Linux Beach: Where #NoDAPL covers for mass murder

In spite of being one of the biggest petroleum producers and pipeline users in the world, Putin's Russia has been a big supporter of the popular struggle in the United States against the Dakota Access Pipeline project. This is an important struggle in the US right now. It has brought progressives together with indigenous peoples to take up one of the central struggles of our time: Whether the people or the capitalists will control our energy sources, our natural resources, and our future on this planet.

The Russian government's English language propaganda outlet, RT.com has run dozens of articles in support of the #NoDALP movement. This support goes far beyond opposition to a competing energy source. They have had reporters on the scene of the protest sites, spoken out in support of indigenous rights, and against "genocide," they have interviewed indigenous leaders about the struggle, as well as prominent US Leftists like Jill Stein and Amy Goodman, and during the US election, they shined a light on Hillary Clinton's failure to support the anti-pipeline movement.

All the while, they have had over a million people under siege in Syria. In East Aleppo, they have 250,000 people surrounded, cut off from supplies and under constant bombardment by Syrian and Russian war planes. They haven't allowed any food or medical supplies into the besieged area in weeks and in the past week they have managed to destroy the last remaining hospital. They are methodically carrying out the destruction of the government opposition in East Aleppo, 90 thousand children among them. The New York Times reported yesterday:

Aleppo Bombs Leave Quarter Million ‘Living in Hell’ and Without Hospital Care
By Alissa J. Rubin and Hwaida Saadnov
20 November 2016
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The remaining hospitals on the rebel-held side of Aleppo, Syria, have been badly damaged and forced to stop providing care amid an intensifying bombardment, according to the World Health Organization.

Bombs launched by the Syrian government over the past three days seriously damaged two general hospitals that were providing trauma care in the war zone and hit the only children’s hospital, according to doctors, nurses and residents.

The destruction left more than a quarter-million people in eastern Aleppo without hospital care, the W.H.O. said. It is unclear if the hospitals will be able to reopen.
...
Dr. Omar, the last neurosurgeon in eastern Aleppo, who declined to provide his full name out of fear for his safety, sounded desperate when reached at the height of the bombing on Friday.

“We no longer have hospitals to operate in,” he said. “You can’t imagine what it’s like living in Aleppo right now. It feels like we are living in hell. Our neighborhoods are in flames, and bombs are raining down from the sky. We urgently call on the international community to send help.” More...

CNN posted this video to YouTube:

Today's headlines are even more ominous, and the involvement of Russian troops is revealed. Today The Telegraph reports:

Syrian regime advances on rebel-held eastern Aleppo
By Sara Elizabeth Williams, Amman
21 November 2016
Syrian regime forces have made a fast-moving advance in opposition-held areas of eastern Aleppo, storming ahead in a new phase of the Russian-backed offensive that began last Tuesday.

Government forces backed by Iranian and Russian troops and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah have penetrated the eastern part of the Masakan Hanano neighbourhood, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. More...

“I would say the worst scenario is that we will be martyrs,”
Abu Roma on the fate of the 250,000 people trapped in East Aleppo

So now the long feared ground invasion of East Aleppo is under way and the attendant slaughter of civilians growing, as the Syrian government and its allies make it clear that no one will stop them this time. AP is reportings today:

Syrian government refuses UN truce terms for Aleppo
BEIRUT -- The Syrian government refused the UN envoy's latest proposal for a truce in Aleppo on Sunday, calling on insurgents to withdraw and saying it would not grant autonomy to the rebel-held east in exchange for calm. More...

To many it looks like the first holocaust of the 21st century in kicking into high gear, but the reporting on these events on today's RT.com is, not surprisingly, very different. The last paragraph of a story claiming the Russians have proof that it is the "terrorists" who are using poison gas in Aleppo, and not the government as others have reported, says:

On October 18, Russia halted its airstrikes in Aleppo, which remains split between Syrian government forces and the terrorists, hoping the initiative would lead to a long-awaited ceasefire. It has also been regularly organizing 10-hour “humanitarian pauses” in the city.

These are simply boldface lies told by war criminals, with nothing said about these unexpected hospital closings at all. However they did have hypocritical outrage at how the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters were treated last night. RT.com reported today:

400 DAPL protesters ‘trapped on bridge’ as police fire tear gas, water cannon (VIDEO)
21 November 2016
Demonstrators protesting against Dakota Access Pipeline say they are trapped on a bridge as North Dakota police fire tear gas, water cannon and concussion grenades at them, according to live reports on social media.

The demonstration is taking place on Highway 1806, just north of the main protest camp against the pipeline.

Officers have deployed water cannon on the protesters in below-freezing temperatures, and are using LRAD sound devices. Earlier, there were reports of rubber bullets fired. Vehicles which appear to be armored humvees have arrived at the scene. More...

