NEW ZEALAND is fast approaching a fork in the road. Over the next few hours and days the Labour-NZ First coalition government will be required to identify who its friends are. Will Prime Minister Ardern and Foreign Minister Peters reaffirm their willingness to abide by the rules of “The Club” – also known as “The Five Eyes” – or will they respectfully decline to participate in the ratcheting-up of tensions between the Anglo-Saxon powers and the Russian Federation?
At stake is the Prime Minister’s vision of a New Zealand which acts independently, as an “honest broker”, on the international stage. A nation committed to easing – not exacerbating – international tensions. Her Foreign Minister’s long-held conviction that New Zealand and the Russian Federation have much to gain, and very little to lose, by strengthening their economic relationship is also on the line.
Winston Peters’ concern about this country’s growing dependence on the Chinese economy and his wish to increase the number of baskets in which New Zealand carries its eggs, has not escaped the notice of this country’s Five Eyes “partners”. Neither have his sceptical comments regarding the shooting-down of Flight MH-17 over the Ukraine, nor his refusal to add New Zealand’s voice to the Western chorus condemning Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential Election. Most certainly this reticence has not endeared him to the British.
So alarmed have the British become about a possible New Zealand departure from the London-forged consensus on Russia’s aggressive culpability, that their Wellington High Commission has started briefing against the New Zealand Foreign Minister to New Zealand journalists. According to Richard Harman’s POLITIK website:
“The British invited selected journalists (POLITIK did not attend) to a briefing clearly intended to soften up New Zealand public opinion to join in any sanctions Britain might try and impose on Russia who it suspects of being behind the poisoning [of Russian double -agent Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia]. The fact that a senior diplomat conducted the briefing suggests that the British felt they needed to make a strong case in Wellington.”
This is an extraordinary revelation. It shows the British Government is willing to interfere directly in the domestic politics of an independent nation state – ironically, the very same “crime” Russia stands accused of in relation to the American electoral process. It also shows, by the way, that there are New Zealand journalists in New Zealand’s capital city who are willing to allow themselves to be used for the purposes of advancing the interests of a foreign power. (It remains to be seen whether the journalists who allowed themselves to be used by the National Party to drive Winston Peters out of Parliament in 2008, were included in this select little group.)
It is instructive to compare the British High Commission’s willingness to brief against Winston Peters, with the willingness of the Australian Government to foot-trip Jacinda Ardern’s efforts to relieve the suffering of the detained asylum-seekers on Manus Island. Canberra sanctioned the leaking of “classified” information to both the Australian and New Zealand news media: unconfirmed reports that were seized upon by right-wing journalists and broadcasters in both countries to paint New Zealand’s young prime minister as a naïve and ill-informed diplomatic amateur.
What these two countries have in common is membership of the “Five Eyes Club”. Clearly, New Zealand is not expected to deviate by so much as a single step from the diplomatic and national security “line” laid down by its larger and much more powerful “partners” in global surveillance – and intervention.
Equally clearly, the senior members of the Five Eyes Club can rely upon a trusted group of local “opinion formers” to work against any politician and/or political party deemed to be placing the “long-standing security relationships” of club members at risk.
Also to be relied upon are the national security apparatuses and the armed forces of the Five Eyes partners. It has long been an article-of-faith among the left-wing critics of Western Imperialism that the ruling institutions of the imperialist powers have much more in common with each other than they do with the subordinate populations of their own nation-states. To discover where these countries’ spooks and soldiers true loyalties lie, all their citizens need do is elect a government committed to severing the ties that bind them together.
Clearly, the British and the Australians are convinced that an irresponsible New Zealand electorate (aided and abetted by the country’s absurd MMP electoral system) has saddled them with a coalition government that can no longer be relied upon to follow the rules of The Club. The sanctions London is determined to impose upon the Russian Federation will thus become a litmus test of New Zealand’s readiness to join in the diplomatic and economic “containment” measures demanded by Prime Minister Teresa May.
Over the course of the next few days, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters must decide whether the international relationships and economic interests of New Zealanders are to be decided in Wellington, by the government they have democratically elected, or in London and Canberra by politicians, spies and soldiers over whom they exercise no control whatsoever.
