AUSTRALIA ON - MH17 UN COUNCIL RESOLUTION

Tony Abbott hails UN backing for MH17 resolution     July 22, 2014 - 9:23AM The Abbott government's push for a full independent investigation into the downing of MH17 over Ukraine has been backed by a unanimous vote UN Security Council, increasing pressure on Russia to facilitate access to the crash site. In a joint statement with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop released on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Tony Abbott hailed the result saying that the resolution lent the Security Council's ''full weight'' in condemning the attack. ... Earlier, Ms Bishop, who is at the UN headquarters in New York, said it was ''despicable'' that investigators were not getting access to the crash site. ''Grief is now accompanied by outrage as we witness grotesque violations at the crash site,'' Ms Bishop said. ''This demands a response.'' She also told the Council that its message to those responsible for the MH17 deaths was ''definitive''. ''You will be held to account for your actions. They were all innocent people.'' [Steady on ... Resolution's toothless] Mr Abbott will chair a cabinet and national security committee meetings in Canberra again on Tuesday. He will later sign a condolence book at Parliament House, together with representatives of the diplomatic community. [Get that PR mileage, Abbott] Overnight, Mr Abbott's envoy to Ukraine to respond to the disaster, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Labor leader Bill Shorten is also in the United States for meetings. He said he was very pleased that the Security Council had passed the resolution. ''It is now time for the leader of the Russian Federation, Mr Putin, to now show the rest of the world that he'll now act on this resolution,'' Mr Shorten told Sky News. ''I think this has dragged on for too long.'' Source - SMH - here.

Yeah, Abbott, but the Council's 'full weight' is really NO WEIGHT when the UN Council's resolution is unenforceable.

A bunch of politicians looking to gain PR and political advantage by taking advantage of victims.  

That's what you call despicable.

MH17 - Bishop's on Abbott's US mission | Shorten's swinging by | Joe Biden's hovering

JULIE BISHOP AND TONY ABBOTT

Yahoo News July 20, 2014, 1:43 pm Julie Bishop heads to US Australia is taking a lead role in pushing for an international investigation in the crash, with Ms Bishop on her way to the US. Ms Bishop is expected to touch down in Washington for meetings before launching a lobbying offensive at the United Nations in New York. "[Ms Bishop] is there to lead our work at the UN. She's there to give focus to our work at the UN and so that the world knows just how seriously Australia is taking this and there are 36 people who call Australia home who have been snuffed out," Mr Abbott said. Australia wants tougher action from the Security Council, believing a press statement calling for an independent international investigation is not enough. It wants a binding resolution from members and is drafting the text to put to the Security Council for a vote. It would need Russia's support. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will also travel to the US this week for high-level talks on a range of issues, including the Malaysia Airlines tragedy. Mr Shorten is attending the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue, and will meet US vice-president Joe Biden and deputy state secretary William Burns. While he is there, Mr Shorten will be briefed by Australia's representatives at the UN about efforts to secure an investigation into the MH17 crash. ...extract...full @... SOURCE - Yahoo News - here.

Australian-American Leadership Dialogue (AALD) AALD is a not-for-profit NGO, founded as a 'private diplomatic initiative',  drawing together Australian and US achievers from government, the community and the corporate sector, in pursuit of promoting closer Australian-US understanding and ties. Official site AALD - here

--------------------------------------
COMMENT

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's headed to the US on Abbott's mission:   gaining top mileage for US-Australian political advantage.

Bill Shorten, Labor opposition leader, is also headed over for talks; which is strange to a new political watcher.

One would think the opposition would take information directly from the government of the day, rather than have independent discussions.

Shifty Joe Biden is waiting and hovering, and there's even an Aussie-US hybrid NGO in the package.

Shorten's attending AALD, which was formed by Phil Scanlan and his US wife, Julie Singer Scanlan, back in 1992; with the support of Republican President George H W Bush.  

GHW Bush came after Reagan; Clinton followed this Bush and GHW Bush's son, George W Bush, followed Clinton. 

