Admiral Lyons on Obama’s Strategy: ‘It’s Anti-American ... Pro-Islamic, It’s Pro-Iranian, and Pro-Muslim Brotherhood!’ | Report: US has Cut Off Intelligence Cooperation With Israel - JP Updates | Russia starts large-scale military exercises in disputed territories by Thomson Reuters
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At a news conference in Moscow unrelated to the exercises, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said NATO activities on Russia's borders far exceeded anything the Russian military was undertaking.
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'Prison sex proves being gay is a choice' – potential US presidential candidate
thejournal.ie RETIRED NEUROSURGEON AND potential Republican nominee for the US 2016 presidential election Ben Carson has apologised for saying that prison sex proves being gay is a choice. Asked by CNN's Chris Cuomo if being gay is a choice, Carson replied ... and more » |
UN Official: Fight Against Terrorism Must Not Violate Human Rights by webdesk@voanews.com (Lisa Schlein)
The United Nations' top human rights official warns the fight against terror must not be used as an excuse to undermine democracy and human rights. In a major speech to the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, Zeid Raad al-Hussein said efforts by states to combat terrorism are resulting in large scale rights violations against the very citizens they claim to defend. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, al-Hussein, warns that an overreaction to extremist...
Officials say Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has reshuffled his Cabinet and replaced the minister in charge of the nation’s police.
Gay asylum seekers need our help by Julie Bindel
Lesbians and gay men in the UK may have legal parity but asylum seekers have been abandoned to a cruel system
The case of Aderonke Apata, the lesbian and gay rights campaigner who was told this week that she would not be given refugee status in Britain, is just one example of the appalling situation faced by gay asylum seekers escaping persecution. Apata is terrified of being deported back to Nigeria, and for very good reason. Legislation passed last year criminalises same-sex marriages and gay groupsand bans displays of same-sex affection in public spaces. Anyone found guilty of having gay sex could face up to 14 years in prison. Added to that, providing services to anyone who is thought to be lesbian or gay is also a criminal offence.
In 2013 I wrote about research, based on interviews with 12 lesbians from countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Uganda and Jamaica, which found that the interviewees were disbelieved about being lesbian in the first instance, and required to provide all manner of “evidence” to back their claims. Judges asked ridiculous questions of the women, such as whether they had been on a Pride procession, used sex toys, read gay-themed books or visited particular gay haunts. Despite the outcry from human rights defenders, this practice is still happening.
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The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea received 80 stitches in his face after he was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant Thursday morning in Seoul.
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UN Official: Fight Against Terrorism Must Not Violate Human Rights
Voice of America GENEVA—. The United Nations' top human rights official warns the fight against terror must not be used as an excuse to undermine democracy and human rights. In a major speech to the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, Zeid Raad al-Hussein said ... UN rights chief: discredit IS, give peaceful Muslims courageWashington Post UN Rights Chief Denounces World Powers Over AbusesNew York Times UN calls on countries to 'root out' injustices that fuel extremismMail & Guardian Online NDTV all 29 news articles » |
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday, his speech sparked headlines in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere in the world. But the speech itself was long: How many people actually listened to the whole thing?Read full article >>
Officials to Ukraine Peace Deal to Discuss Next Stepsby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
Senior Russian, Ukrainian, German and French officials will meet in Berlin on Friday to discuss eastern Ukraine and the next steps needed toward implementing a peace accord struck three weeks ago in Minsk, Germany's foreign minister said. “Of course we cannot be satisfied with the speed of the implementation of the Minsk accord, but we have seen there has been a clear reduction of violence and a reduction of infringements of the cease-fire,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said...
Secretary of State John Kerry walked alongside Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, center, before a meeting with King Salman on Thursday.
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Netanyahu's Iran speech gains tacit support in Saudi Arabia
U-T San Diego U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks with Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, before a visit with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriya Farm, on Thursday, March 5, 2015, in Diriya, Saudi Arabia. US will not take eye off Iran's destabilising acts: KerryDaily Times US tries to reassure Gulf over nuclear talks with IranBBC News US To Keep An Eye On Iran's 'Destabilizing' ActsRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Daily Mail -Haaretz -Wall Street Journal all 505 news articles » |
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Gay marriage case to reach Supreme Court April 28
USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's next date with history is April 28. The court announced Thursday that 2 1/2 hours of oral argument on whether states can ban same-sex marriage will take place that day inside the same marble chamber that housed ... US Supreme Court to hear gay marriage cases on April 28Reuters Here Are The 379 Companies Urging The Supreme Court To Support Same-Sex ...Huffington Post |
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A new report by Freedom House and the Atlantic Council of the United States says the human rights situation in Crimea has deteriorated since the peninsula was annexed by Russia in March of...
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In comments that are sure to exacerbate ever-growing fears of militancy in Central Asia, Russia's deputy defense minister has warned that militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan pose a threat to Tajikistan.
