Trevor Rees-Jones (bodyguard) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Rees-Jones_(bodyguard)
There were four people in that car in the tunnel in Paris.

Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, the driver Henri Paul, and Trevor Rees-Jones.

Did you know Tony Blair is Godfather to Rupert Murdoch's daughter?

Killer Elite - A Film Review, and then some...

I've posted this in the blog and not in reviews, because there is so much more to this tale than just the movie... as you will see.  If you know me at all, and have seen this one, you know that it is very much 'up my street', and to be honest I'm surprised nobody has already recommended it.  Far, far better than I was expecting.

Almost didn't bother.  This was the first movie I saw this year that I'd rate... others have been pretty dire so far.  Liam Neeson in The Grey was passable, Machine Gun Preacher not so much.  And Stalker was terribly predictable.  Jason Statham's Blitz was alright, but like Bruce Willis or Vin Diesel before him, he's the kind of action hero I just don't find engaging.  A hardman, bit of a wooden actor usually.  DeNiro's involvement pushed it up a notch, but I was wary he's past it and took this role simply to keep working - whether the script was any good or not.  Must be about 70+ by now?  But he's a legend, no doubt.  Completing the trio pictured here, it was Clive Owen's casting that made me choose to watch this.  I've loved every movie I've seen him in, from Elizabeth: Golden Age to Closer, to Inside Man.  Always a winner.

Taken at face value as a high-adrenalin, on-location, high-budget, fast-paced action flick, I'll give this a straight 10/10.  It's an espionage movie, with an interesting enough plot to keep me hooked, and a cast of a high enough calibre to deliver a decent standard of dialogue.  There are the usual fight scenes and car chases, but this had something more... it's based on a controversial book by former-SAS, polar trekker, Everest climber, Sir Ranulph Fiennes (not to be confused with Ralph, another good Brit actor), entitled The Feathermen.  Controversial because it is allegedly based on true events.  This is disputed...  I strongly recommend you read the Daily Mail article linked here:

Daily Mail - How Ranulph Fiennes cashed in on 'murder' of SAS heroes

Sir Ranulph Fiennes talks Feathermen and Killer Elite with Robert DeNiro

Statham's character is an elite hitman hired in 1980 by an exiled elderly Sheikh in Oman, to hunt down and kill ex-members of the SAS, who the Sheikh claims were responsible for the murder of three of his sons (Britain's SAS were involved, clandestine as always, in putting down a Marxist insurgency there in the 1970s - The Dhofar Rebellion).  DeNiro is held captive by said Sheikh, and as well as £6m cash, Statham's motivation is to see his friend and mentor released (I also got the impression DeNiro taught his younger A-list colleague a few things off-camera, or simply rubbed off on him, because he does appear to be actually doing some acting here, rather than just playing himself like he usually does). 

So we cut to England, cue action.  It's cat and mouse.  The hunted, being ex-SAS, have a few tricks of their own and soon cotton on to what's going on (enter Owen and his peers - the secret (and illegal) society of Fiennes' book).  I find the very idea of a crack unit of assassins so good they can take on the world's most elite military regiment, to be stretching believability a little.  The film portrays their 'employer', the 'agent' who puts them in touch with the Sheikh, as serving 'Her Majesty's government'... I assumed 5 or 6, secret service, like that.  Who else?  But in terms of entertainment, this sets the stakes high... you know with certainty the job will be no pushover, and the layers of treachery where individual interests pulling invisible strings overlap and conflict, carry the story along to its' conclusion. 

Doing some reading into the background this morning, trying to determine whether Fiennes just made it all up for profit, I found a piece by a writer I hold in very high regard indeed.  David Guyatt, I first heard of from Joel van der Reijden of ISGP, and his mammoth work on Le Cercle Pinay and Operation Gladio (including their meeting hosted by one Sultan Qaboos of Oman in the 1980s), links to the Safari Club, the 9-11 storyline, Prince Turki al-Faisal, then head of Saudi intelligence, Jonathan Aitken, and I personally believe probably also the Princess Diana crash. 

Seems there is indeed a group much like Fiennes' Feathermen. 

It's known today as Group 13.

And the elite assassins, called 'The Clinic' in his book, may well be something like Chip Tatum's Pegasus.

Fiennes alleges that he was eventually targeted by these assassins, for his involvement in Oman, to which he effectively 'confessed' in another book.  Four 'murders' had already been carried out, over 17 years (with precision deniability... made to look like accidents).  He claims the Feathermen came to his aid.

I was reminded of a fictional novel by one Damien Lewis, also based on a real event.  The plot of Cobra Gold speculates that gold bullion stolen from the Bank of Lebanon during the conflict in 1982, may have been the work of the SAS, possibly working for themselves, possibly not.  I find this, and Fiennes' allegations, feel like they hold a grain of truth.  Why not?  The Knights Templar plundered whatever was under Solomon's temple...  the SAS are the modern day military arm of The Crusader Knights, right?  And it makes sense to me that an elite group of hitmen assembled, let's say by the international intelligence community (ie: Le Cercle), might be used to 'silence' those involved in what one of the Feathermen in the film calls a 'dirty war'.  Covering tracks... like that helicopter crash that killed Seal Team 6?  Like David Kelly, Robin Cook, the caretaker from the WTC, the soldiers involved with that nuke that went missing a few years back from Minot AFB... etc.  I'm not being 100% serious, I know how some will react - I'm tired of the knee-jerk 'conspiracy theorist!' responses.  If I didn't think these dots were worth joining, I wouldn't write this stuff.  If you don't like it, don't read it, and I definitely don't care to read your denial, where there is nothing to debate, because nobody will listen.  Thankyou :)  

The SAS - Prince Philip's managers of terror

What Really Happened - Chip Tatum

Le Cercle - Sir Erik Bennett

Le Cercle - Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said

So, Killer Elite then, is a top-notch action movie worth seeing, if you like that kind of thing.  One flaw - only one significant female character, who spends most of her time looking pretty and being scared for Statham and isn't really integral to the plot... thus it's a bit unbalanced, but I suppose the world of SAS assassins and action heroes is a bit of a man's game.  But the back-story has really got me intrigued... I generally despise the way Hollywood always tries to re-write history, but this one feels more like a decent British gangster film, and it is wonderful to see such topics in such mainstream limelight!  I have no idea who the director was...

Here is David Guyatt's piece, reproduced in full :

GROUP 13

By David Guyatt

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

 

It is the number that carries the most occult significance.  Throughout Europe it has historically been regarded as an ill omen.  In Norse mythology, the number 13 often signifies death.  Today, in the United Kingdom, there exists a paramilitary unit called Group 13.  The sole purpose of this ultra secretive unit is deniable assassination and it operates in the world of shadows.  So little is known about them, that it is exceptionally hard to document its activities with any certainty. 

One individual - a former civilian undercover agent for the security services, recounted his story of a encounter with Group 13.  Gary Murray, author of “Enemies of the State” had decided to research Group 13 to write a book on them.  He soon changed his mind.  One day during his research phase he was forcibly dragged in to the back of a Transit van and had a gun stuck to his head.  A voice told him it would be unwise to continue his project.  Sensibly, he decided to abandon the project and instead write a book on an altogether different subject.

Group 13 is generally believed to have evolved from former SAS soldiers and Security and Intelligence operatives who were once active in Northern Ireland during the mid to late nineteen seventies when a Labour Government was still in power.  Fred Holroyd, a Captain in British Army Intelligence, served in Northern Ireland during this period.  Holroyd was tasked with developing informers and other human intelligence sources connected to the IRA.  It was inherently dangerous work, made a lot worse by a viscous turf battle between MI5 and MI6 for control of the Northern Ireland “patch.” 

Matters grew increasingly nasty as “assets” for each of the two contending groups were tossed to the wolves.  Holroyd, when interviewed, outlined some details of this dirty war, recalled incidents where bombs were placed by one of these factions and then roundly blamed on the IRA.  Holroyd’s story and later disgraceful treatment at the hands of the British Army are recounted in his book “War without Dishonour.”  Holroyd’s account sheds light on the so called “Shoot to Kill” policy in Northern Ireland that resulted in the dysfunctional investigation of former senior police officer, John Stalker.  This investigation ultimately resulted in the gripping feature film: Hidden Agenda.

