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Mar 20, 2018 | www.counterpunch.org
The war on Iraq won't be remembered for how it was waged so much as for how it was sold. It was a propaganda war, a war of perception management, where loaded phrases, such as "weapons of mass destruction" and "rogue state" were hurled like precision weapons at the target audience: us.
To understand the Iraq war you don't need to consult generals, but the spin doctors and PR flacks who stage-managed the countdown to war from the murky corridors of Washington where politics, corporate spin and psy-ops spooks cohabit.
Consider the picaresque journey of Tony Blair's plagiarized dossier on Iraq, from a grad student's website to a cut-and-paste job in the prime minister's bombastic speech to the House of Commons. Blair, stubborn and verbose, paid a price for his grandiose puffery. Bush, who looted whole passages from Blair's speech for his own clumsy presentations, has skated freely through the tempest. Why?
Unlike Blair, the Bush team never wanted to present a legal case for war. They had no interest in making any of their allegations about Iraq hold up to a standard of proof. The real effort was aimed at amping up the mood for war by using the psychology of fear.
Facts were never important to the Bush team. They were disposable nuggets that could be discarded at will and replaced by whatever new rationale that played favorably with their polls and focus groups. The war was about weapons of mass destruction one week, al-Qaeda the next. When neither allegation could be substantiated on the ground, the fall back position became the mass graves (many from the Iran/Iraq war where the U.S.A. backed Iraq) proving that Saddam was an evil thug who deserved to be toppled. The motto of the Bush PR machine was: Move on. Don't explain. Say anything to conceal the perfidy behind the real motives for war. Never look back. Accuse the questioners of harboring unpatriotic sensibilities. Eventually, even the cagey Wolfowitz admitted that the official case for war was made mainly to make the invasion palatable, not to justify it.
The Bush claque of neocon hawks viewed the Iraq war as a product and, just like a new pair of Nikes, it required a roll-out campaign to soften up the consumers. The same techniques (and often the same PR gurus) that have been used to hawk cigarettes, SUVs and nuclear waste dumps were deployed to retail the Iraq war. To peddle the invasion, Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell and company recruited public relations gurus into top-level jobs at the Pentagon and the State Department. These spinmeisters soon had more say over how the rationale for war on Iraq should be presented than intelligence agencies and career diplomats. If the intelligence didn't fit the script, it was shaded, retooled or junked.
Take Charlotte Beers whom Powell picked as undersecretary of state in the post-9/11 world. Beers wasn't a diplomat. She wasn't even a politician. She was a grand diva of spin, known on the business and gossip pages as "the queen of Madison Avenue." On the strength of two advertising campaigns, one for Uncle Ben's Rice and another for Head and Shoulder's dandruff shampoo, Beers rocketed to the top of the heap in the PR world, heading two giant PR houses: Ogilvy and Mathers as well as J. Walter Thompson.
At the State Department Beers, who had met Powell in 1995 when they both served on the board of Gulf Airstream, worked at, in Powell's words, "the branding of U.S. foreign policy." She extracted more than $500 million from Congress for her Brand America campaign, which largely focused on beaming U.S. propaganda into the Muslim world, much of it directed at teens.
"Public diplomacy is a vital new arm in what will combat terrorism over time," said Beers. "All of a sudden we are in this position of redefining who America is, not only for ourselves, but for the outside world." Note the rapt attention Beers pays to the manipulation of perception, as opposed, say, to alterations of U.S. policy.
Old-fashioned diplomacy involves direct communication between representatives of nations, a conversational give and take, often fraught with deception (see April Glaspie), but an exchange nonetheless. Public diplomacy, as defined by Beers, is something else entirely. It's a one-way street, a unilateral broadcast of American propaganda directly to the public, domestic and international, a kind of informational carpet-bombing.
The themes of her campaigns were as simplistic and flimsy as a Bush press conference. The American incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq were all about bringing the balm of "freedom" to oppressed peoples. Hence, the title of the U.S. war: Operation Iraqi Freedom, where cruise missiles were depicted as instruments of liberation. Bush himself distilled the Beers equation to its bizarre essence: "This war is about peace."
Beers quietly resigned her post a few weeks before the first volley of tomahawk missiles battered Baghdad. From her point of view, the war itself was already won, the fireworks of shock and awe were all after play.
Over at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld drafted Victoria "Torie" Clarke as his director of public affairs. Clarke knew the ropes inside the Beltway. Before becoming Rumsfeld's mouthpiece, she had commanded one of the world's great parlors for powerbrokers: Hill and Knowlton's D.C. office.
Almost immediately upon taking up her new gig, Clarke convened regular meetings with a select group of Washington's top private PR specialists and lobbyists to develop a marketing plan for the Pentagon's forthcoming terror wars. The group was filled with heavy-hitters and was strikingly bipartisan in composition. She called it the Rumsfeld Group and it included PR executive Sheila Tate, columnist Rich Lowry, and Republican political consultant Rich Galen.
The brain trust also boasted top Democratic fixer Tommy Boggs, brother of NPR's Cokie Roberts and son of the late Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana. At the very time Boggs was conferring with top Pentagon brass on how to frame the war on terror, he was also working feverishly for the royal family of Saudi Arabia. In 2002 alone, the Saudis paid his Qorvis PR firm $20.2 million to protect its interests in Washington. In the wake of hostile press coverage following the exposure of Saudi links to the 9/11 hijackers, the royal family needed all the well-placed help it could buy. They seem to have gotten their money's worth. Boggs' felicitous influence-peddling may help to explain why the references to Saudi funding of al-Qaeda were dropped from the recent congressional report on the investigation into intelligence failures and 9/11.
According to the trade publication PR Week, the Rumsfeld Group sent "messaging advice" to the Pentagon. The group told Clarke and Rumsfeld that in order to get the American public to buy into the war on terrorism, they needed to suggest a link to nation states, not just nebulous groups such as al-Qaeda. In other words, there needed to be a fixed target for the military campaigns, some distant place to drop cruise missiles and cluster bombs. They suggested the notion (already embedded in Rumsfeld's mind) of playing up the notion of so-called rogue states as the real masters of terrorism. Thus was born the Axis of Evil, which, of course, wasn't an "axis" at all, since two of the states, Iran and Iraq, hated each other, and neither had anything at all to do with the third, North Korea.
Tens of millions in federal money were poured into private public relations and media firms working to craft and broadcast the Bush dictat that Saddam had to be taken out before the Iraqi dictator blew up the world by dropping chemical and nuclear bombs from long-range drones. Many of these PR executives and image consultants were old friends of the high priests in the Bush inner sanctum. Indeed, they were veterans, like Cheney and Powell, of the previous war against Iraq, another engagement that was more spin than combat .
At the top of the list was John Rendon, head of the D.C. firm, the Rendon Group. Rendon is one of Washington's heaviest hitters, a Beltway fixer who never let political affiliation stand in the way of an assignment. Rendon served as a media consultant for Michael Dukakis and Jimmy Carter, as well as Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Whenever the Pentagon wanted to go to war, he offered his services at a price. During Desert Storm, Rendon pulled in $100,000 a month from the Kuwaiti royal family. He followed this up with a $23 million contract from the CIA to produce anti-Saddam propaganda in the region.
As part of this CIA project, Rendon created and named the Iraqi National Congress and tapped his friend Ahmed Chalabi, the shady financier, to head the organization.
Shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon handed the Rendon Group another big assignment: public relations for the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. Rendon was also deeply involved in the planning and public relations for the pre-emptive war on Iraq, though both Rendon and the Pentagon refuse to disclose the details of the group's work there.
But it's not hard to detect the manipulative hand of Rendon behind many of the Iraq war's signature events, including the toppling of the Saddam statue (by U.S. troops and Chalabi associates) and videotape of jubilant Iraqis waving American flags as the Third Infantry rolled by them. Rendon had pulled off the same stunt in the first Gulf War, handing out American flags to Kuwaitis and herding the media to the orchestrated demonstration. "Where do you think they got those American flags?" clucked Rendon in 1991. "That was my assignment."
The Rendon Group may also have had played a role in pushing the phony intelligence that has now come back to haunt the Bush administration. In December of 2002, Robert Dreyfuss reported that the inner circle of the Bush White House preferred the intelligence coming from Chalabi and his associates to that being proffered by analysts at the CIA.
So Rendon and his circle represented a new kind of off-the-shelf PSYOPs , the privatization of official propaganda. "I am not a national security strategist or a military tactician," said Rendon. "I am a politician, and a person who uses communication to meet public policy or corporate policy objectives. In fact, I am an information warrior and a perception manager."
What exactly, is perception management? The Pentagon defines it this way: "actions to convey and/or deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives and objective reasoning." In other words, lying about the intentions of the U.S. government. In a rare display of public frankness, the Pentagon actually let slip its plan (developed by Rendon) to establish a high-level den inside the Department Defense for perception management. They called it the Office of Strategic Influence and among its many missions was to plant false stories in the press.
Nothing stirs the corporate media into outbursts of pious outrage like an official government memo bragging about how the media are manipulated for political objectives. So the New York Times and Washington Post threw indignant fits about the Office of Strategic Influence; the Pentagon shut down the operation, and the press gloated with satisfaction on its victory. Yet, Rumsfeld told the Pentagon press corps that while he was killing the office, the same devious work would continue. "You can have the corpse," said Rumsfeld. "You can have the name. But I'm going to keep doing every single thing that needs to be done. And I have."
At a diplomatic level, despite the hired guns and the planted stories, this image war was lost. It failed to convince even America's most fervent allies and dependent client states that Iraq posed much of a threat. It failed to win the blessing of the U.N. and even NATO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Washington. At the end of the day, the vaunted coalition of the willing consisted of Britain, Spain, Italy, Australia, and a cohort of former Soviet bloc nations. Even so, the citizens of the nations that cast their lot with the U.S.A. overwhelmingly opposed the war.
Domestically, it was a different story. A population traumatized by terror threats and shattered economy became easy prey for the saturation bombing of the Bush message that Iraq was a terrorist state linked to al-Qaeda that was only minutes away from launching attacks on America with weapons of mass destruction.
Americans were the victims of an elaborate con job, pelted with a daily barrage of threat inflation, distortions, deceptions and lies, not about tactics or strategy or war plans, but about justifications for war. The lies were aimed not at confusing Saddam's regime, but the American people. By the start of the war, 66 per cent of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 and 79 per cent thought he was close to having a nuclear weapon.
Of course, the closest Saddam came to possessing a nuke was a rusting gas centrifuge buried for 13 years in the garden of Mahdi Obeidi, a retired Iraqi scientist. Iraq didn't have any functional chemical or biological weapons. In fact, it didn't even possess any SCUD missiles, despite erroneous reports fed by Pentagon PR flacks alleging that it had fired SCUDs into Kuwait.
This charade wouldn't have worked without a gullible or a complicit press corps. Victoria Clarke, who developed the Pentagon plan for embedded reports, put it succinctly a few weeks before the war began: "Media coverage of any future operation will to a large extent shape public perception."
During the Vietnam War, TV images of maimed GIs and napalmed villages suburbanized opposition to the war and helped hasten the U.S. withdrawal. The Bush gang meant to turn the Vietnam phenomenon on its head by using TV as a force to propel the U.S.A. into a war that no one really wanted.
What the Pentagon sought was a new kind of living room war, where instead of photos of mangled soldiers and dead Iraqi kids, they could control the images Americans viewed and to a large extent the content of the stories. By embedding reporters inside selected divisions, Clarke believed the Pentagon could count on the reporters to build relationships with the troops and to feel dependent on them for their own safety. It worked, naturally. One reporter for a national network trembled on camera that the U.S. Army functioned as "our protectors." The late David Bloom of NBC confessed on the air that he was willing to do "anything and everything they can ask of us."
When the Pentagon needed a heroic story, the press obliged. Jessica Lynch became the war's first instant celebrity. Here was a neo-gothic tale of a steely young woman wounded in a fierce battle, captured and tortured by ruthless enemies, and dramatically saved from certain death by a team of selfless rescuers, knights in camo and night-vision goggles. Of course, nearly every detail of her heroic adventure proved to be as fictive and maudlin as any made-for-TV-movie. But the ordeal of Private Lynch, which dominated the news for more than a week, served its purpose: to distract attention from a stalled campaign that was beginning to look at lot riskier than the American public had been hoodwinked into believing.
The Lynch story was fed to the eager press by a Pentagon operation called Combat Camera, the Army network of photographers, videographers and editors that sends 800 photos and 25 video clips a day to the media. The editors at Combat Camera carefully culled the footage to present the Pentagon's montage of the war, eliding such unsettling images as collateral damage, cluster bombs, dead children and U.S. soldiers, napalm strikes and disgruntled troops.
"A lot of our imagery will have a big impact on world opinion," predicted Lt. Jane Larogue, director of Combat Camera in Iraq. She was right. But as the hot war turned into an even hotter occupation, the Pentagon, despite airy rhetoric from occupation supremo Paul Bremer about installing democratic institutions such as a free press, moved to tighten its monopoly on the flow images out of Iraq. First, it tried to shut down Al Jazeera, the Arab news channel. Then the Pentagon intimated that it would like to see all foreign TV news crews banished from Baghdad.
Few newspapers fanned the hysteria about the threat posed by Saddam's weapons of mass destruction as sedulously as did the Washington Post. In the months leading up to the war, the Post's pro-war op-eds outnumbered the anti-war columns by a 3-to-1 margin.
Back in 1988, the Post felt much differently about Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction. When reports trickled out about the gassing of Iranian troops, the Washington Post's editorial page shrugged off the massacres, calling the mass poisonings "a quirk of war."
The Bush team displayed a similar amnesia. When Iraq used chemical weapons in grisly attacks on Iran, the U.S. government not only didn't object, it encouraged Saddam. Anything to punish Iran was the message coming from the White House. Donald Rumsfeld himself was sent as President Ronald Reagan's personal envoy to Baghdad. Rumsfeld conveyed the bold message than an Iraq defeat would be viewed as a "strategic setback for the United States." This sleazy alliance was sealed with a handshake caught on videotape. When CNN reporter Jamie McIntyre replayed the footage for Rumsfeld in the spring of 2003, the secretary of defense snapped, "Where'd you get that? Iraqi television?"
The current crop of Iraq hawks also saw Saddam much differently then. Take the writer Laura Mylroie, sometime colleague of the New York Times' Judy Miller, who persists in peddling the ludicrous conspiracy that Iraq was behind the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
How times have changed! In 1987, Mylroie felt downright cuddly toward Saddam. She wrote an article for the New Republic titled "Back Iraq: Time for a U.S. Tilt in the Mideast," arguing that the U.S. should publicly embrace Saddam's secular regime as a bulwark against the Islamic fundamentalists in Iran. The co-author of this mesmerizing weave of wonkery was none other than Daniel Pipes, perhaps the nation's most bellicose Islamophobe. "The American weapons that Iraq could make good use of include remotely scatterable and anti-personnel mines and counterartillery radar," wrote Mylroie and Pipes. "The United States might also consider upgrading intelligence it is supplying Baghdad."
In the rollout for the war, Mylroie seemed to be everywhere hawking the invasion of Iraq. She would often appear on two or three different networks in the same day. How did the reporter manage this feat? She had help in the form of Eleana Benador, the media placement guru who runs Benador Associates. Born in Peru, Benador parlayed her skills as a linguist into a lucrative career as media relations whiz for the Washington foreign policy elite. She also oversees the Middle East Forum, a fanatically pro-Zionist white paper mill. Her clients include some of the nation's most fervid hawks, including Michael Ledeen, Charles Krauthammer, Al Haig, Max Boot, Daniel Pipes, Richard Perle, and Judy Miller. During the Iraq war, Benador's assignment was to embed this squadron of pro-war zealots into the national media, on talk shows, and op-ed pages.
Benador not only got them the gigs, she also crafted the theme and made sure they all stayed on message. "There are some things, you just have to state them in a different way, in a slightly different way," said Benador. "If not, people get scared." Scared of intentions of their own government.
It could have been different. All of the holes in the Bush administration's gossamer case for war were right there for the mainstream press to expose. Instead, the U.S. press, just like the oil companies, sought to commercialize the Iraq war and profit from the invasions. They didn't want to deal with uncomfortable facts or present voices of dissent.
Nothing sums up this unctuous approach more brazenly than MSNBC's firing of liberal talk show host Phil Donahue on the eve of the war. The network replaced the Donahue Show with a running segment called Countdown: Iraq, featuring the usual nightly coterie of retired generals, security flacks, and other cheerleaders for invasion. The network's executives blamed the cancellation on sagging ratings. In fact, during its run Donahue's show attracted more viewers than any other program on the network. The real reason for the pre-emptive strike on Donahue was spelled out in an internal memo from anxious executives at NBC. Donahue, the memo said, offered "a difficult face for NBC in a time of war. He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives."
The memo warned that Donahue's show risked tarring MSNBC as an unpatriotic network, "a home for liberal anti-war agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." So, with scarcely a second thought, the honchos at MSNBC gave Donahue the boot and hoisted the battle flag.
It's war that sells.
There's a helluva caveat, of course. Once you buy it, the merchants of war accept no returns.
This essay is adapted from Grand Theft Pentagon.
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Jul 09, 2018 | www.unz.com
renfro , July 4, 2018 at 7:23 pm GMT
@jilles dykstraL.K , July 4, 2018 at 9:24 pm GMTYou could help yourself by learning the real history ..I suggest the foremost historian on the subject Thomas Thompson and his ' History of Arabia'. Jerusalem was not founded by Jews, i.e. adherents of the Jewish religion. It was founded between 3000 BCE and 2600 BCE by a West Semitic people or possibly the Canaanites, the common ancestors of Palestinians, Lebanese, many Syrians and Jordanians, and many Jews. But when it was founded Jews did not exist.
Jerusalem was founded in honor of the ancient god Shalem. It does not mean City of Peace but rather 'built-up place of Shalem." The "Jewish people" were not building Jerusalem 3000 years ago, i.e. 1000 BCE. First of all, it is not clear when exactly Judaism as a religion centered on the worship of the one God took firm form. It appears to have been a late development since no evidence of worship of anything but ordinary Canaanite deities has been found in archeological sites through 1000 BCE. There was no invasion of geographical Palestine from Egypt by former slaves in the 1200s BCE. The pyramids had been built much earlier and had not used slave labor. The chronicle of the events of the reign of Ramses II on the wall in Luxor does not know about any major slave revolts or flights by same into the Sinai peninsula. Egyptian sources never heard of Moses or the 10 plagues & etc. Jews and Judaism emerged from a certain social class of Canaanites over a period of centuries inside Palestine. Jerusalem not only was not being built by the likely then non-existent "Jewish people" in 1000 BCE, but Jerusalem probably was not even inhabited at that point in history. Jerusalem appears to have been abandoned between 1000 BCE and 900 BCE, the traditional dates for the united kingdom under David and Solomon. So Jerusalem was not 'the city of David,' since there was no city when he is said to have lived. No sign of magnificent palaces or great states has been found in the archeology of this period, and the Assyrian tablets, which recorded even minor events throughout the Middle East, such as the actions of Arab queens, don't know about any great kingdom of David and Solomon in geographical Palestine. Since archeology does not show the existence of a Jewish kingdom or kingdoms in the so-called First Temple Period, it is not clear when exactly the Jewish people would have ruled Jerusalem except for the Hasmonean Kingdom. The Assyrians conquered Jerusalem in 722. The Babylonians took it in 597 and ruled it until they were themselves conquered in 539 BCE by the Achaemenids of ancient Iran, who ruled Jerusalem until Alexander the Great took the Levant in the 330s BCE. Alexander's descendants, the Ptolemies ruled Jerusalem until 198 when Alexander's other descendants, the Seleucids, took the city. With the Maccabean Revolt in 168 BCE, the Jewish Hasmonean kingdom did rule Jerusalem until 37 BCE, though Antigonus II Mattathias, the last Hasmonean, only took over Jerusalem with the help of the Parthian dynasty in 40 BCE. Herod ruled 37 BCE until the Romans conquered what they called Palestine in 6 CE (CE= 'Common Era' or what Christians call AD). The Romans and then the Eastern Roman Empire of Byzantium ruled Jerusalem from 6 CE until 614 CE when the Iranian Sasanian Empire Conquered it, ruling until 629 CE when the Byzantines took it back.A. The Muslims, who ruled it and built it over 1191 years.
B. The Egyptians, who ruled it as a vassal state for several hundred years in the second millennium BCE.
C. The Italians, who ruled it about 444 years until the fall of the Roman Empire in 450 CE.
D. The Iranians, who ruled it for 205 years under the Achaemenids, for three years under the Parthians (insofar as the last Hasmonean was actually their vassal), and for 15 years under the Sasanids.
E. The Greeks, who ruled it for over 160 years if we count the Ptolemys and Seleucids as Greek. If we count them as Egyptians and Syrians, that would increase the Egyptian claim and introduce a Syrian one.
F. The successor states to the Byzantines, which could be either Greece or Turkey, who ruled it 188 years, though if we consider the heir to be Greece and add in the time the Hellenistic Greek dynasties ruled it, that would give Greece nearly 350 years as ruler of Jerusalem.
G. There is an Iraqi claim to Jerusalem based on the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests, as well as perhaps the rule of the Ayyubids (Saladin's dynasty), who were Kurds from Iraq.@jilles dykstraL.K , July 4, 2018 at 9:28 pm GMTI understand what you are saying, Jilles, but let's be accurate, shall we?
The Jews have ZERO right to "return" to Palestine one cannot go back to a place one never left in the first place.
The story that the Romans expelled the Jews from Palestine 2000 years ago is FALSE.
See Israeli historian Shlomo Sand( the invention of the Jewish people).At any rate, even had the story been true – and it is NOT – the notion of modern Jews laying claim to the land 2000 years later is truly bizarre.
@renfroIn short, today's Palestinians and their ancestors have been living continuously between the River and the Sea for about 9,000 years."
Exactly.
In the preface of his book "Ten myths about Israel", Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, writes:Were the Jews indeed the original inhabitants of Palestine who deserved to be supported in every way possible in their "return" to their "homeland"? The myth insists that the Jews who arrived in 1882 were the descendants of the Jews expelled by the Romans around 70 CE. The counterargument questions this genealogical connection. Quite a hefty scholarly effort has shown that the Jews of Roman Palestine remained on the land and were first converted to Christianity and then to Islam. Who these Jews were is still an open question -- maybe the Khazars who converted to Judaism in the ninth century; or maybe the mixture of races across a millennium precludes any answer to such a question.
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Jul 27, 2018 | thesaker.is
Alex on October 09, 2017 , · at 3:08 pm EST/EDT
Something tells me he doesn't want to push this too much as money for this film came from French and German sources. It is nice to see him sticking his neck out to uphold the Truth.When I watched the US rep. who supposedly investigated this Magnitzky affair for the US gov. state under oath that he never verified any of the info that Browder gave him, I kept thinking "Is this guy serious ?" But when you realize that they never did any investigation then it all seems logical.
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Dec 31, 2018 | www.unz.com
The Geopolitics of Trump's Trade War
Most recently, a dissident economist and failed California politician named Peter Navarro has parlayed his hostility toward China into the role of key architect of Donald Trump's "trade war" against Beijing. Like his Russian counterpart Alexander Dugin, Navarro is another in a long line of intellectuals whose embrace of geopolitics changed the trajectory of his career.