Have you ever noticed that during extreme economic cycles, when trends are roaring on the upside, or conversely crashing back down to earth, there often appears an air of extremism in news headlines? Take America’s most recent shale oil boom, and bust, for example. On the way up, you may have seen – Why OPEC Could Be Dead in 10 Years. Conversely, now you may have read, Why It Might Be ‘Game Over For The Fracking Boom’.
In the end, the answer lies somewhere in-between. OPEC, although often plagued with internal discord, will still remain the global defacto 900-pound gorilla of crude, and US producers will continue to find ways to crack shale rock cheaper and more efficiently, immunizing themselves to nail-biting commodity roller coaster dips like what was just experienced. And in 2008 (-55%). And in 2001 (-32%). And in 1998 (-38%)….
BP, in its recently-released “Energy Outlook 2035”, predicts OPEC’s market share will return to approximately 40 percent of global demand within 15 years, up from 33 percent today, which is what all this fuss is about anyway.
Read more: No Real Oil Price Relief Until Q3
Here are 3 reasons why America’s shale will continue to produce going forward:
1. Oil companies, both large and small, have seen what is possible.
In 2004, Texas oilman George Mitchell made hydraulic fracture stimulation commercially viable by unlocking the right combination of water pressure and lubricants to allow oil and gas to predictably flow from dense shale to the wellbore. A decade ago, producers believed shale held vast oil and gas resources, but to what extent they could be developed had not been determined. Until now.
Last year for example, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced there could be up to 75 billion additional barrels of oil in the Permian Basin, a field believed to be mostly dried up. The EIA also forecast over 100 years of natural gas supply from shale resources, mostly flowing from the vast Marcellus and Utica formations in the Northeast.
One of the biggest reasons America’s shale revolution will continue is producers have seen the potential. As with any industry, technology should drive cost down, and drillers and producers are both mutually highly incentivized to find cheaper, faster, better ways of extraction.
2. Eventually, politicians might “Get It”.
The shale oil revolution that peaked in 2014 occurred mostly in spite of Washington, D.C., not because of it. With Capitol Hill and the White House mired in political gridlock for most of the last 6 years, oil and gas producers were thus free to explore, develop, and prove the concept that shale development was indeed commercially viable.
Read more: Could Oil Prices Plummet A Second Time?
In a perfect scenario, the next phase would involve political leadership who comprehends the benefit of an alliance between Canada, Mexico and the United States, creating a formidable energy superpower, ultimately likely leading to North American energy independence from any imported oil.
3. In spite of the current dip, global demand points up
BP and ExxonMobil, in their long-range forecasts, both allude to the same conclusion – the macro trend for oil consumption worldwide is up. BP predicts a 41 percent increase in demand over the next 20 years, with China and India accounting for half the growth.
ExxonMobil concurs. Basing their forecast on a continued population explosion to 9 billion people by 2040, Exxon theorizes GDP will grow parabolically, and in spite of energy efficiencies that will certainly be realized along the way, demand for all forms of energy will continue to increase. In their Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040, Exxon confirms the “all of the above” theory to meet global demand.
Thomas Hood, English poet, author and humorist was quoted to say, “Extremes meet, as the whiting said, with its tail in its mouth.” Oil producers have work to do. They must reduce costs, continue to solve environmental concerns over extraction techniques, and scale efficiencies. This bust has offered plenty of incentive to accelerate that. But there is still an abundance of oil and gas to be extracted, with ample incentive to figure out the most efficient ways to develop it.
This article originally appeared on Oilprice.com.
More from Oilprice.com:
- Oil Prices Tumble As Pace Of Rig Count Decline Slows
- Will US Shale Boom Continue Or Have A Hiatus?
- Is Oil Returning To $100 Or Dropping To $10?
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - It may have been the last note Boris Nemtsov ever wrote, a hurried scrawl in blue pen on a plain white sheet of A4 paper.
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Delta plane skids off runway in landing at LaGuardia
USA TODAY A Delta flight from Atlanta with 125 passengers aboard skidded off the runway upon landing at New York's LaGuardia airport Thursday and came to a stop in a snow bank. Delta Flight 1086 was arriving from Atlanta, according to Delta. The passengers used ... Delta plane skids off LaGuardia runwayCNN Plane skids off runway at New York's LaGuardia AirportFox News Delta plane slides off runway at New York's LaGuardia AirportReuters ABC News -Newsday all 209 news articles » |
Another Major Winter Storm Hits Northeast USby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
A winter storm reaching from Texas to New England closed schools, canceled more than 3,400 flights and stranded hundreds of drivers overnight in Kentucky, where as much as 21.5 inches (55 cm) of snow fell. A plane slid off the runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport, according to the New York City fire department. The Federal Aviation Administration said on its website that the airport was closed because of an "aircraft incident." There were no immediate reports of...