AALD's Scanlan, described as an exceptional networker on his NGO's site, is a former managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil and has now joined the 'strategic advisory board' of Bridge Growth Partners, a New York private equity fund, specialising in technology and financial services.  

Scanlan also happens to be a former Australian Consul-General in New York, before the short-lived Gillard government appointment of Steve Bracks in the role.

Steve Bracks was soon dismissed by Tony Abbott's newly elected Liberal government, in favour of appointing 'Liberal powerbroker Nick Minchin' in Abbott's stead.

Here's some Michin background and what Bill Shorten had to say about on matter of Minchin's appointment:

Mr Minchin ... held several posts in the [Liberal] Howard government, including finance minister. He was instrumental in the then Coalition opposition changing its stance on supporting an emissions trading scheme proposed by the then Rudd government." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the appointment of Mr Minchin showed the Coalition government’s jobs priorities were wrong. ''The Abbott government will fight for Liberal politicians - they just won’t fight for ordinary people,'' he told reporters in Perth. The government had ''ripped up the rule book'' with the appointment of Mr Minchin. SOURCE - SMH - here.

Don't know much about Bill Shorten, but I'm impressed he stood up for Bracks.

-------------------------------------------

OTHER SOURCES

http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/us_pe_fund_bridge_growth_seeks_tech_zSRp3stk0aFpIIz7AJxNxM

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/former-victoria-premier-steve-bracks-gets-new-york-diplomatic-role/story-fn59nm2j-1226645536753

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-powerbroker-nick-minchin-appointed-consulgeneral-to-new-york-20140214-32ns5.html

LIBERAL PARTY (AUST) - INTERNET CRACKDOWN

Liberal Party  (Australia)
When Liberals aren't rewriting Middle-eastern history, 
they're policing the internet

June 20, 2014 10:47A

PIRATES IN GOVERNMENT’S SIGHTS
The government is considering ways to deter illegal downloaders as part of a review of the Copyright Act. Although it is yet to detail specific measures, earlier comments by Senator Brandis reveal the methods under consideration:

● The big stick: Speaking to the Australian Digital Alliance copyright forum in February, Mr Brandis floated the idea of a three-strikes policy or a graduated response scheme. This means customers are warned each time they are caught downloading illegally — and could be fined or disconnected from the internet altogether after three strikes

● Hitting ISPs: One option is to compel internet service provides such as Bigpond or iiNet to issue warnings to its customers. However, a landmark High Court ruling in 2012 found that iiNet was not responsible for its customers’ illegal activities

● Block sites: The government could force ISPs to block offending peer-to-peer file-sharing sites, such as BitTorrent or The Pirate Bay. The problem with this is that savvy internet user can bypass these filters with ease.

“The illegal downloading of Australian films online is a form of theft. I say Australian films, but of course, the illegal downloading of any protected content is a form of theft,” Senator Brandis told the Australian Digital Alliance forum.

“The government will be considering possible mechanisms to provide a legal incentive for an internet service provider to co-operate with copyright owners in preventing infringement on their systems and networks.

“This may include looking carefully at the merits of a scheme whereby ISPs are required to issue graduated warnings to consumers who are using websites to facilitate piracy.”

SOURCE - news.com.au - here.

----------------------------------------

COMMENT

Bet federal elections can't come fast enough for Australians.

MH17 - Abbott's 'personal' connection & mourning

 Sydney Morning Herald

MH17 crash fallout: world reacts to plane shot down in Ukraine

Date   -   July 20, 201

...
11:02am: Earlier today Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on the ABC's Insiders program that he was personally touched by the tragedy because his daughters had flown on the MH17 some months ago on their way home from Europe. [ :EYEROLL: ]

"We can't let our emotions cloud our judgment but nevertheless these are wrenching times and there would hardly be an Australian who hasn't been emotionally touched by what we've seen, what we've felt over the last 48 hours or so," he said.

"You look at the faces of the dead and they're your neighbours, they're your friends, they could be your kids because let's face it, we are a people who like to travel and my own daughters flew on MH17 some months ago on their way home from Europe. So this is a tragedy which touches us deeply."

