by Stephen Lendman

US-led NATO threatens world peace. It's a global killing machine. It prioritizes militarism and war. It threatens humanity in the process.

It's escalating East/West tensions. It supports Kiev fascist putschists. It buries truth. It spreads lies about Russia.

On April 16, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said:

"We have just taken further measures to respond to the crisis in Ukraine."

"We call on Russia to be part of the solution. To stop destabilising Ukraine, pull back its troops from the borders and make clear it doesn't support the violent actions of well armed militias of pro-Russian separatists."

NATO deployed warplanes to Eastern Europe provocatively. US navy vessels patrol Black Sea waters. France plans sending one of its own to join them.

Rasmussen announced stepped up measures. He called doing so "reinforc(ing) our collective defence and demonstrat(ing) the strength of Allied security."

More warplanes are coming. More ships. More troop deployments. Sending them means more "readiness" on land, he said.

Measures announced are being implemented straightaway. "More will follow, if needed, in the weeks and months to come," he added.

Doing so "send(s) a clear message. NATO will protect every Ally and defend against any threat against our fundamental security. That is our firm commitment."

No threats exists. Invented ones substitute. Rasmussen didn't explain. He's a convenient US stooge. He serves at America's behest. He's one of its imperial frontmen.

Stars and Stripes is a Pentagon publication. On April 16, it headlined "NATO to deploy more forces to eastern Europe in response to Ukraine crisis."

It quoted Rasmussen saying "(m)ilitary staff from allied nations will deploy to enhance our preparedness, training and exercises. Our defense plans will be reviewed and reinforced."

General Philip Breedlove ordered increased readiness. He's Washington's European commander/Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)/NATO Allied Command Operations head.

He wants more US-led NATO warplanes, ships and land forces. He wants them closer to Russia's borders. He does so despite no Moscow threat. Claims otherwise are false.

Commodore Georgiy Alafuzoff formerly was Finland's Defense Forces Intelligence Manager. He's currently EU intelligence military intelligence head.

No Russian involvement in Eastern Ukraine exists, he said. No reported military presence. Moscow had nothing to do with seizing government buildings in Eastern Ukraine cities, he stressed.

Claims otherwise are false. "In my opinion, it's mostly people who live in the region who are not satisfied with the current state of affairs," he explained.

They're concerned about their own welfare. They risk losing fundamental freedoms. Alafuzoff agrees with what Sergei Lavrov and other Russian officials stress.

Western propaganda claims otherwise. It drowns out truth. It substitutes lies. On April 16, Itar Tass headlined "Foreign observers carry out 8 inspections in Russia's territory."

They reflect Moscow's military transparency measures. They comply with 2002 Open Skies Treaty provisions. Thirty-four nations are signatories.

They include Russia, America, Canada, Turkey, Ukraine and most other European states. They permit unarmed surveillance overflights. They promote military activity openness.

In March alone, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said foreign inspectors carried out eight Russian territory inspections.

Seven were near the Ukraine/Russian border. No evidence suggests a massive military buildup. Claims otherwise are false. They're groundless, said Antonov.

"We have mechanisms of transparency agreed in Vienna within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)," he explained.

"There is the Open Skies Treaty and the 2011 Vienna Document on Transparency and Confidence-building Measures which provide for certain verification procedures," he said.

"It is nonsense to say that the nuclear West is disarming while the nuclear Russia is building up forces."

Russia destroyed over 2,000 ground-based ballistic missiles. They included cruise missiles able to hit targets from 500 to 5,500 kilometers away.

More than 3,000 nuclear warheads with a combined 500,000 ton yield were eliminated. So were 825 launchers.

"NATO has 10,000 tanks," said Antonov. "(W)e have only 3,500…"

"NATO has 22,000 armored vehicles compared to Russia's 7,500," he added. Don't figures speak for themselves, he stressed.

They're ignored. They're not reported. Russia bashing takes precedence. Lies substitute for truth.

Putin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Western news consumers are denied real information.

"It's very regrettable but it's so," he said. Even comments by Putin, Lavrov, and other top Russian officials are ignored. A "concrete wall of censorship" blocks them out.

"We never saw anything like this before. We never thought this could happen and that it could happen so openly," said Peskov.

On geopolitical issues, the Washington Post is a de facto CIA publication. Columnist David Ignatius has longstanding close US intelligence ties.

His commentaries lack credibility. He lies for power. On April 15, he headlined "The Cost of Putin's adventurism in Ukraine."

None whatever exists. Not according to Ignatius. He lied saying he "seiz(ed) Crimea."

He's "fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine, perhaps as a prelude to invasion."

"…Russian agents infiltrat(ed) eastern Ukraine, backed by 40,000 troops just across the border," he claimed.

Truth is polar opposite. It bears repeating. Ignatius lies for power. He willfully spreads disinformation. He's stoking conflict.

"(T)he White House sees Putin weighing three options," he said. He calls all of them "bad for the West." Two are fabricated. More on them below.

The other is accurate. Putin supports involving all Ukrainian political voices in a federalized state. He favors Ukrainian nonaligned status.

Option two, said Ignatius, is "annex(ing) eastern Ukraine." Putin forthrightly opposes it. Claims otherwise are false.

Option three is "invasion, using the pretext of civil war in eastern Ukraine," said Ignatius.

Putin plans none. At the same time, he's committed to protecting Russian nationals if endangered.

Western leaders would do no less for their own. Washington invents threats. It does so to deploy US forces to foreign countries.

Putin responsibly uses his. He prioritizes saving lives. Mass slaughter and destruction follow Pentagon deployments.

Don't expect Ignatius to explain. He claims Putin "prefers the veneer of legitimacy." He shames his US counterpart.

He respects national sovereignty. He supports rule of law principles. His governance is polar opposite Obama's.

Ignatius claims he prefers "paramilitary covert action, rather than rolling tanks across an international border."

Russia's military strength is a "warning sign that (he'll) keep the threat of force alive until his demands are met," he added.

Hegemons operate this way. Washington is Exhibit A. One country after another is targeted. They're systematically ravaged and destroyed.

Putin prioritizes peace and stability. His policies reflect his pronouncements. Ignatius didn't explain.

Lies substituted for truth. His columns feature them. He's part of the Putin bashing crowd. He's one of many.

Outrageous misinformation persists. Readers are cheated. They're grossly misinformed. War of words is vicious.

Propaganda wars precede hot ones. Conflicts glorify them. They do so in the name of peace. They rage one after another.

Hegemons give no quarter. Mass slaughter and destruction are standard practice. All US direct and proxy wars turn out this way.

Ukraine may become the latest example. Victims are blamed for US crimes. Today's yellow journalism makes earlier stuff look tame by comparison.

The so-called "newspaper of record" operates as lead US ministry of information and propaganda. The Washington Post doesn't hide its CIA connection.

Big Lies repeat ad nauseam. Perhaps employment contracts mandate proliferating misinformation, deceit and distortion.

Truth is buried. Ethical standards are ignored. Daily fare reads like bad fiction. Television is worst of all.

Demagoguery, warmongering, Big Lies, censorship, pseudo-journalism, and juiced-up junk food news substitute for vital information viewers most need to know.

May Ukrainians for peace, equity and justice prevail. May they inspire activists globally. May they motivate others to join them.

May their ranks overflow. May freedom triumph worldwide. May humanity be saved.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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