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Delta plane skids off runway in landing at LaGuardia
USA TODAY A Delta flight from Atlanta with 125 passengers aboard skidded off the runway upon landing at New York's LaGuardia airport Thursday and came to a stop in a snow bank. Delta Flight 1086 was arriving from Atlanta, according to Delta. The passengers used ... Plane skids off runway at New York's LaGuardia AirportFox News Delta plane skids off LaGuardia runwayCNN Delta plane slides off runway at New York's LaGuardia AirportReuters CBS News -NBCNews.com all 190 news articles » |
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert is the latest American diplomat to come under attack, but he is not the first.
Family of Alberto Nisman say Argentina prosecutor's death was homicide by Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Nisman, whose mysterious death in January triggered a political earthquake in Argentina, was found shot dead on 19 January
An independent forensic report has shown that Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor who accused Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of a secret conspiracy with Iran, was murdered, his family has said.
Nisman, whose mysterious death in January triggered a political earthquake in Argentina, was found shot dead on 19 January, the day before he was due to testify before Congress that Fernández had conspired to cover up Iran’s alleged involvement in a 1994 attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people.
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BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Independent forensic tests show the Argentine state prosecutor found dead days after he accused President Cristina Fernandez of plotting to cover up Iran's alleged role in a 1994 bombing was murdered, the deceased prosecutor's ex-wife said on Thursday.
Kim Ki-jong on a stretcher on Thursday in Seoul. Mr. Kim said he attacked the American ambassador to South Korea, Mark W. Lippert, with a knife to protest joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea.
Published on Mar 5, 2015
London mayor Boris Johnson unveils skeletal horse sculpture by German-American artist Hans Haacke on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. Report by Gabriella Darlington.
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Published on Feb 26, 2015
Guerilla artist Banksy has revealed new works of art in war-battered Gaza. Report by Sarah Kerr.
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With the Republican Party in control of both congressional chambers, retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Lyons Jr. recently expressed his hope that lawmakers will work to stem the tide of Muslim extremists attaining powerful positions within the nation’s intelligence community.
“No question we’ve got a hell of a job ahead of us with the Muslim Brotherhood penetration in every one of our national security agencies, including all our intelligence agencies” he said during a January meeting of the National Press Club. “And, as has been reported by some, our lead intelligence agency headed by a Muslim convert [an apparent reference to rumors surrounding CIA Director John Brennan], this is not going to be an easy task.”
In a brief recap of the last several decades, Lyons explained that America has had “many opportunities … to change the course of history,” beginning with the Iranian hostage situation during the Carter administration.
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Instead, he lamented, American leaders have repeatedly refused to act, leading to the dire situation he says we are currently in.
“Here we are today,” he said. “Political correctness has neutralized all our military leadership.”
A major factor in defeating the enemy is identifying it, something Lyons said too many are reticent to do.
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“The threat is Islam,” he asserted. “Let’s make no mistake about it. There’s no such thing as radical Islam.”
He went on to ask for “a definition of moderate Islam,” concluding that “there ain’t any.”
While Lyons applauded the recent efforts of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to encourage an Islamic reformation, he said the Obama administration has yet to even acknowledge this development.
“It certainly tells you where their sympathies lie,” he said.
h/t: TPNN
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Admiral James “Ace” Lyons, Jr. (Ret.), the former commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said that President Barack Obama does have a strategy for dealing with Islamic radicals in the Middle East and it is an “anti-American” and “pro-Islamic” strategy,” as well as “pro-Iranian” and “pro-Muslim Brotherhood” strategy.
In his remarks at a recent Defeat Jihad Summit sponsored by the Center for Security Policy, Admiral Lyons spoke of a number of failed opportunities the United States had, since the late 1970s, to deal a crippling blow to Islamic jihadism and “change the course of history.”
Towards the end of his comments, Admiral Lyons, who commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet under President Ronald Reagan in 1985-87, said, “You know, we all say we have to identify the threat. Well, I think the one who identified it the best was [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan from Turkey when he said, ‘Islam is Islam. There are no modifiers [e.g., Islamic extremism]. Democracy is the train we ride to our ultimate objective.’”
“He couldn’t have said it any plainer,” said Lyons. “And until you recognize that Islam is a political movement masquerading as a religion, you’re never going to come to grips with it. And as far as a strategy – let me just conclude one thing, as I just had in my latest op-ed -- the Obama Administration has a strategy.”
“It’s very simple, any thinking American should be able to grasp,” said the admiral. “It’s anti-American, anti-Western, it’s pro-Islamic, it’s pro-Iranian, and pro-Muslim Brotherhood!”
President Barack Obama. (AP Photo)
Lyons, a Naval Academy graduate who served 36 years in the U.S. Navy, currently is the president and CEO of Lion Associates, an international consulting firm that specializes in anti-terrorist security services.
Further commenting on the threat posed by Islamists, Admiral Lyons said, “We’ve had many opportunities to change the course of history. And it hasn’t mattered whether it’s been a Republican or a Democratic administration, we failed every one of them, starting with Carter and the takeover of our embassy [in Iran in 1979].”
“We could have cut off [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeni and Islamic fundamentalism at the knees,” said the admiral. “We were going to take Kharg Island [in the Persian Gulf], and he [Carter] rejected it. We could have walked in. The next time was the Marine barracks bombing [in Beiruit, Lebanon, 1983], and you all probably wonder why we never responded.”
