The Minister of Defence Richard Marles is “firmly of the view” that the current war powers arrangements “are appropriate and should not be disturbed”. According to Marles, the current arrangements “enable the duly elected government of the day to act expeditiously on matters of utmost national importance in the interests of the safety and security of our nation and its people.”

Marles expressed his views in a late-September letter to fellow Labor MP Shayne Neumann, when referring the Inquiry into International Armed Conflict Decision Making to the The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, of which Mr Neumann is chair. In the letter, Mr Marles provides further background to his views:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow was open to talks with the U.S. or with Turkey on ending the war in Ukraine, claiming that U.S. officials are lying when they say Russia has been refusing peace talks.

Reuters reports:

“Lavrov said officials, including White House national security spokesman John Kirby, had said the United States was open to talks but that Russia had refused.”

“This is a lie,” Lavrov said. “We have not received any serious offers to make contact.”

The US-led NATO military bloc once managed to “lose” an armed underwater drone right under the Nord Stream pipeline, a Gazprom spokesman has claimed.

“On November 6, 2015, a NATO underwater mine destroyer ‘Seafox’ was discovered during a scheduled visual inspection of the Nord Stream gas pipeline,” Sergey Kupriyanov told Rossiya 24 on Monday.

One of the conditions of Western society today in which all citizens are immersed, is that the lie has become the truth and the truth a lie. The lies that have become the truth, emanate primarily from governments and corporations, while the truths which are lies are on the part of the people. These latter are at the very least “misinformation” bordering on domestic terrorism, the telling of which is attracting increasingly onerous and even frightening repressive and punitive measures. We seem to be 80% of the way to the end game.

Ukraine is a de facto member of the NATO alliance, despite not having officially joined the US-led military bloc, Kiev’s Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov has claimed.

He made the statement in a tweet following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the bloc’s headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

“We have come a long way and have de facto joined the alliance,” the minister wrote, while also thanking Stoltenberg for his support for Ukraine amid its ongoing conflict with Russia.

“Ukraine is already making significant contributions to the security of the free world,” the minister added.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Moscow to return to peace negotiations, while at the same time pledging additional military support for Kiev amid the ongoing escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to the France 2 broadcaster on Wednesday, Macron condemned the large-scale missile attack launched by Russia against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Crimea bridge. The missile strikes have shown that the conflict has entered “an unprecedented stage,” Macron asserted, claiming that “for the first time all over Ukraine civilians have been killed ... and electricity and heating facilities have been destroyed.”

OUR FRIEND, JULES LETAMBOUR, NOTICED AN ARTICLE ABOUT FAT TROOPERS IN THE US ARMY.... THIS REMINDS HIM OF AN ASTERIX COMIC CLIP WHEN ASTERIX AND OBELIX JOINED THE ROMAN LEGION*. ACCORDING TO JULES, THE JOKE IS HARD TO TRANSLATE IN ENGLISH BUT HE'LL GIVE IT A GO: "IS THIS THE BIG PART OF JULIUS CAESAR?" ASKS A ROMAN TROOPER FROM THE SCIPIO ARMY. OBELIX ALWAYS PEEVED WHEN PEOPLE POINT AT HIS FAT SUPERSTRONG BODY (HE FELL IN THE MAGIC POTION POT WHEN HE WAS A BUB) RESPONDS "NO, SIRREEE", WHILE BASHING SEVERAL SCIPIO TROOPERS. THE PROBLEM WITH THE FATBERGS IN THE US ARMY, IS THERE IS NO MAGIC POTION....

ON THIS SITE, GUS LEONISKY — A RABID ATHEIST — HAS OFTEN MADE FUN OF ROD DREHER FOR BEING ULTRA RELIGIOUS AND FOR ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO FOLLOW HIM INTO A BENEDICT HOLE IN THE GROUND... BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON, COMING FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE — AND POSSIBLY ANTI-WOKE AND ANTI-LGBITi — ROD MAKES SIMILAR CONCLUSION TO GUS: ZELENSKY SHOULD STOP DOING WHAT HE DOES AND VANISH....

Rod Dreher, a senior editor of The American Conservative, a US political magazine, argued in a recent blog post that “Zelensky maximalism has reached its sell-by date.”

The UK is poised to officially classify China as a “threat,” the British media reported on Tuesday. Prime Minister Liz Truss is ready to adopt a more hostile stance towards Beijing and has expressed support for self-governing Taiwan on multiple occasions.

The government is reportedly working fast to rewrite a strategic document released under Truss’ predecessor, Boris Johnson, to formalize a more hawkish approach towards Beijing. According to The Telegraph, the policy update, which was first flagged when Truss was campaigning to become Tory leader, could come “within days.’’

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has slammed the US-led Quad grouping as “illegitimate” and a “strategic piece of nonsense,” as he advised Canberra to not be a part of the US-led efforts to “ring-fence” China. 

The Quad, which comprises Australia, India, Japan and the US, says that its official goal is to maintain a "free and open Indo-Pacific region".

Normal person: I think it would be good if everyone didn’t die in a nuclear holocaust.

Crazy person: That means you love Vladimir Putin.

Normal person: No, I just think it would be a good idea to try to prevent the horrific death of literally everyone.

Crazy person: How much is the Kremlin paying you to say that?

Lunatics.

By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday that a military victory for Russia in Ukraine would spell defeat for the entire Western alliance. Despite providing “unprecedented support” to Kiev, Stoltenberg still claims that the US-led bloc is not a party to the conflict.

Addressing reporters on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg declared that continued arms shipments to Ukraine are vital to ensure “that Ukraine wins the battle, the war against the invading Russian forces.”

Australian troops could help train Ukraine’s armed forces following Russia’s “appalling” attack on Kyiv, Defence Minister Richard Marles has declared.

Russia has launched a barrage of missiles at Kyiv, which Vladimir Putin claims is in retaliation for the blowing up of the Crimean bridge built by Moscow to supply its military.

At least 11 people have been killed following the assault.

Mr Marles said he was with Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko when the “appalling” missile offensive was launched at the country’s capital.

“The sense of heartbreak was really palpable,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.

The Biden administration is swiftly establishing a narrative that the recent OPEC decision to cut oil production by 2 million tonnes is a geopolitical “aligning” by Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

It taps into the Russophobia in the Beltway and deflects attention from the humiliating defeat of President Joe Biden’s personal diplomacy with Saudi Arabia. But it is not without basis, either.

BY M.K. Bhadrakumar

the OPEC+ decision could change the security picture in West Asia more than anything since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Star Wars megastar Mark Hamill was recently named an ambassador for United24, the fundraising platform of the Ukrainian government, where according to The Times his attention will center on “the procurement, repair and replacement of drones as well as pilot training.”

BY Caitlin Johnstone

caitlinjohnstone.com

From The Times: