by Stephen Lendman

The Russell Tribunal (RT) is an activist peace organization. It's known as the International War Crimes Tribunal.

It condemns America's permanent war agenda. It opposes New World Order extremism. Its members include academics, intellectuals and artists.

It's inspired by the BRussells Tribunal. It was named after after famed philosopher/mathematician/anti-war/anti-imperialism activist Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970).

He warned many years ago:

"Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war" and live in peace. There's no in between.

Previous tribunals investigated war crimes in Vietnam, Iraq and Palestine. Others examined human rights abuses in Latin America and psychiatry.

An extraordinary Brussels September 24 and 25 session is planned on Israel's Operation Protective Edge.

Outrage about its genocidal high crimes against peace inspired it.

The session will examine Israel's crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. "(T)hird States" complicity will be investigated.

Distinguished panel members will present their findings during a September 25 international press conference.

They'll be received at the European parliament the same day. They'll address a message to UN General Assembly members during its 69th session.

RT "is your tribunal," it says. It needs public support to operate. Its work is more important than ever. At stake is humanity's survival.

On September 13, RT International headlined "Guilty! 'Russell Tribunal' condemns Obama, Poroshenko 'war crimes' in E. Ukraine," saying:

On Saturday, "an informal Russell Tribunal…took place in Venice, Italy…"

Its rulings have no legal status. At the same time, they affect public opinion worldwide.

RT's Southeastern Ukraine ruling will be sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, EU states, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and other appropriate international bodies.

According to RT's board of judges:

"The Russell Tribunal, which met to condemn the war crimes in Donbas (south-eastern Ukraine), based on the presented evidence, ruled to hold Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, US president Barack Obama, European Commission head, Jose Manuel Barroso, and NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, accountable for their direct responsibility in the war against the people of Donbas."

Judges consisted of Venice residents. Veneto Government president Albert Gardin presided.

Amnesty International and likeminded human rights organizations were invited to attend. They opted out.

They're on the wrong side of history. Often they support what demands condemnation.

Galina Kozhushko represented Lugansk and Donetsk self-defense forces. She's a Lugansk native. She currently resides in Italy.

Donbass "protests escalated into armed resistance after the voices of the people were ignored," she said.

"As a result, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and churches were destroyed."

"People in Lugansk just couldn't believe that their own government would be killing them."

Journalist/former European MP Giulietto Chiesa called Southeastern Ukraine events "a planned provocation by the US against Russia."

"Ukraine was conquered by the US long ago," he said. "If NATO does send its troops to the border with Russia, we'll find ourselves on the verge of a war between the west and Russia."

Violence erupted in April. Kiev declared war on its own people.

Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters reject fascist rule. They reject its illegitimacy.

They want democracy. They want local autonomy. They want the right to elect their own officials. They deserve universal support.

Fighting took a horrendous toll. Thousands were killed. Many more were injured.

Hundreds of thousands are internally or externally displaced.

On September 5, both sides agreed to ceasefire terms. Fighting continues.

Washington bears full responsibility. It manipulates events covertly.

Peace is more fantasy than real. Full-scale conflict could erupt again any time.

America wants war. It deplores peace. It's running things. Kiev officials are convenient stooges.

At issue is solidifying hardline rule. It's targeting Russia. It's incorporating all former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries into NATO.

It's surrounding Russia with US bases. It's targeting its heartland with long-range, multiple warhead nuclear missiles.

It's marginalizing, containing, weakening, isolating and co-opting Russia. It's transforming it into another US colony.

It's eliminating a major rival. It's stealing its resources. It's exploiting its people.

It's redrawing Eurasia. It's balkanizing the world's largest land mass. It's transforming it into mini-states. It's neutralizing them in the process.

It's advancing America's imperium. It's isolating China. It's part of Washington longterm aim for unchallenged global dominance.

War without end is its strategy to achieve it. World peace hangs by a thread. New World Order extremism threatens it.

Welcome to Cold War 2.0. Western policy is hard-wired. Russia isn't about to roll over for America.

It's sovereignty matters. Putin defends what's too important to lose. He opposes US imperial lawlessness.

He does so justifiably. He does it courageously. Washington considers him public enemy No. one.

Waging war on ISIS/ISIL/IS is subterfuge for solidifying unchallenged Middle East control en route to establishing it globally. Eurasia is in the eye of the storm.

"Who is behind the Islamic State Project," asked Michel Chossudovsky?

"Until recently (they) were heralded as Syria's 'opposition freedom fighters' committed to 'restoring democracy' and unseating the secular government of Bashar al Assad."

Who's "behind the jihadist insurgency in Syria," Chossudovsky asked?

Dark Washington forces "are behind the Caliphate Project."

"The Islamic State (IS) militia, which is currently the alleged target of a US-NATO bombing campaign under a 'counter-terrorism' mandate, was and continues to be supported covertly by the United States and its allies."

It's a "creation of US intelligence." It's supported by Britain, Israel and other rogue state dark forces.

They back fascist extremism in Ukraine. They want democracy prevented at all costs.

State terrorism is official policy. Peace is a convenient illusion. War without end persists. Rogue states operate this way.

Invented enemies are red herring cover for imperial aims. Obama bears full responsibility. His war on Ukrainian freedom persists.

Bombing Syria looms. The entire region is up for grabs. Obama wants unchallenged control.

His agenda threatens world peace. Humanity may not survive his second term. Stopping him before it's too late matters most.

A Final Comment

On September 12, Putin questioned new Western sanctions.

"When the situation is moving towards a peaceful resolution, steps are taken which are aimed at disrupting the peace process," he said.

It's "begun. I can't understand what these next sanction steps are about."

"I've said many times that our western partners first drove the situation into an anti-constitutional coup and then supported the punitive operation in the south-east, and now that the situation has switched over to the track of peace settlement, someone is taking steps aimed at breaking (it) up."

"Why is this being done?" Putin asked. They're counterproductive. They won't work. Russia will respond accordingly, he suggested.

It'll do so to benefit Russian commerce and industry. It won't be "for the sake of showing how tough we are…"

On September 13, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Washington "is trying to use the crisis in Ukraine to break economic ties between the EU and Russia and force Europe to buy US gas at much higher prices."

It's exploiting Ukrainian crisis conditions. It's doing so "to economically tear Europe from Russia and bargain for itself the most favourable conditions in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the creation of a transatlantic trade and investment partnership."

It's trying to "impose on Europe deliveries of US liquefied natural gas at prices that cannot be competitive compared with Russian gas prices."

Russia supplies about a third of the EU's gas. Lavrov said EU states are "prepared to sacrifice (their) econom(ies) to politics."

On Saturday, Ukraine's putschist prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk ludicrously accused Moscow of wanting to "eliminate Ukraine as an independent country."

Putin's "ultimate goal is to take the whole of Ukraine." He won't stop until he restores the "Soviet Union," he said.

He wants NATO membership. "Under these circumstances, NATO is the only possibility to protect Ukraine," he claimed.

Russia is firmly opposed. It won't tolerate US-controlled NATO bases on its borders.

Encroachment would be hugely provocative. Imagine if Russia had bases in Canada and/or Mexico.

Imagine if its warships patrolled close to America's east and west coasts, as well as Mexican Gulf waters.

Imagine calls in Washington for war. Remember Bertrand Russell's warning.

Our choice is either ending war or humanity. There's no in between.

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

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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