“I won’t go into the long detail but the guy that sabotaged the strike – and I’m glad you’re all sitting down – was the Secretary of Defense [Caspar Weinberger],” said Lyons. “Not once, but twice. Reagan approved -- the French wanted to do a combined strike and Reagan approved it, and Weinberger wouldn’t issue the order.”
President Jimmy Carter and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeni. (AP)
“I have personally talked to [former Secretary of State] George Schultz and [former National Security Adviser] Bud McFarlane,” said Lyons. “They told me they pleaded with him and he wouldn’t do it. You have to say, who the Hell got to him or what got to him? I’ve never been able to get an answer on that.”
Lyons continued, “In the Gulf tanker war, in ’87, we were going to bring down the Khomeini regime. … The one who undercut us the most was our own chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, [Admiral James] Crowe at the time.
“If you go forward, you know we shot down [on July 3, 1988] by accident that Iranian civilian airliner [Iran Air Flight 655], a few months later,” he said. “And what did Khomeini do? He said, ‘I’m drinking from the chalice of poison.’ And he said I have to make a truce with Saddam Hussein because the Americans have shown they’re coming in on Iraq’s side. Well, think of what the Hell we could have done had we executed the strike we wanted to do in August of ‘87.”
Speaking at the National Press Club back in January, Admiral Lyons said that “the fundamental transformation of America,” espoused by Obama, “has been in full swing ever since 2008.”
Two Islamic terrorists shoot and kill a French policeman outside the editorial office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France, Jan. 7, 2015.
“President Obama’s no-show in Paris,” after the Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo office and personnel, “was an embarrassment for all Americans,” said Admiral Lyons. “But it also was a signal to the Islamic jihadis. It’s one of many signals he’s sent over the years while he’s in office.”
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, killed in Moscow late Friday, had received threats related to his stance on the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Saturday.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, Nemtsov was killed at 11:40 p.m. Moscow time on Friday (20:40 GMT), when several shots were fired at him from a car.
"The investigators have information that Nemtsov had been receiving threats linked to his stance on the shooting at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris," Markin said.
The Investigative Committee is also considering versions that may be connected to Nemtsov's business activities. All of the versions will be thoroughly checked, according to Markin.
The committee also stated that those responsible for the politician's murder supposedly knew about the route Nemtsov was going to take on the night of the murder and followed him.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the investigation into the murder of Nemtsov was of paramount importance and required patience.
Boris Nemtsov was 55 years old. In 1991, Boris Nemtsov was appointed the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. He also was a former deputy prime minister in the Russian government under President Boris Yeltsin. Nemtsov co-chaired the RPR-PARNAS (Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party) since 2012 and was also one of the leaders of the liberal Solidarnost movement. Since September 2013 and until his death, Nemtsov served as a member of the Yaroslavl Region's parliament.
Of the many questions raised by the murder of Boris Y. Nemtsov, the fifty-five-year-old opposition figure who served in the 1990s as Nizhniy Novgorod province’s governor and then as Boris Yeltsin’s first deputy prime minister, two are particularly important. First: Who did it and why? Second: How will it affect the already rancorous relationship between Russia and the West?
Western governments have, appropriately, called for a thorough and impartial investigation to bring the killers to justice. Yet many pundits and much of the press, certainly in this country, seem to have reached a verdict already: Vladimir Putin ordered Nemtsov’s assassination in order to cow an opposition that he fears could revive and foment revolution, now that Russians are reeling from the double blow of Western sanctions and plummeting oil prices. By assassinating Nemtsov, it is said, Putin launched a preemptive strike. His intended message to those planning protests: Mess with me, and I’ll have you killed.
Now, anyone who believes that the Kremlin could not have ordered the hit on Nemtsov hasn’t been paying attention to what’s been happening in the Russia that Putin has built. The assassination of the intrepid reporter Anna Politkovskaya, the jailing of ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the poisoning via polonium of the former-KGB-operative-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko—these are just some prominent examples that demonstrate that Putin’s government is not one you want to antagonize. If you do, you put everything at risk. It’s that simple.
But—and this is the problem with much of the opinionating on the Nemtsov slaying—one can’t simply assume that only the regime could have killed Nemtsov.
Putin has been accused of many things, but stupidity isn’t one of them, so let's consider the backdrop to Nemtsov’s murder. Western governments and not a few Russia experts have been confident that the bite of sanctions will cause Putin to back off in Ukraine for fear of a Russian Maidan movement produced by an economic meltdown. Yet Putin has expanded Russia’s support for the Donbas separatists and stepped up its military role in eastern Ukraine, even as the economic crisis has worsened.