That great powers sometimes do dangerous and despicable things to those they suspect of acting against their interests is a regrettable fact of international life. In this respect, the British and Americans have as much to be ashamed of as the Russians. The question New Zealand’s elected leaders are now required to answer is whether or not they are obliged to respond to the Russian Federation’s dangerous and despicable attempt to assassinate Mr Skripal, by joining-in with London’s equally dangerous retaliatory sanctions? Measures which may prove detrimental to the long-term foreign policy aspirations and economic interests of the New Zealand people.
The MH17 model of spreading a dozen different theories in the hope of causing people to doubt that anyone can ever know the truth, even when the truth is known. Modern kleptocracies like Putin’s are built on laundering & keeping their looted riches in the free world. This is also their greatest weakness, one the West has not exploited, preferring the fiction of common ground & engagement. But proportionate response is what Putin wants, predictable escalation he can absorb. Deterrence must be based on overwhelming response, targeting the Russian oligarchs money & access. The most dangerous thing for Putin is if the UK chuck our Russian oligarchs that own half of London.
Western media insist on saying elections are rigged by Putin bots because they lack the integrity to investigate claims. A predicament tyrannical regimes exploit all the time. Propaganda is a flood, our critical thinking. There for press statements should lead with stamens like “New Zealand has a strong, proud tradition of voting and democracy, and conventional wisdom will put reality on our critics heads. All through out New Zealand’s commercial media this morning it describes The Labour Parties horrible treatment of its young members, so news editors are happy to make money off of the misery of young labour members, now this reality must be dumped on there head, so they are happy to become wealthy by printing the failures they deem necessary to securing there shareholders investments from the leading New Zealand resource namely property investors. Again the press releases must read that New Zealanders can draw strength from her natural beauty and we will respond to any of her critics.
Now who is investing money? Who will invest in New Zealand? Far to much has been asked of New Zealand by foreign corporate and governments for nothing in return. And if something comes out of trade agreements it’s New Zealand tax payers that will pay for it, not secrete propagandist meeting to discuss journo tacticools and usually under the pretext of the Russians are coming. Some of us are not that dumb, and others will listen up if they know what’s good for them. The claims and counter claims that yield results in TPP protests or public submissions on how New Zealanders may improve economic prospects. So priority should be given to linking electricity and rail to unproductive land so it can be given over to the labour force.
This is illustrative of how we do not live in a capitalists system, there are no markets forces. It’s all made up in private tyrannical back channel rooms. It’s been proven that the National Party are extreme tyrants and they don’t hide it. And the whole TPPA and now TPPA-11 was designed to monitor every one, to make it impossible for the brown make community and more and more woman to keep up with society. That’s over half the voting population who are being revictimised and incidentally pretty close to Slave labour. With such dry leaves it doesn’t take a big spark to set it off.
It has been proven that policy does not represent the opinions of the people. All G20 nations are corrupted to its core. They cant even command there own people to work in piece. There is zero advice could we plausible accept. So they must accept our advice.
Why is our foreign minister mincing words about the bad behaviour of autocrats – who essentially apes the US president when it comes to his attitude to Putin and Russia? He seems to be the only government member with anything to say on the matter. You’d expect the PM to register some forceful words on the matter but no, she’s deep in the weeds with Young Labour shenanigans.
Yes we need to stand by our allies but the UK dumped us like hot scones and went to the EU and they should not be telling us what to do.
The gnats government showed they had no principles when it came to getting trade deals 11.5 million for a sheep farm and this is just probably the icing on the cake. The rest of the cake has been hidden or redacted.
How come we don’t condemn China with all their human rights issues including lack of democracy. In the meantime some of the countries we trade with seem to get away with atrocities we are hypocrites.
Interesting questions raised, but still accepts that the Russians did this which is unproven at this stage. What is most telling is that if this was an ordinary poisoning case it would have to go through a long process through the law system with a court trial and appeals before any accurate conclusion could be ascertained. I agree with UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn that the intelligence services cannot be trusted (9/11 lies or Iraq war anyone?) and that there needs to be a full and independent inquiry into this incident preferably led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Such an approach would support a rule of law approach to deciding international disputes and would allow for the facts to be obtained and give time for tempers to cool.
The lynch mob approach championed by the UK Tories pushing us ever closer to global nuclear war and our extinction as a species has to be condemned in the harshest terms. The key question as always is who benefits from such a crime? Right now those who stand to gain the most from such an event are the usual champions of the lies damned lies approach to stampeding the mob into letting themselves be slaughtered in another world war except this time there will be no winners and no new cenotaphs to worship at.
