After reading the open letter to President Putin signed by over 300 Germans, one of the readers of this blog decided to emulate their example and write his own open letter to President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov. Unlike the German letter, this letter is much more simple and very much to the point. This is its full text:
Many citizens of western countries greatly respect your measured responses to the recent and ongoing threats to Syria, Iran, and Ukraine.You and your government have several times averted dangerous conflicts. Irresponsible nations heavily armed with biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons ache for a war whose outcome they cannot comprehend.International diplomacy requires a grasp of history, as well as strength, courage, rectitude, grace, and common sense. Most western leaders today lack these essential qualities. We appreciate how challenging it must be to negotiate with such people.The above views are neither represented by our leaders nor explored by our corporate media commentators. Reaching over them to extend a hand of friendship and gratitude, we offer you our support and best wishes.
While many of us feel powerless and frustrated with our inability to stop the crazy policies of our 1% overlords, we all can do one thing: refuse to be passive bystanders. At the very least, we can say “not in my name”. By doing that, we not only express our position, but we show to the people of Russia that there is “another West” just like there was “another Russia” during the Soviet era.
For some signing such a letter might present some risks. But for most of us, it is still pretty safe if only because our overlords don’t care what we think or say, and have no time to waste the common folk like us which they see as irrelevant.
I therefore encourage you all to seize this possibility to take a stand and sign this completely non-ideological letter. Yes, this will be a symbolic act, but there are moments in history when symbolic acts are important (like refusing to sit in the back of a bus). Finally, by singing it you ‘buy’ yourself the option of looking in the mirror and knowing that you did not remain silent.
You can sign the letter here:
A big thank you to John for writing and posting this letter, and a big thank you to anyone who will sign it.
Kind regards,
The Saker
Greetings from Singapore:
My signature is there!
Great! I singed and added a nice message :)
Michigan
Saker –
I just wanted to say a brief word of thanks to you and Mark Sleboda of MGU for all that you both have done in the info war over the last few weeks. I hope you both have the opportunity to rest up a bit this Holy Week as we near Great and Holy Pascha.
One thing I’ve noticed that looks interesting is that with a few exceptions of the Russophobic psychos on Twitter (like @LibertyLynx who is a nuisance even to mainline American right wingers) in the last 24 hours Western MSM has either finally acknowledged the lack of manpower for Kiev to hold E. Ukraine or started the blame game over who lost it. There seems to be very little confidence (particularly among the usual ‘Twitter warriors’ at the US Naval War College like ‘ex’ NSA man John R. Schindler) who set the talking points agenda that CIA Director Brennan can accomplish anything through his presence in Kiev.
In fact the snarky anti-Kremlin (some would say Russophobic) journalist Miriam Elder even tweeted out sarcastic congrats to the CIA and White House for confirming the Kremlin narrative that the new Kiev authorities are little more than CIA or State Dept. puppets. While the pro-Ukrainian sites are celebrating the shooting of 10 men at a pro-Russia checkpoint it isn’t even clear if the attackers were Ukrainians (could’ve been a well executed foreign merc op).
I suspect this lull cannot last and Brennan knowing his mo is about to unleash a major false flag to be blamed on the pro-Russia rebels. After all Brennan was the supposed mastermind behind the massive weapons smuggling op from Libya to Syria that set the stage for the Benghazi attack (possibly planned with help from Iran) to expose the biggest illegal behind the backs of Congress US arms smuggling op since IranContra). Brennan has done a very good job so far of intimidating MSM from reporting the NATO/US ratline/Ho Chih Minh trail to the anti-Assad rebels plain as day truth behind Benghazi (though Sy Hersh has started peeling back that curtain again after the Daily Telegraph and Jake Tapper hinted at it). Brennan’s job has been made easier by MSM and Fox preferring to focus on partisan wrangling BS rather than ever ask the simple question of what Amb. Chris Stevens was doing in Benghazi before the attack. Meanwhile the CIA officers in the know have reportedly been threatened not only with the ends of their careers and prosecution but harm to their families if they speak out — that’s the kind of man Brennan is. He would have no compunction about murdering dozens of innocent Ukrainian civilians in an Oklahoma City bombing style attack to create as much hatred as possible for the rebels. Brennan is rumored to have converted to Sunni Islam under Saudi mentorship while he was the CIA’s station chief in Riyadh for many years and remains close to the KSA royals. He might even be able to bring in some Syrian or Arab foreign legion jihadis into Ukraine to fight for Kiev…
Greetings from Singapore:
At 10:55 AM London time we reached 143 signatures. Would be nice if we could go beyond 300!