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Despite prophecies of Putin’s demise, there is no proof that he is in peril. Public opinion polls show that he remains very popular. True, these oft-cited numbers should not be abstracted from the rich diet of hypernationalism and conspiracy theories fed to Russians by the state-controlled media. Still, Putin is scarcely sitting atop a political volcano. Whatever the degree of Russians’ discontent over the Ukraine war and the economic downturn, it hasn’t enabled the political opposition—which remains in disarray—to regroup. The last thing Putin wants is tens of thousands of Russian citizens marching through Moscow’s streets. (Who knows where that could lead?) But that’s exactly what he got because of the anguish and outrage produced by Nemtsov’s murder. It’s hard to believe that the wily Putin wouldn’t have anticipated that.
Yes, Nemtsov was preparing to organize a protest against the war in Ukraine, but no one expected that it would draw a huge crowd; and an unimpressive turnout would merely have underscored the opposition’s impotence. Yes, Nemtsov was planning to publish a pamphlet (“Putin and the War”) that he believed would prove that the Ukraine war had long been in the works. But the Kremlin’s propaganda tools are formidable, as is its capacity to intimidate the non-official press (what remains of it) and bloggerati. Putin’s PR machine would have dismissed the revelations as disinformation and, if they included official documents, as a forgery. For good measure, Nemtsov would have been painted as a fifth columnist. Besides, killing him wouldn’t necessarily have prevented someone else from spilling the beans.
Masha Gessen, a savvy writer on Russian politics and author of a well-regarded book on Putin, offers a more plausible version of the “the regime did it” thesis. She believes that while Putin and his inner circle probably didn’t order Nemtsov’s assassination, the atmosphere of jingoism and political paranoia they have created may have inspired freelancing by rabid Russian nationalists. Then there’s the suggestion that Nemtsov’s assassins wanted to widen the rift between Russia and the West, in particular to shape the American debate over arming Ukraine. The advocates of this theory point to far-right Ukrainian groups. Islamic radicals have been tagged as well. Their motive: revenge for Nemtsov’s support for the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. But these folks don’t lose time going public; their aim is to spread fear through the “propaganda of the deed.” No one has claimed responsibility for Nemtsov’s execution.
In short, an avalanche of speculation appeared within minutes of Nemtsov’s murder, no matter the lack of firm evidence to back the rival accounts.
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3 March 2015 Last updated at 12:28 ET By Patrick Jackson BBC News
A poster of the late Boris Nemtsov at a rally in St Petersburg on Sunday
President Vladimir Putin
Early cordial relations between Boris Nemtsov (left) and Vladimir Putin, seen here at the Kremlin in July 2000, quickly deteriorated
Rogue elements in Russian security services
The rebel cause in eastern Ukraine is dear to many Russian nationalists
Foreign intelligence services
Ultra-nationalists or Islamic extremists
With Russians getting killed fighting for the rebel cause in eastern Ukraine, like former schoolteacher Yevgeny Pavlenko, pacifism has become a dirty word for some
Charlie Hebdo's cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad enraged some Russian Muslims, like these at a mass protest in Chechnya, but why would fanatics single out Nemtsov?
Jealous lovers or crooks
Anna Durytska, a 23-year-old model, said she knew Nemtsov for three years
What do we know about killing?
A poster of the late Boris Nemtsov at a rally in St Petersburg on Sunday
In the absence of any arrest or claim of responsibility, there are multiple theories for the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.
Was he killed in order to cow opposition to President Vladimir Putin at a time of mounting economic problems? Or because he opposed Russia's alleged covert war in Ukraine?
Or was he shot in full view of the Kremlin in an attempt to discredit Russia's leaders or even intimidate them, or incite a rebellion against them? Perhaps it was an opportunistic attack by someone harbouring a grudge?
Here are some of the theories circulating about who might be behind the killing and why. Some of them stretch the imagination, possibly in an attempt to obscure more obvious truths.
Early cordial relations between Boris Nemtsov (left) and Vladimir Putin, seen here at the Kremlin in July 2000, quickly deteriorated
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has roundly dismissed the suggestion that the Russian leader could have ordered Nemtsov's killing, telling the BBC it was "illogical" and "unacceptable".
But Russia's best-known opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has accused the Kremlin or lower officials of his friend's death.
Denied the right to attend Nemtsov's funeral as he sat in custody doing a 15-day sentence for illegal pamphleteering, he put out a statement (in Russian): "I believe that Nemtsov was murdered by members of a government (special services) or pro-government organisation on the order of the country's political leadership (including Vladimir Putin)."
The question, he added, was whether the order had been given to kill Nemtsov or to "stage an action that would have a high impact".
One of the puzzles of the Nemtsov assassination was that, as a liberal politician from the Yeltsin era, he did not enjoy the kind of popular support given to younger figures like Mr Navalny.
But Mr Navalny argued in his statement that Russia's leaders had decided to combat the country's developing economic problems with a crackdown on the opposition. It was no longer enough for them to "fabricate criminal cases", he said, in a clear reference to the cases brought against him since the mass election protests of 2011-12.
As for the perpetrators of the killing, he suggested they could have been members of informal militias allegedly used by the Kremlin as auxiliary police.