Raised by a single mom who worked secretarial jobs to rent one-bedroomapartments where he slept on the couch, Navarro went to college at Tufts on a scholarship and earned a doctorate in economics from Harvard. Despite that Ivy League degree, he remained an angry outsider, denouncing the special interests "stealing America" in his first book and later, as a business professor at the University of California-Irvine, branding San Diego developers "punks in pinstripes." A passionate environmentalist, in 1992 Navarro plunged into politics as a Democratic candidate for the mayor of San Diego, denouncing his opponent's husband as a convicted drug-money launderer and losing when he smirked as she wept during their televised debate.
For the next 10 years, Navarro fought losing campaigns for everything from city council to Congress. He detailed his crushing defeat for a seat in the House of Representatives in a tell-all book , San Diego Confidential, that dished out disdain for that duplicitous "sell out" Bill Clinton, dumb "blue-collar detritus" voters, and just about everybody else as well.
Following his last losing campaign for city council, Navarro spent a decade churning out books attacking a new enemy: China. His first "shock and awe" jeremiad in 2006 told horror stories about that country's foreign trade; five years later, Death By China was filled with torrid tales of "bone-crushing, cancer-causing, flammable, poisonous, and otherwise lethal products" from that land. In 2015, a third book turned to geopolitics, complete with carefully drawn maps and respectful references to Captain Mahan, to offer an analysis of how China's military was pursuing a relentless strategy of "anti-access, area denial" to challenge the U.S. Navy's control over the Western Pacific.
To check China, the Pentagon then had two competing strategies -- "Air-Sea Battle," in which China's satellites were to be blinded, knocking out its missiles, and "Offshore Control," in which China's entire coastline was to be blockaded by mining six maritime choke points from Japan to Singapore. Both, Navarro claimed, were fatally flawed. Given that, Navarro's third book and a companion film ( endorsed by one Donald Trump) asked: What should the United States do to check Beijing's aggression and its rise as a global power? Since all U.S. imports from China, Navarro suggested, were "helping to finance a Chinese military buildup," the only realistic solution was "the imposition of countervailing tariffs to offset China's unfair trade practices."
Just a year after reaching that controversial conclusion, Navarro joined the Trump election campaign as a policy adviser and then, after the November victory, became a junior member of the White House economic team. As a protectionist in an administration initially dominated by globalists, he would be excluded from high-level meetings and, according to Time Magazine , "required to copy chief economic adviser Gary Cohn on all his emails." By February 2018, however, Cohn was on his way out and Navarro had become assistant to the president, with his new trade office now the co-equal of the National Economic Council.
As the chief defender of Trump's belief that "trade wars are good and easy to win," Navarro has finally realized his own geopolitical dream of attempting to check China with tariffs. In March, the president slapped heavy ones on Chinese steel imports and, just a few weeks later, promised to impose more of them on $50 billion of imports. When those started in July, China's leaders retaliated against what they called "typical trade bullying," imposing similar duties on American goods. Despite a warning from the Federal Reserve chairman that "trade tensions could pose serious risks to the U.S. and global economy," with Navarro at his elbow, Trump escalated in September, adding tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods and threatening another $267 billion worth if China dared retaliate. Nonetheless, Beijing hit back, this time on just $60 billion in goods since 95% of all U.S. imports had already been covered.
Then something truly surprising happened. In September, the U.S. trade deficit with China ballooned to $305 billion for the year, driven by an 8% surge in Chinese imports -- a clear sign that Navarro's bold geopolitical vision of beating Beijing into submission with tariffs had collided big time with the complexities of world trade. Whether this tariff dispute will fizzle out inconsequentially or escalate into a full-blown trade war, wreaking havoc on global supply chains and the world economy, none of us can yet know, particularly that would-be geopolitical grandmaster Peter Navarro.
The Desire to be Grandmaster of the Universe
Though such experts usually dazzle the public and the powerful alike with erudition and boldness of vision, their geopolitical moves often have troubling long-term consequences. Mahan's plans for Pacific dominion through offshore bases created a strategic conundrum that plagued American defense policy for a half-century. Brzezinski's geopolitical lunge at the Soviet Union's soft Central Asian underbelly helped unleash radical Islam. Today, Alexander Dugin's use of geopolitics to revive Russia's dominion over Eurasia has placed Moscow on a volatile collision course with Europe and the United States. Simultaneously, Peter Navarro's bold gambit to contain China's military and economic push into the Pacific with a trade war could, if it persists, produce untold complications for our globalized economy.
No matter how deeply flawed such geopolitical visions may ultimately prove to be, their brief moments as official policy have regularly shaped the destiny of nations and of empires in unpredictable, unplanned, and often dangerous ways. And no matter how this current round of geopolitical gambits plays out, we can be reasonably certain that, in the not-too-distant future, another would-be grandmaster will embrace this seductive concept to guide his bold bid for global power.
Alfred W. McCoy, a TomDispatch regular , is the Harrington professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade , the now-classic book which probed the conjuncture of illicit narcotics and covert operations over 50 years, and the recently published In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power ( Dispatch Books).
joun , says: December 3, 2018 at 1:56 am GMT
Si1ver1ock , says: December 3, 2018 at 2:03 am GMTDugin, regardless of what minor success he had ten years ago, is not influential in the Kremlin. He did not orchestrate Russia's absorption of Crimea. Simple strategic needs demanded that Crimea be absorbed, and a flawless Russian execution of an ambitious plan won the day.
Peter Navarro is correct w/r/t China. Our trading relationship with China has been a disaster for our economy (to which I mean our ability to have an economy absent financial shenanigans) and USG has effectively funded China's rise. There is no strategic benefit to offshoring productive capacity. I don't really care if Navarro has failed at other tasks in his life. He is correct on this one.
Sean , says: December 9, 2018 at 12:57 pm GMTwe can be reasonably certain that, in the not-too-distant future, another would-be grandmaster will embrace this seductive concept to guide his bold bid for global power.
Damn! Sounds just like me. Anyway, the US has made a lot of mistakes. It transferred much of its manufacturing base to China and much of its technology. The Chinese see a chance to break away from the US economically and in technology.
The US invested in China's future. China invested in its future. Which is why China has a future.
China 2025:
animalogic , says: December 16, 2018 at 11:12 am GMThttps://www.waterstones.com/book/prisoners-of-geography/tim-marshall/9781783962433
Seeing geography as a decisive factor in the course of human history can be construed as a bleak view of the world, which is why it is disliked in some intellectual circles. It suggests that nature is more powerful than man, and that we can only go so far in determining our own fate.
Splitting the globe into ten distinct regions, former Sky News Diplomatic Editor Tim Marshall redresses our techno-centric view of the world and suggests that our key political driver continues to be our physical geography. Beginning with Russia (and its bewildering eleven time-zones), we are treated to an illuminating, border-by-border disassembly of what makes the world what it is; why, for instance, China and India will never fall into conflict (the Himalayas), or why the Ukraine is such a tactical jewel in the crown. With its panoptic view over our circumstance, Prisoners of Geography makes a compelling case around how the physical framework of the world itself has defined our history. It's one of those books that prompts real reflection and one that on publication absolutely grasped the imagination of our customers, ensuring it as a guaranteed entrant to our 2016 Paperbacks of the Year.
'One of the best books about geopolitics you could imagine: reading it is like having a light shone on your understanding.' – Nicholas Lezard,
@jounAnon [275] Disclaimer , says: December 31, 2018 at 5:24 am GMT"There is no strategic benefit to offshoring productive capacity. "
Quite right. However – that horse has long bolted. And now, playing catch-up, the US is employing the crudest of methods: tariffs & military bullying (& God help us all, kidnapping).
Unfortunately, circumstances demand a radical & imaginative response & even harder, a realisation that the horse has bolted.
Puzzled , says: December 31, 2018 at 6:33 am GMTDear Mr. McCoy:
Now that you're here, you should read the Saker more. I'll pose this question though, If Russia and China are hell bent on imperial expansion, why don't they show any interest in Mongolia? Fertile land, rich mineral resources, a tiny population incapable of resistance it would be a no brainier. The reason they don't is because they are not imperial powers. Also, is empire a good thing? In every historical example it has followed the same pattern and failed. Civilisations however endure through the ages.
Anon [275] Disclaimer , says: December 31, 2018 at 6:49 am GMT" Vladimir Putin seeks to shatter the Western alliance with cyberwar " was where I noted this essayist is a fool and stopped reading. Russians! Russians! Russians everywhere!
*vomit*
@Puzzled ire is failing and wrote this insightful essay on why. http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176007/tomgram%3A_alfred_mccoy%2C_washington%27s_great_game_and_why_it%27s_failing_jilles dykstra , says: December 31, 2018 at 7:05 am GMTBut since then has gone on to muse how it might be extended. My argument is that the Empire does not serve the American people and is leading to the destruction of the republic and the American people. The sooner it ends the better, and if Trump can speed up its demise, then he is our guy.
Counterinsurgency , says: December 31, 2018 at 10:25 am GMTA very interesting article, for me, but, I suppose, for quite other reasons than most here expect. The essence of interest is in the last two paragraphs.
In the first of these two those men are mentioned who by geopolitical ideas caused world wide disasters. If they did, I do not know. The question 'did Napoleon make history or did history make Napoleon' still is a difficult one among historians, and will remain difficult, is my idea. The man not mentioned in this paragraph is Hitler.Then we get the ominous last paragraph, someone grabbing world wide power for geopolitical reasons, a great menace.
The essence of good propaganda is not telling lies, but telling just half truths. Not mentioned is that the area that now is Germany for maybe hundreds of years could not feed the population, had to import food. In order to be able to import one must export, a country with not enough agricultural production naturally must export industrial products, to fabricate these one needs raw materials.
Not for nothing both WWI and WWII had geopolitical causes, German economic expansion to the SW and E, economic expansion that threatened, in the British view, the autarcic British empire.
The implication of the last paragraph for me is clear, beware of the next Hitler. If the author has someone in mind who will unleash the last world war is not clear to me.
@Puzzled y_, section on "managing enemies".Biff , says: December 31, 2018 at 11:08 am GMTCopley implies that cohesive societies that seek victory over all other societies can't have it, because a cohesive society must have enemies, invented or carefully preserved if necessary. Perhaps that's what the Russia affair is about. If so, its not working.
It's like the Federal German republic trying 90 year old people who were drafted as teenagers to be concentration camp guards in late WW II, when the Reich was scraping through the bottom of the manpower barrel, or like the British digging up Cromwell's bones (see Wikipedia, "Oliver Cromwell", section: "Death and posthumous execution"). Not convincing.
Counterinsurgency
Herald , says: December 31, 2018 at 11:33 am GMTAlfred McCoy isn't the exact polar opposite of Bill Kristol who is wrong about everything , but McCoy does have a pretty good track record of being mostly correct about the issues he covers, nevertheless, he still reads like an opinion column. He also seems bonded by how he sees the American empire being some sort of force of benevolence when it acts and reacts in the same manner as any other empire that's come and gone – and of course he loathes the idea of the next empire simply by default(they'll brag about freedom too Alfred). And of course, in the realm of geopolitics, he never really mentions the bastard child; which leaves a gaping hole in his analysis.
My guess is McCoy's basically on the right track. Not exactly, but he'll get you out of the woods.
Alfred , says: December 31, 2018 at 12:41 pm GMTSpot on. The reference to Russia waging cyberwar was an early warning that reading this long article would be a waste of time.
Jayzerbee , says: December 31, 2018 at 12:41 pm GMTFor the past decade, he has been a forceful advocate for Russian expansionism
It gets a bit boring reading about how aggressive Putin is and how he wants to reconquer all the territories that were voluntarily given up by his predecessors. How exactly would Russia benefit by reaquiring the Baltic States or Poland? These countries are on life-support. Poland get $20bn annually in direct and indirect subsidies from the EU. As for Ukraine, what possible benefit to Russia would it be to have an extra 35 million people who are broke. Ukrainians today spend half their income on food and that other half on heat – and that in a country with a very cold winter.
Let's not forget that there would not have been a "Berlin Crisis" if Stalin had not given parts of Berlin to the USA, the UK and France. Can you imagine the USA doing something similar? This whole article is a real let down. I am disappointed. I guess every barrel has to have a rotten apple or two.
onebornfree , says: Website December 31, 2018 at 12:48 pm GMTI would add that in my life, Henry Kissinger was the other supreme geopolitical theorist who attempted to establish a multipolar geopolitics over a bipolar one. Keep in mind that it was he who essentially argued that China must be recognized in order to blunt the USSR. Nixon thus became the one who opened China to the US, so that in theory the world was to be divided into the Russia pole; the China pole; the American/NATO pole, and the "Third World" pole. With a dash of Mahan added to the mix, all would be balanced and stable, or so Kissinger argued. Hmmmm, maybe not!
Anonymous [349] Disclaimer , says: December 31, 2018 at 1:01 pm GMT"Chain chain chain, chain of fools"
Also, perhaps read "Hormegeddon" by the great Bill Bonner:
https://bonnerandpartners.com/prepare-for-hormegeddon/
Regards, onebornfree
@Miggle ext">jilles dykstra , says: December 31, 2018 at 1:25 pm GMTAre you for real? Have you looked at where these two respective areas are geographically? Hell, their borders aren't even adjacent.
As for China's interest in Tibet: what was once's part of the Empire will always be part of the Empire. Tibets been part of the empire twice now, first under Genghis' Yuan Dynasty and again during under the Qing. That simple fact means from now until the sun goes supernova, for China to be considered unified, Tibet must be a part of it. No ifs or buts.
That's not to mention the strategic considerations of occupying the high ground vis a vis the sub-continentals as well as the area being the source of several great rivers. You'd have to be a madman to give that kind of advantage up.
@Anon Ghandi was of the opinion that the people of India, forgot the number, 100 million or more ?, served 400.000 rich Britons.ThreeCranes , says: December 31, 2018 at 1:41 pm GMT
The Roman empire, I'd say 1% rich, 99% poor.
The tsarist empire, not much better.
The German empire again the exception, nowhere else at the end of the 19th century were common people in comparable living conditions.
The EU empire, EP members tax free incomes of some € 200.000 a year, plus an extravagant pension system.
Verhofstadt, additional income, not tax free, of at least € 450.000 a year.
Declarations, Schulz has been accused of spending € 700.000 in a year, among other things he liked a glass of wine.Patrick Armstrong , says: Website December 31, 2018 at 1:43 pm GMTWhen it suits their purpose, writers on economics–I won't call them Economists–praise the tiger-like speed and agility with which Capitalism responds to the vagaries of pressures and demands that arise in world markets. But when they're engaging in public relations we get this:
"Despite a warning from the Federal Reserve chairman that " trade tensions could pose serious risks to the U.S. and global economy ," .. Whether this tariff dispute will fizzle out inconsequentially or escalate into a full-blown trade war, wreaking havoc on global supply chains and the world economy
which throw a protective cloak over a poor, picked-upon capitalism which is, apparently, incapable of getting out of its own way.
SteveM , says: December 31, 2018 at 2:19 pm GMTDisappointing read. No, there is nothing to suggest that Dugin has any influence on Putin. No, there is no Russian cyberwar. Putin's aims are Russia's recovery from the disasters of communism (a road to a blind alley as he has called it) and defending Russia against NATO's expansion, colour revolutions and numerous false accusations.
Beijing is the place to look today for big strategic thinking.
@Puzzled reasons would be the last. Because the Europeans would find of other sources and shut out Russia as being an unreliable business partner. Moreover, Russia is now the largest exporter of wheat and is developing export levels of production in soybeans and pork. You can't sell to countries that you have wrecked militarily.Digital Samizdat , says: December 31, 2018 at 2:24 pm GMTIt's the U.S., not Russia that is playing the 800 pound Global Cop Gorilla with its war-mongering, economic warfare and global subversion.
Like Puzzled, when I read that stupid, irrational line by Alfred McCoy, I simply stopped reading. Because nobody that dense about obvious geo-political reality deserves to be read.
therevolutionwas , says: December 31, 2018 at 2:39 pm GMTDisappointing read. No, there is nothing to suggest that Dugin has any influence on Putin.
No kidding. This is what happens when you get your Russian news from the Times and the Beeb. I mean, if Dugin were such a Kremlin favorite, how could he have lost his job at Moscow State University? You'd think he could just pick up the phone, call 'Uncle Vova', and get his job back!
Of course Putin is a Eurasianist, but that's not because Dugin told him to be one. It's because every Russian ruler has been a Eurasianist for centuries now. Why? Just look at a map: Russia is located in Eurasia. Would we therefore expect the Russians to be Pan-Africanists or something else? Naturally they're going to be Eurasianists. They learned long ago that if they don't dominate Eurasia, somebody else will -- and that will cause security problems for Russia. I can't say I hold that against them. It's not as though the US would take kindly to some foreign empire coming on over to the Western Hemisphere and setting up shop, say, in Latin America. In fact, just consider how Washington reacted when the Soviets concluded an alliance with Cuba. There was no talk about the 'sovereignty of small nations' coming from the wallscreen then!
@jounReuben Kaspate , says: December 31, 2018 at 2:47 pm GMTWhat financial shenanigans? And how has the US effectively funded China's rise? And how do tariffs destroy China ? (tariffs are like shooting yourself in the foot)
@AnonymousReuben Kaspate , says: December 31, 2018 at 2:52 pm GMTTibet is the Achilles Heel of China it's there where the over confident Middle Kingdom will die the death of a thousand paper cuts!
@AnonReuben Kaspate , says: December 31, 2018 at 2:55 pm GMTFertile land? Are you out of your freaking wits, Anon [275]? You can't grow shit in Mongolia!
Ilyana_Rozumova , says: December 31, 2018 at 3:04 pm GMTMy prediction for 2019: America will remain the hyperpower for the next 81 years; thereafter, I couldn't give a schitt!
@therevolutionwasUnrepentant Conservative , says: December 31, 2018 at 3:04 pm GMTAnalysis of US investment in China would explain a lot. It is zero? I do not think so!!!!!!!!!
Agent76 , says: December 31, 2018 at 3:14 pm GMTBeware of self-styled strategic thinkers attempting to revive flagging careers and gain influence.
Sean , says: December 31, 2018 at 4:37 pm GMTThe cause for poverty is located at the Pentagon because they own the national debt! When if ever will the Joint Chiefs be put on trial for these treasonous Wars and lost trillions?
December 24, 2013 The Worldwide Network of US Military Bases
The US Military has bases in 63 countries. Adding to the bases inside U.S. territory, the total land area occupied by US military bases domestically within the US and internationally is of the order of 2,202,735 hectares, which makes the *Pentagon* one of the *largest* landowners worldwide.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-worldwide-network-of-us-military-bases/5564
Dec 21, 2013 Black Budget: US govt clueless about missing Pentagon $trillions
The Pentagon has secured a 630 billion dollar budget for next year, even though it's failed to even account for the money it's received since 1996. A whopping 8.5 trillion dollars of taxpayer cash have gone to defence programmes – none of which has been audited.
@Ilyana_Rozumova between other countries and with its own colonies. As the Dutch comparative advantage was frozen out, their military aggression declined with it. America sitting on its hands while China becomes a giant Hong Kong and countries all over Eurasia fall under its sway would by likely to lead to a very nasty war that America would loose and loose badly. It is better to try now to stop China growing that big and dangerous by declining to trade with them under conditions that will inevitably make them grow too large to fight. Will trade barriers to China work well enough? Probably not because they are past the lift off stage now (Carter did too good a job), but it is worth a try.wayfarer , says: December 31, 2018 at 4:39 pm GMTnever-anonymous , says: December 31, 2018 at 5:50 pm GMTThere is opportunity for an American renaissance and really the only practical solution for its people – that is to swiftly and decidedly push its pathetic government aside – and begin rapidly re-educating, re-training, re-tooling, and re-building a next-generation manufacturing base.
The Next Manufacturing Revolution is Here
jilles dykstra , says: December 31, 2018 at 6:02 pm GMTEverything about this CIA agent's history lesson sounds fake. The blood sucking military runs the White House. ISIS or ISIL or whatever the CIA calls itself today poses no threat. Poor General Kelly, one of the generals who let 911 happen, is probably going to be promoted to Bechtel. I say poor because he's only worth about $5 Million, which is a low figure for the super rich who own the military industrial complex.
@Sean ised an efficient military staff, efficient in planning. The Prussian army was the first to make extensive use of railways, first time after the French 1870 attack. Very capable people, Germans. Red Army use of railways even in 1941 was a mess.Lin , says: December 31, 2018 at 6:25 pm GMT
The GB preparations for the occupation of neutral Norway in April 1940, also a mess.
Pity quoted book is in German and with gothic letters, Ludendorff shows with extensive map material how the Germans in WWI fought a two front, sometimes even three front war. Just possible through detailed transport planning.
Erich Ludendorff, 'Meine Kriegserinnerungen 1914 = 1918′, Berlin, 1918@joun5371 , says: December 31, 2018 at 6:52 pm GMTAs I said before, rhetorics such as 'USG has effectively funded China's rise' are just over-exaggeration if not BS. Facts:
–Foreign investments only constitute a small % of Chinese domestic investment,
–The majority of foreign Investment in china are NOT from US.
–Total investment in China in recent years amount to $trillions per yearIf one cares to examine the major industrial sectors in China , like hi-speed rail, steel, photovoltaic panels, electricity, energy,.. automobiles Only in the auto sector the americans have a sizable role because the yanks want market access.
Ben Sampson , says: December 31, 2018 at 8:05 pm GMTNumerous historical howlers in this piece.
Agent76 , says: December 31, 2018 at 8:51 pm GMTwe can be reasonably certain that, in the not-too-distant future, another would-be grandmaster will embrace this seductive concept to guide his bold bid for global power.
my take is that we are in the end game of imperialism. the western empire is in terminal decline and there will be more empires. from the evidence Russia and China, having learned the lessons of a few thousand years of experience are not seeking for empires.
empires, traditional ones, are now altogether too costly, especially approaching their end. the world wont tolerate that anymore. the credit empire is working so far but the people have cottoned on to that. to end global banking power simply take over the banks, and recuse all debt for they were fraudulently accrued.
all banking will then by need be worker co-ops able to deal with all the financial services required by society..no conglomerates required
the capitalists will probably try a desperate military gambit to try maintain their empire but that wont work. they are already outgunned unless they decide to take the world down with them.
but I don't think we will have to worry about such trade 'grandmasters' farting around with the world for too much longer. the end of imperialism will make such work redundant
and if the democracy does not replace capitalism and the elite wins, it's a Brave New World we looking at. Brilliant geneticist bent on engineering humans. brilliant mind controllers, psychiatrists and such would be useful job qualifications to have, not trade specialist.
Brave New World also makes the trade 'genius' redundant
niceland , says: December 31, 2018 at 9:34 pm GMTDecember 31, 2018 War is Good for Business and Organized Crime. Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Opium Trade. Rising Heroin Addiction in the US Afghanistan's opium economy is a multibillion dollar operation which has a direct impact on the surge of heroin addiction in the US.
June 10, 2014 Drug War?
American Troops Are Protecting Afghan Opium. U.S. Occupation Leads to All-Time High Heroin Production
JLK , says: December 31, 2018 at 9:54 pm GMTIt's always fun to read articles and history. This article was fun and perhaps thought provoking. But at least some parts of it make no sense to me.
Take for example the "heartland" theory. Yes it probably made sense over a century ago when strategist -always looking in the rear view mirror- judged the situation based on the Roman empire or Napoleons conquest. And their thoughts grounded in traditional territorial wars.