Russia has used its support for the anti-DAPL movement to buy itself goodwill among US progressives, while prosecuting slaughter in Syria that they too often overlook. An examination of the record shows a clear pattern. Below is a chronological list of the major RT.com headlines on DAPL in green interspersed with headlines in red they didn't seem to have room for at the time from other news sources:

16 Nov What about DAPL? Obama administration cancels oil & gas lease on native land in Montana
15 Nov Russia bombards Syria hours after Putin speaks with Trump - Fox News
15 Nov Russian bombs rain down on civilians in Aleppo as warships and planes bomb city - Mirror
15 Nov Anti-DAPL protesters hold ‘Day of Action’ across US
15 Nov Aleppo airstrikes restart as Russia announces major Syria offensive - The Guardian
08 Nov The Latest: Airstrikes in Syria Kill 21 Civilians - ABC News
05 Nov Journalist hit with rubber bullet at DAPL protest (VIDEO)
05 Nov Huge Russian bombing in Aleppo kills dozens of civilians - The New Arab

The strikes hit predominantly civilian areas to the West of Aleppo [AFP]

05 Nov Russia and Assad to pound rebels as east Aleppo braces for attack - The Guardian
02 Nov A nation built on genocide: Dispatches from the DAPL protest (E352)

On this episode of Watching the Hawks, Tyrel Ventura is joined by independent journalist Derrick Broze to talk about his horrific experiences at the #DAPL protest. Jill Stein joins us with short commentary on the #DAPL protests.

02 Nov Police shoot rubber bullets at Dakota Access Pipeline protesters
01 Nov National Guard threatens Dakota Access protesters with arrest on public lands
01 Nov North Dakota DAPL protester charged with attempted murder of police officer
31 Oct Putin to launch full scale attack on Aleppo while world is distracted by US election - Metro UK
30 Oct Tribe leaders vow to protest Dakota pipeline through winter
29 Oct The saga continues: Clinton’s emails, Assange, & #DAPL (E350)
28 Sep Russia’s Brutal Bombing of Aleppo May Be Calculated, and It May Be Working - NY Times

Civilians and rescuers at the site of an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, on Tuesday.Karam Al-Masri/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

28 Oct ‘Dakota pipeline is about big money, not indigenous people rights’
28 Oct Russian military ask Putin to resume bombings of Aleppo - Pravda
27 Oct Dakota Access pipeline protesters occupy Hillary Clinton campaign HQ

The campaign headquarters of Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn, New York, was taken over Thursday by protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline being constructed in North Dakota and three other states. They’re demanding the candidate declare where she stands.

Solidarity #NoDAPL action about to go down in at Seattle @HillaryClinton HQ! We need to end her silence on DAPL We need to know #IsSheWithUs pic.twitter.com/jQybCWJCeK
— Matt Remle (@wakiyan7) October 27, 2016

While RT.com used the #NoDAPL movement against Hillary Clinton, as did Jill Stein and Amy Goodman, none bothered to expose Donald Trump's investment of more than $500,000 in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, another half-million dollars he has with Phillips 66 which will own a quarter of the completed pipeline, and another $50,000 he stands to make off of interest, dividends and capital gains, according to his financial disclosure form. They used the DAPL to put Hillary Clinton in a no-win situation because any position she took would cost her votes, while they gave pipeline owner Donald Trump a free ride.
27 Oct Syrian airstrikes hit school, killing 20 children, rescuers say CNN
27 Oct Police warn of eviction 'at any time' as Dakota Access protesters refuse to leave private land
25 Oct Indigenous indignities at #DAPL & Rescinding pay for returning vets (E347)
25 Oct Oklahoma, Pennsylvania pipelines spill oil and gasoline over week-end
24 Oct Dakota Access Pipeline: Police fire on media drones, mass arrests, treaty rights declared
11 Sep A rrest warrant for Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman over North Dakota pipeline protest

Real champions @DrJillStein and @democracynow's Amy Goodman face criminal charges for standing with #NoDAPL, while HRC's silence deafens.
— Jeanette Verdista (@JeanetteJing) September 11, 2016

Teams in Idlib still sifting through rubble after airstrike looking for survivors. RESTRAINT PLEASE #Syriaceasefire pic.twitter.com/CaudbuqYhU
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) September 10, 2016

11 Sep Hopes fade for peaceful Eid in Syria as over 100 killed - Aljazeera

More than 100 people were reported killed in a series of bombing raids on rebel-held parts of Aleppo province in the north of the country, and in Idlib in the north-west.

The worst strikes were in Idlib city, the capital of the province of the same name, where they hit a market, killing 55 civilians.

"A Russian fighter jet targeted a residential area and a market in Idlib," said Al Jazeera's Adham Abu al-Husam, reporting from the city as civil defence forces, firefighters and paramedics worked to pull survivors from the rubble.

"The marketplace was full of civilians shopping for the upcoming Eid holiday."

In Aleppo, at least 46 civilians, including nine children, were killed in a bombardment of opposition-held areas, an Al Jazeera correspondent in the city said.

The raids on Idlib and Aleppo were believed to have been carried out by Syrian army fighter jets, or those of its main ally Russia.

"This is an unacceptable violation of freedom of the press. I was doing my job" - Amy Goodman on ND arrest warrant. https://t.co/E5Ni5dht8E
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) September 10, 2016