Welcome back to Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik, where we bring you news, politics and culture - without the red and blue treatment. I am John Kiriakou here with Michelle Witte.
International Affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda
Russia today struck the Ukrainian city of Poltava with two ballistic missiles, according to Ukraine. Dozens have been killed. Ukrainian authorities say the buildings targeted were a hospital and an educational institution. What does Russia say it was targeting?
In the meantime, what’s happening along the actual front lines of the war? There seem to have been rapid advances for Russia in the Donbas in the last week or so - is that continuing?
Let’s talk about this headline - CNBC says “Mongolia was meant to arrest Russia’s President Putin last night. It didn’t, and now it’s in trouble.” Let’s talk about Putin’s visit first and then get into the punishment Mongolia might be in for. What’s Vladimir Putin visiting Mongolia for?
Vladimir Putin did not slip quietly into Mongolia, hoping to escape notice. He was met upon his arrival by the Mongolian president with an honor guard - a pretty normal way to greet heads of state coming to visit if you aren’t trying to insult them. So talk to us about the trouble Mongolia might get in for doing so. An ICC spokesperson and a member of the International Bar Association both said that Mongolia was “obligated” to arrest Putin and might face “consequences” but no details have been offered. There is apparently speculation that Mongolia could be prosecuted by the ICC for this failure, and the idea of prosecuting Mongolia for failing to arrest Vladimir Putin instead of prosecuting the many war criminals actually walking around is pretty rich. Do you think there will be any consequences for Mongolia for this decision? And will there be consequences for the ICC, in terms of further loss of credibility, I guess.
I thought it was funny that the Washington Post noted that “A small group of protesters who tried to unfurl a Ukrainian flag before the ceremony were taken away by police. Five others who gathered a few blocks west of the square held up an anti-Putin banner and Ukrainian flag but disbanded after hearing about the arrests.” Nice that the Washington Post can cover five people holding a protest in Mongolia, but regularly ignores anti-war, anti-capitalist activities in its own back yard.
Mongolia explains refusal to arrest Putin — RT World News
Ukraine threatens Mongolia over Putin visit — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
Honor guard greets Vladimir Putin in Mongolia (VIDEO) — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
Putin invites Mongolian president to BRICS summit — RT World News
Asian nation told ICC to ‘get lost’ with Putin warrant – Medvedev — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
https://t.me/TheRealPolitick/4006
Let’s talk about Germany for a minute. The internet was having a lot of fun with an apparent Economist headline saying “The Hard Right Takes Germany into Uncharted Territory,” pointing out that actually, this territory is pretty thoroughly and recently charted. The current Economist headline reads “dangerous territory,” so I’m not 100% sure the screenshot going around Twitter isn’t a hoax, but it was very funny, so we’ll just go with it. The Guardian is also calling AfD’s success “stunning,” which suggests they perhaps hadn’t been paying attention. The AfD won in the state of Thuringia, the first far right party to win state elections since 1945, apparently, and came in second in Saxony. The CDU, the party of longtime German leader Angela Merkel, came in second and first, and the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – a far-left party that has questioned the country’s support for Ukraine and shares some of the AfD’s anti-immigration streak – came third in both states, despite only being founded earlier this year. German Chancellor Olof Scholz’s Social Democratic Party came in fifth. Now, this is a parliamentary system, and with no party winning an outright majority, coalitions will have to be formed. Scholz is calling for the other parties in those states to form coalitions that exclude the AfD. The AfD is saying such firewalls are undemocratic.
So. We’re stunned, we’re in uncharted territory, apparently, and yet I feel like the rise of the AfD has been pretty thoroughly documented over the past eight years. Why this pretense at shock?
Let me ask about this analysis from the Guardian, and don’t laugh at me. “The election results underlined the festering cultural differences between east and west 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, with many voters in the former communist region highly receptive to anti-western and pro-Russian appeals.” So Americans don’t vote on foreign policy, but Germans vote on decades-old vibes to help out Russia? What have the parties in power failed to do to win these voters?
Do you predict that these firewalls hold and the AfD will be kept out of government?
Right-wing party claims historic victory in German state election — RT World News
The German establishment is desperately clinging to power in defiance of democracy — RT World News
Fyodor Lukyanov: EU elites have devised a plan to neutralise the ‘populists’ — RT World News
Finally, over the weekend we learned that the bodies of six Israeli hostages were found in a tunnel over the weekend. The details about the bodies and about their deaths are coming from Israeli authorities or the IDF, but according to Israel, the six hostages had been killed only a day or two before they were found, presumably to prevent them from being rescued, and that they had been shot - which, of course, is another war crime in a “war” that is full of them. It is interesting that in Israel, the takeaway here is that these people had been alive this whole time and that there could have been a deal to get them released, and Israelis are again in the street demanding a ceasefire and the release of others. In the US, presidential candidate Kamala Harris couldn’t even bring herself in her statement to say the word “deal,” let alone “ceasefire.” Does Netanyahu ride this out like he has everything else? If the entire Israeli population calls for a ceasefire, will it matter?
Israel recovers bodies of six captives held in Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera
Netanyahu ‘torpedoed’ Palestinian peace talks – CNN — RT World News
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/08/31/statement-by-vice-president-harris-on-hersh-goldberg-polin/
Putin Feted in Mongolia as West Rages & ICC Credibility Collapses, Support for Government Collapses and Rise of the "Fars" in East German Elections, more...