Today with nuclear weapons, fast long range missiles and in very different economic reality, I don't think the "Heartland" is the key to control the world, Eurasia, Europe or indeed anything else than possibly the "Heartland" it self. Control from the Heartland over nuclear France or the U.K?
Annexing small part of land on your own borders whose inhabitants overwhelmingly welcome you with open arms, like Russians did in Crimea, is totally different from conquering unwilling, hostile neighbors. The latter is extremely costly and difficult exercise with just about zero upside but gaping black hole on the downside. Remember Afghanistan or Iraq or Vietnam? So the former isn't indication of the latter!
I dont't see anything that supports the theory the Russians are playing by the book of the Heartland theory. In current political situation it's outlandish idea. Perhaps the idea is to paint Russia's leaders as lunatics?
Yes the Russians are probably engaged in cyber-war. They seem to have the Russian troll farm in St. Petersburg – as reported by European media it's amateur operation costing perhaps few million dollars per year with 80 people from the unemployment list's hammering on laptops working shifts creating and nurturing social media accounts. No experts in politics or advanced computing in sight, no supercomputers, artificial intelligence. Like I said, amateur operation hardly indicating state-sponsored efforts.
Place this against the U.S. – NSA – on record for what seems to be global surveillance having tapped the phones of U.S. European allies heads of states like Angela Merkel -among other things- with it's budget of $80 billion per year. Similar amount to the total Russian defense budget. Then there is the CIA and other "three letter organizations" in the U.S. and similar operations in the U.K. I think this is David against Goliath struggle and the latter is doing most of the beating.
The press? R.T and few other outlets versus the western MSM who has in recent years acted like a pack of rabid dogs against Russia. Investigative journalism into international affairs is replaced by publishing official statements and "analysis" from "experts". This is war propaganda – nothing less. And the Russians are playing desperate defense most days.
This madness is driving Russia into coalition with China and creating all sorts of totally unnecessary tensions. Forcing them to avoid the US dollar and so forth. How any of this supports western interests, or the interests of U.S. or U.K. citizens is a great misery. One thing is certain – this is self-destruction policy for the U.S. in the long run. This is what happens when the lunatics take over the asylum.
Thankfully Vladimir Putin seems to be extremely capable and stable person – not likely to fall into temptation of hitting back with horrible consequences for world peace.
Happy new year everyone!
JLK , says: December 31, 2018 at 11:11 pm GMTIt was a nice history essay, but there isn't much of a logical relationship between Mahan, Haushofer, et al. and the present trade confrontation.
Navarro appears to have the full support of Silicon Valley, Boeing and our other high tech exporters. On the other side is Wall Street and possibly British interests. For all of the hullabaloo about Trump violating the law against private citizens conducting foreign diplomacy when he was President-elect, the Wall Street crowd appears to have transgressed much further:
It seems the New York banks would gladly trade the SV engineering jobs for a bigger share of the China banking business, a la the Cleveland and Detroit auto industry jobs of the past.
A possible break with Britain is something even bigger to watch, as their involvement in China is even more finance-related.
@Anon ng, which far exceeded direct investments into China by any other country.If we take a look at the Santander report on Hong Kong FDI, most of it seems to come from the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands (both offshore banking locations, with the funds coming from who knows where) and the UK.
https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-overseas/hong-kong/foreign-investment
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never-anonymous , says: December 31, 2018 at 5:50 pm GMT
Everything about this CIA agent's history lesson sounds fake. The blood sucking military runs the White House. ISIS or ISIL or whatever the CIA calls itself today poses no threat.
Poor General Kelly, one of the generals who let 911 happen, is probably going to be promoted to Bechtel. I say poor because he's only worth about $5 Million, which is a low figure for the super rich who own the military industrial complex.
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Fran Macadam , , December 27, 2018 at 6:26 amDec 27, 2018 | www.theamericanconservative.com
After Syria, Trump Should Clean Out His National Security Bureaucracy They're undermining his positions and pursuing their own agendas. John Bolton should be the first to go.
President Donald Trump has at last rediscovered his core foreign policy beliefs and ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. Right on cue, official Washington had a collective mental breakdown. Neocons committed to war, progressives targeting Trump, and centrists determined to dominate the world unleashed an orgy of shrieking and caterwauling. The horrifying collective scream, a la artist Edvard Munch, continued for days.
Trump's decision should have surprised no one. As a candidate, he shocked the Republican Party establishment by criticizing George W. Bush's disastrous decision to invade Iraq and urging a quick exit from Afghanistan. As president, he inflamed the bipartisan War Party's fears by denouncing America's costly alliances with wealthy industrialized states. And to almost everyone's consternation, he said he wanted U.S. personnel out of Syria. Once the Islamic State was defeated, he explained, Americans should come home.
How shocking. How naïve. How outrageous.
The president's own appointees, the "adult" foreign policy advisors he surrounded himself with, disagreed with him on almost all of this -- not just micromanaging the Middle East, but subsidizing Europeans in NATO, underwriting South Korea, and negotiating with North Korea. His aides played him at every turn, adding allies, sending more men and materiel to defend foreign states, and expanding commitments in the Middle East.
https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-31/html/container.html
Last spring, the president talked of leaving Syria "very soon." But the American military stayed. Indeed, three months ago, National Security Advisor John Bolton announced an entirely new mission: "We're not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias."
That was chutzpah on a breathtaking scale. It meant effectively that the U.S. was entitled to invade and dismember nations, back aggressive wars begun by others, and scatter bases and deployments around the world. Since Damascus and Tehran have no reason to stop cooperating -- indeed, America's presence makes outside support even more important for the Assad regime -- Bolton was effectively planning a permanent presence, one that could bring American forces into contact with Russian, Syrian, and Turkish forces, as well as Iranians. As the Assad government consolidates its victory in the civil war, it inevitably will push into Kurdish territories in the north. That would have forced the small American garrison there to either yield ground or become a formal combatant in another Middle Eastern civil war.
The latter could have turned into a major confrontation. Damascus is backed by Russia and might be supported by Ankara, which would prefer to see the border controlled by Syrian than Kurdish forces. Moreover, the Kurds, under threat from Turkey, are not likely to divert forces to contain Iranians moving with the permission of the Damascus government. Better to cut a deal with Assad that minimizes the Turks than be Washington's catspaw.
The Pentagon initially appeared reluctant to accept this new objective. At the time, Brigadier General Scott Benedict told the House Armed Services Committee: "In Syria, our role is to defeat ISIS. That's it." However, the State Department envoy on Syria, Jim Jeffrey, began adding Iran to his sales pitch. So did Brian Hook, State's representative handling the undeclared diplomatic war on Iran, who said the goal was "to remove all forces under Iranian control from Syria."
Washington Melts Down Over Trump's Syria Withdrawal Mattis Marks the End of the Global War on TerrorApparently this direct insubordination came to a head in a phone call between President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Why are you still there?" the latter asked Trump, who turned to Bolton. The national security advisor was on the call, but could offer no satisfactory explanation.
Perhaps at that moment, the president realized that only a direct order could enforce his policy. Otherwise his staffers would continue to pursue their militaristic ends. That determination apparently triggered the long-expected resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who deserves respect but was a charter member of the hawkish cabal around the president. He dissented from them only on ending the nuclear agreement with Iran.
Still in place is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who so far has proven to be a bit more malleable though still hostile to the president's agenda. He is an inveterate hawk, including toward Tehran, which he insists must surrender to both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as part of any negotiation. He's adopted the anti-Iran agenda in Syria as his own. His department offered no new approach to Russia over Ukraine, instead steadily increasing sanctions, without effect, on Moscow. At least Pompeo attempted to pursue discussions with North Korea, though he was certainly reluctant about it.
Most dangerous is Bolton. He publicly advocated war with both Iran and North Korea before his appointment, and his strategy in Syria risked conflict with several nations. He's demonstrated that he has no compunctions about defying the president, crafting policies that contradict the latter's directives. Indeed, Bolton is well-positioned to undermine even obvious successes, such as the peaceful opening with North Korea.
Supporting appointments to State and the National Security Council have been equally problematic. Candidate Trump criticized the bipartisan War Party, thereby appealing to heartland patriots who wonder why their relatives, friends, and neighbors have been dying in endless wars that have begotten nothing but more wars. Yet President Trump has surrounded himself with neocons, inveterate hawks, and ivory tower warriors. With virtually no aides around him who believe in his policies or were even willing to implement them, he looked like a George Bush/Barack Obama retread. The only certainty, beyond his stream of dramatic tweets, appeared to be that Americans would continue dying in wars throughout his presidency.
However, Trump took charge when he insisted on holding the summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Now U.S. forces are set to come home from Syria, and it appears that he may reduce or even eliminate the garrison in Afghanistan, where Americans have been fighting for more than 17 years. Perhaps he also will reconsider U.S. support for the Saudis and Emiratis in Yemen.
Trump should use Secretary Mattis's departure as an opportunity to refashion his national security team. Who is to succeed Mattis at the Pentagon? Deputy Secretary Patrick Shanahan appears to have the inside track. But former Navy secretary and senator Jim Webb deserves consideration. Or perhaps it's time for a second round for former senator Chuck Hagel, who opposed the Gulf war and backed dialog with Iran. Defense needs someone willing to challenge the Pentagon's thinking and practices. Best would be a civilian who won't be captured by the bureaucracy, one who understands that he or she faces a tough fight against advocates of perpetual war.
Next to go should be Bolton. There are many potential replacements who believe in a more restrained role for America. One who has been mentioned as a potential national security advisor in the past is retired Army colonel and respected security analyst Douglas Macgregor.
Equally important, though somewhat less urgent, is finding a new secretary of state. Although Pompeo has not so ostentatiously undermined his boss, he appears to oppose every effort by the president to end a war, drop a security commitment, or ease a conflict. Pompeo's enthusiasm for negotiation with Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin is clearly lagging. While the secretary might not engage in open sabotage, his determination to take a confrontational approach everywhere except when explicitly ordered to do otherwise badly undermines Trump's policies.
Who to appoint? Perhaps Tennessee's John Duncan, the last Republican congressman who opposed the Iraq war and who retired this year after decades of patriotic service. There are a handful of active legislators who could serve with distinction as well, though their departures would be a significant loss on Capitol Hill: Senator Rand Paul and Representatives Justin Amash and Walter Jones, for instance.
Once the top officials have been replaced, the process should continue downwards. Those appointed don't need to be thoroughgoing Trumpists, of whom there are few. Rather, the president needs people generally supportive of his vision of a less embattled and entangled America: subordinates, not insubordinates. Then he will be less likely to find himself in embarrassing positions where his appointees create their own aggressive policies contrary to his expressed desires.
Trump has finally insisted on being Trump, but Syria must only be the start. He needs to fill his administration with allies, not adversaries. Only then will his "America First" policy actually put America first.
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire .
Clyde Schechter , December 26, 2018 at 11:47 pm
After two years in office, I am utterly flabbergasted that there are still people out there who take seriously the notion that Trump wants to extricate us from our wars around the globe and refrain from starting new ones. Virtually every foreign policy decision he has made has been contrary to that.
Finally, for once, he decides to pull out of Syria (a mere few weeks after he announced we would stay there indefinitely) and somehow this one, as yet unimplemented decision represents "Trump being Trump?" Seriously? He's proven through his actions and his appointments that he's a full-blown neocon . Maybe I'll rescind the "full-blown" part of that judgment if he actually does withdraw from Syria. But it would still be a pretty tiny exception to his thoroughly neocon actions up to this point.
If nothing else, appointing Bolton as national security advisor speaks volumes. Personnel is policy, as they say. And you'd have have spent the last two decades in a coma living on another planet not to know that Bolton is the biggest warmonger around. He makes most of the neocons look like pacifists by comparison. Even the people who think Trump a complete idiot can't really imagine that Trump didn't know what he was getting when he hired Bolton.
Let's get real here. It'll be great if he withdraws from Syria. It'd be even better if he replaces his national security team along the lines suggested in this article. But don't hold your breath. It would go against nearly everything he has done since taking office.
It's time to come to grips with the non-existence of the tooth fairy.
Trump got one right , , December 27, 2018 at 8:21 am"heartland patriots who wonder why their relatives, friends, and neighbors have been dying in endless wars that have begotten nothing but more wars."
Nothing to wonder at, war is the most lucrative racket going, for those who profit mightily from supplying weapons. It's become so important to an otherwise shrunken manufacturing base, that downsizing would affect employment, and there's nowhere domestic to absorb the overseas demobilized.
The downside of this, therefore, is it may only be redirection and consolidation, to be able to concentrate forces on Iran instead. The budget's not getting any smaller, so there's got to be compensatory warmaking somewhere.
Mark Thomason , , December 27, 2018 at 9:35 amBolton is a national disgrace. This vile piece of trash is desperate to get the USA into a disastrous war with Iran. The quicker Bolton is removed the better. Any stooge who supported the Iraq invasion should be precluded from consideration.
Fred Bowman , , December 27, 2018 at 9:43 am"Yet President Trump has surrounded himself with neocons, inveterate hawks, and ivory tower warriors."
In fairness to Trump, there just was nobody else. He had nobody lined up to be an administration that believed what he did. Republicans were all hawks. Democrats wouldn't think of helping, and were also all hawks anyway.
Trump's first effort to break out of that with second or third-line people went bust with the likes of Gen. Flynn, and he was left with going back to the very people he'd defeated.
pax , , December 27, 2018 at 9:57 amAt this point in time I don't think Trump will be able to win a second term, such is the chaos he's brought about to his Presidency. So that leaves to question which of the men you have suggested to help lead Trump to a less warlike America would choose to serve? Perhaps first, we need an "Adult" as POTUS and maybe then, we can get "men of wisdom" who can help America get out of it's "Military Misadventures" in the Middle East.
Steve Naidamast , , December 27, 2018 at 10:52 amThere is no problem replacing someone who should never have been tapped in the first place. John Bolton. Never too soon to right a wrong. Get rid of neocon Bolton and his types now. Not later. He marches to another drummer not to USA interests. I doubt Trump can even beat Kamila Harris (darling of the illiberal left) in 2020 if he keeps Bolton and Co. around.
CLW , , December 27, 2018 at 12:19 pmI wouldn't get overly excited about this. Trump has habitually initiated all levels of chaos throughout his incompetent administration. This is nothing new but more of the same. If anyone believes Trump actually found his brain, they are smoking something
Kurt Gayle , , December 27, 2018 at 12:48 pmWhat a joke. Trump has no "foreign policy vision," just a series of boisterous, bellicose talking points that to his isolationist base and his own desire to be the strongman.
FL Transplant , , December 27, 2018 at 1:24 pmsglover says (Dec 27, 12:12 am):
"Before we credit Trump with stumbling on something sensible for once, it might be wise to remember that we're still talking about -- Trump. Who now says that American troops still in Iraq can still raid into Syria as necessary, and by the way, they'll be staying in Iraq. So already it's shaping up as not so much a withdrawal as a reshuffling. After a minor adjustment to the game board, play can continue as necessary, such as whenever Bolton or Fox media whispers into the casino bankrupt's ear. Always always always a swindle, with Trump. It's an iron law."
However, just 6 days ago sglover said on another thread ("Washington Melts Down Over Trump's Syria Withdrawal" -- Dec 21, 3:26 pm):
"I despise Trump, but if he's managed to stumble on doing something sensible, and actually does it (never a certainty with the casino swindler) -- great! There's no sane reason for us to muck about in Syria. However it comes about, we should welcome a withdrawal there. If the move gives Trump some of the approval that he plainly craves, maybe he'll repeat the performance and end our purposeless wallow in Afghanistan. It doesn't say anything good about the nominal opposition party, the Dems, that half or more of them -- and apparently *all* of their dinosaur 'leadership' -- can't stifle the kneejerking and let him do it. Of course many of them are "troubled" because their Israeli & Saudi owners, er, 'donors' expect it. But some of them seem to have developed a sudden deep attachment to 'our mission in Syria' for no better reason than, Trump is for it, therefore I must shout against it. And then, of course, there's the Russia hysteria. Oh yeah, what a huge win for Moscow if it scores the 'prize' of occupying Syria! If that's Putin's idea of a big score, how exactly does it harm any American to let him have it? I wonder if the Democratic Party will ever be capable of doing anything other than snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?"
DeusIrae , , December 27, 2018 at 1:47 pmThe problem with they article begins with it's first sentence "President Donald Trump has at last rediscovered his core foreign policy beliefs " I can't find any core foreign policy beliefs. What I have seen is a mosh-mosh of sound bites that resound well with his audiences at rallies, and various people attempt to link those together and fill in the white space between with what they WANT his foreign policy beliefs to be. But to go so far as to say he has any consistent beliefs that combine to form a foreign policy is going way too far.
Bruceb , , December 27, 2018 at 2:21 pmReplace Bolton with Mike Flynn after all charges are dropped against him. Then have Robert Mueller et al. arrested to be tried and put to death for High Treason. Then liberate Britain, Bomb the Vatican, and put a naval blockade on China.
Shawn F , , December 27, 2018 at 3:08 pmYou do know that Trump wants to increase the military budget. Yet you maintain that he wanted to pull us out of foreign wars. Curious. Where would all that extra money go? I'd look for it at the top of Trump Tower. Certainly not in the pockets of ordinary citizens.
Jeeves , , December 27, 2018 at 3:13 pmHmm This article makes it seem like there's these renegades who have somehow held onto power and are charting America's course on their own. But doesn't the President hand pick the members of his cabinet? Wasn't every single one of them given their authority *by Donald Trump*?
Only an incompetent imbecile with no experience in leadership or government could be so dim-witted as to appoint people who would willfully defy and disregard his agenda. Surely our country would never put give such an incompetent so much authority. Oh wait sorry, never mind.
WRW , , December 27, 2018 at 3:22 pmWe have a "peaceful opening" with North Korea? How many months ago did Mr. Bandow last read about the NoKos counter-proposal to unconditional nuclear disarmament? And what about all the Trump saber-rattling that preceded this so-called opening? If Trump was "played" by his own advisers on Afghanistan, he was equally duped by the mirage offered by Kim.
The Other Sands , , December 27, 2018 at 4:32 pmTrump had no lofty notions underpinning this decision. He did it in an impetuous, chaotic manner in which he obtained nothing in return from Russia or Turkey or Iran to address our broader strategic interest in the region, such as ending the war in Yemen. Like everything he does, it reeks of corruption and no doubt will be added to Muellers investigation.
Contrary to Bandows libertarian take, it is an expression of Trumps imperial presidency. The Syrian involvement has strong bipartisan support even if lacking a resolution in support (and the Libertarian Sen. Paul never got anywhere with a resolution against.) Leaving Syria was the correct long term strategic decision.
I'm sure 99% of democrats in Congress supported the action. Only trump, with his narcissistic incompetence could take an action that his opponents would overwhelmingly support if done in a credible manner and turn it into controversy. Trump looks like the servant of Russians and Turks in his conduct. Jan 2021 can't come soon enough.
Hideo Watanabe , , December 27, 2018 at 9:19 pmI find it interesting that so many people (the author apparently included) are still so slow to understand that Trump can't afford to get rid of people, because he literally can't find new cabinet members.
He started with mostly C-listers, and most of them are gone. He is on to hiring TV hosts, bloggers, professional political grifters, his family, or just being stuck with straight-up vacant posts.
Only the worst sorts would voluntarily work for such an angry, undisciplined, chaotic boss in the smoking shambles of an organization like this administration.
You just go ahead and ask Chuck Hagel if he would join this train wreck.
usmc0846 , , December 27, 2018 at 9:52 pmI blogged on December 22 when I read a similar article like this;
"Every time I read such article as this about Mr. Trump's decisions of any sort, I always wonder if the authors believe that he has solid political philosophy or consolidated policy agenda.
I took his decision of withdrawal from Syria and seemingly from Afghanistan is his survival strategy for 2020 presidential election to appeal to war weariness American voters because Mr. Cohen's plea deal and the revelation of Trump signature on the license agreement for Moscow Trump Tower project would kill his 2020 chance. It is a good strategy but over the last two days his approval rating has not been improved."
Mr. Trump seems to have delivered a speech in Iraq saying that the withdrawal from Syria would not give any adverse effect on Israel security because the US government gives more than $45 billion every year according to a local newspaper of Middle East.
This is another tactic to appeal to AIPAC to make sure his own security for 2020 candidacy, isn't it?
Trump Voter , , December 27, 2018 at 10:43 pmFirst 2000 troops is not much more than a reinforced battalion the USMC shuffles that many warriors and more around the Mediterranean every six months. I think the issue with Trump is, as it's always been, his gut seat of his pants way of handling virtually everything he does. There's no control or consideration apparent in any action other than to pitch chum at his largely illiterate followers.
In this case he's handed a huge victory to Putin (my my what a surprise that is) and essentially screwed the Kurds. If nothing else those 2000 troops were at least keeping a cap on things to some small degree. That's out the door now and I can't help but think that ISIS (aka the enemy here) will have a vote on what happens next.
Cloak And Dagger , , December 27, 2018 at 11:27 pm"President Donald Trump has at last rediscovered his core foreign policy beliefs and ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. "
Too hopeful, at this point, I think. But I hope so, too.
NEexpert , , December 28, 2018 at 1:54 amThose of us who want to see Bolton gone should first ask why he was chosen in the first place. Clearly Trump had to appease Adelson in order to make that appointment because he depends on his campaign donations. What makes anyone think that the situation has changed in such a way as to permit Trump more autonomy in his choice of his cabinet?
SteveK9 , , December 28, 2018 at 12:00 pm"Or perhaps it's time for a second round for former senator Chuck Hagel, who opposed the Gulf war and backed dialog with Iran."
I think it is an excellent idea to bring back Senator Hagel. He is a man of integrity. But most importantly, he hasn't sold out his soul to Israel.
Guy St Hilaire , , December 28, 2018 at 2:55 pmTo those who say Trump has no foreign policy vision, you are wrong. His vision is simple, dismantle parts of the Empire, become a little more isolationist, and focus on 'America First'. Trump is not very intelligent, but he has the right instincts. He is up against the War Party, the most influential power center in the US, and that is not easy. Obama is more intelligent than Trump, but the results were very bad add one more destroyed country, Libya to his credit, and almost another, Syria (although thankfully the Russians stopped that).
What is mysterious is the following from the article:
'Yet President Trump has surrounded himself with neocons, inveterate hawks, and ivory tower warriors. With virtually no aides around him who believe in his policies or were even willing to implement them, he looked like a George Bush/Barack Obama retread.'
Why he does this, I don't know.
Pulling out of Syria will be a good thing for everyone. The reason is largely nonsense, as it was Russia/Syria that destroyed Isis (we did manage to destroy another city, Raqqa), but I don't care, and neither will the American Public, who understand nothing of Syria.
The Kurds will make an arrangement for limited autonomy with Damascus (already happening as they just asked for protection from Turkey in Manbij). Turkey will not invade Syria as long as they feel Damascus can control the border. Syria, Russia, and maybe even the Kurds will wipe out the last of Isis and those militants in Idlib that would rather die than give up the fight (the fanatics), will be killed.
Then, the reconstruction of Syria can begin in earnest, and it is to be hoped that the Chinese will get off their butt and provide some assistance.
Israel is probably unhappy, which pleases me no end, and I hope this is an indication that there is some limit to the number of people we are willing to murder on their behalf.
sglover , , December 28, 2018 at 5:03 pm@ NEexpert.Integrity is a quality severely lacking in many politicians in the US.Not being American , but watching closely, if Senator hagel is such a man , it would do American politics much good ,not only for the US but the US standing in the world .Gods speed in chnaging the likes of Bolton and Pompeo to begin with.
@ Kurt Gayle -- I don't think you'll find any contradiction between my two remarks.
All I'm saying is that in all the ways that really matter the sudden "withdrawal" from Syria is already shaping up to be a typical Trump bait-and-switch. Sure, troops won't be bivouacing in Syria. Instead, they'll be stationed next door in Iraq, so they can continue to muck around in Syria. And Trump emphasized that as far as he's concerned we'll be staying in Iraq.
(Of course, that "strategic doctrine" is only valid until his next Fox media wallow in front of the idiot box. I.e., maybe until tomorrow afternoon)
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Fran Macadam , , December 27, 2018 at 6:13 amDec 29, 2018 | www.theamericanconservative.com
When historians examine the first few decades of the so-called post-Cold War era, they are likely to marvel at the clumsy and provocative policies that the United States and its NATO allies pursued toward Russia. Perceptive historians will conclude that a multitude of insensitive actions by those governments poisoned relations with Moscow, and by the latter years of the Obama administration, led to the onset of a new cold war. During the Trump administration, matters grew even worse, and that cold war threatened to turn hot.
Since the history of our era is still being written, we have an opportunity to avoid such a cataclysmic outcome. However, the behavior of America's political, policy, and media elites in response to the latest parochial quarrel between Russia and Ukraine regarding the Kerch Strait suggests that they learned nothing from their previous blunders. Worse, they seem determined to intensify an already counterproductive, hardline policy toward Moscow.
U.S. leaders managed to get relations with Russia wrong just a few years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. One of the few officials to capture the nature of the West's bungling and how it fomented tensions was Robert Gates, who served as secretary of defense during the final years of George W. Bush's administration and the first years of Barack Obama's. In his surprisingly candid memoirs , Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War , Gates recalls his report to Bush following the 2007 Munich Security Council, at which Russian President Vladimir Putin vented about Western security transgressions, including the planned deployment of a missile defense system in Central Europe.
"When I reported to the president my take on the Munich conference, I shared my belief that from 1993 onward, the West, and particularly the United States, had badly underestimated the magnitude of the Russian humiliation in losing the Cold War . . . ." Yet even that blunt assessment given to Bush did not fully capture Gates's views on the issue. "What I didn't tell the president was that I believed the relationship with Russia had been badly mismanaged after [George H. W.] Bush left office in 1993. Getting Gorbachev to acquiesce to a unified Germany as a member of NATO had been a huge accomplishment. But moving so quickly after the collapse of the Soviet Union to incorporate so many of its formerly subjugated states into NATO was a mistake."
https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-31/html/container.html
Specific U.S. actions were ill-considered as well, in Gates's view. "U.S. agreements with the Romanian and Bulgarian governments to rotate troops through bases in those countries was a needless provocation."
His list of foolish or arrogant Western actions went on. Citing NATO's military interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo during Bill Clinton's administration, Gates noted that "the Russians had long historical ties with Serbia, which we largely ignored." And in an implicit rebuke to his current boss, Gates asserted that "trying to bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO was truly overreaching." That move was a case of "recklessly ignoring what the Russians considered their own vital national interests." Indeed, events regarding Ukraine after Gates completed his memoirs illustrated that U.S. arrogance and meddling knew few bounds. U.S. officials openly sided with demonstrators who overthrew Ukraine's elected, pro-Russian government, and then reacted with shock and anger when Russia retaliated by seizing and annexing Crimea.
Gates's overall assessment of Western, especially U.S., policy toward Russia during the post-Cold War era was unsparingly harsh -- and devastatingly accurate: "When Russia was weak in the 1990s and beyond, we did not take Russian interests seriously. We did a poor job of seeing the world from their point of view and managing the relationship for the long term." Unfortunately, Gates was one of the rare anomalies in the American foreign policy community regarding policy toward Russia.
His criticism, trenchant as it is, still understates the folly of the policies that the United States and its NATO allies have pursued toward Moscow. The treatment that three successive U.S. administrations meted out to a newly capitalist, democratic Russia was appalling myopic. Even before Vladimir Putin came to power -- and long before Russia descended into being an illiberal democracy and then an outright authoritarian state -- the Western powers treated the country as a de facto enemy. The NATO nations engaged in a series of provocations even though Moscow had engaged in no aggressive conduct that even arguably justified such actions.
When Washington Assured Russia NATO Would Not Expand Making Sure the Next Cold War Never HappensThe determination to confront Russia has only grown over the years, as the current tensions involving the Kerch Strait illustrate. When Russian security forces fired on three Ukrainian naval vessels that attempted to force a transit of the Kerch Strait (a narrow waterway between Russia's Taman Peninsula and Russian-annexed Crimea that connects the Black Sea and Sea of Azov), the United States and its NATO allies reacted furiously. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley branded Russia's conduct " outlaw actions ."
An array of U.S. lawmakers and pundits advocate highly provocative steps in response. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) the incoming chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged an increase in U.S. arms sales to Ukraine, asserting, "If Putin starts seeing Russian soldier fatalities, that changes his equation."
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) threatened new sanctions on Russia and called for a coordinated response between the United States and its European allies. "If Putin continues his Black Sea bullying," Inhofe stated, "the United States and Europe must consider imposing additional sanctions on Russia, inserting a greater U.S. and NATO presence in the Black Sea region and increasing military assistance for Ukraine."
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) echoed those views. Menendez called for tougher sanctions, additional NATO exercises on the Black Sea and more U.S. security aid to Ukraine, "including lethal maritime equipment and weapons." Some hawks even seem receptive to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's call on NATO to station warships in the Sea of Azov, even though such a step would likely lead to a shooting war between the West and Russia.
Far too many Western (especially American) analyses explicitly or implicitly act as though the United States and its NATO allies worked assiduously to establish cordial relations with Russia but were compelled to adopt hardline policies solely because of Russia's perversely aggressive conduct. That is a distorted, self-serving portrayal on the part of NATO partisans. It falsely portrays the West as purely a reactive player -- that NATO initiatives were never insensitive, provocative, or aggressive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the opposite is closer to the mark; Russia's actions, both in terms of timing and virulence, tended to be responses to aggressive Western initiatives. Unfortunately, avid NATO supporters seem determined to double down, insisting that the Trump administration adopt even more uncompromising policies.
Contending that Moscow is to blame for the deterioration of East-West relations because of its military actions in Georgia and Ukraine, as U.S. opinion leaders tend to do, is especially inaccurate. The problems began much earlier than the events in 2008 and 2014. The West humiliated a defeated adversary that showed every sign of wanting to become part of a broader Western community. Expanding NATO and trampling on Russian interests in the Balkans were momentous early measures that torpedoed friendly relations.
Such policy myopia was reminiscent of how the victorious Allies inflicted harsh treatment on a defeated, newly democratic Weimar Germany after World War I. The NATO powers are treating Russia as an enemy, and there is now a serious danger that the country is turning into one. That development would be an especially tragic case of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow in security studies at the Cato Institute and a contributing editor at , is the author of 12 books and more than 750 articles on international affairs. His latest book is Gullible Superpower: U.S. Support for Bogus Foreign Democratic Movements (forthcoming, February 2019).
Clyde Schechter December 26, 2018 at 10:57 pm
The reason "we did a poor job of seeing the world from their point of view and managing the relationship for the long term" is because we are arrogant and prone to meddling. It's called American Exceptionalism, also known as American Imperialism. The future looks grim, and, in my view, the current Cold War with Russia feels a lot more dangerous than the original one because our leaders have upped the belligerence by orders of magnitude. At least in the original Cold War the objective was merely containment of Communism. Our current leaders want nothing short of global domination.
peter mcloughlin , , December 27, 2018 at 9:58 amWe are taking over, and anyone who resists is an aggressor.
It works until it doesn't.
Bluestem , , December 27, 2018 at 11:27 amAnother very insightful piece by Ted Galen Carpenter, and one that illustrates the importance of seeing the other's point of view. Victors always see a settlement as final -- problem solved: the vanquished view it as temporary, to be reversed at the soonest opportunity. What is being witnessed now is perhaps 'the tragic case of a self-fulfilling prophecy', but perhaps also the pattern of history.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Anon2017 , , December 27, 2018 at 12:11 pmI have a family full of people who believe in American Exceptionalism. In their view, nothing the US or allies do can be wrong because the US is exceptional.
More than 20 years ago I started telling them the US and NATO are provoking Russia by extending NATO into former Soviet states. This was revealed almost exactly one year ago:
"Newly Declassified Documents: Gorbachev Told NATO Wouldn't Move Past East German Border" https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/newly-declassified-documents-gorbachev-told-nato-wouldnt-23629
Imagine the outrage in the US if, shortly after the Soviet Union dissolved, the Russians started re-annexing the former Soviet states.
Ken Zaretzke , , December 27, 2018 at 1:37 pmDuring the past two decades, US politicians running for federal office were more concerned about family Values, cutting taxes or expanding the social safety net. No one appeared to run on a platform of expanding NATO or being concerned about Ukraine or a new cold war. I suspect that the average voter has no clue as to who Victoria Nuland is and the role she played in overthrowing the pro-Russian band of corrupt politicians in Ukraine in favor of a more pro-NATO band of corrupt Neo-Nazi politicians.
How many American mothers want their sons in the military to be sent off to war to fight over Sevastopol?
Jack H , , December 27, 2018 at 2:26 pmA great article. Basically, Ted Galen Carpenter points to the *irrationality* of the American foreign policy establishment towards the world's only other strategically (as opposed to defensively) nuclear-armed nation. Is irrational animus against such a country dangerous? Very.
b. , , December 27, 2018 at 3:28 pm"Global domination" isn't twaddle, Brian. The 2018 National Defense Strategy lists as one of our objectives "Maintaining
favorable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere."Africa isn't on this particular list, but we have troops stationed in Niger, Somalia, Djibouti, and Cameroon. We are seeking to establish a base in Ghana.
I think "global domination" is a fair description of our actual goal.
Eric Bergerud , , December 27, 2018 at 7:57 pmAverage life expectancy in Russia declined as neoliberal and capitalist exploitation abetted by Yeltsin gave rise to organized oligarchy.
Today, average life expectancy in the US is declining.
The US really needs a Gorbachev. Doesn't look like it will get one before all the manufactured "Russia!" hysteria carries us to the end of the Moment of Unipolar Disorder.
Observer , , December 28, 2018 at 5:03 amI am in full agreement with this article. I am not alone. In 1998 George Kennan made his final public pronouncement on US foreign policy in the NYT. He cautioned that American and Western eagerness to expand NATO would trigger a new Cold War and was folly. Mikhail Gorbachev has no love for Putin who put an end to Gorbie's desires to lead a social democratic party in Russia. However, he has echoed Kennan in condemning an aggressive NATO and finding the West up to their eyeballs in the Ukraine debacle. Let's not forget that Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was in Kiev throughout the Maidan Square uprising -- baking cookies for militants and condemning Euros for considering new elections in the Ukraine instead of a coup. To finish seasoning the brother, CIA Chief James Brennan visited Kiev in April 2014 -- an amazing action really. CIA chiefs do not usually show up in the middle of an international trouble spot -- but obviously Obama didn't mind the message. We don't have to like Putin to realize that the Russian public feels genuinely aggrieved by Western policies since the Cold War ended, especially after the close US involvement with the Yeltsin debacle.
TR , , December 28, 2018 at 10:18 amIn Cold War it was not modern Russia that was defeated, but rather Soviet Union and the whole idea of Communism. Russian Federation is not the USSR, it is a capitalist state (OK one can say "wild" or "croney" capitalist- it does not really matter, "capitalist" is the key word here). The only thing all last Soviet/Russian leaders desired, including Gorbachev, Eltsin and early Putin- was to become junior partners of the West in general and US in particular. It was very clear from all they did and said at that time. Basically what was needed from the West is to do smth like second Potsdam and co-opt Russia in the new world order. That was a golden opportunity moment because at that moment Russian leadership and population in general would sign under such policy.
How US managed to get in the situation where we are now is an interesting question for future historians (providing that in the future there will be historians and not radioactive dust).
Buf may be a clue here is the position of military-industrial complex? How else they can get their unaccounted trillions? Russia is the ideal enemy. US can not live without a real enemy for God knows what reason. There is some existential problem may be.
But one thing should be taken into account. Russia has a long tradition of defeating would-be global hegemons. It would be a major folly if US joins that list.
Sid Finster , , December 28, 2018 at 10:56 amAgree completely with the head and subhead of this piece.
For what it's worth, my neighbor's son-in-law is a young US Army officer and currently doing a tour in Ukraine. Our tentacles are everywhere.
John , , December 28, 2018 at 11:01 am@Mikhail Butina: You throw out a lot of blanket statements but provide no specifics. Well let me give you a few recent specifics:
Did Russia attack Iraq on the basis of shameless lies?
It must have been Russia that turned Libya into a failed state!
Was it Russia that expanded NATO after promising not to do so?
Russia must be the ones gleefully assisting the Saudi barbarians to commit genocide in Yemen!
Is it perhaps Russia that demands "full spectrum dominance" and spends more on "defense than the next ten largest militaries combined?
Did Russia undertake a coup in Ukraine and install actual live Nazis in power?
Nonsense. The United States did all of these things and more. Do not live by lies, Mikhail.
Sid Finster , , December 28, 2018 at 11:03 amThe idea of territorial conquest and control as a means of growing prosperity for a civilization is obsolete. Exploration and colonization of space, the pursuit of fusion power, addressing our living arrangements, and so on, should be where we are striving to excel, not poking a nuclear armed bear with a stick.
However, when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The unimaginative in our nation's government, who can't see their own brokenness, should go into retirement and let people with a vision that promotes peace and stability and real progress have a turn at the wheel for a change.
Putin will be dead in two decades, maybe less, and Russia will start backsliding and probably break apart even further. China, in its zeal to maintain control, will remain what it always had been, an intelligent people hamstrung by a rigid mandarin overclass. Neither of these so-called powers are worth spending any more time on.
Let America and the West build a permanent presence on the Moon and Mars. What then of Crimea?
CC , , December 28, 2018 at 12:41 pm@TR: tell your neighbor's son-in-law to resign.
@Michael Kenney: if you are so convinced that military force is needed to stop Putin, stop preaching idiocies and go to Ukraine and sign up with the many neo-Nazi paramilitaries there and get to fighting. They take foreign volunteers.
Caliman , , December 28, 2018 at 1:52 pm> The NATO powers are treating Russia as an enemy, and there is now a serious danger that the country is turning into one.
So what? Russia is dying, economy is in deep decline, population is shrinking. 15-20 years from now there will be no Russia.
Why should NATO care about it today?
Ken Zaretzke , , December 28, 2018 at 2:17 pmThe more one pays attention, the more one realizes that "1984" was not fiction we have always been (we NEED to be) at war with Eurasia.
After all, the aim of modern war is not to win we have not had a Victory that matters since 1945. The aim of modern war is $$ and career advancement for the connected few. War posture against a credible enemy is essential.
reality check , , December 28, 2018 at 2:18 pmThank you for that comment, Observer. You are a Russian, no? That's what your English suggests to me. I hope you keep commenting here -- we Americans need a little perspective.
Quote 1) U.S. officials openly sided with demonstrators who overthrew Ukraine's elected, pro-Russian government,
Worse still, they sided with, if not directly empowered the very worst, openly fascist elements of Ukrainian society who directly spearheaded the overthrow. mere months before new elections. In essence, a repeat of the m.o. of the 1953 Iranian coup. Atlantic Council ideologues can fabricate a progressive liberal agenda for Maidan ad nauseum and to ever-diminishing effect. It was Nuland's 'dark colors' that did the heavy lifting, and very likely by direct collusion and design. Woe be to our machinations.
Quote 2)and then reacted with shock and anger when Russia retaliated by seizing and annexing Crimea.
Russia did not 'seize' Crimea. Crimeans in the vast majority willingly seceded from Ukraine and joined Russia, as they had already attempted at various times for decades and as a de facto 'autonomous republic' had every right to do. Certainly at least as much right as Slovenia did in its unilateral secession, sans referendum and sans a state coup instigating it.
Other than the de rigueur western soundbites, much in this article is directly on point.
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Dec 29, 2018 | www.nakedcapitalism.com
Health Care
"Democratic left playing a long game to get 'Medicare for All'" [Bloomberg Law]. "'We don't have the support that we need,' said Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who will co-chair the Progressive Caucus. She said that she'd favor modest expansions of Medicare or Medicaid eligibility as a step toward Medicare for All. 'I am a big bold thinker; I'm also a good practical strategist,' Jayapal said.
'It's why the Medicare for All Caucus was started, because we want to get information to our members so people feel comfortable talking about the attacks we know are going to come.'" • So many Democrat McClellans; so few Democrat Grants.
"Progressives set to push their agenda in Congress and on the campaign trail. The GOP can't wait." [NBC]. "While the party has moved left on health care, many Democrats seem more comfortable offering an option to buy into Medicare or a similar public plan rather than creating one single-payer plan that replaces private insurance and covers everyone. Progressives, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and her Medicare For All PAC, plan to whip up support for the maximalist version and advance legislation in 2019." • The "maximalist version" is exactly what Jayapal herself, quoted by Bloomberg, says she will not seek. Not sure whether this is Democrat cynicism, sloppy Democrat messaging, or poor reporting. Or all three!
Nick Stokes , December 27, 2018 at 3:45 pm
The problem is unlike 1933 large sections of the electorate just wanted more Republican economics to "deal" with the aftermath. That is the difference between a moderate recession(historically) and a collapse like the early 1930's had when the British Empire and the de Rothschild dynasty finally collapsed.
40% didn't want anything the Obama Administration came up with succeed. 40% wanted more than they could possible politically come up with and that left 20% to actually get something done. You see why the Democrats had to take losses.
Even if Health Care, which was controversial in the party was nixed for more "stimulus", Democrats look weak. Politically, Stimulus wasn't that popular and "fiscal deficit" whiners were going to whine and there are a lot of them.
Naked Capitalism ignores this reality instead, looking for esoteric fantasy. I would argue Democrats in 2009-10 looked for short term political gain by going with Health Care reform instead of slowly explaining the advantage of building public assets via stimulus, because the party was to split on Health Care to create a package that would satisfy enough people.
Similar the Republican party, since Reagan had done the opposite, took short term political gain in 2016, which was a mistake, due to their Clinton hatred.
Which is now backfiring and the business cycle is not in a kind spot going forward, which we knew was likely in 2016.
So not only does "Republican fatigue" hurt in 2018, your on the political defensive for the next cycle. Short-termism in politics is death.
A 50 state strategy, or no 50 state strategy, it really doesn't matter. Democrats were going to take losses. The key is, making sure the party is unified enough to run public policy courses.
Chris , December 27, 2018 at 7:13 pm
Mr. Stokes (or David Brock I presume?),
I truly don't understand your point of view. I also don't understand your claim that NC deals in fantasy.
Your points make little sense in the face of what people wanted in 2016 that Obama could have delivered without interference from the Republicans. Things like anti-trust enforcement, SEC enforcement aka jailing the banksters, not going into Syria, not supporting the war in Yemen (remember he did both of those on his own without Congress), not making the Bush tax cuts permanent, not staying silent on union issues and actually wearing those oft mentioned comfortable shoes while walking a picket line, the list of what could have been done and that people supported goes on and on. None of which required approval from Congress.
There's even the bland procedural tactic of delaying the release of the Obamacare exchange premium price increases until after the election in 2016. He could have delayed that notice several months and saved Hillary a world of hurt at the polls. But he chose not to use the administrative tools at his disposal in that case. He also could have seen the writing on the wall with the multiple shut down threats and gotten ahead of it by asking Congress that if you are deemed an essential employee you will continue to be paid regardless of whether your department is funded during a shutdown. With 80% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck that would have been a huge deal.
And speaking of the ACA, we know that Obama and others did whatever they could to kill single payer and replace it with Romneycare 1.5. The language in the bill and the controversy surrounding it show that no one thought this would give them a short term political advantage. If anything, the run up to the vote finally made enough citizens realize that they didn't hate government insurance, they just hated insurance. And here were the Democrats and Obama, forcing people to buy expensive insurance.
Obama took a huge organization that could have helped him barnstorm the country (OFA) just like what Bernie is doing now and killed it early in his first term. He had a mandate for change. He had a majorities in both houses. He had the perfect bully pulpit. He chose not to use any of it. He and others killed the support for local parties. The Democrats needed the JFA with Hillary because Obama had pretty much bankrupted the party in 2012. A commitment to all 50 states would have been huge and would have helped Hillary get on the ground where she needed to shore up support by a few thousand votes.
Obama and the Democrats took losses from 2008 on because they promised to do what their constituents voted them in to do and then decided not to do it. By the time 2016 rolled around, there were estimates which placed 90% of the counties in the US as not having recovered from the disaster in 2007. Hillary ran on radical incrementalism aka the status quo. Who in their right mind could have supported the status quo in 2016?
The Democrats lost seats at all levels of government because of their own incompetence, because of their cowardice, because of their lazy assumptions that people had nowhere else to go. So when record numbers of people didn't vote they lost by slim margins in states long considered True Blue. There is nothing cyclical about any of that.
People don't have Republican fatigue. They don't have Democrat fatigue. They simply don't see the point in voting for people who won't do what they're voted in to do.
The citizens of this country want change. They want higher wages and lower prices. They want less war. They want less government interference. They want their kids to grow up with more opportunities than they did.
Obama and Hillary and all the rest of the Democrats stalking MSM cameras could have delivered on some of that but chose not to. And here we are. With President Trump. And even his broken clock gets something right twice a day, whereas Team Blue has a 50/50 chance of making the right decision and chooses wrong everytime.
Please provide better examples of your points if you truly want to defend your argument.
Carey , December 27, 2018 at 8:45 pm
What an outstandingly comprehensive recent history of
Our dismal-by-design Democrats.My hat is off to you, Sir.
Expat2uruguay , December 28, 2018 at 7:44 am
And, that often mentioned reason for voting for Democrats, the Supreme Court. Neither Obama nor the Democrats fought for their opportunity to put their person on the Supreme Court. Because of norms I guess. Which actually makes some sense because it broke norms. Because they simply don't care
WJ , December 28, 2018 at 11:37 am
+100000
Chris , December 27, 2018 at 7:21 pm
I truly don't understand why you think any of that. Most mystifying is your claim that anyone thought ACA would provide short term political benefit?
You know how Obamacare could have given Hillary a short term political gain? If Obama had directed HHS to delay releasing any premium increase notices until after the election.
Otherwise, you'd have to support your argument a lot better. NC has the least fantastical commentary base of any website I've seen.
Yves Smith , December 27, 2018 at 8:09 pm
This is complete and utter nonsense. Your calling depicting NC as "fantasy" is a textbook example of projection on your part.
The country was terrified and demoralized when Obama took office. Go read the press in December 2008 and January 2009, since your memory is poor. He not only had window of opportunity to do an updated 100 days, the country would have welcomed. But he ignored it and the moment passed.
Obama pushed heath care because that was what he had campaigned on and had a personal interest in it. He had no interest in banking and finance and was happy to let Geither run that show.
As for stimulus, bullshit. Trump increased deficit spending with his tax cuts and no one cares much if at all. The concern re deficit spending was due to the fact that the Obama economic team was the Clinton (as in Bob Rubin) economics team, which fetishized balanced budgets or even worse, surpluses. We have explained long form that that stance was directly responsible for the rapid increase in unproductive household debt, most of all mortgage debt, which produced the crisis.
We discussed it long form in 2010:
Better trolls, please.
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Dec 28, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
Submitted by Tapainfo.com
" Nation states must today be prepared to give up their sovereignty ", according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who told an audience in Berlin that sovereign nation states must not listen to the will of their citizens when it comes to questions of immigration, borders, or even sovereignty.
No this wasn't something Adolf Hitler said many decades ago, this is what German Chancellor Angela Merkel told attendants at an event by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin. Merkel has announced she won't seek re-election in 2021 and it is clear she is attempting to push the globalist agenda to its disturbing conclusion before she stands down.
" In an orderly fashion of course, " Merkel joked, attempting to lighten the mood. But Merkel has always had a tin ear for comedy and she soon launched into a dark speech condemning those in her own party who think Germany should have listened to the will of its citizens and refused to sign the controversial UN migration pact:
" There were [politicians] who believed that they could decide when these agreements are no longer valid because they are representing The People ".
" [But] the people are individuals who are living in a country, they are not a group who define themselves as the [German] people ," she stressed.
Merkel has previously accused critics of the UN Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration of not being patriotic, saying " That is not patriotism, because patriotism is when you include others in German interests and accept win-win situations ".
Her words echo recent comments by the deeply unpopular French President Emmanuel Macron who stated in a Remembrance Day speech that " patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism [because] nationalism is treason ."
The French president's words were deeply unpopular with the French population and his approval rating nosedived even further after the comments.
Macron, whose lack of leadership is proving unable to deal with growing protests in France, told the Bundestag that France and Germany should be at the center of the emerging New World Order.
" The Franco-German couple [has]the obligation not to let the world slip into chaos and to guide it on the road to peace" .
" Europe must be stronger and win more sovereignty ," he went on to demand, just like Merkel, that EU member states surrender national sovereignty to Brussels over " foreign affairs, migration, and development " as well as giving " an increasing part of our budgets and even fiscal resources".
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Likbez , December 28, 2018 7:49 pmDec 28, 2018 | angrybearblog.com
Karl Kolchak , December 28, 2018 7:23 pm
How much idiot chess did it take to drone tens of thousands of civilians to death, turn Libya into a failed state where the slave trade thrives once again, kick off a failed war in Syria which along with Libya has swamped Europe with millions of refugees, looked the other way as Saudi Arabia kicked off genocide in Yemen
Ordered a failed surge in Afghanistan that left the Taliban stronger than ever and preside over a presidency that failed average Americans so badly that American life expectancy began dropping for the first time since World War 1?
Because I think I'm better at chess than that and I've never played anything more than the conventional kind.
Karl,
How you dare not to admire the winner of the Nobel Peace Price?
The president who introduced into the English language the phrase "change we can believe in" which now got its own independent life and is now applicable to most Trump election promises.
The innovator who introduced intelligence agencies as a powerful, if not decisive, player in the US political life. And thus invented a new type of democracy.
To say nothing about bringing on the advanscene of history a gallery of female chickenhawks such as Hillary Clinton, Samantha Power, and Victoria Nuland.
P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for everybody !!!
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.unz.com
Digital Samizdat , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:54 pm GMT
Everybody say a prayer for Lindsay Graham this Christmas. I hear he's in distress
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.unz.com
FB , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:13 am GMT
In defense of the chickenhawk -- the actual birdThe first time I saw one in action, it was quite a revelation I looked out the kitchen window to see what looked like a blue jay perching on some kind of largish rock that he was pecking at of course that made no sense at all and upon closer examination it turned out to be a tiny raptor, not even a foot long from beak to tail, standing on a much larger dead chicken and ripping flesh off of it I ran out back toward the chicken yard and the mighty little slayer flew off the poor hen had a good part of her back flesh removed
Pretty amazing that such a tiny bird could take a chicken easily ten times its weight -- the sharp shinned hawk weighs just 200-400 grams
So while I certainly despise the useless eaters that agitate for war while having not the slightest idea what combat of any kind is about, I always cringe at the degradation of the word 'chickenhawk' a mighty little predator whose good name should not be sullied in association with such human detritus
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.unz.com
AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 10:37 pm GMT
@Harold SmithMaybe I am overestimating the intelligence of MIC profiteers, but my impression is that those thieves know that their loot is only useful as long as they are alive. There is a lot of silly hostile talk against Russia and China, but have you noticed how the US military always makes sure that there are no direct confrontations with countries that can turn the US into radioactive dust? The profiteers want huge Pentagon budget to steal from, but not the war where they lose along with everyone else.
As to the wall, it is one of the silliest projects ever suggested. Maybe that's why it was so easy to sell it to the intellectually disadvantaged electorate. There are two things that can stop illegal immigration.
First, go for the employers, enact a law that fines them to the tune of $50,000 or more per every illegal they employ. Second, enact the law that anyone caught residing in the US illegally has no right to enter the US legally, to obtain asylum, permanent residency, or citizenship for life, and include a provision that marriage to a US citizen does not nullify this ban.Then enforce both laws. After that illegals would run out of the country, and greedy employers won't hire any more. Naturally, the wall, even if built, won't change anything: as long as there are employers trying to save on salaries, immigration fees, and Social Security tax, and people willing to live and work illegally risking nothing, no wall would stem the flow.
Unfortunately, no side is even thinking about real measures, both are just posturing.
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.unz.com
geokat62 , says: December 26, 2018 at 10:44 pm GMT
@ChuckOrloskiAm wondering in which prosperous U.S. Zionist "career" field has John Yoo landed?
He is a distinguished professor at Berkley Law, UC. Here's his bio:
Professor Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law and director of the Korea Law Center, the California Constitution Center, and the Law School's Program in Public Law and Policy. His most recent books are Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War (Encounter 2017) (with Jeremy Rabkin) and Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare (Oxford University Press, 2014). Professor Yoo is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution
From 2001 to 2003, he served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on issues involving foreign affairs, national security and the separation of powers.
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/john-yoo/
Notice how they gloss over his diabolical activities as deputy AG for the Bush II Adminstration "where he worked on issues involving foreign affairs, national security and the separation of powers."
And, oh, yeah, he cobbled together legal statements that gave the Bush Admin carte blanche to engage in "enhanced interrogation techniques," more commonly known as "torture." He was about to be in big dodo for his crimes. but just like the 5 dancing Israelis were rescued by Chertoff, a guy named David Margolis managed to get Yoo off the hook:
The Office of Professional Responsibilty (OPR) report concluded that Yoo had "committed 'intentional professional misconduct' when he advised the CIA it could proceed with waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques against Al Qaeda suspects," although the recommendation that he be referred to his state bar association for possible disciplinary proceedings was overruled by David Margolis, another senior Justice department lawyer.
Anyone familiar with David Margolis? Is he a MOT?
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.unz.com
MAGAnotMISA , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:21 am GMTMy impression is, ISIS is a mossad-Jewish lobby creation to win the PR war against Muslims and to keep the US attacking and "containing" Israel's geopolitical adversaries and eternally occupying Arab lands, and well, to Make Israel Safe Again ™Anonymous [386] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:22 am GMTApart from the questions raised by some from the alternative media:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/isis-is-a-us-israeli-creation-top-ten-indications/5518627
The fact is the mossad could easily pull this off, having so many Israelis from Northern-African and Middle Eastern extraction, fluent in Arab and looking exactly like well, Arabs. They could infiltrate and recruit Arab salafist patsies and easily organize terrorist attacks without executing the hits themselves. And it is actually a genius move:
1) Create a terrorist thread in Europe, making Westerners wary of Arabs, ie more likely to understand Israel policies towards Palestinians and side with Israel (message being: apartheid State? what else can we Israelis do? Palestinians are all gropers, misogynists, homophobes and potential terrorists FYI)
2) Hit the countries with the most Jews (France, Germany and UK) so they are more likely to start packing up to make Aliyah, so Israel's demographic problem is at least temporarily solved, retaining a majority population of Jews.
3) Make the US, through the Jewish lobby in the US, attack strategic countries such as Libya, Iraq and Syria, creating a migrant tsunami to flood Europe, making Europeans even more wary of Arabs and understanding of Israeli's treatment of Palestinians (Arabs) and also making European Jews even more likely to make Aliyah. I even have heard of Israeli NGOs funded by the Israeli Ministry of FA operating in Lesbos and helping "refugees" to flood Europe. After a public outcry the Ministry logo vanished from the NGOs sponsors page.
Even the Cologne issue with the gropings, and I am getting too conspiratorial here, could have been a group of Israeli provocateurs kickstarting the whole assaults wave. Let's say, a group of mossad operatives, composed of Israelis from Northern-African and/or Middle Eastern extraction, with false documentation and fluent in Arab, start groping and assaulting German women, taking advantage of the total chaos offered and facilitated by moronic Merkel. They get caught? no problem, false passports or even no passports at all, just give false names and disappear. Not that Arabs need that much help to make themselves look bad, after all some American reporter was assaulted *live* and for what I have read the lecherous groping of women walking alone is a well documented problem in all the ME. But maybe thanks to a little push by provocateurs, an incident big enough was engineered and the image of Arabs in the West reached historic lows thanks to the Cologne affair.
And creating phoney terrorist groups to use them for false flags is not something new at all for the mossad, let's all remember what the FLLF was and how almost executed an US Ambassador.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_for_the_Liberation_of_Lebanon_from_Foreigners
I'd like to hear Mr Giraldi's take on the matter, though I don't think he will ever write about it.
Merry Christmas to all.
@Durruti Kucinich is far from being a real American. Where are the the people that do not want to take?Art , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:58 am GMTFilmmaker Rob Reiner tweeted on Thursday that the president is a "childish moronic mentally unstable malignant narcissist" who is "committing Treason" against the United States.anon [202] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:10 am GMTOh my – the Jew "meathead" is a "childish moronic mentally unstable malignant narcissist" who is "committing Treason" against the United States.
Some things never change.
"Filmmaker Rob Reiner tweeted on Thursday that the president is a "childish moronic mentally unstable malignant narcissist" who is "committing Treason" against the United States."Moi , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:52 am GMTHe and fellow tribesmen are welcome to sign up and go fight Israel's wars themselves, just not with white male republican blood. The guy is good at border skirmishes, too. He led an effort to keep poor Mexicans out of his rich Malibu neighborhood back in 2014 by refusing Whole Foods a building location. Like most of his kind, he's a sociopathic hypocrite and a liar.
Further proof that we are nuts.jilles dykstra , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:06 pm GMT@MAGAnotMISA What I miss is destroying white cultures through mass immigration.Montefrío , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:08 pm GMT
Though what I miss in this theory what exactly is the objective, is it whites and Muslims annihilating each other, or just divide and rule ?
But maybe thinking in this way has not gone far enough.Bernard Baruch's world domination plan failed miserably, but he even failed to understand that it had failed, otherwise he had not in 1946 pleaded for a world government. One must not underestimate the enemy, but also not overestimate him.
Jewish policies for the last 2000 years can hardly be seen as a success. Judaism lost the battle with christianity, bolsjewism failed in Russia, getting equal rights in W Europe led to the WWII deportations, with or without gas chambers, Israel succeeded in surrounding itself with enemies, as neighbours, and all over the world, and jewish puppet Hillary was not elected. The latest statements by Netanyahu confirm my idea of a complete idiot.
I continue to be amazed that anyone gives any credibility whatsoever who claims US Mideast military involvement is in the best interest of the nation. The above-mentioned commenters must almost inevitably more about self-interest than anything patriotic. As for appearing profound, well, there's Rob Reiner!jilles dykstra , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:19 pm GMT@anon In the idea that the USA is the new zion Trump indeed commits treason.RVBlake , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:21 pm GMT
Before Israel was established many USA rabbis were against zionism, because in their view the USA already was zion.
As tochildish moronic mentally unstable malignant narcissist
, the use of such words for me means utter confusion, rational analysis no longer possible.
Arthur Koestler was of the opinion that yiddish precluded sensible discussion.
The mentioned words show that he was wrong about the cause.If there were any group that deserved rebuffing and blindsiding, it is most assuredly Trump's advisers and military commanders.APilgrim , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:43 pm GMTPresident Trump has ERASED the terrorists supported by Obama & McCain.APilgrim , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:51 pm GMTHis 'deconfliction' with Russia was instrumental in the Daesh Extermination.
If Congress passes an AUMF, we shall stay. Otherwise, Adios!
Today's Jerusalem Post had a link to this Kamala Harris political fund-raising ad.Sarah Toga , says: December 25, 2018 at 12:59 pm GMTThe cvnt.
As I sat in Christmas Eve service last night, an adorable little boy played quietly with his father in the seat next to us. The little boy was probably just under 2 years of age.Heros , says: December 25, 2018 at 1:01 pm GMTIn the middle of one of the Christmas Carols the thought struck me,
"I wonder if we will still be in ___________ war 17 years from now, when this little boy becomes enlistment age . . ."
That thought alone makes me favor Trump for re-election. I think (I could be wrong, I'm no expert) we have less war and a lesser risk of war with Trump. The "establishment" policies of: invade the world – invite the world – in hoc with the world; are horrifically deadly and destructive.
What great Christmas presents from Trump.FelicityRules , says: December 25, 2018 at 1:18 pm GMT1. US withdrawal from Syria, and apparently all non-nato committed US troops from Afghanistan.
2. Willingness to shutdown Government in order to force funding for the wall
3. Rumors of subpoena's being handed out at G.H.W Bush's funeral
4. Senate investigations into Clinton Foundation with auditors claiming jaw dropping corruption
5. Grand Jury empaneled to investigate into 9/11I don't know if Q is a psyop, but a lot of the things he has been saying appear to be coming closer to reality. We can be certain that none of this would have happened had Clinton been elected.
Meanwhile the deep state is not taking this lying down.
1. Netanyahu is threatening to increase operations in Syria. Perhaps he warned Trump to get out because he is going to go nuclear or bio.
2. The global warming panic propaganda is being turned up to "broil" as weather warfare has been unleashed across the planet.
3. Ukraine attempting to drag Nato into a war for the Kerch straight.
4. Stockmarkets tanking as the Fed keeps tightening while Mnuchin performs the "plunge protection team rag"
5. Iran war threats and Persian gulf sabre rattling
6. Heeb financial war against Russia, Iran and China.
7. Heeb technology war against China (Huawei arrest)Even if the US leaves Syria as Trump claims, they certainly will not just hand everything over to Assad. The Damascus/Baghdad hiway re-opening through Al Tanf and the hand over of all Euphrates river crossings to Syria would be indication of a true change of policy.
As usual, Giraldi is spot on with his observations. I wish him a Merry Christmas and hope to see a lot more of his articles in the coming year.Cortes , says: December 25, 2018 at 1:33 pm GMTI find Rob Reiner amusing, if not occasionally annoying. After having spent decades up to my nose with his tribe while working in LA in the entertainment industry I can guarantee Hollywood Jews go completely apoplectic anytime they perceive their government, the Jewish-occupied government that rules over us all, is not following their commands.
Come to think of it, apoplexy's first definition is a stroke, its second definition is: a state of intense and almost uncontrollable anger. One can only hope that jerks like Reiner who indulge so heavily in the second definition will end up experiencing the first, and good riddance.
@FB Well said.ChuckOrloski , says: December 25, 2018 at 1:37 pm GMTI'd just add that few things would please me more than to have DJT draft the human chickenhawks due to their indispensable expertise and place their backsides in-country to dole out their words of wisdom there.
The honorable & courageous American Man endowed with precision scientific/political wisdom wrote, with special appeal to me: "Withdrawing from Syria is the right thing to do, though one has to be concerned that there might be some secret side deals with Israel , that could actually result in more attacks upon Syria."Johnny Walker Read , says: December 25, 2018 at 1:43 pm GMTChristos Razdajetsja, Philip!
Call me crazy, but I'm still a bit leery, cautiously hopping this is not just another charade. Is this just another way to allow the dissection of Syria to take another path?Hunsdon , says: December 25, 2018 at 1:53 pm GMTAlways remember if Trump is in opposition to his globalist master's he will be removed, one way or the other.
@FB FB:Anon [257] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:03 pm GMTThank you for that! I now realize that the appellation chickenhawk used in reference to the "let's you and him" fight gang is a slur on a fine little raptor. You have educated me.
@anon What's the battle cry of the Israeli army?Tim K , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:10 pm GMT
Onward Christian SoldiersMerry Christmas every one
US out of Syria? Why were "we" ever in there?anon [122] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:20 pm GMTboot, nuland, shapiro, stephens, reiner, etc etc – one (((chickenhawk))) after anotherSparkon , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:27 pm GMTA mong hawks in N. America, Cooper's Hawk ( Accipiter cooperii ), Red-shouldered Hawk ( Buteo lineatus ), and Red-tailed Hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis ) are the three species most likely to take domestic chickens, or yardbirds as they are sometimes called, and it is these three species that are or have been commonly called Chickenhawks in the United States, at least among non-birders, who are people with neither binoculars nor field guide.Johnny Walker Read , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:34 pm GMTBut I think most here know that Philip Giraldi is referring to the craven human variety of warmonger known in some circles as the Yellow-tailed Chickenhawk, or its close relative the Yellow-bellied Chickenhawk.
President Trump's announcement is a very nice Christmas present, which I choose to take a face value pending unwrapping. As always, actions speak louder than words. Let's hope that there isn't a booby prize or two lurking beneath the Christmas tree and hidden by the big surprise package, or that there isn't a lump of coal at the bottom of our holiday stockings.
Peace on Earth to all men of Good Will.
@wayfarer Not sure if the opening word's in the first video are spoken by Sheikh Imran N Hosein. It sounds like him. I just wanted to say I have listened to a lot of his messages and find him very enlightening. For those who believe in end time prophecy, I think you will find well versed and extremely intelligent, as compared to many of the so called "Christian" huckster's out there selling religion for dollars.The Alarmist , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:39 pm GMT@Tim KDESERT FOX , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:39 pm GMT"US out of Syria? Why were "we" ever in there?"
Pipelines to Europe for KSA and fresh water sources for Israel? Destabilising a local rival of both? Who knows?
What we do know is that "we" have allowed our "leaders" to pimp out our military to the rogue special interests of the world. We have the best government foreign interests can buy.
The Zionist MSM and MIC and the Zionist AIPAC and company are the hounds of Hell baying for war as warmongers always want war as long as they do not have to fight it and can reap the profits from the wars!Johnny Walker Read , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:47 pm GMTZionists have instigated every war that the U.S. has been in since WWI and right on down through the Mideast slaughter house that Israel and her Zionists patrons have sent Americans to fight and die in and by crippled for life in and the millions of civilians, men, women and children that have been murdered in the wars fought for Zionist Israel!
The most incredible thing was that the Zionists and the Zionist controlled deep state did 911 which was the precursor to the latest Mideast wars and the war on terror where the Zionists killed some 3000 Americans and blamed the Arabs and got away with it , when every thinking American knows that Israel and the Zionist controlled deep state did 911!
Finally Trump has done the right thing by getting out of Syria and now should get the hell out of the Mideast and Afghanistan and close the slaughter houses!
God bless Putin and Russia and Assad and Syria for saving the people of Syria and defeating ISIS aka Al CIADA ie a creation of the U.S. and Israel and Britain!
Zionists and Israel will be the death of America unless we wake up and smell the coffee!
@wayfarer Should have watched the video a little longer before I commented. It is indeed Sheikh Imran N Hosein in the video. LOL and Merry Christmas !follyofwar , says: December 25, 2018 at 2:57 pm GMT@renfro One hopes that Russia will have stationed its advanced air defense systems throughout Syria. And they should not be afraid to shoot down the Israeli aggressors.follyofwar , says: December 25, 2018 at 3:12 pm GMTJilles sounds like he is Max Boot in disguise.
@jilles dykstra Jilles,Parsnipitous , says: December 25, 2018 at 3:31 pm GMT
Haven't you completely contradicted your prior response to @renfro about Trump? You called him a "complete idiot, leading a country to destruction," now you are claiming he is a "reasonable man, who understands that warfare is just a destruction of wealth." He can't be both, can he?@follyofwar I think he meant NutandyahooChuckOrloski , says: December 25, 2018 at 3:33 pm GMT@DESERT FOX Of extreme importance, Desert Fox of"The most incredible thing was that the Zionists and the Zionist controlled deep state did 911 which was the precursor to the latest Mideast wars and the war on terror where the Zionists killed some 3000 Americans and blamed the Arabs and got away with it ,"follyofwar , says: December 25, 2018 at 3:35 pm GMTChristmas Day greetings, Desert Fox!
Re; above sentence, a cordial question.
Is there anything you know & which you have not said (to date) that might signal that the American-Israeli Empire's mighty military is prepped to allow the Assad and Rouhani anti-Zionist governments to stand?
Uh perhaps, either delay or junk establishment of Greater Israel?
Am convinced Trump would only slow down international Jewry's plan. Or else no unguarded JFK convertible limo trips for him on reelection-campaign road.
Thanks, Desert, you always stand on solid ground.
@chris Let's think about this. The USA has not been able to defeat the Afghan Taliban forces in 17 years. It brought down Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, but, with that unfortunate country totally destroyed, how could you call that a win (I doubt if the Iraqi's consider the US to be liberators). Now the crack pot Obama/Hillary campaign has lost in Syria, and Trump wants to pull out. All three countries were much smaller and weaker than Iran, and the US is much weaker, morally and militarily, than it was after the 9/11 hoax. And, after Russia has expended much blood and treasure in ensuring victory for Assad and the Syrian people, will it now sit on its hands as the US Air Force dismantles Teheran? Plus there is a resurgent China, dependent on Iranian oil, to consider.wayfarer , says: December 25, 2018 at 3:39 pm GMTI'm not saying that Trump will not start a war against Iran (for Israel's benefit). But, he'd better be prepared for the consequences, which will all be devastating to the American Empire. Be careful what you wish for.
@Johnny Walker Read Sheikh Imran N. Hosein sure presented some compelling facts.Z-man , says: December 25, 2018 at 3:42 pm GMTBy the way, there're lots of colorful Christmas lights sparkling here in Yuma, Arizona.
On my beater trailer, I keep mine up and burning brightly all year round. It's a trashy Americana thing, LOL!
Have a dark hunch 2019 is going to be a rough one, but hey, no pain no gain.
Best of luck Johnny Walker Read, in this approaching new year.
follyofwar , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:02 pm GMTBut Israel supported by Saudi Arabia does not like Iran and has induced Washington to follow its lead. Withdrawing from Syria recognizes that Iran is no threat in reality. Positioning American military forces to "counter" Iran does not reduce the threat against the United States because there was no threat there to begin with.
Yes of course, I would just add that Israel hates Iran.
Rand Paul and others have been pushing back hard against the NEOCON narrative here, good news. The initial anti Trump tide has turned in this matter.
I briefly saw Bill Krysrol's smug mug on TV the other day. Wouldnt it be nice if that Satanic 'fellow' was harrased at home like, unfortunatley, Tucker Carlson was. (Instead of Carlson)Trump telling General Mattis to pack his bags and begone is the work of a good CEO. Mad Dog could have done a lot of damage to Mr. Trump's agenda if he had been allowed to stay on until the end of February, as he had said he would. In corporate America, if an underling is disloyal to the CEO, he will be told to vacate the premises for good by the end of the workday, and escorted out of the building by armed security. His keys will be taken, all locks will be changed, and his passwords expunged. No doubt Trump, as CEO, has had to employ such tactics many times before. He obviously relishes saying "You're Fired!"Z-man , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:02 pm GMTAny competent Trump loyalist can be found to replace this worn out old soldier. I hope he won't be yet another general. MacArthur said that "old soldier never die, they just fade away." Time for Mattis to do just that, and never be heard from again.