The Special Air Service was formed during WW11 by David Stirling with the intention to operate behind enemy lines and to perform acts of sabotage and assassination.  By 1969, the SAS had been sent to Northern Ireland to perform covert operations against the IRA - which included assassination.  To cover their deployment to this politically sensitive area they chose the guise of “training teams.”  A succession of cover names was used over the next few years; these included the Military Reconnaissance Force (MRF), the 14th Intelligence unit, and the Four Field Survey Troop, Royal Engineers.  Fred Holroyd states that the latter was very definitely a SAS undercover unit stationed at the Royal Engineers base at Castiledillon, Armagh.

1974 was a critical year in British politics.  It saw the election victory of the Labour Party in February and was soon followed by rumours of an impending coup d’etat.  Right wing groups operating in the shadows of power began to form themselves.  These groups saw Premier Harold Wilson and certain members of his Cabinet, as no holds barred communists taking orders from Moscow.  The idea that Wilson was a communist mole is, even by today’s paranoid delusions, a farcical belief.  At that time, however, planning for a right wing coup was seen by these extremists as the only alternative to keeping Britain from the wily grasp of Moscow.  One of these groups was named GB75, and was organised by David Sterling, founder of the SAS.  Significantly, GB75 and the other groups had close contacts to the British security and intelligence community, from which they probably received some form of unofficial succour.

Founded in 1970 was another mysterious group which called itself Resistance and Psychological Operations Committee (RPOC).  RPOC was established in line with the Reserve Forces Association and was said to be a reflection of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - a WW11 dirty tricks operation.  According to one former member, RPOC had a clandestine section which formed an underground resistance movement in the event Russia invaded the United Kingdom.  With a nod and a wink of the Conservative government of the day, it forged close links to the British security and intelligence apparatus, and “…formed close links with the SAS…own secret intelligence network.”

Little is known of the SAS’s secret intelligence network, apart from one enlightening publication.  Ranulf Fiennes, the Artic trekker was a one time member of the SAS.  In his book, The Feather Men, he reveals the existence of an unofficial group of former SAS officers and soldiers who, amongst other activities, are tasked with protecting members of the SAS who’s lives are under threat as a result of their activities.  According to his book, Fiennes learned a contract had been put out on him, only after this SAS secretive group had more or less mopped up a freelance assassination team sent to kill Fiennes.  In this case, “mopping up” meant killing members of the assassination team.  Fiennes further alleged that this group had been founded by David Sterling.

It is not possible to say with any certainty that this group - or elements within it - evolved to become Group 13.  However, the associations are clearly similar.  Both are highly unofficial but desirable to certain factions within government.  Both are said to be responsible for political assassinations both in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.  Both appear to lean towards right wing agenda’s.

Perhaps the best known incident that involved the SAS in a “wet operation” was the assassination of an IRA unit in Gibraltar in 198… which subsequently led to the explosive TV documentary Death on the Rock.  The controversy surrounding this event raged for years, with the Sunday Times Insight Team leading the attack on the credibility of eye-witnesses who claimed the three members of the IRA unit were gunned down in cold blood.  Placed in context against the numerous SAS assassinations which took place in Ireland during this same period, it is hard to lend much credence to the official story of cock-up.

Of some interest is the statement of former CIA operative and former member of an American based, international assassination team, Gene “Chip” Tatum.  The team, Tatum says, is called Pegasus and operates around the world.  Targets are normally influential politicians and financiers.  Over a period of several months, Tatum has revealed a number of the operations he claims he was involved in, as well as revealing names of those at senior level he alleges are behind Pegasus activities.  In recent correspondence, he alleges that the British end of Pegasus was operated during the mid-eighties by a high ranking British government official.

Another operation that carries SAS hallmarks was the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Peoples Bureau in London in 1984.  This killing caused immense public outrage and quickly led to the ousting of the Libyan diplomatic Corp.  In a courageous piece of television, Channel Four broadcast a Dispatches programme in 1996 that suggested WPC Fletcher was murdered by elements inside British and American intelligence.  Amongst other startling facts, the programme makers stated that the shot that killed the police officer may have been a “terminal velocity” round.  This technique both reduces the sound of the gunshot as a result of its sub-sonic speed, and creates the impression that the shot was fired from considerable distance.  It is a known technique of SAS snipers.