Dear The Saker,
Signed and forwarded for more sigs :).
Rgds,
Veritas
There is also another petition for late signers to the original German letter to Putin, sign that as well.
Saker, perhaps you could publish that link as well as a post.
https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/germans-and-also-people-from-any-other-country-all-over-the-world-sign-the-open-letter-to-president-vladimir-putin-written-by-german-citizens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC4FAcMFsVI
Relatives of members of BERKUT police unit who were murdered by armed nationalistic mobs while protecting the public order. They gathered today in Kiev and demanded release of arrested BERKUT servicemen who were selected by hunta to be the scapegoats instead of true investigation. Women were humiliated and attacked by nationalists.
Got this by email, thought it might interest you
What al-Azhar says about Shias? Statements about Shias by the Chancellor of al-Azhar University, Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyib. In an interview to Egyptian Al Neel Channel, Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyib, the Chancellor of Al-Azhar University (Egypt)
Q. In your opinion, isn’t there any problem in Shia Beliefs?
A. Never, 50 years ago Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot, the then Chancellor of Al Azhar, had issued a fatwa that Shia School is the fifth Islamic School and as like as the other schools.
Q. Our children are embracing Shia Islam, what should we do?
A. Let them convert and to embrace Shia School. If someone leaves Maliki or Hanafi Sect, do we criticize him? These children are just leaving fourth school and join the fifth.
Q. The Shias are becoming relatives with us and they are getting married with our children!
A. What is wrong with this, marriage between religions is allowed.
Q. It is said that the Shias have a different Quran!
A. These are the myths and superstitions of the elderly women. Shia Quran has no any difference with ours, and even the script of their Quran is like our alphabet.
Q. 23 clerics of a country (Saudi Arabia) issued a fatwa that the Shia are infidels, heretics (Kafirs)!!
A. Al-Azhar is the only authority to issue fatwa for Muslims; therefore the above said fatwa is invalid and unreliable.
Q. So what does the difference – being raised between the Shia and the Sunni – mean?
A. These differences are the part of the policies of foreign powers who seek conflict between The Shia and the Sunni.
Q. I have a very serious question that “the Shia do not accept Abu Bakr and Umar, how you can say they are Muslims?”
A. Yes, they do not accept them. But is the belief in Abu Bakr and Umar a part of the principles of Islam? The story of Abu Bakr and Umar is historic and history has nothing to do with fundamentals of the beliefs.
Q. (The reporter surprised by the response, asks) Shia has a fundamental problem and that is “they say that their Imam the time (امام العصر) is still alive after 1,000 years!”
A. He may be alive, why is it not possible? But there is no reason that we – as Sunni – should believe just like them.
This question was asked in Toronto to a new converted Shia (Mohamed Ali, Grenadian) Mohamed Ali asked the man “have you read Quran?” the Sunni man replied, Yes, Mohamed Ali said “How long hazrat Mosa lived”
Q. (Referring to Imam Mohammad Taqi al-Jawad AS, (the 9th Imam of Shias) the reporter asked) The Shias believe that one of their Imams was just eight-year old when he became Imam; is it possible that an eight-year-old child be the Imam?
A. If an infant in a cradle can be a prophet (Issa AS), then why an eight-year-old child can not be the Imam? It is not strange. Although we may not accept this belief as we are Sunni. However, this belief does not harm their Islam, and they are Muslims.
Mindfriedo
Greetings from Singapore:
At 12:33 London time we hit 200 signatures. We need more!
Did not Petraeus’ paramour Paula Broadwell state that the Benghazi rats-nest was a ‘secret’ CIA prison and torture centre, or am I just dreaming?
Still only some 200 signatures, including mine. Let’s spread the word so that those you would support it, actually will.
Honk
What ? John Brennan has converted to Sunni Islam..??
He’ s Irish, just like Samantha Power, so he should be catholic..
Greatings from The Netherlands,
The request that I sent to my friend to support the petition will be published on the blog of Stan van Houcke, an well known independend, investigator journalist in the Netherlands:
http://stanvanhoucke.blogspot.nl/
Compliments to The Saker and the readers of this blog
“RUSSIA STANDS FOR FREEDOM!”
I laughed so hard when I read this. Thanks for sharing this joke with me!
Communism = 100,000,000 victims over 70 years.
I doubt you’ll even publish this.
Greetings from Singapore:
13:33 London time : 222 signatures and counting.
Time to kill all english parasite race abd anglos to be wiped out.
rusdia can not wait too long for enemies to have upper hand.
bomb englad with nukes and thus stop wars.
Dear The Saker,
Isn’t this illegal? – may give Russia cause to just turn off the gas and sue Germany for reselling its gas:
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_15/Naftogaz-resumes-imports-of-gas-from-EU-via-Poland-6976/
I suppose we can see this is the EU’s answer to Putin’s letter :(
Rgds,
Veritas
p.s. Even more reason to sign petition – the EU are getting crazier and crazier……
@Trasuntino
I hope it was at least warm under that rock you finally managed to crawl out from after 25 years.
Apart from your curiously high number of victims of communism – unless that includes the more than 50 million victims (dead) since WWII achieved by the West, fighting “communism” – like they are now fighting “terrorism”, spreading “democracy”. Iraqis and Libyans are really thankful. But I fear you have to read up on the last decades first.
Honk
Ukrainian army assaults Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. There are murders now…
http://rt.com/news/kramatorsk-ukraine-attack-army-664/
@Trasuntino
Putin’s Russia is not the Soviet Union and communism is finished. You’re a day late and a dollar short.
Greetings from Singapore:
Best to ignore messages sent by the usual ‘agencies’ with their mission to pollute and provoke…
@EVERYBODY: yeah, I agree with mjm. This guy is either a senile drooling idiot, or a paid troll. Either way, just ignore him.
Kind regards to all,
The Saker
http://rt.com/news/kramatorsk-ukraine-attack-army-664/
Ukrainian troops storm an airfield outside Kramatorsk and raid Slavayansk, according to RIA Novosti.
We’re trying our best to get Putin to respond. I wouldn’t guarantee our generals like the idea, but the Neocon nutcakes must be delighted. And Obama? Do you actually think he even cares? His future is secure, and We The People have never been so much as a blip on his radar screen. The suffering of people not fortunate enough to have been born Americans? Lots of bugs go splat on the windshield.
Greetings from Singapore:
15:24 London time. Another 20 signatures and we hit 300…
VINEYARDSAKER: said…
@EVERYBODY: yeah, I agree with mjm. This guy is either a senile drooling idiot, or a paid troll. Either way, just ignore him.
Yes, but why publish him in the first place?
Greetings from Singapore:
9 more and we hit 300. This is the number the German letter had. Put your name and show colors! 291 already did.
Good source for minute-by-minute reports from the Ukraine: http://ria.ru/world/20140415/1003942261.html “Situation in the Ukraine, On-line Reporting”. All of it bad right now. The slaughter has begun.
Greetings from Singapore:
We are over 300….
@Veritas
The Ukraine importing gas from Germany doesn’t make a lot of sense longer term.
In 2010 Germany gets 39% gas from Russia, 35% from Norway, 22% from the Netherlands.
(http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/GermanyOSS.pdf p. 19)
Here’s a bunch of stats for reference. The US gas hype was a canard, and the reason it is so cheap is because it has been produced using massive investments, drilling many wells, getting as much out of the ground as possible. But it was not profitable, and major players like Shell started divesting this year. Plus, turning that into LNG is another matter.