@Z-man Arrggh, that would be that serpent Bill Kristol of course!follyofwar , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:20 pm GMTMerry Christmas to all.
@Parsnipitous Reading my comment again, I can see where I might have misinterpreted Jilles intent. If so, I apologize. However, if he had identified, by name, who he was referring to, perhaps I wouldn't have been confused.never-anonymous , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:24 pm GMTSyria is a money pit for the taxpayers and giant profit source for the super rich. 'The United States military should only be deployed anywhere to defend the U.S. itself or vital interests' says Trump, Obama or Bush. But war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. Trump was appointed by rich people only so they could have someone to blame. 100% of the voters believe they personally have the right to kill women and children overseas with their hired mercenaries to defend the U.S. itself or vital interests. Americans shell out taxes to pay for US troops to guard mining operations and poppy fields in Afghanistan, oil fields in Iraq, online propaganda and so much more. Why deploy the United States Military when there's more profit in hiring private mercenaries? Plus you don't have to say that "vital interests" crap anymore.Durruti , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:36 pm GMT@Ronald Thomas West Good thinking:JoaoAlfaiate , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:37 pm GMTopening the door to NATO's Turkey to go after the Kurd units there
Must look to the North:
On Turkey's Northwest front, tensions are high between the Greek Military & some foreign controllers of Greece, and the Turkish Military, and their leaders.There are many other informational links.
Turkey (Erdogan), might face a 2 Front War if it seizes further portions of Syria (regardless of excuse).
The Zionist imperialists (and puppet USA, NATO, EU), face difficult choices of who to trigger, and who to restrain.
Russia and the Arab Nations may come out of this Hellish conundrum – in good shape. And that bodes well for all of us, from America, to Novorossiya.
This article is an excellent summary of msm and neocon reaction to the planned US withdrawal from Syria and a good survey of why getting Uncle Sam out of Syria makes sense. I would also add that allying with the Kurds was at best a short term solution. Not only would a Kurdish state in eastern Syria be unacceptable to Turkey but the Sunni Arabs of the Euphrates Valley would be certain to resist Kurdish rule. Merry Christmas to all!Reuben Kaspate , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:41 pm GMTFor once, let all nuclear arsenal be directed at the Middle East and when the smoke clears after a thousand years, there will be no God, Jews or Arabs to deal with any of remaining humans will be welcomed!DESERT FOX , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:43 pm GMT@ChuckOrloski In my opinion, Zionist Israel will never stop being the agent provocateur in the Mideast and elsewhere ie the Ukraine etc., and since the Zionists control the U.S. government I think their satanic NWO plans are still in place, and think the U.S. military is just going to be placed in Iraq and Jordan ie just across the border to Syria and will continue with their proxy mercenaries aka AL CIADA aka ISIS.jilles dykstra , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:45 pm GMTSome good sites to follow are Southfront.org and Henrymakow.com and Stevequayle.com and Thetruthseeker.co.uk etc., all things considered even Putin said that Russia will wait and see if the U.S. really leaves the Mideast, I wish all our troops would be brought home, but with the Zionist control of our government it will never happen.
It is snowing here in Montana so we have a white Christmas, which we could do without, but have a Merry Christmas!
@follyofwar Here we agree.Boris M Garsky , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:54 pm GMT
But in a comment below I read that I sowed confusion.
Possible, I see no need to find out what went wrong.A brilliant move and timed perfectly.Renoman , says: December 25, 2018 at 4:58 pm GMTYes to Trump and withdrawal from Mid East Wars, down with MSM, The Neocons, the 1% , the deep state and Israel, the whole World hates these assholes. Go Donny Daddy!wayfarer , says: December 25, 2018 at 5:05 pm GMTBragadocious , says: December 25, 2018 at 5:23 pm GMTThere is nothing good or evil save in the will.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EpictetusRand Paul backs Trump on Withdrawing from Syria: Good!
If you want to know who's agitating for war, look no further than our "friends," the Brits.Charlie , says: December 25, 2018 at 5:30 pm GMTThis is what they do every single time a U.S. President doesn't commit troops to some war they've approved of, or started. They terror bait, or mock, or a combination of the two. And since a lot of people in Washington take them seriously, it has appreciable impact on our policies.
God bless you Ron Unz for providing this forum. Chickenhawks. Who would have thought.jilles dykstra , says: December 25, 2018 at 5:31 pm GMT@Z-man Israel fears Iran, is my idea.jilles dykstra , says: December 25, 2018 at 5:49 pm GMT
Norman Finkelstein once stated that Israeli jews do not see how there ever can be peace with the Palestinians 'after all we did to them'.Not all jews are idiots.
Forgot in which book I read that in the thirties a zionist reached Palestine, and saw that this was not the 'land without people for people without land'.
He stated 'this is a crime'.The destruction and destabilisation of the ME, an Israeli plan, as far as I know.
In 1921 and later years there was the enormous population exchange, without any financial compensation, between Turkey and Greece.
To this day tensions exist between the two countries.Iran is one of the oldest civilisations.
Twice, one might say even three time, the west overthrew Iranian democracy.
Iran knows of course quite well that the VS brought Saddam to power so that he could subjugate Iran, that had rid itself of the USA puppet shah.
Iran also of course knows quite well jewish power in the USA, Bush' s promise to AIPAC to destroy Iraq.
Will those leading Iran now ever trust the USA or Israel ?So that Netanyahu and USA jewry now are in complete panic, who had expected it to be otherwise ?
Uri Avnery wrote 'the only language zionists understand is power. Is there a problem, use power, if it does not help, use more power, if that also fails, use even more power'.There has never been any serious negotiation between Israel and its neighbours, or with the Palestinians.
About the Oslo negotiations a book appeared in Israel with the title 'how we fooled the Palestinians'?
Sharon answered any Arab League peace proposal with force, Jenin, one of them, if my recollection is correct.
There always was the idea of overwhelming more military power, and of USA support.Kissinger saved Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur war by flying over hundreds of the newest USA anti tank weapons, wire guided, TOW.
What will the USA do in case Israel is attacked ?
Is Netanyahu crazy enough to provoke an attack ?@Durruti EUChuckOrloski , says: December 25, 2018 at 5:50 pm GMThttps://www.bfmtv.com/politique/vacances-d-hiver-a-huis-clos-pour-emmanuel-macron-1597858.html
Macron is not skiing between Christmas and New Year.
French is my worst language, but 'huis clos' is curtains closed, the expression is used often for court proceedings without an audience, closed doors.
If my idea is correct that he stays indoors because his security cannot be guaranteed, maybe someone whose first language is French can enlighten me.Whatever the case, the man who wants an EU army now has trouble keeping peace in his own country.
NATO, Stoltenberg's face during the dinner with Trump, disbelief.
Trigger and restrain, at the moment the Yellow Vests have caused the impossibility for Brussels to do anything, survival is what concerns them.@DESERT FOX Desert Fox with a Montana-attitude, soft side, said: "It is snowing here in Montana so we have a white Christmas, which we could do without, but have a Merry Christmas!'jilles dykstra , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:07 pm GMTGreetings from snowless Scranton, Desert Fox!
Over decades, have reflected upon Charles Schulz's great (1965) "Charlie Brown Christmas." Prior to it's release, I have scant memory that Mr. Schulz had to battle those who wanted the traditional Nativity of Christ and spiritual meaning out of the way. Fyi, Charles's opponents lost!
As Christ-trashing Hollywood "Christmas" films dominate & mis-educate our popular culture, please, please, please look (below) at the beautiful narration of "Charlie Brown Christmas."
@BragadociousAnonFromTN , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:11 pm GMTThis is what they do every single time a U.S. President doesn't commit troops to some war they've approved of, or started.
Who is they, and do what ?
Even the Dutch army could withstand the weapons shown here.This is the first sane thing Trump did in two years. Also, this is the first action he promised his supporters in 2016. Naturally, Israel-firsters, who in 2016 backed the corrupt mad witch to a man, are unhappy. Their unhappiness is a good sign that this action is actually in American interests. If Trump folds and reverses, this would expose him as a 100% fraud. If he sticks to his guns, maybe there is hope for him yet. Stay tuned.Johnny Walker Read , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:13 pm GMT@wayfarer No snow here in Albuquerque, NM, but the skies are loaded with chemtrails. I guess the sky spider's never get a day off. Here's hoping you and your's have a merry Christmas.Virgile , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:18 pm GMTTrump wants Turkey to stop harassing Saudi Arabia about Kashoogi's murder and be more complacent with Israel. He also wants Israel to become more anxious abiut its security so it agrees on the Palestinian peace plan elaborated by Jared Kuchner and MBS.chris , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:31 pm GMT
Turkey has now promised to fight ISIS which it never did. Saudi Arabia as well as Syria wants Turkey humiliated, defeated and out of Syria. It may well happen when the Turkish army will be confronted with a renewedc ISIS manipulated by Saudi Arabia and Syria.
It seems that the withdrawal of the US forces from Syria may trigger the end of Erdogan's hegemonic dreams in the region and the victorious return of Syria among the Arabs.@follyofwar Oh, no; I don't mean Trump will start some major ground offensive to win anything! No, they'll just try to destroy Iran in order to give jihadist a chance to kill as many people as possible. This will be a Libyan-style war and "victory."Bragadocious , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:39 pm GMT@jilles dykstra Yeah, not sure about the Dutch, with their history at Srebrenica.Harold Smith , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:44 pm GMTBut I was referring to the Brits trying to push Trump back into the Middle East war grinder.
"President Donald Trump's order to withdraw from Syria has been greeted, predictably, with an avalanche of condemnation culminating in last Thursday's resignation by Defense Secretary James Mattis. The Mattis resignation letter focused on the betrayal of allies "anon [231] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 6:59 pm GMTCall me cynical but I think you cannot take ANYTHING our masters say or do, e.g. this, at face value.
Orange clown's alleged disengagement from Syria may be (and probably is) nothing more that a tactical retreat/change in plans for which the Mattis resignation is merely a fig leaf; that is, it's just more of the same disingenuous dialectics that we've been bombarded with since the beginning of the "Trump" administration.
Apparently we're urged to conclude that Trump has finally had enough of the people he knowingly and willingly surrounded himself with, and their agenda, and now all of a sudden (because of some kind of a spiritual epiphany, pro-American New Year's resolution, etc.) he wants to do right by (some of) his supporters by doing what he should've done a long time ago. (And the hint of a military drawdown in Afghanistan adds a nice touch).
Sorry but I can't buy what they're selling.
If in addition to withdrawing from Syria orange clown were to stop arming the "government" of "Ukraine" and agree to negotiations with Russia on the issue of intermediate range nuclear armed missiles in Europe – with a goal to support/strengthen the INF treaty rather than withdraw from it – I might be willing to entertain the idea that something's changed.
As it is now it'll take a lot more than the obligatory "avalanche of condemnation" i.e., cheap words, to convince me that the perfidious orange clown and his jewish-supremacist handlers are doing anything other than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with one hand while steering it into the iceberg with the other hand.
@Harold Smithannamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:01 pm GMTCall me cynical but I think you cannot take ANYTHING our masters say or do, e.g. this, at face value.
agree
just watch their behaviour – the wall never gets built even though they are now talking about increasing the "defense" budget from $700 billion to $750 billion next year – the increase alone is the cost of two walls
@Puzzled "I have never been able to discern a strategy, other than to keep the region in turmoil"A123 , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:01 pm GMT
– Agree.Here is a tepid and academically deeply dishonest oeuvre by Richard Haass, who simply cannot help himself but to keep his day job of presstituting: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-12-11/how-world-order-ends
Sampling:
Although Russia has avoided any direct military challenge to NATO, it has nonetheless shown a growing willingness to disrupt the status quo: through its use of force in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine since 2014, its often indiscriminate military intervention in Syria, and its aggressive use of cyberwarfare to attempt to affect political outcomes in the United States and Europe.
Haass is a Cheney's choice of opportunist and Goebbelsian kind of criminal:
Haass was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn From 1989 to 1993, he was Special Assistant to United States President George H. W. Bush and National Security Council Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs. In 1991, Haass received the Presidential Citizens Medal for helping to develop and explain U.S. policy during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Haass argued that the leaders of the United States should adopt "an imperial foreign policy" to construct and manage an informal American empire (Haass 2000)
The U.S. has 2,000 soldiers in a kill-sack if Erdogan decides to cut off their supply lines. And, calling Erdogan "unreliable" is something of an understatement. The U.S. can say very little about Erdogan's behaviour while he can take reprisals on U.S. troops.Tony H. , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:06 pm GMT-- Turkey and Saudi are feuding, and the U.S. needs Saudi more than Turkey to maintain sanctions and other pressure on Iran.
-- Turkey is becoming dangerously deranged in its statements about Israel (1). And the U.S. / Israeli relationship is vital for many reasons.
-- Turkey has been a threat to Christian Cyprus for decades. The Leviathan-Cyprus-Greece pipeline is important to help free Christian Populist EU nations, such as Italy, from tyrannical rule under Soros-servitors Merkel and Macron.
Do not over over read the withdrawal as a change in regional strategy. There are no major policy changes. This is about opening the door to push out Erdogan, if that becomes necessary to support the existing U.S. regional strategy. And, the U.S. can still hope that Erdogan is saying demented things solely for domestic consumption and doesn't intend to actually follow thru on the crazy.
__________
"Containment" was a U.S. policy devised by George Kennan in 1947 to inhibit the expansion of a powerful and sometimes aggressive soon-to-be nuclear armed Soviet Union, which was rightly seen as a serious threat.EugeneGur , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:08 pm GMT"which was rightly seen as a serious threat."
So it was, was it? That's really the beginning of the bullshit in American policy. There were a few naysayers back then, since largely vindicated by the opening of former Soviet archives, who claimed that Stalin's postwar moves were largely defensive in nature and intended to protect the USSR from the talked about US preemptive attack on the Soviet Union. Stalin was well aware of all the loose talk on the American side and his country had just endured the same attempt on the part of Nazi Germany.annamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:10 pm GMT"Containment" was a U.S. policy devised by George Kennan in 1947 to inhibit the expansion of a powerful and sometimes aggressive soon-to-be nuclear armed Soviet Union, which was rightly seen as a serious threat.
Could someone explain to me how exactly was the Soviet Union a serious threat to the US, particularly in 1947? The country was devastated by the war; some regions suffered from hunger, for goodness' sake; tens of millions were dead or maimed; the worked force was depleted as million of young men were killed, so the economic burden fell on the shoulders of women and teenagers; the cost of housing of people left homeless by the war was staggering; the cost of caring for orphan children, wounded and invalids – ditto. In contrast, the United States was getting fatter by the minutes having benefited enormously from the war in Europe.
The Soviet Union "sometimes aggressive"? I am not aware of any Soviet plans to attack the US but we all know about the American and British plant to attack the USSR formulated as early as in 1945. No doubts the Soviet leadership was aware of such plans. The Soviets, having witnessed a demonstration staged for their benefits in Japans of the power of nuclear weapons, did everything with one purpose in mind: to prevent an attack, which they were in no position to withstand. Needless to say, the USSR didn't have nuclear weapons at that time but even after it had acquired them, it didn't quite catch up with the US in terms on number until the very end.
It's fair to say that the Soviet Union was never ever a thereat to the US. On the contrary, the US was a threat to the Soviet Union from the fist till the last day of its existence, as it remains a treat to Russia today. The problems with the Americans, even the most reasonable of them (not at all difficult to appear on today's insane background), is that they don't question the entire narrative they are fed but only the bits of it.
@MAGAnotMISA "ISIS is a mossad-Jewish lobby creation to win the PR war against Muslims and to keep the US attacking and "containing" Israel's geopolitical adversaries and eternally occupying Arab lands, and well, to Make Israel Safe Again "Michael Kenny , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:18 pm GMT– Hard to disagree with your statement. And who could forget the amazing care of the Jewish State for the White Helmets known for their cooperation with other "moderate" terrorists: https://gellerreport.com/2018/07/israel-syria-jordan.html/
Israel Evacuates 800 of Syria's White Helmets and Their Families to Jordan
The Israel Defense Forces said it engaged in the "out of the ordinary" gesture due to the "immediate risk" to the lives of the civilians, as Russian-backed regime forces closed in on the area. It stressed that it was not intervening in the ongoing fighting in Syria.
The Jordanian government, which has consistently refused to accept Syrian refugees in recent years, said an exception was made in this case as the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany agreed to take the 800 White Helmet rescuers and their families.
Germany's Bild newspaper reported that a convoy of dozens of buses crossed the Syrian border into Israel late Saturday, and were escorted to the Jordanian border by Israeli police and UN forces.
A lot of the rejoicing in the pro-Putin camp seems to be based on the idea that this somehow benefits Putin but I don't think it does. He is still irreversibly bogged down in Syria.Alfred , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:29 pm GMT@renfro Netanyahu is telling the idiotic Israeli public what they want to hear. Let's not forget that there are elections due on 9 April.2stateshmustate , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:31 pm GMTYou can hardly expect a politician to tell the public that if they so much as launch a missile against Damascus airport, the airport of Tel Aviv will be bombed in return. The days when the Israelis could do as they wished in Syria and Lebanon are gone.
@DESERT FOX You took the words right out of my mouth.annamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:32 pm GMT@MAGAnotMISA More on the Jewish State's beloved protege White Helmets and the profoundly zionized presstituting MSM: https://www.rt.com/op-ed/447385-white-helmets-un-panel/wayfarer , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:36 pm GMT"Organ theft, staged attacks: UN panel details White Helmets' criminal activities, media yawns," by Eva Bartlett.
"[During] a more than one-hour-long panel on the White Helmets at the United Nations on December 20 the irrefutable documentation was presented on the faux-rescue group's involvement in criminal activities, which include organ theft, working with terrorists -- including as snipers -- staging fake rescues, thieving from civilians, and other non-rescuer behaviour.
a Syrian civilian, Omar al-Mustafa, is cited as stating: "I saw them (White Helmets) bring children who were alive, put them on the floor as if they had died in a chemical attack."
In my own visits to eastern Ghouta towns last April and May, residents likewise spoke of organ theft, staged rescues, the White Helmets working with Jaysh al-Islam, while an Aleppo man likewise described them as thieves who steal from civilians, not rescuers.
Four days after the UN panel, to my knowledge, not a single corporate media outlet has covered the event and its critical contents.
This is in spite of the fact that the Western corporate media has been happy to propagandize about the White Helmets for years, and to attack those of us who dare to present testimonies and evidence from on the ground in Syria which contradicts the official narrative.
@Johnny Walker Read Merry Christmas, to you and the world, as well.wayfarer , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:46 pm GMTAny ideas as to why Albuquerque New Mexico is being targeted?
I've been following some theories surrounding the Paradise California fires.
It seems as if the "elite's" end-game is now at our door-step.
I don't know about you, but I can sure feel my soldier DNA starting to activate.
Not really looking forward to what's coming down humanity's dark road.
Alfred , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:49 pm GMTThere are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil, to one who is striking at the root.
New World Order Reveals Their Plans for U.S. in 2019
@DESERT FOX "The most incredible thing was that the Zionists and the Zionist controlled deep state did 911 which was the precursor to the latest Mideast wars and the war on terror where the Zionists killed some 3000 Americans and blamed the Arabs and got away with it , when every thinking American knows that Israel and the Zionist controlled deep state did 911!"annamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:51 pm GMTThe number of victims of 9/11 in NYC are way above 3000. Cancers and so on just don't get counted. BTW, it is not from the dust. It is from the small nuclear bombs in the 2 buildings. The 3rd building was only explosives.
https://nypost.com/2018/08/11/nearly-10k-people-have-gotten-cancer-from-toxic-9-11-dust/
Here is a useful link:
""9-11/Israel did it""
@jilles dykstra "Is Netanyahu crazy enough to provoke an attack ?"anon [231] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 7:57 pm GMT– He is certainly endangering himself and his parasitic state by the silly ideas of mythological choseness.
Let's hope that the more intelligent Soviet Jews (as compared to the mediocre pool of the pre-Soviet Israelis) take pains to explain the former salesman the stupidity of military confrontation with Iran/Russia.As for the US-dwelling zionists' stupidity it is irredeemable.
@EugeneGurfollyofwar , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:14 pm GMTThe Soviet Union "sometimes aggressive"? I am not aware of any Soviet plans to attack the US but we all know about the American and British plant to attack the USSR formulated as early as in 1945.
obtuse
@Bragadocious What the hell is up with these dysfunctional Brits anyway? With their empire thankfully long gone, their society in tatters, and a Muslim mayor running majority-minority London, they think they can get the US to take on Iran for them? Spare me! This "special relationship" has got to end. The Brits must be under the thumb of the Zionists even more than is the USA. And their sad monarchy belongs in the dustbin of history.annamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:14 pm GMT@Tony H. George Kennan's attitude towards Russia had evolved throughout the 70s-90s, but this evolution has been carefully obscured by the ziocon warriors and other war-profiteers using the ZUSA resources for their personal enrichment:Realist , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:26 pm GMTWith the end of the Cold War, Kennan continued to emphasize the limits of American power and the need for restraint in the exercise of it.
He lived to see the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war and characteristically aimed to influence the role that the United States should play in the new world circumstances.
He objected to plans for North Atlantic Treaty Organization expansion and to what he saw as exploitation of Russian weakness.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/us-history-biographies/george-kennan
anon [228] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:26 pm GMTAnd he might want to think of a Christmas present for 2019. One might suggest a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan.
And in addition Syria, Iraq, Guam, Germany, Britain, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Norway and on and on. Give the present 11 months early.
@annamaria THis is that GELLER who has been riling up ant Muslim hysteria in US She has been co hosting the islamophobes and has been renting spaces for add against JihadSimply Simon , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:31 pm GMTOMG
WTFwake up America
Or is there 2 Gellers?
@FB Wow, great picture! Incredible detail. More than an iPhone I suspect.anon [228] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:32 pm GMT@Michael Kenny Like you are irreversibly bogged down in between your legs looking for Bush's WMD, Obama's gas, Netanyhu's water source , Rothschild's oil,Bolton's nooses around himself,Weekly Standard's lost child FDD and confused Sheldon's diaper.DESERT FOX , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:39 pm GMT
!@Alfred Agree that many have died and are dying from cancer caused by the asbestos and other materials in the dust, in my opinion the WTC towers were destroyed by direct energy weapons plus micro nukes and WTC buildings 3,4,5,and 6 were destroyed by direct energy weapons and WTC 7 was destroyed by conventional explosives, and there were 7 WTC buildings destroyed in total.Realist , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:42 pm GMTCheck the site Drjudywood.com and read her book Where Did The Towers Go and watch her videos on youtube, she is a scientist and very credible and it is from her that I got the directed energy weapons theory. There were no planes used and the planes that were seen were holograms and for an explanation of this see John Lears videos on youtube, John Lear is the son of William Lear the designer of the Lear Jet and John was a commercial pilot and his videos on 911 explain why no planes were used.
Zionist Israel and the zionist controlled deep state did 911.
@Ronald Thomas WestAnon [257] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:45 pm GMTIs Putin ready for Erdogan to back-stab Russia again? (recalling Erdogan's military had shot down a Russian jet.)
The biggest problem Putin has with Erogan is the control of the Russian navy's exit from the Black sea through the Bosporus.