SOURCE - Sydney Morning Herald - here.

-----------------------------------------------------
COMMENT


Abbott's really scraping the bottom of the barrel here, and so is ABC's Insiders program.

Is it a news program or is it a version of Oprah's afternoon show, for dwelling on vague 'could-have-been' fantasies and Abbott's delicately embroidered 'personal connection' to flight MH17.

Guess when Tony Abbott looks at the faces of those in Gaza getting killed, he doesn't see his daughters in Gaza -- or the faces of his 'neighbours', his 'friends' or his 'kids', so the killings in Gaza aren't at all 'personal' or material for Tony Abbott.


Or it could be Tony Abbott's political bias that's clouding his judgment:

Ms Sattler said Mr Abbott had no Jewish heritage, although she did.

"He is a raving Zionist and has been since he was about 18 or 19. I don't understand why he is, but he is," she said.

Ms Sattler said those who backed the PLO visit were beaten with rolled up newspapers and umbrellas and spat upon during the course of the conference.

She said this made a big impact on her as a 17-year-old activist.

"Thanks to Tony, I have been an avowed Palestine supporter ever since," she said

[SOURCE - The Australia - Nov 2012 - here.]

Here's the Abbott government's position on Gaza:

The Abbott government also challenged the defined legal status of East Jerusalem. ‘‘Occupied’’, Attorney-General George Brandis declared, was ‘‘neither appropriate nor useful’’, and reference to historic events was ‘‘unhelpful’’. In ignoring history, Brandis demonstrates why Australia’s stance lacks moral power. It is wilful blindness to ignore Israel’s expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948.

The Occupation – ‘‘with a capital O’’ which the Australian government declines to use – is directly linked to the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. To argue history is ‘‘unhelpful’’ is to deny the Palestinian narrative, expunge Palestinian pain and identity, and deflect attention from the legitimacy of a racial state. 

One has to credit a military juggernaut and a covertly nuclear state for its success in framing itself as victim even as it bombs a largely defenceless population. Even as Israel plays warden over Gaza, which has been described as the  world’s largest open-air prison, it perpetuates the myth that it is a state perpetually fighting for its survival.

[SOURCE - Sydney Morning Herald - here.]

The SMH Gaza article is worthwhile reading in full - here.

Getting back to the MH17 flight, which supposedly affects Abbott 'personally'.

Abbott's now the greatest mourner on the face of the planet, or so he would have us believe.

The sad fact is, this is about capitalising on a macabre opportunity:

a) to raise Abbott's profile because of his unpopular social security and medicare cuts (and his corporate boot-licking); and

b) to please Abbott's US masters, because they've invested a lot in Ukraine and they need all the leverage they can get to get things moving along for corporate America.

Tony Abbott ought to be ashamed of himself.   But he's clearly incapable of it.

MOSCOW - Abbot's comments unacceptable

New Zealand

MH17: Russia furious at 'unacceptable' Tony Abbott comments
MARK KENNY


Moscow has voiced anger over being blamed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the downing of a Malaysia passenger jet over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board, calling his comments "unacceptable".

"Without bothering himself about evidence and operating only on speculation, Mr T. Abbott assigned guilt," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Abbott's statements are unacceptable." 
...
The forceful comments came after Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop emerged from a meeting with Russia's ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, to reveal Moscow had denied the involvement of pro-Russian rebels and attempted to lay the blame at Ukraine's feet.
...
The atrocity has sparked questions over why the Malaysian carrier was still using a flight path over the Ukrainian war zone, when other airlines, including Qantas, had changed their flight paths in recent months due to an increase in the intensity of fighting in the area.
...
Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said direct military action was unlikely, though the West could look at providing military equipment to the Ukrainians.

"It's a serious geopolitical issue. It lifts Russia back to being the bad boy threat of the Soviet days," he said.

"[But] neither NATO nor the US has an appetite to do anything on the ground. It would be a combination of tougher sanctions and more open support of Ukrainians, for example, providing them with their own military hardware."