Top 10 countries with proved natural gas reserves, 2014 Country
trillion cubic feet
Russia 1,688
Iran 1,193
Qatar 885
United States 334*
Saudi Arabia 291
Turkmenistan 265
United Arab E 215
Venezuela 196
Nigeria 181
Algeria 159
…
Norway 73.10**
Netherlands 43.44**
* 2012 data
** 2013 data
** 1 January 2013 est.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics, Oil & Gas Journal
—–
Top 10 global natural gas exporters, 2012 Country
trillion cubic feet
Russia 7.4
Qatar 4.3
Norway 3.8
Canada 3.1
Netherlands 2.1
Algeria 1.7
Turkmenistan 1.6
United States 1.6
Indonesia 1.2
Austria 1.2
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics
—–
For sure, these are static numbers, but that whole shale / fracking isn’t gonna change the big picture. We knew decades ago that once, when prices are high, getting at the higher hanging fruits would turn profitable, but we seem to have forgotten how hight those fruits are hanging, financially speaking.
This will turn out as a huge scam – the “shale gas bubble”. “Saudi America” my ass!
Honk
Airfield near Kramatorsk under attack, banderivtsy forces staged to enter Kramatorsk Slavyansk. Cell phone service is shut off in both. Banderivtsy maybe have entered Slavyansk.
Ukrainian army storms airfield in country’s east, wounded reported – people’s militia
http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_04_15/Ukrainian-troops-enter-Slavyansk-preparing-to-storm-the-city-representative-of-Donbass-militia-0650/
It seems the banderivtsy got a late start, or are planning night attacks.
вот так
@james:Yes, but why publish him in the first place?
Because even though I had to make a painful exception to this rule recently to deal with an avalanche of rabid racist and Nazi posters, I do my best to stick to the rule of not censoring anybody for his/her opinions. Transuntino made a breathtakingly stupid and ignorant post, but it was only one, it was short and to the point, and he did not pollute the entire thread. I think that his post is basically legitimate and I see no reason not to post it.
I am trying to maintain a balance here, so I mostly let the dummies post. If their post has some substance to it, I usually challenge it, and if its vapid and empty of any contents, I just ignore it. I would also censor posts if there were both really hateful AND in huge numbers, like the recent problem with the Nazis who were basically hijacking every otherwise intelligent discussion.
Does that make sense?
Kind regards,
The Saker
@Veritas
The Ukraine importing gas from Germany doesn’t make a lot of sense longer term.
In 2010 Germany gets 39% gas from Russia, 35% from Norway, 22% from the Netherlands.
(http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/GermanyOSS.pdf p. 19)
Here’s a bunch of stats for reference. The US gas hype was a canard, and the reason it is so cheap is because it has been produced using massive investments, drilling many wells, getting as much out of the ground as possible. But it was not profitable, and major players like Shell started divesting this year. Plus, turning that into LNG is another matter.
Top 10 countries with proved natural gas reserves, 2014 Country
trillion cubic feet
Russia 1,688
Iran 1,193
Qatar 885
United States 334*
Saudi Arabia 291
Turkmenistan 265
United Arab E 215
Venezuela 196
Nigeria 181
Algeria 159
…
Norway 73.10**
Netherlands 43.44**
* 2012 data
** 2013 data
** 1 January 2013 est.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics, Oil & Gas Journal
—–
Top 10 global natural gas exporters, 2012 Country
trillion cubic feet
Russia 7.4
Qatar 4.3
Norway 3.8
Canada 3.1
Netherlands 2.1
Algeria 1.7
Turkmenistan 1.6
United States 1.6
Indonesia 1.2
Austria 1.2
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics
—–
For sure, these are static numbers, but that whole shale / fracking isn’t gonna change the big picture. We knew decades ago that once, when prices are high, getting at the higher hanging fruits would turn profitable, but we seem to have forgotten how hight those fruits are hanging, financially speaking. This will turn out as a huge scam – the “shale gas bubble”. “Saudi America” my ass!
