraine.

(rather like a feeble Nuremberg trial)

So, what is the process of the International Criminal Court you ask? In part:

The court has 123 member states, but neither Russia nor Ukraine is a party. However, back in 2015 when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, Ukraine referred the conflict to the court for investigation. And there’s a provision in the Rome Statute — article 12.3 — which allows states that are not members of the court to refer a conflict and allegations of crimes to the court. But an investigation has to be triggered, and one way for that to happen is if one of the 123 member states asks the court to investigate. And it was just announced Thursday night that 39 states referred the Ukraine situation to the International Criminal Court for investigation. So, the prosecutor of that court announced that he is immediately opening up an investigation and will start collecting evidence. That investigation is also open into past crimes that could have occurred in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

Why is it important for the court to begin investigating now, rather than waiting for the conflict to end?

Investigations and prosecutions are important even before cases are brought before the court because they bring attention to the crimes that are being committed, and to the victims of these of these crimes. So, even aside from what happens in court down the road, the act of investigating and framing what is happening and naming it is extremely important.

What types of crimes can the International Criminal Court investigate?

The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over four types of crime: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression. And there is no doubt that this is an act of aggression by Russia against Ukraine. However, the crime of aggression has a particular requirement, which is different from all the other crimes. It can only be prosecuted by the court if one member state commits an act of aggression against another. Since neither Russia nor Ukraine is a member, the crime of aggression here does not apply. So, the International Criminal Court is focusing on war crimes, and it will also consider crimes against humanity if they arise.

There is also an International Court of Justice. What role does it play?

The International Criminal Court investigates and prosecutes international crimes committed by individuals. The International Court of Justice resolves disputes between states. Ukraine has brought an emergency case before that court, which will be heard next week. The focus of Ukraine’s complaint is that Russia has used as one of its justifications — I’ll say, phony justification — for invading Ukraine the allegation that there is a threat of genocide against Russian nationals living in Ukraine. Ukraine says this is nonsense. The ICJ should rule that there is no such threat and that assertion cannot be used as a justification for the invasion.

Any real hope for justice on this? Not really.

Texas Allowed to use Abandoned Border Wall Material to Build the Border Wall

Posted on February 19, 2022February 19, 2022 by Denise Simon

Some of them actually…

After the Biden administration halted the construction of former President Donald Trump’s border wall, hundreds of unused wall panels were left at construction sites.

Now 1,700 unused panels — declared surplus property by the federal government — have been shipped from California to help build Gov. Greg Abbott’s state-funded wall, according to spokespeople for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Texas Facilities Commission.

The Biden administration halted virtually all work on the federal wall in January 2021. Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, which had been in charge of awarding some of the federal wall contracts under Trump, said the 32-foot-tall steel bollard panels were at a storage site in San Diego.

The Texas Facilities Commission, the state office in charge of Texas border wall construction, applied in November to receive the surplus panels through the federal government’s General Service Administration, a program that allows nonprofit organizations and state and local governments to receive property the federal government no longer needs.

A welder straightens out a post in a new section of border wall that is being constructed near Eagle Pass on Nov. 20, 2021. A welder worked last November on a new section of border wall near Eagle Pass. Credit: Nick Wagner for The Texas Tribune

Francoise Luca, a spokesperson for the Facilities Commission, said the state didn’t have to disclose to the federal government that it planned to use the panels for Texas’ border wall project, adding that the state followed the surplus program’s rules.

In December, the Facilities Commission hired New York-based Posillico Civil Inc. to haul the panels from San Diego to Eagle Pass at a cost of $2 million, according to the contract awarded to the engineering firm. The company finished the job earlier this month.

Luca said the panels are being stored in “a temporary and secured area” in Maverick County under the watch of the Texas National Guard.

With the 1,700 donated panels, the state can erect roughly 1.3 miles of border barrier. Luca said the panels “will be used in the near term” but didn’t say where on the Texas-Mexico border they will be used.

Scott Nicol, a McAllen-based environmental activist, said Biden has broken his pledge not to use taxpayer money to build a wall, pointing to one project in the Rio Grande Valley where crews erected 15-foot concrete panels near the border that the federal government calls levees.

And now “the Biden administration is saying, ‘We won’t build these border walls, but if Abbott wants to build them, we will give him free bollards,’” he said. “The problem with border walls isn’t who is building them, it is the devastation that comes when they are built.”

Nicol said regardless of who is building border barriers, the wall will block the movement of endangered species like ocelots and could cause dangerous flooding.

In June 2021, five months after Biden took office, Abbott announced that the state would build its own wall along the Texas-Mexico border, funding it with state money and private donations. The state has $1.05 billion dedicated to the project — which includes $55 million in private donations as of Feb. 11.

Eight months into the effort, the state has completed 1 mile of barrier in Rio Grande City in Starr County. The Texas General Land Office owned the land, and the Texas Facilities Commission paid $125,000 for it.

In November, the Facilities Commission awarded a $162 million contract to Posillico Civil to build 8 miles of border barrier, including the Starr County section that the Facilities Commission said will total 1.7 miles and cost $34.5 million.

That’s just over $20 million a mile. By comparison, border wall construction under the Trump administration ranged from $6 million to $34 million per mile, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.

The state has said some border residents have offered to donate land to have barriers built on their property. But the state has refused to release the names of those private landowners or the location of those properties, saying that if those details were made public, the properties could be targeted by criminals and owners could drive up the land prices and hurt the Facilities Commission’s negotiations — an indication that the state is also looking to purchase property, although that option hasn’t been publicly discussed.