One example might be to provide the Ukrainians with Patriot anti-missile batteries, as the the Ukrainian air force does not have strong self-defence capabilities.
...

...extracts only...

SOURCE - stuff.co.nz - here.

--------------------------------------------------------

Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) - ACT location

'Think tank' ... formed & mostly funded by the Australian Government
But is 'independent'
Role of:

• developing ideas on Australia's defence and strategic policy
• informing the public on defence and strategic policy issues

Peter Jennings (former Deputy Secretary in the Department of Defence)

[wikipedia]

 
COMMENT

Not surprised Russia isn't impressed with Abbott's melodramatics.

* US will probably arm Ukraine govt ... to secure US investment to date

* US & buddies will probably amp up the anti-Russian sanctions

MHI7 - Australian Sock Puppet Tony Abbott Resorts to Grandstanding & Hysteria

ABC News Go Article
ABC News, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023

Australian PM Lashes out at Russia Over Shot Plane
CANBERRA, Australia — Jul 18, 2014, 3:54 AM ET
Associated Press

An angry Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday demanded an independent inquiry into the downing of a Malaysian jetliner and said Russia's response to what he called a crime was "deeply, deeply unsatisfactory."

Abbott criticized Russia's Ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, who met earlier Friday with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

According to Abbott, the ambassador's initial response was to blame Ukraine for Thursday's downing of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft, which killed all 298 aboard, including 28 Australians.

The cause of Thursday's crash was not immediately clear but the area has seen heavy fighting recently between government troops and pro-Russia separatists, with the rebels bragging about shooting down two Ukrainian military jets in the region Wednesday, just a day earlier. U.S. intelligence officials believe the Malaysian plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Abbott told reporters that the idea that Russia can somehow say that none of this has anything to do with them because it happened in Ukrainian airspace "frankly does not stand up to any serious scrutiny." [He's a sock puppet.]

"The initial response of the Russian ambassador was to blame Ukraine for this and I have to say that is deeply, deeply unsatisfactory," he said. "I want to say to the Australian people that as far as I am concerned, when you have a situation where Russian-backed rebels appear to have killed Australians using it may well turn out to be Russian-supplied heavy weaponry, Australia takes a very dim view indeed and we want the fullest possible investigation."

["I have to say" ... LOL ... says it all.

Let's grandstand because Russia didn't provide the response that Tony Abbott's US buddies knew they wouldn't get?  Pathetic grandstanding.  Just for the sake of propaganda. 

Has he no respect for the dead?  Fancy using the deceased for political advantage!
  
As if he seriously expected anything other than the response he got from Russia.]

Abbott said "it's very important that we don't allow Russia to prevent an absolutely comprehensive investigation so that we can find out exactly what happened here." [No indication whatsoever that Russia would or *could* prevent an investigation -- so this is more grandstanding by Abbott, & more besmirching of Russia before the public.  Remember, there's got to be a 'bad guy'.]

"This is not an accident, it's a crime," he said. "And criminals should not be allowed to get away with what they've done. So there has to be a full, impartial international investigation and Russia should certainly not be allowed to stand in the way of that." [TONY ABBOT'S AN IDIOT.  HE WOULDN'T KNOW IF HIS ASS WAS ON FIRE.  HE'S A GRANDSTANDING SOCK PUPPET FOR THE U.S.]

Asked why he was using harsher language than other world leaders in relation to Russia's potential culpability, Abbott replied: "This aircraft didn't come down through accident — it was shot down. It did not crash, it was downed ... over territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels."  [TONY ABBOTT'S BEEN TALKING TO BIDEN.  LOL.]

SOURCE - ABC News - here.

 ------------------------------------------
Daily Mail Article (UK)

Exactly article as ABC Go. 

SOURCE - Daily Mail - here.

------------------------------------------ 

COMMENT

Maybe I'm a cynic, but it sure looks like Abbott is using this tragedy to get some mileage either for himself or for his US masters, grandstanding about demands for an independent enquiry and so on, when Obama has already announced that an independent enquiry will be conducted etc.

