http://archive.today/2024.05.30-203844/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/us/politics/biden-ukraine-russia-weapons.html

The global War on Terror was based on a mistake.

Quintupling down are we? Never change, The Atlantic.

ETA: Not sure if there’s a paywall, so just in case: https://archive.ph/68sf0

At the invitation of H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, paid a state visit to France from May 5 to 7, 2024. The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views on the situation in the Middle East:

1. As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and France are working together to find constructive solutions, based on international law, to the challenges and threats to international security and stability.

2. China and France condemn all violations of international humanitarian law, including all acts of terrorist violence and indiscriminate attacks against civilians. They recall the absolute imperative of protecting civilians in Gaza in accordance with international humanitarian law. The two heads of state expressed their opposition to an Israeli offensive on Rafah, which would lead to a humanitarian disaster on a larger scale, as well as to forced displacement of Palestinian civilians.

3. The two heads of state stressed that an immediate and sustainable ceasefire is urgently needed to enable the delivery of large-scale humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip. They called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and the guarantee of humanitarian access to meet their medical and other humanitarian needs, as well as respect for international law with regard to all detainees. They called for the immediate and effective implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular Security Council resolutions 2712, 2720 and 2728. This is the only credible way to guarantee peace and security for all and to ensure that neither Palestinians nor Israelis will suffer from the horrors they have experienced since the attack on October 7, 2023.

4. The two heads of state called for the effective opening of all necessary corridors and crossing points to enable rapid, safe, sustainable and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip. The two heads of state stressed the importance of strengthening the coordination of international humanitarian efforts.

5. The two heads of state called on all parties to refrain from unilateral measures on the ground that might aggravate tensions, and in this respect condemned Israel's policy of settlement construction, which violates international law and constitutes a major obstacle to lasting peace as well as to the possibility of establishing a viable and contiguous State of Palestine. The two heads of state reiterated that the future governance of Gaza cannot be dissociated from a comprehensive political settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-State solution.

6. The two heads of state called for a decisive and irreversible relaunch of a political process to concretely implement the two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, both with Jerusalem as their capital, and the establishment of a viable, independent and sovereign State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders. The two heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to this solution, which is the only way to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Israeli and Palestinian people for lasting peace and security.

7. The two heads of state also expressed deep concern over the risk of escalation in the region, and called for the prevention of regional turbulence. China and France are working with their partners to deescalate the situation and call on all parties to exercise restraint.

8. China and France reaffirm their commitment to promoting a political and diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action concluded in 2015 is a major outcome of multilateral diplomacy. The two countries are concerned about the risks of escalation, recall the importance of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and facilitation of diplomatic efforts, and reaffirm their commitment to safeguarding the international non-proliferation regime and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East.

9. The two heads of state stressed the importance of safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and called for an immediate cessation of attacks on civilian vessels to safeguard maritime security and global trade and prevent regional tensions and humanitarian and environmental risks.

10. The two heads of state called for the observance of the Olympic Truce during the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Olympic Truce calls on all parties to stop hostilities throughout the Games. As conflicts spread and tensions rise, the Truce is an opportunity to work toward a durable resolution of conflicts in full respect of international law.

According to software engineer and blogger, Paul Biggar, however, one key detail on the methods employed by the Lavender system that is often overlooked is the involvement of the messaging platform, WhatsApp. A major determining factor of the system’s identification is simply if an individual is in a WhatsApp group containing another suspected militant.

Aside from the inaccuracy of the method and the moral question of targeting Palestinians based on shared WhatsApp groups or social media connections, there is also notably the doubt it brings to the platform being privacy-based and guaranteeing “end-to-end” encryption for messages.

Stating that WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, makes it complicit in Israel’s killing of “pre-crime” suspects in Gaza, Biggar accused the company of directly violating international humanitarian law, as well as its own public commitment to human rights.