U.S. will Require Vaccinations for all Border Crossings

Posted on January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 by Denise Simon

Except for the gotta-ways? Exactly how does this get enforced?

Anyone else a non-believer besides me?

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationwide, the U.S. will require non-U.S. travelers entering the country by land or water to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning Saturday, Jan. 22.

The new rule affects both the U.S. Canada and U.S. Mexico border crossings and it includes travel for essential or non-essential reasons.

The new restrictions will not apply to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or U.S. nationals.

COVID-19 testing is not required for entry via land or ferry port of entry.

The Department of Homeland Security first announced the new rules back in October when the White House announced that beginning November the U.S. government would move away from the country-by-country restrictions. This was previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and adopted travel policies that relied primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of travel.

In March 2020, to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the U.S. government issued restrictions on travel into the United States. DHS implemented temporary restrictions, limiting entry at the U.S. northern and southern land borders to persons engaged in essential travel, including lawful trade, emergency response, and public health purposes.

Current requirements to enter the United States:

All foreign travelers who intend to enter the United States will have to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19 as described by the CDC.

You are required to show a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 when you travel to the United States by air.

Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth is required in indoor areas of public transportation, including airplanes.

What vaccines will be accepted?

The United States will accept vaccines approved and accepted by the World Health Organization.

These are the nine vaccines approved by the WHO.

Moderna ARNm-1273

Pfizer-BioN-Tech BNT162b2

Jansen (Johnson & Johnson) Ad26.COV2.S

Oxford-AstraZeneca AZD1222

Covishield

Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV

Sinovac CoronaVac

Covaxin

Novavax/Covovax

What documents will be accepted as proof of vaccination?

The CDC specifies that the following proof of vaccination against COVID-19 will be accepted:

Verifiable records on paper or digital: Certificate with QR code or digital pass in a phone application

Non-verifiable printed records: Printed vaccination record, vaccination card.

Non-verifiable digital records: Digital photos of the vaccination card or vaccination certificate from a public agency or application without a QR code.

The vouchers must include the full name and date of birth that matches the passport of the person entering the country.

Name of the official agency that issued the proof of vaccination.

Manufacturer of the vaccine and vaccination dates.

Going back to last year –>

A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for leisure travelers, when the U.S. reopened its borders to fully vaccinated individuals.

Essential travelers entering by ferry will also be required to be fully vaccinated by the same date, the official said. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

The rules pertain to non-U.S. nationals. American citizens and permanent residents may still enter the U.S. regardless of their vaccination status, but face additional testing hurdles because officials believe they more easily contract and spread COVID-19 and in order to encourage them to get a shot. Read more here including the effects on truck drivers.

Identified Released Bagram Prisoner Killed our Marines in Kabul

Posted on January 3, 2022January 3, 2022 by Denise Simon

SIS-K suicide bomber who carried out deadly Kabul airport attack had been released from prison days earlier

Where is the outrage? This is on Biden….

NYP: The United States has put together a profile of the suicide bomber who killed 13 US troops outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul four months ago.

The Islamic State terrorist attack — which also left 200 Afghans dead — was carried out by Abdul Rahman Al-Logari, the New York Times reported. The terrorist was a one-time engineering student was freed from a high security prison by the Taliban.

As the militants overran the country, they emptied jails stocked with both their own prisoners and Islamic State terrorists opposed to them and the US.

“It’s hard to explain what the thinking was in letting out people who were a threat to the Taliban,” Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior U.N. counterterrorism official said during a recent conference in Qatar, the outlet said.

Al-Logari has been active in terrorist for years before. A 2017 plot he was involved with in New Delhi, India was foiled and Al-Logari was eventually transferred to the CIA which stuck in at Parwan prison near Bagram Air Base.

The base — and its two runways — was infamously abandoned and overrun by the Taliban on July 1. The situation forced the US do conduct its later evacuation from the more exposed and less well-equipped Hamid Karzai International Airport.

***

The US controlled the base until it abandoned Bagram in early July. The revelation underscores the chaos around the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the struggle of the US to control a rapidly deteriorating situation around the airport as it relied on the Taliban to secure the perimeter of the airport.

The US handed Bagram Air Base over to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) on July 1, as the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan neared 90% completion.

At the time, there were approximately 5,000 prisoners at Bagram, an Afghan Ministry of Defense spokesman told CNN. A few hundred were criminals, but the vast majority were terrorists, the spokesman said, including members of al Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS. There were also foreign prisoners from Pakistan, Chechnya, and the Middle East detained there. It was up to the Afghans to secure the compound.

As the US was turning over Bagram to the ANDSF, the Taliban accelerated their sweep across the country, claiming to control 150 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts by July 5. It was a sign of things to come, as provincial capitals began falling to the Taliban offensive in rapid succession. By mid-August, the Taliban were on the doorstep of Kabul and the complete collapse of the Afghan military was virtually complete.Biden said, “We will not be deterred by terrorists… we will continue the evacuation.” He said that ISIS-K leadership and facilities will be attacked. More than 100,000 people were “taken to safety in the last 11 days. In the last 12 hours or so, another 7,000 have gotten out,” he said. “These ISIS terrorists will not win. We will rescue the Americans who are there…America will not be intimidated.”

He called those who died “part of the bravest, most capable and selfless military on the face of the earth.. the backbone of America, the spine of America, the best the country has to offer. Jill and I, our hearts ache for all those Afghan families who lost loved ones, including small children, in this vicious attack. We’re outraged.” source