@jilles dykstra It's just what you said, he's keeping a low profile and staying inside on advice of his security. They're probably worried about snipers in ahigh rise somewhere.Svigor , says: December 25, 2018 at 8:53 pm GMTIt's been fun listening to (((NPR))) try to spin military withdrawal as a bad thing without actually saying as much. "Trump's facing critics in his own party," "here are some Kurds bitching," "General McProcurer is really pissed," "Chikkenhauk Epsteinbergwitzbaum sez it's the end of the world," etc.m___ , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:09 pm GMTLOL.
No rationality, no credibility decision (Syria withdrawal).chris , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:18 pm GMTMost variables are missing. Trump is insignificant but as a figurehead. At least a few layers, the correlations and "secret" deals with Israel, Turkey, IS, Kurds, France, the UK, let's not forget Russia are missing. The commoner, deplorable, are lead by the nose, our middle class bread scribes are doing the herding by shifting the attention, and building an exit of face saving on what they omit to pull in the open.
No value in this "News" and "Christmas present" at all, but more of deceit of a global ruling class in the shadows. It is called smarts, to deceive the rest of the dumb (in the eyes of the elites) masses, it is relevant to call out our elites on not smart enough to think over the long term.
Who of a building presence of outliers can they still deceive?
@Sarah Toga "Death and taxes" for countries translates to "war and bankruptcy." Maybe we'll get lucky and hit the latter before we kill everyone in the former.AnonFromTN , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:20 pm GMT@Realist That's more like Erdogan's problem with Russia. Russian coastal defense system K-300P Bastion-P in Crimea is perfectly capable of making Bosporus and Dardanelles straits much wider. However crazy Erdogan is, he is well aware of that.RobinG , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:21 pm GMT.local sources told Al Jazeera and Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency --chris , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:27 pm GMTTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that Ankara and Washington agreed to complete withdrawal of the YPG forces from Manbij before the US pulls out of Syria.
He added the US agreed to take back weapons given to the YPG.
Syrian government forces 'enter' Kurdish-controlled Manbij region
Trucks carrying regime forces and equipment, and armoured vehicles have arrived in the region, sources say.@Svigor Very funny, Svigor, still, you couldn't pay me enough to listen to NPR.Bragadocious , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:31 pm GMTThe smug, self-confidence of diletantnts combined with crass dishonesty is hard to beat when it comes to annoying!
@follyofwar Actually Brits think their country is doing just great. But yeah, the "special relationship" should be scuttled. We face a bigger threat from British jihadis than any Iranians anywhere. Richard Reid is sitting in a federal Supermax but I don't think any Iranians are.annamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:36 pm GMTBrits simply love using the U.S. military for their own venal objectives. And if anything goes wrong, the Brits can distance themselves and blame it on "the Yanks." A win-win.
Merry Christmas, dear Friends:AnonFromTN , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:42 pm GMThttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=217&v=qJ_MGWio-vc
@Svigor It is really funny to see "peace-loving" liberals trying not to look like warmongers that they are. NPR is not alone in attempting this sleight of hand: NYT, CNN, WaPo, and others of their ilk are desperately trying to appear peace-loving while promoting wars that benefit MIC and Israel. Hypocrisy at its most awkward. The only good thing is, they are forced to show their true colors.peterAUS , says: December 25, 2018 at 9:59 pm GMT@m___ Well you know, that perception of yours re how the real world really works is, actually, positive and optimistic.nickels , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:12 pm GMTIf if I get you correct, you believe/feel/think there IS the "overclass" (for a lack of better word) which rules the world. They are hidden, all powerful, competent, on the same page and malevolent re us , the common folks.
I am afraid that's not the case.
I believe/feel/think there is no such overclass.
My take is there are warring factions of mostly incompetent little people with a lot of power who fight among themselves who's going to get more power and related material wealth. The malevolent part re all those they see as below them is given, of course.And, gets worse, actually.
In this particular case I think the decision was made in a spur of a moment. Pure Emperor whim ,if you will.
On top of it, we still haven't seen any actual move on the ground.
And, even if those up to 2000 men do pull out, what about CIA/special forces/contractors bunch?
And, even better, those 2000 and more can return in 48 hours if the Emperor decides otherwise. In a spur of a moment too.Anyone so happy here commenting this .thing has been following what's really been happening with North Korea?
What exactly changed from that fateful meeting between the Emperor and the .Cult Leader?
Let's summarize: the very point of all that was stopping and rolling back NK capability for long range nuclear strike.
So .any "rolling" happened? Anything?
I don't think so, but, more than happy to be proven wrong. Proven, mind you.The only important, and sad actually, is how we all got into the stage when a tweet by that fellow can agitate us so much.
Mice and just a whiff of cheese over the cage.They really got us where they wanted. And those "they" aren't even that smart.
Just great.All wars are jews wars:annamaria , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:19 pm GMT"Trump is retreating from Syria – and from his pro-Israel Jewish conservative voters. If that decision is a harbinger of other strategic moves distancing him from Israel's security, much of his remaining Jewish support will fall off a cliff"
A wonderfully conciliatory and hopeful article by Thierry Meyssan: http://www.voltairenet.org/article204453.htmlAnonFromTN , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:20 pm GMT"The United States refuse to fight for the transnational financiers"
As soon as he entered the White House, Donald Trump was careful to surround himself with three senior military officers with enough authority to reposition the armed forces. Michael Flynn, John Kelly and especially James Mattis, have since left or are in the process of leaving. All three men are great soldiers who together had opposed their hierarchy during Obama's presidency. They did not accept the strategy implemented by ambassador John Negroponte for the creation of terrorist groups tasked with stirring up a civil war in Iraq. All three stood with President Trump to annul Washington's support for the jihadists.
The Pentagon project for the last seventeen years in the "Greater Middle East" will not happen. Conceived by Admiral Arthur Cebrowski, it was aimed at destroying all the state structures in the region, with the exception of Israël, Jordan and Lebanon. This plan, which began in Afghanistan, spread as far as Libya, and is still under way, will come to an end on Syrian territory.
It is no longer acceptable that US armies fight with taxpayers' funds for the sole financial interests of global financiers, even if they are US citizens.
The Bush Jr. and Obama administrations shoulder the entire responsibility for this war [in Syria]. They were the ones who planned it and realised it within the framework of a unipolar world .
Afghanistan's misery began during the Carter presidency. National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzeziński, called on the Muslim Brotherhood and Israël to launch a campaign of terrorism against the Communist government. Terrified, the government appealed to the Soviets to maintain order. The result was a fourteen-year war, followed by a civil war, and then followed by the Anglo-US invasion.
After forty years of uninterrupted destruction, President Trump states that US military presence is not the solution for Afghanistan, it's the problem.
@peterAUSRonald Thomas West , says: Website December 25, 2018 at 10:24 pm GMTMy take is there are warring factions of mostly incompetent little people with a lot of power who fight among themselves who's going to get more power and related material wealth. The malevolent part re all those they see as below them is given, of course.
And those "they" aren't even that smart.
My goodness! I agree with you on this.
@Realist When Erdogan's military had shot down the Russian jet, Turkey paid for it rapidly with an economic squeeze. Russian tourism to Turkey was shut down and green grocer exports to Russia were subjected to intense scrutiny/inspection and nearly halted. One could say the Turks are still feeling the effect, the impact was immediate and probably there hasn't been a full recovery to some of the businesses that had been damaged. Erdogan tucked his tail and played nice with Putin after all but he is no dependable ally of anyone, he's screwed everyone he'd ever done business with insofar as the M.E. regional game. The main problem with Turkey for Russia is the Erdogan regime's Salafi outlook (to say the leadership is sympathetic to al-Qaida would be an understatement.) Erdogan may have promised to 'neutralize' the Idlib extremists but he won't, he can't, in fact he doesn't dare, it is estimated there are upwards of 1,000 cells established in Turkey. How that plays out is anyone's guess but my money is on the idea he'll shove the the Idlib extremists off on the Kurds as a Turkish military proxy and cross Putin in the process (the USA won't mind this at all and in fact CIA Ops division might reward it.)Anon [149] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:36 pm GMTanon [376] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:43 pm GMTLOCKERBIE
@BragadociousRobinG , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:50 pm GMTBrits simply love using the U.S. military for their own venal objectives.
yeah, those dirty "Brits"
next thing you know they'll try to send the US Navy up the Yangtze River to force opium on the Chinese, lol
@AnonFromTN "The only good thing is, they are forced to show their true colors."Digital Samizdat , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:54 pm GMT
Exactly. The liars, frauds, gatekeepers, Hillary-bots, and every brand of stupid in between have been flushed into the open. For example, anyone who still admires Chomsky should take note:Aaron MatéVerified account @aaronjmate · Dec 24
Update: Chomsky was sent my Q & this is his response. He favors keeping US troops in Syria as a holding operation until a final settlement w/ Russia-Assad that could guarantee Kurds' safety. With US pulling out now, he argues that all leverage is lost to avoid a Turkish assault:
"What deal with the Russians (who right now are making cozy deals with Turkey)? And a deal with Assad, the main mass murderer in Syria – – who can in any event do nothing to deter Turkey.
In fact, in the longer term there should be a deal crucially involving Russia and with Assad, with some kind of guarantees (for what they are worth) to preserve at least some limited protection for the Kurds. But that's the longer term. This is now. For now, the sole deterrent to a Turkish assault is a small US contingent confined to Kurdish areas, as a holding operation for a possible longer term settlement along the lines just indicated."
Everybody say a prayer for Lindsay Graham this Christmas. I hear he's in distressAnon [149] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:36 pm GMTanon [376] Disclaimer , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:43 pm GMTLOCKERBIE
@BragadociousRobinG , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:50 pm GMTBrits simply love using the U.S. military for their own venal objectives.
yeah, those dirty "Brits"
next thing you know they'll try to send the US Navy up the Yangtze River to force opium on the Chinese, lol
@AnonFromTN "The only good thing is, they are forced to show their true colors."Digital Samizdat , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:54 pm GMT
Exactly. The liars, frauds, gatekeepers, Hillary-bots, and every brand of stupid in between have been flushed into the open. For example, anyone who still admires Chomsky should take note:Aaron MatéVerified account @aaronjmate · Dec 24
Update: Chomsky was sent my Q & this is his response. He favors keeping US troops in Syria as a holding operation until a final settlement w/ Russia-Assad that could guarantee Kurds' safety. With US pulling out now, he argues that all leverage is lost to avoid a Turkish assault:
"What deal with the Russians (who right now are making cozy deals with Turkey)? And a deal with Assad, the main mass murderer in Syria – – who can in any event do nothing to deter Turkey.
In fact, in the longer term there should be a deal crucially involving Russia and with Assad, with some kind of guarantees (for what they are worth) to preserve at least some limited protection for the Kurds. But that's the longer term. This is now. For now, the sole deterrent to a Turkish assault is a small US contingent confined to Kurdish areas, as a holding operation for a possible longer term settlement along the lines just indicated."
Everybody say a prayer for Lindsay Graham this Christmas. I hear he's in distressSvigor , says: December 25, 2018 at 10:57 pm GMTI find it interesting that Drudge has had almost nothing about the Syria withdrawal, or the fallout Giraldi describes. I heard far more about it by tuning in to NPR.Haxo Angmark , says: Website December 25, 2018 at 11:07 pm GMTjust in case no one above has mentioned it:FB , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:08 pm GMT(((Reuters))) is a
(((Rothschild)))-owned fake news racket. And, incidentally,
(((Reuters))) is where the BBC got its 15-minutes premature bulletin
on the collapse of WT-7.
@Michael Kenny If Putin is 'bogged' down in Syria, one shudders to think of what kind of bog your tiny brain is stuck inRealist , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:17 pm GMT@AnonFromTNNoseytheDuke , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:25 pm GMTThat's more like Erdogan's problem with Russia. Russian coastal defense system K-300P Bastion-P in Crimea is perfectly capable of making Bosporus and Dardanelles straits much wider.
It's not that simple. Any attempt to take control of the of the Bosporus would make it at least temporarily impassable.
@follyofwar The real change will come should ever US military personnel realise that true patriotism would compel them not to serve, to sabotage equipment and even resort to fragging. Perhaps Incitatus could give instructions on how some could pull off a "Corporal Klinger" in order to evade service.geokat62 , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:27 pm GMTWell, that didn't take long:Svigor , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:37 pm GMT@Carlton Meyer Good clip. High points for LULZ were "if we're fighting Assad doesn't that help ISIS? And if we're fighting ISIS doesn't that help Assad?" and "now you know why people get their news from Youtube."NoseytheDuke , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:39 pm GMT@Bragadocious It is business as usual. I remember when GWB was having some difficulty selling the war on Iraq prior to the invasion. War criminal Tony Blair very eloquently addressed both houses in the US and closed the sale. I watched it live with a tough old former Marine friend who was actually moved to tears when he realised that the war would be going ahead. What hope is there for nations that have yet to hold to account such vermin as Blair, GWB, Howard etc?Digital Samizdat , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:43 pm GMT@follyofwar The Brits were the original Rothschild ass-muppets. Before there was the Fed, there was the Bank of England. Before there was the Senate, there was Parliament. And before there was Wall Street, there was the City of London. Hell, without Britain, Israel wouldn't even exist!Wally , says: December 25, 2018 at 11:51 pm GMTI'm not putting down ordinary British people, who tend to be very nice. I'm talking about their horrible ruling class, which is just rotten to the core.
@Anon What's the battle cry of the US army?Wally , says: Website December 25, 2018 at 11:56 pm GMT@anon LOLAnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:01 am GMTAlso how Kenny is "irreversibly bogged down in" trying to find proof of his fantasized '6,000,000 Jews & gas chambers'.
@Realist Taking into account long-range missiles, impassability of those straits is not such a great military problem. But the disappearance of a large chunk if Istanbul (the US would call it "collateral damage") would be a serious problem for Turkey.Wally , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:01 am GMTI don't think it would ever come to that: Erdogan is a cautious bastard. His whole stint with buying Russian C-400 was undertaken to make sure he is not "democratically" bombed by those who bring democracy on the heads of aborigines in half-a-ton TNT installments and then bitterly complain that those aborigines are ungrateful.
@Svigor Indeed, the once 'pro-peace left' is quite the opposite.NoseytheDuke , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:09 am GMTI always laugh when I see peace sign bumper stickers next to Obama and / or Hillary stickers.
@Bragadocious To be fair, the "Brits", as in the British people, bear the same responsibility as do the "Americans", as in the American people. Granted, a great many voters in both nations are quite utterly stupid but it might be more accurate to refer to The City and to Wall St as being the guilty ones.RobinG , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:17 am GMT@geokat62 Could be Maram was a little quick off the mark with the "raining down." But definitely, Israel may try anything in desperation.obwandiyag , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:38 am GMTSYRIANA ANALYSIS -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYj2WWh7Pgw&feature=youtu.be
Syrian air defences responding to hostile targets in Damascus
The US is ISIS. It's like stopping hitting yourself in the face.anon [246] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:42 am GMTIll believe it when they are gone.ChuckOrloski , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:02 am GMTTrump now has a new acting Secretary of Defense [Shannahan]. Turkey is already dithering about needing more time.
Military will never stop slow walking this.
Although new alliances are being formed.
@wayfarer Christmas greetings, Wayfarer!wayfarer , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:10 am GMTThanks so much for the video examination of The Economist magazine cover. Oh, man! What s gift you gave U.R. commenters.
The stork carrying the baby delivery bag with bar code markings especially astonished me!
Thanks, again!
@FB Just a thought.ChuckOrloski , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:13 am GMTGrunts, the ones actually doing the fighting and dying, will typically refer to one who speaks out in support of war, yet has avoided active military service, as a chickenshit and not a chickenhawk.
So it's probably safe to say, wikiquote needs to be updated.
source: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chickenhawk_(politics)
@geokat62 Hey geokat!Anon [512] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:20 am GMT(Zigh)
As drudgereport features today, Pope proclaims love is needed, Israel gave neighboring Syria some backward-love, uh, "evol," today, Christmas day!
Chickenhawk ought to become the term for warmongers too cowardly actually join the military themselves.Anon [512] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:30 am GMT@never-anonymous Your average American general isn't interested in America's welfare. He's interested in the defensive industry because he plans to retire early from the US army and get rich lobbying for defensive companies. People like this tend to be good at climbing the rank ladder because they are completely self-serving, and they are a genuine problem for the the US when they get to the top and claim the ear of a US president. All they do is promote more war to make their future employers rich, who then provide a quid pro quo by hiring these disgusting generals afterwards.Pft , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:39 am GMT"though one has to be concerned that there might be some secret side deals with Israel or Turkey that could actually result in more attacks on Syria and on the Kurds. "wayfarer , says: December 26, 2018 at 2:04 am GMTLol, yup, thats the plan
@ChuckOrloskiRobinG , says: December 26, 2018 at 2:35 am GMTThe patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.
That is you, Chuck Orloski.
You're an American patriot, one who's proven to be a "reliable soldier" in the good fight.
Hope you've had a Merry Christmas.
Now standby for heavy rolls, in 2019.
@RobinG Or not.redmudhooch , says: December 26, 2018 at 2:49 am GMT@Partisangirl
#Israel murdered this Syrian soldier on #christmas. First lieutenant Gabriel Ali Raya won't be going home to his family. Yet fools keep believing Israeli lie that they are targeting Iran while it's bombing #Syria.This is most certainly good news if true, but lets not forget they're still poking at Russia, poking at China, still all over Africa, still stirring trouble in Latin America.Agent76 , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:30 am GMT
Who knows if they may be about to send in private mercenaries from Blackwater into Syria. Not to mention all the money and weapons we give the Israelis-Saudis so they'll still be stirring shit in Syria and elsewhere, all that American money could buy Israel lots of mercenaries to do the same thing in Syria.The entire MIC has gotten out of control, money buys congress, they have lots of money. Assuming Trump has any real power or actually cares, he should be trying to get the "defense" industries into doing something other than building weapons of war, maybe put them to work in technology or health or something that benefits humanity, gets America back to competing with Asia, instead of just killing folks.
As long as these "people" are making tons of money building weapons to kill, that is what they will do, wherever it may be. War shouldn't a business.
I guess we just have to wait and see, I'll believe it when I see it.April 07, 2017 Pentagon Trained Syria's Al Qaeda "Rebels" in the Use of Chemical WeaponsA123 , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:31 am GMTThe Western media refutes their own lies.
Apr 9, 2017 No More
DECEMBER 21, 2018 It's About Time for the U.S. to Exit Syria and Afghanistan
The final resolution of the U.S.-led war in Syria must be determined by Syrians themselves. All foreign forces must recognize and respect the sovereignty of the Syrian people and their legal representatives.
https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/usoutofsyria
@RobinG 100% of the planes sent by Israel have returned to base damage free.Agent76 , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:31 am GMTAfter Action Review [AAR]:
-- Assad' s forces definitely expended a significant number of very expensive interceptors.
-- They may, or may not, have shot down one or more less expensive standoff weapons launched by Israel.
-- Iranian forces in Syria were hit and damaged (TBD on repairable vs. destroyed).All objective analysts will score today's engagement as at least a minor win for the IDF.
Stand by for the non-objective, histrionic, Pallywood, Taqiyya artists' inevitable attempts to misrepresent the events.
_____The most critical question is, "What AA systems were active?"
The S-300 system, slated for eventual turnover to Syrian forces, has significant training requirements. There are still months of training to be done. So, odds are the S-300 and S-400 systems in theatre, under exclusive Russian control, stayed off.
Much more limited systems such as S-200, Pantsir, and earlier generations are beatable if they are accurately located during planning and shown the respect they deserve. These systems have one shootdown of an F-16 variant that was too low and may have had a serious mechanical failure in countermeasures.
The true decision points are still months away.
-- Will Russia ever turn an S-300 system over to Syrian control?
-- If so, will Assad pay the cash burn rate of ~$0.5 to $1.0 million per S-300 class interceptor?It is hard to believe that Assad will further bankrupt his nation and starve his children to defend the Iranian, al-Hezbollah rocket forces being targeted by Israel.
May 5, 2017 Syrian War And The Battle For Golan Heights – Genie Oil & Gas Exposed!JLK , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:51 am GMTThe battle for Golan Heights in Syria will soon be under way and in this video Dan Dicks of Press For Truth exposes the Genie Oil and Gas Company and everyone on their advisory board.
@AnonFromTNRobinG , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:59 am GMTStay tuned.
I'm as happy with the withdrawal from Syria as anyone here, but "stay tuned" is probably good advice so we don't get our hopes up too much. They may have moved them out of harm's way in preparation for initiating more mischief somewhere else.
@A123 Troll #A123 confirms,niceland , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:10 am GMT
ISRAEL KILLS ON CHRISTMASFollowing ancient pattern of Jews attacking on Holy Days.
Pantsir-S2 SAM system of #Syria Arab Air Defense Force launched eight 57E6-E surface to air missiles at Delilah cruise missiles launched by F-16Is of 107sq "Knights of the Orange Tail Squadron" flying from #Hatzerim AB.
@JLK Or perhaps a bargaining chip. Trump: "pay for my wall and I consider keeping the army in Syria"Anonymous [209] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:55 am GMT@AnonFromTN "If Trump folds and reverses, this would expose him as a 100% fraud."Miro23 , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:16 am GMTSo far, I presume that Trump is 75% fraud ? or is he only 27,5% fraud ?
If by now you don't know that Trump is 100% fraud, I doubt you know what fraud is.
Since JFK, you can't be President w/o being 100% fraud.
annamaria , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:32 am GMTDonald Trump is already under extreme pressure coming from all directions to reverse his decision to leave Syria and it is quite possible that he will either fold completely or bend at least a bit.
Trump is dealing with the lethal crowd who orchestrated 9/11, so keeping this in mind, the Syria withdrawal decision could conceivably be taken out of his hands using (another) False Flag,this time targeting Iran (and sacrificing a few thousand American servicemen in the Middle East) or alternatively, using covert action in the US, aimed directly at substituting Trump for Pence.
In an ethics free zone, combined with the enormous hubris of the maniacs running the Empire, possibilities have to extend this far.
@A123 "100% of the planes sent by Israel have returned to base damage free."A123 , says: December 26, 2018 at 6:23 am GMT– does this mean that you are ready to abandon the annoying quetching about "Jewish eternal victimhood" and "Jewish incomparable suffering?"
And how is the Jewish State cooperation with Ukrainian neo-Nazi going on?
The first ever Jewish prime-minister of Ukraine Mr. Groysman has been quite effective in keeping with the ongoing restoration of Nazism and banderism in the Kaganat of Nuland (former Ukraine). Guess the main local financier of the neo-Nazi, an Israeli/Ukrainian citizen Kolomojsky, is preparing for a special award from Knesset and AIPAC for his selfless service to the ideas of zionism/nazism.
@RobinG Please observe . as predicted, . the Taqiyya Trolls are now attempting to deploy histrionics to distract from The Truth.byrresheim , says: December 26, 2018 at 6:33 am GMTSerious questions:
-- Do violent Iranian al-Hezbollah forces in Syria take off for Christian holidays? No?
-- Do violent Iranian al-Hamas forces in Gaza disrespect their own religion by launching offensive, border assaults every Friday? Yes?
-- What militarily sound reason is there to give a free pass to violent Iranian forces that do not respect any religious traditions or holidays? None?The bottom line is pretty simple.