These revelations are the latest evidence of Meta – formerly Facebook – aiding in the suppression of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices, with the platform long having been criticised for taking significant steps to shut down dissent against Israeli and Zionist narratives. Those measures have included permitting adverts promoting a holocaust against Palestinians and even attempting to flag the word ‘Zionist’ as hate speech.

Questioning the accuracy of the report, a WhatsApp spokesperson told MEMO: “We have no information that these reports are accurate. WhatsApp has no backdoors and we do not provide bulk information to any government. For over a decade, Meta has provided consistent transparency reports and those include the limited circumstances when WhatsApp information has been requested. Our principles are firm – we carefully review, validate and respond to law enforcement requests based on applicable law and consistent with internationally recognized standards, including human rights.

Blinken never reads my briefings and it shows 🤡 https://lemmy.ml/search?creatorId=1468481&q=uyghur

Kapustin is indeed dressed in black for his discussion with POLITICO in a downtown Kyiv hotel — though his clothing is free of any neo-Nazi logos or flashes. That’s despite the fact he runs a far-right apparel line of T-shirts and caps emblazoned with white nationalist and xenophobic imagery as well as the Nazi symbol 88 — the eighth letter of the alphabet twice being a not-so-subtle code for “Heil Hitler.”

He has links with American neo-Nazi groups, and in 2021 co-hosted a podcast with Robert Rundo, founder of the Rise Above Movement, which participated in the Charlottesville white supremacist rally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrylo_Budanov

In 2014, he took part in the war in Donbas, where he was wounded several times and reportedly participated in a number of classified special military operations.

According to The New York Times, Budanov was brought to the United States for treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being wounded in fighting in the Donbas.

Budanov was one of the members of the elite Unit 2245 of the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate trained by CIA.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday the proposed transitional council in Haiti, meant to provide a political transition and bring stability to the troubled Caribbean nation, is still not set but he expressed confidence it will happen in the coming days.

Blinken said the international community has been working for months on the multinational security force, led by Kenya and other African and Caribbean nations in support of the Haitian police. He said it is moving forward but will not be in place until the transitional council is set up.

I thought Kenya had backed out three days ago, but as of two days ago they’re back in?

Liberation News: ‘Transitional Council’ scheme is a U.S. plot to subvert Haiti’s independence

This military/police intervention is justified as a necessary measure to save the country from the chaos of gang violence. “Gang violence” is being used just like “bandits” were alleged to be the reason the US had to invade Haiti in 1915. The imperialists are trying to hide the fact that the rise of armed groups in Haiti in the past several years, is a direct result of their own policies that deliberately hollowed out the state. Focusing on “gang violence” also aims to send a message that there are no Haitian solutions to Haitian problems, and that order can only be installed from the outside.

The possibility of another UN/U.S.-backed intervention, whether with Kenyan or any other country’s forces, is strongly rejected by Haitian leftists and solidarity activists as the precursor to a years-long occupation of the country. Travis Ross of Canada-Haiti Information Project, writing for Haiti Liberte nearly six months ago, explained that while the Kenyan security mission’s “purported purpose is to combat gangs, the primary goal is to facilitate a controlled changeover from [unelected interim Haitian Prime Minister Ariel] Henry’s embattled regime to another transitional government also beholden to Washington.”

After the disgraced prime minister Henry resigned from his post on March 11, Irfaan Ali, Guyanese President and Chair of CARICOM, held a press conference in Kingston, Jamaica. Ali put an agenda on the table for a “transitional governance arrangement” in order to enforce the “rule of law”. This strategy did not include real input from the Haitian people, only hand-picked “Haitian stakeholders” and “international development partners” which consisted of representatives from Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, the United Nations, and the United States. These are many of the same players that have been responsible for the destabilization and repression of Haiti since the nation’s independence. It is clear that this agenda is to install a US/UN-managed, pliable Haitian government that will carry out occupation and not take care of Haiti’s oppressed majority.