There may also be other connections between Group Thirteen and the United States intelligence community.  J. Orlin Grabbe, an American Professor who runs his own financial advisory service, has in recent years earned a reputation within internet “conspiracy” circles as being well informed about a number of illegal intelligence operations.  One of these focus on the alleged assassination of Vincent Foster, a close associate and legal adviser to President Clinton. 

Grabbe, a former professor at Wharton Business School, in one of his internet posts alluded to the existence of a highly secret US assassination team that operates out of the National Security Agency (NSA).  The unit, Grabbe claims, is called “I-3.”  In a recent communication he added that the information on this unit was provided by a “former CIA agent with the CIA’s highest security clearance.”  It may just be a coincidence that this NSA unit shares a common name with “Group 13” and just happens to also be in the same line of business.  However, in the closed world of the intelligence community such “coincidences” should be viewed carefully.

 Despite the stiff secrecy and widespread smoke and mirrors that surround the activities of Group 13, some significant additional information came to light following the Scott Enquiry into the arms to Iraq affair.  Gerald James, the former Chairman of Astra Holdings Plc - a leading British munitions manufacturer - has written of his knowledge surrounding group 13 in his explosive book In the Public Interest, which blows the lid on British government involvement in arming Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

 During a lengthy interview, James outlined how he had been ousted from the Board of Astra.  He believes his removal was orchestrated by non-executive director Stephan Kock, a self acknowledged former Security and Intelligence officer in the employ of Midland Bank Plc.  James, thereafter, undertook to learn more about the mysterious Kock  In written evidence presented to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee looking into exports to Iraq, on 5 February 1992, James stated that he was told, in an unguarded moment, that Kock was “… a former head of ‘Group 13.’  This curious organisation is apparently a hit or contract squad for the Foreign Office and Security Services.”  James adds “The Foreign Office is said to draw Group 13 operatives from the SAS as well as from private security firms,” and that “It’s duties involve ‘service to the nation.’”  James also makes clear that Kock had exceptional high level contacts inside the intelligence community, and that boasted of his ready access to the highest levels of the British government, including 10 Downing Street.

 The Foreign Office reference, clearly indicates an MI6 connection.  Known also as the Secret Intelligence Service  - a name well known by lovers of Bond movies - MI6 activities come under the control of the Foreign Office.  Perhaps the now infamous “007” License to Kill pedigree has moved from those fictional men in black bow ties and Tuxedo’s, to those all too secretive men in camouflage smocks and shoulder patches inscribed “Death from Above.”

 History of British Assassination

 State sanctioned murder is as old as the hills.  British exposure to many assassination techniques would have been gained during the Crusade’s, when British Knights came into contact with Middle Eastern religious sects specialising in these techniques.  The word Assassin derives from the Arabic “hassas” meaning “hashhish eater” signifying those who were sent to murder Christian leaders were under the influence of the drug Hashhish.  Other contacts would have come from Britain’s prolonged rule over India.  An Indian religious sect known as “thugees” specialised in strangulation, and gave rise to the still common term “thug.”  Still other associations arose during British contacts with killer sects during the Chinese “Boxer Rebellion.”

 Number 13 - unlucky for some

Intelligence insiders allege that Russia, during the height of the cold war, operated its own assassination squad under cover of the KGB’s “Department 13.”  This has led some observers to muse that British and US adoption of number “13” for “Wet Operations” may be an insider’s joke.  Those assassinated might fail to see the humour.  One such individual, Dr. Gerald Bull - designer of the ill-fated Supergun - was shot from behind, outside his apartment in Brussels, in early 1990.  Rumoured to be an Israeli hit, sources close to Israeli’s “Mossad” deny this.  A few months before his assassination, Bull, writing to a colleague, stated he was “advised in a letter of an imminent accident.”  Bull identified the threat as having come from Foreign Office  - who responded by saying the “action was by ‘a few irresponsible juniors.’”

FEMA Concentration Camps in USA: Locations and Executive Orders

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/FEMA-Concentration-Camps3sep04.htm
Today I came along this site, I must say I know nothing about it, but it adds more worries to my perception of the situation in the USA. So I ask you, especially our US-members, what have you heard and know about this?