One argument that might counter his theory is that the security services already enjoy massive power under President Putin, whose own popularity rating increased last month to 86%, according to one poll.
The rebel cause in eastern Ukraine is dear to many Russian nationalists
At the time of his death, Nemtsov was organising an anti-war rally in Moscow and there is some suggestion that the Kremlin or rogue elements in the security forces might have acted to stifle dissent about the war.
"If you support stopping Russia's war with Ukraine, if you support stopping Putin's aggression, come to the Spring March in Maryino [a Moscow suburb] on 1 March," Nemtsov wrote in a social media post, published hours before he was shot (in Russian).
According to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Nemtsov was also planning to publish "some persuasive evidence about the involvement of Russian armed forces in Ukraine".
Although the anti-war rally was cancelled, Russia's small independent media have pressed on with investigating allegations of covert warfare.
It is impossible to know how real a threat Nemtsov posed to the authorities. And a ceasefire President Putin personally helped to negotiate for eastern Ukraine last month finally seems to be taking hold.
Mr Putin publicly condemned Nemtsov's murder, saying it was "entirely provocative in nature".
"Provocation" is Kremlin code for an attack aimed at destabilising the Russian state. As to who might be behind such an attack, the Kremlin's "chief spin doctor", TV anchorman Dmitry Kiselev, made clear who he thought stood to benefit most.
"When he was alive, Nemtsov was no longer necessary to the West, he had no prospects," he said. "But dead, he was a lot more interesting."
It is a standard line on Russian state-run media that the CIA orchestrated the uprising in Ukraine last year and anti-Russian unrest in other ex-Soviet states in recent years.
However, in the absence of any evidence, few people would take seriously the idea that the CIA staged the killing of Nemtsov in the hope of sparking a violent opposition reaction to President Putin's rule.
An alternative Russian theory, set out in the pro-government Izvestia newspaper (in Russian) which quoted an unnamed police source, is that the Ukrainian secret service had Nemtsov assassinated by Chechen hit men in order to destabilise Russia.
If this really was a genuine attempt to destabilise Russia, it may be too early to judge. So far opposition reaction has been largely muted, other than that of Mr Navalny in his jail cell.
With Russians getting killed fighting for the rebel cause in eastern Ukraine, like former schoolteacher Yevgeny Pavlenko, pacifism has become a dirty word for someCharlie Hebdo's cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad enraged some Russian Muslims, like these at a mass protest in Chechnya, but why would fanatics single out Nemtsov?
Undoubtedly, there were Russians who hated Nemtsov for his liberal brand of politics and opposition to the war, seen as a sacred cause by many nationalists.
"So who's Nemtsov?" asked one Moscow tweeter. "So much fuss while children and old people perish in Donetsk [eastern Ukraine] each day. Who remembers them?"
One common extreme reaction circulating on Russian-language social media was, "A dog's death for a dog."
One theory is that, rather than seeking mere revenge, Russian ultra-nationalists may have killed Nemtsov as a warning to Mr Putin not to back down in the conflict over Ukraine.
"It is no secret that there are some very radical characters among both sides in the conflict [over Ukraine], who are not subordinated to any authorities," said Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia's powerful Investigative Committee.
Another theory advanced by the Investigative Committee (often accused of political bias itself) is that the killers might have been Islamist extremists enraged by his condemnation of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.
Nemtsov, a famously outspoken politician, made no secret of his Jewish extraction though he was a baptised Christian. But again, where is the credible claim of responsibility?
Anna Durytska, a 23-year-old model, said she knew Nemtsov for three years
Nemtsov had been involved in a well-publicised anti-corruption campaign in Yaroslavl, a provincial town not far from Moscow.
The one alternative theory for his murder given by Mr Navalny is that he had created deadly enemies in the region as a result.
Contract murders for commercial reasons have become less common in Moscow under Vladimir Putin but do still occur. However, the killers were taking a massive risk attacking Nemtsov in one of the most heavily guarded areas of Moscow.
What of the late politician's love life? Even admirers used the epithet "womaniser" in regard to him.
However, the Ukrainian model less than half his age (he was 55) who was with him when he was shot on Friday night could say little about the attack.
Anna Durytska, who was unhurt, told Russian media she had not seen the killer, who had struck from behind. All she had seen, she said, was a light-coloured car which quickly drove off. Into the dark.
- Gunman fired into Nemtsov from behind with a pistol as he walked across a bridge below the Kremlin hand in hand with a young woman
- Killer then jumped over the barrier into the road and got into a waiting car, which looked like a Russian vehicle, a witness called Viktor told pro-Kremlin Russian news website LifeNews (in Russian)
- A police source told LifeNews the gunman was around 1.7m (five foot seven) tall with short dark hair, wearing blue jeans and a brown sweater
- Nemtsov's walking companion, Anna Durytska, saw a light-coloured car speeding off
- A police source told Russian daily Kommersant old bullets were used, possibly fired from a homemade gun. "Participants in the investigation are only sure of one thing - that the killers were not professionals," the source said
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Published time: February 28, 2015 10:30
Edited time: February 28, 2015 17:40
Edited time: February 28, 2015 17:40
The assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow was well-planned, investigators said. Versions of the crime range from a political provocation to a revenge killing by radical Islamists.