Daily Mail is also running the same story as the ABC Go (Disney owned) outlet, so I took a double-take for two reasons:

1)  I couldn't believe the about-face hysteria on Abbotts part.

2)  I discovered that the two whining Abbott articles were exact articles.

More on that later.

What's the bet if the flight in question was the US downed Iran Flight 655, Abbott wouldn't be milking the media opportunity to display his 'outraged' theatrical performance at the US.

Anyway, I'm not convinced by Abbott's melodramatics and I think he ought to carry himself with a bit more dignity than he's shown.

AUSTRALIA - Tony Abbott comments -- & Biden nips at the heels

Reuters Article

Downing of Malaysian plane 'unspeakable crime' if proven: Australia's Abbott

By Jane Wardell

SYDNEY Thu Jul 17, 2014 6:24pm EDT


(Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that if the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine was a deliberate act, then "it is an unspeakable crime" and the perpetrators must be swiftly brought to justice.

Abbott said on Friday that he believed at least 23 Australians were on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Abbott was speaking shortly after the European head of Malaysia Airlines said at least 27 Australians were among the 295 passengers on the flight.

If the numbers are confirmed, Australians would represent the second-largest national grouping, behind the Dutch, on the plane that crashed on Thursday.

"It is a very, very sad time, made worse by reports that it might be a crime rather than an accident," Abbott said.

Ukrainian authorities have accused "terrorists" - militants fighting to unite eastern Ukraine with Russia - of shooting down the Boeing 777-200. The rebels denied responsibility.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the downing of the airliner apparently was "not an accident" and that it was "blown out of the sky". "If it does turn out that this aircraft was brought down by a surface to air missile, there is no doubt that this would be, under those circumstances, an unspeakable crime and the perpetrators should swiftly be brought to justice," Abbott said.

Abbott declined to be drawn on the reason for the crash, saying all reports remained unconfirmed.

"We just have all sorts of reports and claims flying around," he said. "That's all we have at the moment, reports and claims."

Abbott said he planned to speak with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak later on Friday and that Australia would deploy staff to Kiev to assist in an investigation.

Asked if he would still welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin to Australia for the G20 Leaders Summit later this year if Russia were proved to be behind the accident, Abbott hinted there may be repercussions.

"That's a fair question, let's just wait and see exactly what turns out to have happened here," he said.

"But obviously, it is the clear and settled decision of the Australian government that larger countries should not bully smaller ones, that countries should not aid people who are in rebellion against their own government and that international disputes should be settled peacefully in accordance with international law." 

[Does that mean that US & its gang will stop meddling around the world?]

Australia is hosting the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane in November.


SOURCE - Reuters - here.

-------------------------------------
COMMENT

The more I read the more I'm convinced this is a set up.
Evidence? 
I'm unlikely to believe any evidence that lot comes up with.
Anyone could have shot it down.
Right now there's a fear that arming those in Syria (I think it was), might result in the other side getting their hands on weapons.
Well, who is to say which side had the weapons in the Ukraine and who ultimately fired?
It's just more of the same drama that's been played out worldwide for how long now?


I don't believe anything the US lot are involved in:

Covert United States foreign regime change actions

• 1949..........Syrian.coup.d'état
• 1953..........Iranian.coup.d'état
• 1954..........Guatemalan.coup.d'état
• 1959..........Tibetan.uprising
• 1961..........Cuba,.Bay.of.Pigs.Invasion
• 1963..........South.Vietnamese.coup
• 1964..........Brazilian.coup.d'état
• 1973..........Chilean.coup.d'état
• 1976..........Argentine.coup.d'état
• 1979–89....Afghanistan,.Operation.Cyclone
• 1980..........Turkish.coup.d'état
• 1981–87....Nicaragua,.Contras
• .2011–.......Syrian.uprising

[wikipedia]

Brisbane was probably chosen for the G20 Summit (which attracts protesters) because Brisbane's something of a police state.

If there's protesters, they can expect to have the living crap beaten out of them.