This is a manufactured event to create support for the coming nuclear war in Syria in the next few days and months. Why? Because the mobster Trump and his family and cronies are about to be charged by Mueller and following Bill Clintons playbook he is looking to start a war to divert attention. Russia has rushed new missile defence systems to Syria in the past few days to counter this. The phony lies of chemical weapons use by Syria have failed and been proven to be false flag attacks by the Jihadis supported by the CIA/Mossad/MI6/Saudis. The Salisbury attack is simply part of manufacturing consent for this war to cover Trumps butt: https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/03/13/keeping-trump-and-netanyahu-out-of-jail-israel-plans-sneak-attack-on-syria-with-trump-russia-betrayed/
The NZ government must not in anyway support this game plan for nuclear war in Syria which could easily spiral into a global nuclear war of extinction. Instead it should call for an independent international investigation led by the OPCW to find out actually what happened in Salisbury. Unfortunately, war mongerers never want the facts to spoil their lust for blood.
Why doesn’t the OPCW even have the Novichok class of nerve agents on its prohibited list?
Answer..they are not convinced of its existence, and neither is an ex Porton Down chemist, publishing in 2016
Craig Murray has gathered these published documents and writes a piece on his website
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/03/the-novichok-story-is-indeed-another-iraqi-wmd-scam/
France seems to be taking a much more reasonable and measured stance
“France says it wants ‘definitive conclusions’ on Salisbury attack before taking action
France has said it wants firm proof of Russian involvement in the nerve-toxin poisoning of a Russian double agent in Britain before it takes any action in solidarity with the British government, Reuters reports. The report goes on:
In contrast to German chancellor Angela Merkel and US president Donald Trump who assured British prime minister Theresa May they were taking her government’s views on possible Russian involvement extremely seriously, President Emmanuel Macron and other French officials have declined to mention Russia.
After France initialled condemned the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter and expressed solidarity with Britain on Tuesday, French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux on Wednesday said it was too early for Paris to decide whether action should be taken.
“We don’t do fantasy politics. Once the elements are proven, then the time will come for decisions to be made,” Griveaux told a news conference shortly after May said she was expelling Russian diplomats and suspending bilateral talks.
While he called the attack a “very serious act” on a strategic ally, Griveaux said France was waiting for “definitive conclusions” and evidence that the “facts were completely true” before taking a position.
France’s muted reaction is in contrast with its closest allies, but is in line with Macron’s efforts since coming into office to build a new relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Rather than directly confronting Putin through threats and megaphone diplomacy, he has emphasised private dialogue, while pushing for a restoration of business and cultural ties despite existing European Union sanctions on Moscow.
Diplomats say Macron believes ostracising Moscow will not yield results given its importance on the world stage and role in world crises. Despite obvious differences, he believes it is vital to keep a working relationship going with Russia.
Standing alongside Putin last May at the Chateau de Versailles, Macron heralded the start to a new page in relations after tensions under the previous administration. He said at the time that he wouldn’t let differences over Syria, Ukraine and human rights strain their relationship.
Nearly a year on, there is little evidence to suggest he has gained anything tangible from the alternative approach in terms of foreign policy successes. However, he is due to be the guest of honour at an investor forum in St Petersburg at the end of May where a large French business delegation will also be present.
“France has a policy on Russia that it’s going to stick to. There’s no reason for this to knock that off target,” a French official said. “You’ve got to remember there are pretty close ties between France and Russia, whether around literature, culture and business, and they are important.”
Emmanuel Macron in the Elysée Palace in Paris
I sighed when Macron was elected in France, but he is showing good sense in this instance. It seems like the height of recklessness to be jumping to conclusions and using this sad incident as a platform for anti-Putin grand standing. The TINA doctrine seems to have robbed many western leaders of any capacity for negotiation and carefully-judged long term strategy.
Thanks for that reference Francesca . I hope everyone takes the time .
D J S
Thank you for the link Francesca, though it does not surprise me, sadly only a small number of interested people will bother to read it, and prefer the party line direct from cnn etc. Hope C.T. takes the time to read it.
Broad and diverse trade agreements allow a small country like New Zealand not to be held hostage economically and politically.
And Brits, i’d be very, very careful before mouthing off about spies interfering in politics in New Zealand or elsewhere.