Honk
Honk,
Yes. In addition, the US has not yet (and hopefully never will) got the pipelines w/which to transport shale gas, nor the facilities to convert it so that it can be shipped. And yes, most of the gas from those earthquake-causing-and-life-destroying monstrosities is extracted in the first year. It was always a shell game.
Wonderful idea! I must admit, I’ve been a bit depressed for few last days. I’m not any more. Thanks!
CM
I had the following discussion on a center- left (?) forum (Joop.nl).
Not very encouraging to read, but it shows the disturbing amount of indoctrination people are subjected to, so I still like to share it:
Not for everyone here, but by signing this petition, one can distance oneself from the hypocritical Russophobic, pro-NATO/ pro-Kiev point of view of western governments and mainstream media. I signed it already this morning:
https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/president-vladimir-putin-foreign-minister-sergey-lavrov-godspeed-president-putin-and-foreign-minister-lavrov
Beware: you might end up on a NSA list!
========
Reaction 1:
What is hypocritical to be against foreign military intervention in this internal conflict? Why don´t you worry about the gross violations of Putin in it´s own country, before you embrace him as a protector for your own international issues…
======
Reaction 2:
´ but by signing this petition, one can distance oneself from the hypocritical Russophobic, pro-NATO/ pro-Kiev point of view´
It rather seems like an open declaration of love to Putin….
How blind can one be….
======
Reaction 3:
No, Russia with its narcissistic guy Putin… Russia annexes country after country, and you talk about hypocracy? Russia ignores every international law, and you bring up all kinds of weird conspiracy theories around NATO and make up an anti-Russian mood? For now the west is reluctant, too reluctant. You are really selectively, and poorly informed.
=======
In the Netherlands, many people like to deal with the credibility gap by using amateur psychology…
So I do the same: depressing….
> Beware: you might end up on a NSA list!
You are already on various such lists, NSA, CIA, FBI and others, so don’t worry.
It is important to spread good ideas to break through the propaganda flood. Because when there are enough people supporting it, attacking us becomes too costly.
Honk
I am trying to maintain a balance here, so I mostly let the dummies post. If their post has some substance to it, I usually challenge it, and if its vapid and empty of any contents, I just ignore it. I would also censor posts if there were both really hateful AND in huge numbers, like the recent problem with the Nazis who were basically hijacking every otherwise intelligent discussion.
Does that make sense?
Kind regards,
The Saker
Saker, I guess you see it as a matter of degree or scale whereas I see it more in terms of the nature of the comments regardless of numbers etc.
Thanks for your reply,
James
Trasutino’s 100,000,000 victims of Communism is pure and unadulterated bulldust. To believe such preposterous falsifications is, in my opinion, the sign of a small, easily manipulated, mentality, or adherence to one of those fascist ideologies that were fomented by the global parasite class to oppose the spectre of socialism and the redistribution of wealth away from the blood-suckers and parasites, back to those who produced it. Since the ‘end of Communism’ the brutality, rapacity and greed of the parasites has grown so huge that billions live in poverty and the concentration of wealth has reached unprecedented levels. When the world’s one thousand billionaires control more wealth than the bottom 50%, ie three and a half billion people, then evil has triumphed.
Please, could the link to this Change Petition somehow be put on the top of your esteemed Blog? As an (in the moment) infrequent reader I nearly missed it, and I was so glad to sign.
Germany exporting gas to Ukraine: It was RWE who said they were doing it. RWE is a private company and their customers were quick to understand that it is them who are going to foot the bill via higher prices for their heating, as supposedly the Ukraine will not (and cannot) pay for the delivered gas.
One could read that in the commentaries to this article:
http://www.tagesschau.de/rwe202.html
But you had to be quick because they were deleted very quickly and now the commentary section is closed.
Over 500 signatures so far. Far more than I’d ever hoped for. Many comments too. I’ve read each one. Thanks to all who’ve helped/signed. (I’ve never done this before – how long before I take the petition down?)
John
@John and The Saker
Just found this regarding the open letter: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_22/Web-activists-thank-Russia-for-global-peace-effort-0804/