READ MORE: Boris Nemtsov killed in Moscow LIVE UPDATES
“There is no doubt that this crime was carefully planned. The location and timing of the killing indicated that as well. The investigation found out that Boris Nemtsov was going with his female friend to his apartment, which is located close to the murder scene. The organizers and the executers apparently knew his route,” Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee, told journalists.
A murder scene of politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Moskvoretsky bridge.(RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev)
Markin said the best detectives and forensic experts are involved in the case, which is considered a top priority by law enforcement authorities.
Preliminary results show that the politician was killed from a Makarov pistol. Experts found six 9-mm cartridge cases at the scene, Markov said. The cartridges were produced by several different manufacturers, he added.
At the moment the investigation is focused on questioning the eyewitnesses and studying mobile traffic data in the immediate area of the crime, which may provide an insight into communications of the criminals. Footage from CCTV cameras is also being studied.
The investigation is looking into five possible motives behind the high-profile assassination, Markin said.
“The murder could be a provocation to destabilize the political situation in the country. Nemtsov could have been chosen as a sort of 'sacral sacrifice' by those who don't hesitate to use any methods to reach their political goals,” he said.
“There are reports that Nemtsov received threats due to his position over the shooting of Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris,” Markin said, adding that a possible link to the Ukrainian civil war was also being investigated.
“It's no secret that both sides of that conflict have among their ranks very radical figures who take no orders from any authority,” he said.
Other versions voiced by Markin involve Nemtsov's business interests and a possible assault related to his personal life.
Later in the day, the car allegedly used in the attack was discovered not far from the scene of the crime. Russian media reported that it had Ingushetian license plates.
The Kremlin called on political commentators not to pressure the investigators.
“This is a top priority case now and it's important that the investigation produces results as soon as possible. Don't hamper their work, just be patient and wait,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Dozhd television.
President Vladimir Putin has himself pledged that the people behind this “despicable and cynical crime” will be held accountable.
Boris Nemtsov, a veteran opposition figure in Russia, was gunned down in a drive-by attack in central Moscow on Friday night. The murder triggered worldwide condemnation and calls to bring the killers to justice.
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One of the strongest bonds that connect Israel and the US together is via the intelligence community. The two countries have always worked closely together in this area. According to a report by Channel 10 on Monday,this intelligence cooperation has ended, insofar as it relates to Iran’s nuclear program.
The cooperation has previously helped UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency collect information and monitor Iran’s nuclear program.This was essential in order to garner international support for imposing sanctions on Iran in the past and will be essential if there is an agreement with Iran. They will need to be monitored even more closely in the future.
The end of cooperation comes as a result of White House fears that Netanyahu will reveal sensitive intelligence details in his speech to congress.
US Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to contradict this report in an interview with ABC on Sunday, when he said that the Israel-US security relationship was stronger than at any other time in the history of the two-countries.
Netanyahu also seemed to disagree with the report in his speech to the AIPAC policy conference in Washington on Monday. He cited security cooperation and intelligence sharing between the US and Israel as proof that the countries maintain a close relationship despite differences of opinion on Iran.
Cooperation in the area of intelligence is of mutual importance to both Israel and the US. The United States relies on Israeli intelligence agencies for information about terrorism, radical Islamic movements, weapons proliferation and other Middle East-related events. For many years, Israel played a key role in assisting U.S. intelligence through the capture and transfer of Soviet weapons systems. For example, Israel supplied the United States with valuable intelligence about Soviet fighters and their avionics. A prime example of this was in 1989 after a Syrian pilot defected in an advanced model of a MIG-23 and American officials were allowed to examine the plane. Also, the American Army benefits from Israel’s practical experience in desert warfare, adopting many of Israel’s techniques in their own recent conflicts.
US Diplomats reported in 2014 that Israel has been assisting in the fight against the Islamic State by providing the United States with intelligence information, including lists of Westerners who have joined ISIS. Israel has also provided vital intelligence in the form of drones flying over ISIS territory. This information is then used to carry out air strikes and plan coordinated attacks.
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Assassination in Moscow
Theories abound over who is responsible for the death of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov. Mr. Nemtsov a towering figure in Russian post-Soviet politics and a biting critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down in the heart of Moscow less than 100 yards from the walls of the Kremlin and within sight of Red Square, one of the most secure areas in all of Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said it bore the marks of a contract killing, a spokesman said. Here is what we know so far.
The Washington Post. THE WASHINGTON POST. Published on March 2, 2015, 7:14 p.m.
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Given the difficult, indeed parlous, relationship between many Western states and both Russia and Iran, any collaboration between Moscow and Tehran is an important factor for Western capitals to consider. While relations between the Iranian revolutionary regime and the Kremlin have often been poor, and sometimes actively hostile, there has been detectable warming in recent years as the Russians and Iranians find themselves on the same side in the bloody wars in Syria and Iraq.