Well, that explains why this story has hit the wires today; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/world/australia/new-zealand-spy-poisoning.html
It basically ties the Russian Poisoning story to New Zealand. It was on the Radio NZ website this morning but I can’t find it now so I’ve found the same thing in the NY Times.
At least that story is based on hearsay though – the UK government’s best line seems to be that this is the sort of thing the Russian’s do so it must be them.
Quite stunning to watch the western media fall into line over this – I shouldn’t be surprised but it still amazes me just how gullible they seem to be.
Maygatha should be ignored.
“The question NZ’s elected leaders are now required to answer is whether or not they are obliged to respond to the Russian dangerous and despicable attempt to assassinate Mr. Skrpnal.”
It seems highly significant that Russia’s presidential elections are due to take place later this month. And that we are on the eve of the Fifa Soccer World cup being held in Russia.What better way to smear the expected electoral victory of Vladimir Putin than to accuse the Kremlin of carrying out an assassination plot on British soil against a former Russian spy.Think about it! The timing of such an alleged plot would be ludicrous from a Russian point of view. The Russian double agent spy had been convicted, served jail time, pardoned,and then exchanged for another Russian spy ten years before. The trusted detective question”who gains” points far more plausibly to sinister British state involvement . The rapid concerted political and media reaction to the incident is strongly suggestive of orchestration for propaganda value.If Russia wanted to eliminate Mr. Skrpnal why would they have not waited until after the Russian Presidential election and Fifa world cup? Or why wouldn’t they have just had a thug shoot the man and his daughter like the CIA did to Seth Rich to stop him revealing details of the leak from the Democratic Party emails? Instead they are supposed to have contaminated them with a nerve agent that would of course make Russia a prime suspect !
The British authorities have been fulminating about Russian cyber attacks,and other means of sabotage, like attacks on British infrastructure, such as energy and communication facilities, in a relentless Russia-phobia.
There are other interesting links.Britain’s top secret chemical weapons Laboratory at Porton Downs is only 6 miles away from the location in Salisbury where the attack happened.
Notably, the poisoning incident has led to calls for greater military build-up by Nato forces on Russia’s borders.That’s an obvious win for the British and U.S. military-Industrial complex.
There are also strident calls to censor “Kremlin-backed news organisations” like RT and Sputnik.
Thus, the same people who assured us that Saddam Hussein had WMD now assure you that Vladimir Putin has attacked people on British soil.The same people who attacked and invaded Serbia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen [by proxy], and threaten to attack Lebanon, Iran, Venezuala, and North Korea.
The interesting thing is that Theresa May did not admit that the nerve agent which was manufactured by Russia [50 years ago] has been since disseminated widely.Definitely the U.S. and Britain are in possession of samples. Russia has destroyed its chemical weapons under the supervision of the International Chemical Weapon Authority. The U.S., the great champion of assassination by Drones, and who attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro 22 times, has steadfastly refused to do so.And the U.S. is unremittently hostile to Russia, who is its greatest adversary in terms of preventing a continuation of the world hegemony that the U.S has enjoyed since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Israel, who has ample reason to hate Russia, because of Russia having stymied their attempts to partition Syria and create “Greater Israel”, has prodigious chemical weapon stocks and is extremely skilled at foreign assassinations.
Uzbkistan, a previous Soviet bloc sattelite is also reputed to possess the nerve agent.
Thus we have a positive bevy of suspects, and the least likely in terms of motive and timing is Russia!!!
I must say though several commentators internationally sight the upcoming Russian elections as a reason it wasn’t likely to have been a Russian job, I don’t think it would make an iota of difference to the election result i Putin was established as the perp.
But this is interesting in the Information clearing house…The Strange Case of the UK/Russian Spy Poisoning Allegations.
It seems Skripal was thick with Steele of the Russiagate Steele dossier , and a threesome with the MI6 agent that recruited him as an MI6 informant. It is speculated that Skripal was the source of much of the contemporary info that allowed Steele to compose a superficially plausible
tale. I wonder what Skripal knew that the Hillary camp needed to keep quiet.
The possibilities are boundless.
D J S
i 100% agree with you historian pete – this just screams (to me) of being a false-flag operation..
actually historian pete – would you mind if i posted your comment in full @ whoar.co.nz ?
Help yourself.You are welcome!
chrs..
trotter tho’ has clearly both drunk and swallowed the ‘naughty-russians’ kool-ade…
This whole Russia affair and the dramatic expulsion of its diplomats has come as a Godsend to Theresa May. Before this scandal broke, May was mired in her government’s shambolic handling of the Brexit negotiations and the Tory Party’s deep internal divisions.
Now in one fell swoop, all the attention has shifted away from her and the Tory government’s incompetence and onto Russia. May will be sending Putin a private thank-you card for sure.
Good to see you have joined the guilty as charged may brigade Chris, who needs proof??? Totally agree Simonm.
If you cast back over all the comments here there’s no-one that believes May is justified in leaping to this accusation. This will likely be mirrored in left leaning and or thinking circles in Britain. This will backfire on May big time.
D J S
I saw an interesting interview with Annie Marchon, a former MI5 intelligence operative who stated that Russia should not be automatically convicted by the court of public opinion because the nerve agent was originally made in Russia.She pointed out that the brother of Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea , was assassinated in Malaysia last year. The nerve agent used was created by Britain at Porton Downs. Does this mean that Britain was the culprit? There is some disingenuous thinking going on here.
She thought , bringing her previous training to the fore, that what the spy double agent victim had been doing for the previous 8 years was of prime importance.Who had he been involved with? Who were his contacts? That will perhaps show some motivation of why he specifically was the victim! A professional investigation needed to be conducted . Why the precipitous hurry to reach a conclusion?
Qn another tack, this episode raises the question of how capable is Britain, and what evidence is there,for the existence of a U.K. Assassination program. Well, historically Britain created an Empire. You don’t create an empire by following Boy Scout Rules. Britain invaded and assassinated her way into creating the greatest empire of the 18th and 19th Centuries. And then she dressed it all up for her adoring subjects ,that it was a noble enterprise always conducted with British fair play. And today she is still doing so!
According to True Republica.org.uk 8 sept 2015 Britain has an extrajudicial assassination program that has operated in Pakistan and Syria.
MI5 plotted the assassination of the Irish Prime Minister in 1985.Written on Ulster Volunteer Force signature paper, there was a warning that the UVF was asked by an MI5 operative about the prospect of carrying out an attack on Republic of Ireland leader Haughey in 1985. They declined, and instead warned the Irish Government of the approach. They were not prepared to do Britain’s dirty work for them! The letter is in the Irish National Archives and has only recently been released to the public. Evidence of British perfidy indeed!
This incident is typical of the double dealing of Britain, creating an ethos of a country imbued by moral and noble motives, while behind the scenes getting another party to conduct assassinations in such a way as to confer maximum deniability. To be fair they are very good at this and rarely get caught out.
During the Maggie Thatcher era there were constant rumours of a Death Squad operating especially in Northern Ireland.
So, who did the deed? There are plenty of suspects. The CIA ? Mossad ? MI5 itself ? Or Russia? Take your pick ,which will be heavily influenced by your personal ideology !!!
It was a very enjoyable read Steve! I would recommend it to all Daily Blog readers as a reality check!
We’ve long passed the signpost in the ‘fork in the road’ that pointed too a GO IT ALONE NZ; the visionary road that would lead us toward becoming a unique example of what a post-globalisation world could look like. Instead we’re happily following our foreign masters along the well worn, business as usual GLOBALISATION TRAIL; the consumer driven, bread & circuses, new world order road road to oblivion.
Here is your answer:
‘Prime Minister backs United Kingdom over Russia nerve-agent allegations’
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/prime-minister-backs-united-kingdom-over-russia-nerve-agent-allegations.html
Any person who would have expected any other comments and decisions is totally naive and belongs to the ones living in Lalaland.
Five Eyes rules us, full stop, period!
Independence is something only those dancing with the fairies here in NZ Inc believe in.
While I have NO time for Putin and Russia the way it is run these days, the Brits are leading us astray, well, telling us what to do, and even Trump is lining himself up behind May.
Globally the whole situation is more volatile than it has been for decades, we are on the brink of wars, major wars.
I’ve written an email to Jacinda and ccd it to Winston
I expressed my utter disappointment in her and said all she had to do was say
“We stand by the rule of law.
The Chemical weapons convention along with the OPCW is an institution set up to deal with serious international incidents such as the Skripal poisoning in the UK
We do not wish to undermine the CWC, which the UK and Russia are signed up to by pre-emptively assigning guilt
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