There over 800 prison camps in the United States, all fully operational and ready to receive prisoners. They are all staffed and even surrounded by full-time guards, but they are all empty. These camps are to be operated by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) should Martial Law need to be implemented in the United States and all it would take is a presidential signature on a proclamation and the attorney general's signature on a warrant to which a list of names is attached. Ask yourself if you really want to be on Ashcroft's list. The Rex 84 Program was established on the reasoning that if a "mass exodus" of illegal aliens crossed the Mexican/US border, they would be quickly rounded up and detained in detention centers by FEMA. Rex 84 allowed many military bases to be closed down and to be turned into prisons.

Please read the full article at http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/FEMA-Concentration-Camps3sep04.htm

SPD and Greens Strengthened in German State Vote

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/spd-and-greens-strengthened-in-german-state-vote-a-833007.html
Germany's Social Democrats Return to Relevancy

It has been a long time since the working class in Germany's erstwhile industrial heartland has had this much to cheer about. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund, a football team adored by many in the once-powerful coal and steel Ruhr Valley region, crushed effete Bayern Munich in the German league championship game.

And then on Sunday, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), once the heart and soul of politics in North Rhine-Westphalia, roared back from a half-decade-long funk to take almost 40 percent of the vote in the state election. Suddenly, it's just like old times in the state -- all that's missing is the smoke billowing out of the steel factory chimneys.


For the SPD and the Greens, Sunday's election is nothing short of a fairy tale. And it is a success with a clear winner: Hannelore Kraft, the SPD governor of the state who has now been given the overwhelmingly clear mandate she lacked following the last state elections in 2010. The pair of center-left parties governed Germany under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005, but an increasingly crowded party landscape had made a repeat of the coalition seem unlikely. Now, Kraft has shown that it is still possible and SPD and Green Party leaders in Berlin are seeking to bask in her glow.

Kraft has no choice but to accept the adulation; the victory is very clearly hers and hers alone. It shows once again just how important people and personalities have become in German politics. German voters have become unpredictable, with many deciding which party they will support shortly before heading to the ballot box, often swayed by emotion and sentiment. Furthermore, because the political platforms of Germany's two largest parties, the CDU and SPD, are so similar, personality has become crucial. Hannelore Kraft is hardly a political overachiever, but she exudes rationality and reliability. Her opponent, Norbert Röttgen, looked pale by comparison -- and he was trounced at the ballot box as a result.

Lying in the Dust

The very best news for the SPD and the Greens from Sunday, however, is that it showed that Merkel's CDU can be defeated. Self confidence among Germany's Social Democrats has been in short supply as the party suffered through years of losing elections and members. But the North Rhine-Westphalia vote is the third time in recent months that the SPD and Greens have joined forces to triumph over the center-right. Merkel has lost some of her shine as a result and Röttgen, once seen as the CDU's crown prince, has been left lying in the dust.

On Sunday evening, Röttgen fell on his sword, relinquishing his position as head of the CDU's North Rhine-Westphalia chapter. He is hoping the move will be enough to save his job as head of the Environment Ministry in Berlin -- and to protect his boss Merkel from excessive criticism resulting from the catastrophic vote tally. But such a clear loss can't help but reflect poorly on the chancellor as well.

After all, Röttgen -- though he led the campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia himself -- is Merkel's political creation. He is one of her most important ministers and she has promoted him throughout his career, even pleading with him to remain in politics instead of switching to a potentially lucrative career in industry. Recently, though, her support has waned as she has realized that, while he is intelligent, his political abilities are limited. Still, more than almost anyone else, he is a Merkel protégé. As such, his defeat is hers as well.



Please read the full article at http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/spd-and-greens-strengthened-in-german-state-vote-a-833007.html

What do YOU think about GAY MARRIAGE?

http://redstaterandy.multiply.com/journal/item/389/What_do_YOU_think_about_GAY_MARRIAGE_poll?replies_read=3
I have started a poll on this subject. Please take the time to vote if you have the chance.

Have a great weekend.