An indication of how cozy things are getting between Moscow and Tehran came this week with a visit to Iran by Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s National Security Council, who met with Iranian counterparts to discuss mutual threats. As Patrushev explained, “Iran has been one of Russia’s key partners in the region and it will remain so in future … [we] have similar and close views on many key regional issues and we had a serious exchange of views on the situation in Syria, Iraq and Libya.”
But this was not just a diplomatic gab fest. In the first place, Patrushev is a career intelligence officer and one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest confidants. A Brezhnev-era counterintelligence officer with the Leningrad KGB, just like Putin, Patrushev served as head of the powerful Federal Security Service (FSB) from 1999 to 2008, leaving that position to take over the National Security Council.
Patrushev has all the hardline anti-Western views one would expect from a devoted Chekist. In a recent interview, he explained that the West, and especially the United States, are behind a comprehensive plot to destroy Russia, using nefarious diplomatic and economic means. Patrushev, stating explicitly that Russia and America are again in a Cold War, blamed Washington, DC, for the wars in Chechnya and Ukraine, adding that, through international economic institutions, the Americans destroyed Yugoslavia and plan to do the same to Russia, citing alleged US/NATO plans for the “dismemberment of our country.”
I’m sure Patrushev and the Iranians therefore saw eye-to-eye on a great many things when they sat down to chat. Of greatest importance is the new intelligence cooperation agreement between Moscow and Tehran that Patrushev nailed down during his visit. The main agenda item is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the countries’ national security councils, which was signed this week. This is the vehicle for increased intelligence sharing between Russia and Iran and, while it will focus heavily on issues of mutual concern in the Middle East and Central Asia, Russian media reports make clear that this is the beginning of a strategic intelligence partnership.
Although Russian and Iranian intelligence, once bitter enemies, signed a limited MOU back in 2001 focusing on counterterrorism, that led to little actual cooperation. The wars in Syria and Iraq, however, have changed things. Last year, the two interior ministries agree to cooperate on police intelligence matters. Now, however, a full intelligence alliance has been agreed to. As a Russian report on Patrushev’s visit explained:
The events in Syria and Iraq, where contacts between the Russian and Iranian special services have not only been resumed but have also proven their mutually advantageous nature, particularly in assessing the threats and plans of local bandit formations, both “secular” and Islamist, with respect to Russian facilities in Tartus in Syria, have impelled Moscow and Tehran to the idea of the need to formalize these contacts in the shape of a permanently operating mechanism. Russian special services also valued the volume of information, voluntarily conveyed by Iran to our specialists, on the potential activity of the Israeli Air Force against the Russian humanitarian convoys to Syria in the period of the sharp aggravation of the situation in that country in the summer of last year.
Let there be no doubt that this new espionage alliance is aimed directly at the United States and Israel. As the report added, “the Iranians are prepared to provide Russia on a permanent basis with information on American military activity in the Persian Gulf obtained from their own technical intelligence facilities” — in other words, the Russians and Iranians will be sharing SIGINT, the most sensitive of all forms of intelligence gathering.
Relations between Putin’s Russia and revolutionary Iran have been warming up in recent years on all fronts — diplomatic, economic, and military — and now there’s an important intelligence dimension too. Given the power and long reach of the intelligence services of both Iran and Russia, this is a development that should cause serious concern in Western capitals as well as many in the Middle East.
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Russian Military Intelligence Coordinating Syrian-Iranian ...
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Bill Gertz - 2013 - Political Science
Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service spokesman Yuri Kobaladze, ... by leaking new details of Iranian-Russian intelligence cooperation on missile ...Russia–Iran Relations Since the End of the Cold War
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Eric D. Moore - 2014 - Political Science
In an effort to appease Washington during this era, Russian Foreign Minister ... by the fact thatRussian–Iranian cooperation in the sale and transfer of weapons and ... analysts have indicated thatRussia's Foreign Intelligence Services (SVR) ...Countering Russian-Iranian Military Cooperation
<a href="http://www.heritage.org/.../countering-" rel="nofollow">www.heritage.org/.../countering-</a>russian-iranian...
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How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East
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Gabriel G. Tabarani - 2008 - History
The Russian government did not have a strategy for Iran until Yevgeny Primakov ... cooperation withIran, the ministry of defense saw Iran as a threat to Russian ... 2005) Though Russian foreignintelligence services warned in 1999 that Iran, ...Persian Dreams: Moscow and Tehran Since the Fall of the Shah
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John W. Parker - 2009 - History
Analysts saw Iran as intent on acquiring the means to deter any American move ... vital interests.31 It is unknown to what extent Russia's intelligence services in the ... of similar and parallel rather than intertwined and cooperative programs.Congressional Record, V. 145, Pt. 8, May 24, 1999 to June ...
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2004
The terms "commercial space launch services" and "Russian space launch service ... This amendment also demands continued Russian cooperation on ... (
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