I just had RT news on television while I was cooking... first time in a while, and WOW... what a lot of stuff going on in the world that I didn't know about! I made a mental note to check more foreign stations and channels. UK and USA TV news just don't cut it any longer. All you get on BBC is the same 3 or 4 domestic stories on a loop. And a load of lies. The propaganda and spin exist anywhere, but really... if you don't agree with what I'm saying here, you watch too much BBC, Fox etc

Economist on Yanukovych's Ukraine, Europe and Russia ~ May 2012

Let's see what you make of this.  I found it to be heavily biased, making statements directly to the tune of 'you must think this way'... not that I necessarily disagree with all or any of it, I just heavily object to being ordered by a journalist to think according to their agenda.  Nonetheless... Tymoshenko's imprisonment is worthy of our scrutiny, and Yanukovych is not popular among those Ukrainians I know.  My interest is half personal.

Would Ukraine be better off with Russia, or the EU, or both?  Is Yanukovych doomed to fail if he tries to sit on the fence?  Many, many eyes are going to be on Ukraine in a month's time, for the football.  English tabloids are already poking the fires of discontent, reporting the unfinished state of sites allocated to English travelling fans.  Police there are looking to be heavily armed, and Polish fans have vowed to wreck England's training pitch.  Business as usual in the footie then...  what about more serious matters?

http://www.economist.com/node/21554187

Ukraine and Europe

Call Foul :

Viktor Yanukovych’s thuggish autocracy is heading in a dangerous direction

May 5th 2012 | from the print edition

HE WON fairly in February 2010. But since his election Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, has mauled his country’s fragile democracy and weak institutions. He has bullied the media, tampered with the judiciary, exercised arbitrary power and presided over an upsurge of corruption. To see how badly he has gone wrong, consider the show trial, imprisonment and maltreatment of Yulia Tymoshenko, his losing opponent in 2010, who is now on hunger strike.

Mr Yanukovych had no real reason to fear Ms Tymoshenko (pictured). She is no angel, and lost much of her popularity after the 2004 “orange revolution” for her erratic style and questionable business dealings. But he chose to persecute her all the same, adding fresh charges to keep her in prison for longer (see article). He has done this despite a clear message from the European Union that her release is a condition for implementing a much-delayed association agreement, which would open EU markets to Ukrainian exports.

In some ways Mr Yanukovych is using similar tactics to those of his autocratic neighbour, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, in Belarus. He has flirted alternately with Europe and Russia, in the hope of extracting concessions from both, yet yielding nothing serious to either. He wants the association agreement and he needs Western support for another IMF bail-out this summer. Should he get neither, he may turn to Moscow for help—which he would get only with unpleasant conditions.

This probably will not end well for Ukraine. The unfortunate Ukrainians find themselves not only at the mercy of their predatory ruler but also cut off from Europe. And it creates a headache for the West. The fear is that Mr Yanukovych could allow his country to fall under Russia’s sway. Vladimir Putin, who will be inaugurated as Russia’s president on May 7th, is pressing Ukraine to join a post-Soviet customs union instead of pursuing its EU deal. The Russians also want to control Ukraine’s gas-transit network, as they do Belarus’s. Such a setback for 20 years of Western efforts to bolster Ukraine’s independence is a grim prospect; EU countries should make clear to Mr Putin that it would damage relations with Russia.

Brickbats and beetroots

Fears of Russian influence must not be allowed to dictate a soft response to Mr Yanukovych’s autocratic ways. He tends to treat friendliness as weakness, pocketing the proceeds. Instead, the EU should tighten the screws on the president and his Donetsk business associates—while also finding ways to hold out hope to ordinary Ukrainians.

High-level political boycotts are a good place to start. Several heads of state, including those of Germany and the Czech Republic, are rightly refusing to attend an east European summit with Mr Yanukovych that begins in Yalta on May 11th. The EU’s political leaders (but not its soccer teams) should also boycott matches in Ukraine during the Euro 2012 football championships, which it is jointly hosting with Poland.

Off the pitch, the EU should press for fair parliamentary elections in October, sending as many observers as it can. Financial supervisors must apply money-laundering laws stringently to the huge sums flowing out of Ukraine to Austria, Britain, Cyprus and elsewhere. EU countries should withhold visas from those directly involved in the abuse of power. Yet at the same time they ought to make it easier for other Ukrainians to visit the West for study, trade and tourism. And they should do more to explain to Ukrainians the potential benefits of their association agreement, including the possibility that it might ultimately lead to EU membership. The West’s quarrel with Ukraine is with its president, not with its people.