If Iran was not violent, there would be no military action against them on Christmas or any other day. As long as Iran is violent, their Taqiyya supporters cannot credibly whinge about countries defending themselves against Iranian violence.
@jilles dykstra You would do well to read up on the late Shah's stance towards western exploitation of the rest of the world. It's an eye opener.Wizard of Oz , says: December 26, 2018 at 6:47 am GMTEven then I wondered how the horrible events of '79 came to pass against the wishes of the Free West™.
@Digital Samizdat What "ruling class". As ruling classes go, especially in a powerful country, the British ruling class wasn't too bad till about 1900. Now the pseudomeritocracy scrambling to make sense in a much less powerful and important country hardly deserves the description "ruling class" at all. Indeed universal suffrage and the devastation of WW1 and the Great Depression may have predictably doomed it years ago.Wizard of Oz , says: December 26, 2018 at 6:54 am GMT@NoseytheDuke What do you make of the excuse for Howard (though Malcolm Fraser wouldn't have conceded it!!) that he wasn't critical to the war happening and that only one Australian soldier was killed (by his own hand, presumably accidentally)? 2003 was, after all, a bit early to be looking to China for Australia's comfortable place in the world.anon [365] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 7:02 am GMT@renfro Israel is attacking Lebanon and Syria . it is threatening other countries as well in between for lending voices to issues like nuclear treaties with Iran. It has earlier stolen passports, it has forged passports, it has assassinated leaders who were at that time in third country. Now criticizing these activities will be nothing but expression of anti semitism.Realist , says: December 26, 2018 at 8:58 am GMTWTF wrong with these snake charmers of enormous linguistic variability ? That what it is. They have tongues and they know how to coin new words .
@AnonFromTNErebus , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:12 am GMTBut the disappearance of a large chunk if Istanbul (the US would call it "collateral damage") would be a serious problem for Turkey.
The US would call it war .Turkey is a NATO member.
@JLKjilles dykstra , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:45 am GMT"stay tuned" is probably good advice
Indeed it is, but the cacophony Trump's announcement raised seems genuine enough.
There's something about this whole affair that instills (at least in me) a vague sense that Trump, having given up on a 2nd term, is going to get whatever he can via surprise Presidential Policy Announcements as long as he lasts in office. It's how he ran his campaign and almost certainly the only way he can get anything he said he wanted to do done.
Keep his detractors off-balance with a sufficiently constant stream of announcements that their heads haven't quite stopped spinning before the next one comes out.
To that end, keeping the barking mad ideologues around him on the payroll makes sense. They add to the noise that serves to make the announcement appear reasonable, whereas nuanced argument would undermine his policies even when they're fundamentally right.
So, I'm staying tuned. We may see lots more coming from the same place.
@Bragadocious No more than military and political stupidity.jilles dykstra , says: December 26, 2018 at 10:02 am GMT
It had been pointed out that defending Srebreniza needed 80.000 troops and heavy weapons.Macron not on skis this year.jilles dykstra , says: December 26, 2018 at 10:14 am GMT
My idea is not fear of snipers, but fear of Macron being surrounded by Yellow Vest skiers.
Honnecker's vacations were staying on a government estate, of course completely closed to the public.
Even there, when he went for a walk, a guard a hundred metres before him and another behind him.
Advertising his impopularity by completely closing a piste temporarily for just Macron and some guards probably was seen as not a smart move.@NoseytheDuke Well, after, if I remember well, a seven year investigation a devastating report was published about B-liars' war in GB.jilles dykstra , says: December 26, 2018 at 11:00 am GMT
In the Netherlands a somewhat similar report was published about Dutch complicity, the David's report, blaming prime minister Balkenende at the time, and his minister of foreign affairs then, De Hoop Scheffer, later Secretary of NATO.
None of the three is behind bars, true.
Nevertheless, they were exposed as war criminals.
I wonder if it is realistic to expect more, the crimes were political.
If Blair and the two Dutch could have refused, I wonder.@byrresheim If it was horrible is a matter of opinion, I see it as liberation.annamaria , says: December 26, 2018 at 12:33 pm GMT
Horrible regime, the shah's
It was possible because the USA had been driven out of Vietnam, could not afford another war.@anon "Israel is attacking Lebanon and Syria."Johnny Walker Read , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:20 pm GMTThe Jewish State and rabid Israel-firsters are attacking western civilization: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-25/inside-temple-covert-propaganda-integrity-initiative-uks-scandalous-information-war
The Smith Richardson Foundation was founded by billionaire heir to the Vicks fortune, H. Smith Richardson In 1973, the founder's son, Randolph Richardson – a free market fundamentalist and long-time patron of neoconservative ideologue Irving Kristol – inherited the organization.
Recipients of funding from the Smith Richardson Foundation include a who's who of neoconservative and militaristic right-wing institutions.
The Fusion GPS' bunch and Chris Steele are not the only people subverting the democratic process in the US:
Recent hacked documents have revealed an international network of politicians, journalists, academics, researchers and military officers, all engaged in highly deceptive covert propaganda campaigns funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), NATO, Facebook and hardline national security institutions.
This "network of networks", as one document refers to them, centers around an ironically named outfit called the Integrity Initiative. And it is all overseen by the Institute for Statecraft, which has operated under a veil of secrecy.
Where is the US Intelligence Community when the foreign nationals infiltrate election complain in the US?
Bracey-Lane is a 20-something British citizen He appeared out of nowhere to work in Iowa as a field organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign for president.
"I spent a year working, saving all my money, just thought I was gonna go on a two month road trip from Seattle to New York and I thought, you know what? I'm gonna stay and work for the Bernie Sanders campaign," Bracey-Lane told a reporter for AFP on January 27, 2016.
However An Institute for Statecraft document on "roles and relevant experience" of the outfit's "expert team" notes that Bracey-Lane conducted a "special study of Russian interference in the US electoral process." The document does not make clear when that study was conducted, however, it is listed directly next to its author's history of work with the Bernie campaign.
The Integrity Initiative (oh, irony!) has been also busy with subverting the democratic process in Spain and the UK:
The Integrity Initiative waged a successful covert campaign to destroy the appointment of Pedro Baños to Director of Spain's National Security Department by carry[ing] out the hit job through a hand-picked "cluster" of Spanish politicians and operatives to flood social media and sympathetic outlets with messages demonizing Baños.
The Integrity Initiative appears to have employed the same tactics to smear left-wing journalists and political figures across the West, including the leader of the UK's Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.
According to David Miller, professor of political sociology in the school of policy studies at the University of Bristol and the director of the Organization for Propaganda Studies, the Integrity Initiative "appears to be a military directed push."
@wayfarer Not sure, but we are home to Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Labs so I guess anything is possible. I just know it has been brutal all fall and winter. Starts out with massive chemtrailing and ends up with sky completely darkened.follyofwar , says: December 26, 2018 at 1:59 pm GMTMy spidy sense is also tingling, but I am in awe that no one seem's to notice, no one seem's to care. Like you, I feel the curtain is about to be pulled on the final act. God help us all.
@Realist I've read that Mr. Trump abrupted decided to pull out of Syria after a phone call with Erdogan. He wasn't about to confer with Mattis, Pompeo, or Bolton as they would have all objected. Trump cannot afford to be the president who allowed Turkey to leave NATO and align with Russia. It's all about geo-politics.Fran Macadam , says: December 26, 2018 at 2:07 pm GMTToo bad that crybaby Netanyahu doesn't like it. Israel has nowhere else to go and needs US support to even exist. The Kurds will be sacrificed, but Turkey is much more important. Trump must pull out the US troops ASAP as they nothing but sitting ducks – like those 400 or so Marines who were blown up during the Lebanese civil war during the Reagan Admin. My biggest concern is that they will be attacked with many casualties while in country, forcing Trump to stay.
"Filmmaker Rob Reiner tweeted on Thursday that the president is a 'childish moronic mentally unstable malignant narcissist' who is 'committing Treason' against the United States."geokat62 , says: December 26, 2018 at 2:42 pm GMTHe didn't just play a meathead on TV, he became one in real life.
@Fran Macadamjilles dykstra , says: December 26, 2018 at 2:48 pm GMTHe didn't just play a meathead on TV, he became one in real life.
Welcome to the dark side, Fran.
@follyofwar " Trump cannot afford to be the president who allowed Turkey to leave NATO and align with Russia. It's all about geo-politics. "AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:13 pm GMTWhat makes you think Turkey is still in NATO ?
And what is NATO ?
Both Merkel and Macron say they want an EU army.
An army for what, many here in Europe wonder.
Attacking the country that keeps the Germans warm in winter and German industry going ?@Realist Did you read Article V of NATO treaty?APilgrim , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:41 pm GMT
Here it is:Article V
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.To translate it into plain English, if one member is attacked and another member decides to send the victim pampers, that other member would be perfectly within its rights. The US made 100% sure it has no obligations whatsoever under that treaty. Not to mention that when the US does have obligations, it simply breaks the treaty (the deal with Iran being the latest glaring example).
@Johnny Walker Read I call Bull SH1TNoseytheDuke , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:46 pm GMTNew Mexico has little Snowpack, so far. https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=New+Mexico&format=SNOTEL+Snowpack+Update+Report – https://www.onthesnow.com/new-mexico/ski-apache/skireport.html
@Wizard of Oz A great legal mind such as your own would surely know that under US law any person involved in any way in a crime resulting in the deaths of victims is held to be equally responsible. Just being a wheelman or a lookout is enough to be found to be as equally guilty as the triggerman. All forces involved in the war crimes of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, other than the US, were token forces whose role was as much to legitimise the US invasions as to have much material impact. Howard's (and Blair's) excuse that it was due to faulty intel is an insult to those who serve honourably and legitimately in ASIO.AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:49 pm GMTString them up, I say, and you Sir would demean yourself should you attempt to defend them.
@Anonymous You are seeing the world in black and white, whereas in reality it has various shades of gray. The Deep State is not monolithic. Every snake in that pit wants to control not only us "deplorables", but the other snakes, as well. While all those greedy rothschilds, soroses, and adelsons beat even Devil himself in their lack of morals, some placed their bets on the corrupt mad witch, while others on the orange clown. Some snakes are smart enough to understand that to keep their loot they need the protection of a strong US state. Otherwise other thieves would gladly steal their ill-gotten riches.foolisholdman , says: December 26, 2018 at 3:55 pm GMTThe presidents are frauds in a sense that they are puppets, but not in a sense that they all have the same puppet master. Say, Nixon put the country ahead of the Empire and extricated us from the Vietnam quagmire. There is a chance that Trump (i.e., the faction of the Deep State that betted on him) also wants to save America as a country by acknowledging the losses of the Empire and acting accordingly. We'll see soon enough.
@anon Care to give us some examples of 'Soviet Aggression'?anon [994] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:07 pm GMT@annamaria WHAT IS ANTISEMITISM !AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:10 pm GMTIsrael behind civilian planes ( this time in Lebanon)attacked Syria.
criticizing this piece of Israeli behavior is known as anti semitism according to Jew and the jew slave Congress Senate , Diet , Parliament , ( USA Germany UK )
. If Saddam were Jewish , his pals were Likud and the citizen worshipped in synagogue , criticism against 1990 invasion of Kuwait would have been called anti semitism punishable by jail .@foolisholdman There were cases of real Soviet aggression, although, contrary to the assertion of Western propaganda, much fewer than there were cases of the US aggression. To give you an example, invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was Soviet aggression at its stupidest. The US invasion of the same Afghanistan in 2001 was equally stupid. One can argue that it was even more stupid, given that Soviet example preceded it. Only a hopeless moron steps into a trap knowing that it is a trap.Svigor , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:34 pm GMTHowever disgusting the US foreign policy was and still is, the USSR was no knight in shining armor, either.
@foolisholdman Sure Finland Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Ukraine Poland Germany Belarus Armenia Azerbaijan Estonia Latvia Bulgaria Georgia Yugoslavia Lithuania Moldova Chechnia etc.Agent76 , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:35 pm GMT@DESERT FOX September 11, 2016 Al Qaeda: The Data BaseRobinG , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:42 pm GMTShortly before his untimely death, former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told the House of Commons that "Al Qaeda" is not really a terrorist group but a database of international mujaheddin and arms smugglers used by the CIA and Saudis to funnel guerrillas, arms, and money into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.
@AnonFromTN Try again. Maybe 1979 was foolish, since "invasion" was manufactured.MacNucc11 , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:57 pm GMTAs Zbig Brzezinski admitted, the Soviet action was produced by the CIA support to anti-Russian Jihadi terrorism, not the other way round. Basically CIA funded terrorism to "give USSR its own Vietnam." His interview is online.
@wayfarer An argument could be made that even chickenshit is being improperly associated since it most likely has some use as opposed to none at all.ChuckOrloski , says: December 26, 2018 at 4:59 pm GMT@geokat62 geo warmly offered Fran: 'Welcome to the dark side, Fran."A123 , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:01 pm GMTHey G.D.L.-robed Brother geokat!
As you likely are aware, the Syrian ballistic missile system gave 14 of 16 Israeli F-16 (dark) missiles aimed at Damascus outskirt a bright & shiny welcome.
But nonetheless, please refer to Haaretz article below, and Russian knowledge of Israel's endangering two civilian airplane flight trajectories.
@AnonFromTN The Iran/JOCPA deal was not a Treaty.DESERT FOX , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:15 pm GMTArticle II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the United States Constitution:
[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur .
No such Treaty as approval was ever given by the Senate. Soros sock-puppet Obama lied when he claimed to have extra-constitutional powers to bind future administrations. Remember Obama's promise, "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor"? There were plenty of warning signs that Obama was a liar, so no one should be surprised that he lied about JOCPA.
Trump did not violate or break anything , because the non-ratified, non-treaty did not meet Constitutional minimums.
__________Putin supporters should understand this as Russia has an identical issue in play. The 1950′s transfer of Crimea to Ukraine did not meet Russian constitutional standards.
Thus, identical to Trump's treatment of JOCPA, Putin is free to ignore the unconstitutional acts of the prior Krushchev / Vorashilov administration.
@Agent76 Agree, and would add that AL CIADA ie ISIS is a creation of the CIA and the MOSSAD and MI6 and NATO and Robin Cook was killed shortly after he made those statements, who benefits?Harold Smith , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:26 pm GMT@Miro23 "Trump is dealing with the lethal crowd who orchestrated 9/11 "foolisholdman , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:31 pm GMTWell this line of thought raises some serious question: (1) Why did Trump run for president in the first place? (2) Why did he run on a platform of open defiance to the "deep state" only to occupy a position of intimidating powerlessness? (3) Why does he not fight back by investigating 9/11 or merely threatening to do so? (4) Why does he not use the power of the "presidential bully pulpit" against the "deep state"? (5) If he was sincere during the campaign, why did the "lethal crowd" not deploy a "lone nut" against him before the election? (With so much at stake, why would they risk letting a sincere person anywhere near the levers of power in the first place?) (6) How could a reasonable person be coerced into a course of action (in the realm of "foreign policy") that seems to be leading to nuclear war/planetary extinction? (7) If he was sincere about putting America first, then failing everything else, why doesn't he simply resign?
@jilles dykstra From what I heard, Tony Blair was more enthusiastic about the Iraq war before it started, than was Bush.Dessert Bunny , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:37 pm GMT@MacNucc11 Chicken shit makes excellent fertilizer. So it promotes life.AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:47 pm GMT@RobinG Well, it did give the USSR its own Vietnam. Now Afghanistan is Vietnam 2.0 for the US (Iraq being Vietnam 3.0; Syria being Vietnam 4.0).AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 5:50 pm GMT@A123 Legally speaking, you are right. Not to mention that Obama was proven to be a liar in many other things. But withdrawing from the Iran deal damaged the US credibility even among its European vassals.anonymoys , says: December 26, 2018 at 6:26 pm GMT@AnonFromTN I've got good news for you. Sometimes the world/truth is really black and white. And in this case, certainly is: Trump is a fraud , has always been and will always be.AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 7:21 pm GMTAnd as far as I know , "American" presidents all have the same master, which by the way,is the same master that Putin and his bunch of corrupt oligarchs serve.. Of course there are exceptions Nixon did try to fight against his master but I presume you know what happened to the poor man. Poor but lucky. He died in his bed.
You got something right: "We'll see soon enough.".
But let me tell you the future: there will be no withdraw from Syria UNLESS the king of Israel agrees.
And if the King agrees, it is because, he has other objectives which his puppets, Trump, Putin, Macron will certainly try to implement.But don't worry, the deep state and the "experts" will always give you "arguments" so you can keep seeing the world in "various shades of gray".
@anonymoys Agree with two things. First, Nixon was luckier than Kennedy, he was only forced to resign, whereas Kennedy was murdered. Second, the same forces were responsible for both events.geokat62 , says: December 26, 2018 at 7:54 pm GMTBut these dark forces are not all-powerful. The world is more complicated than you paint it. There are different factions at work in the US and Russian politics, and these factions are doing their best to cut each others' throats, which is a good thing. We should sincerely wish success to both teams.
Say, many Russian oligarchs (BTW, oligarchs everywhere are criminals, in Russia, in the US, in Europe, etc.) are likely Zionists, but there are other forces supporting Putin's throne. That's why Russia screwed up the Israeli plan to break up Syria into a bunch of warring impotent Bantustans, using Islamic bandits, some paid scum, some just incredibly stupid "true believers". In this Russia teamed up with the Israeli arch-enemy Iran. Judging by the Imperial tantrums in the US, which reached a hysterical pitch lately, Zionists are unhappy with Russian and Chinese stances. So, there is hope for humanity yet.
@ChuckOrloskiChuckOrloski , says: December 26, 2018 at 8:22 pm GMTIsrael's endangering two civilian airplane flight trajectories.
Cynthia McKinney's reaction:
@geokat62 Peace, joy, and The Protection be upon Cynthia, geokat! Thanks!!ChuckOrloski , says: December 26, 2018 at 8:29 pm GMTBelow, fyi, Israel is withdrawing/ (confiscating?), hee-hee, funds allocated to German Holocaust museums.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/12/26/583970/Holocaust-Missing-Funds
Anyone here at U.R. surprised? Including Wally?
@ChuckOrloski Hey geo!Cloak And Dagger , says: December 26, 2018 at 8:37 pm GMTMy apology, a misfire, should be Holocaust "survivor" allocated money and not for German Holocaust "museums.'
@ChuckOrloskiWizard of Oz , says: December 26, 2018 at 8:51 pm GMTIsrael's endangering two civilian airplane flight trajectories
The same rules of morality and International law regarding the use of human shields do not apply to Israel. Perhaps you remember this from the past:
During war there are no civilians
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2010/09/201098123618465366.html
"During war there are no civilians," that's what "Yossi," an Israeli military (IDF) training unit leader simply stated during a round of questioning on day two of the Rachel Corrie trials, held in Haifa's District Court earlier this week. "When you write a [protocol] manual, that manual is for war," he added.
@NoseytheDuke I bow to your superior knowledge of American law(s) but do recall the distasteful way in which one reads of not completely innocent defendants being swept up for plea bargains by such devices as conspiracy charges. But yes, I'm afraid Howard was at least an accessory before the fact and I have no doubt it was Howard that JMF had in mind when he looked at me at an anti Howard government affair in October 2004 and spoke of war criminals who ought to be tried though I recall thinking at the time that it went a bit far to include Howard, the hanger on. As one who came to give Howard amoral admiration just for the sustained determination needed to become a truly successful politician (Cf. F.S. Oliver "The Endless Adventure" and "In Defence of Politics" by Bernard Crick) I am more critical of him for what he did and didn't do with his surprise control of the Senate (not so surprising to him actually by August 2004 polling) including election giveaways that did much to prevent Keating's superannuation schemes ever leading to relief of the burden of old age pensions or, worse, the rise of industry funds to, effectively, be a funding arm for (often private school educated) Labor careerists who will give us 25 years of reduced productivity and unnecessary retail penalty rates and (at least for a while) reduced shopping hours and availability of path and radiology .. just e.g. Then maybe the drag from China no longer making our coal and iron ore super valuable will force changes that recognise we 99 per cent of us are lucky drones (pending a Merkel influx of a million incompatible refugees anyway, but that I would not expect from Shorten).A123 , says: December 26, 2018 at 8:58 pm GMT@AnonFromTN I will suggest that a blanket statement on credibility does not work as a logical construct. To be accurate, one must define the perspective via the question:A123 , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:11 pm GMT
-- Credibility in the eyes of whom?I observed a significant increase in U.S. credibility among the citizens and governments of practicing Christian nations of the EU. For example: Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Italy.
Nations such as China that laughed at and casually rolled "Barak Hussein Obama the Submissive" also upped their respect for the U.S. when Trump took over. Though, I do concede that getting over a bar set at 0% (less than Rodney Dangerfield) is pretty easy.
Yes, U.S. National Socialist Democrats [DNC] lost credibility among Establishment Elites of the NWO/UN Circle of Arrogance. After all, they failed to deliver Hillary Clinton to the White House. However, DNC credibility among unelected elites at the debauched UN has nothing to do with U.S. credibility among the civilized people of the world.
@Cloak And Dagger More Taqiyya deliberate deception.Harold Smith , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:37 pm GMTIsrael did not fire any weapon system at any civilian airplane. It is a lie to say that they did. Given the air space congestion in the area it is functionally impossible to fly a combat mission without overlapping a flight route.
The only force that endangered civilian airliners were those firing anti-aircraft missiles that could hit those planes.
This is why it is highly likely that Russia will never turn over S-300 systems to Syrian control. Russia wants to sell these systems. Interest will drop to zero if Syrian forces use the S-300 to shoot down a civilian airliner over another nation such as Lebanon or Turkey.
@AnonFromTN "There are different factions at work in the US and these factions are doing their best to cut each others' throats, which is a good thing. We should sincerely wish success to both teams."Cloak And Dagger , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:44 pm GMTSeriously? With the exception of perhaps "the wall" and a few other relatively minor distractive issues (which won't matter very much when the U.S. is a pile of nuclear ash), I don't see any kind of "faction" offering any serious political opposition whatsoever to anything of significance that orange clown does. All I see is cheap talk/posturing.
@A123AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:44 pm GMTIsrael did not fire any weapon system at any civilian airplane.
Strawman.
Nobody said your people fired missiles at a civilian airline. You used civilian airplanes to hide behind. It is called using human shields – a war crime.
As for Russia handing over control of S-300′s to Syria, I would advise you to continue to believe that. I look forward to your hubris and arrogance causing you to vanish in a puff of smoke one day.
In any case, leave the US out of your squabbles.
@A123AnonFromTN , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:46 pm GMTblanket statement on credibility does not work as a logical construct
Agree. But you appear to think that a blanket statement on "civilized people of the world" works as a logical construct. Sorry to disappoint, it does not work, either.
After Trump announced that the US withdraws, every one of the other signatories of JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal), namely China, France, Germany, EU, Russia, UK, and Iran said that they will abide by the deal, with Iranian stipulation that if the US attempts any hostile action, it would consider itself no longer bound by it. To wit, France, Germany, UK, and EU are subservient pawns of the Empire in most cases.
Iranians explicitly said that the US unilateral withdrawal from this deal shows that it is useless to negotiate with the US and come to any agreements with it, as the US will likely break its word any time it finds it convenient. This did a huge damage to the credibility of the country, no matter how you slice or dice it.
I agree regarding DNC credibility. After they falsified the results of their primaries (as Wasserman-Schultz resignation right before the convention affirmed), DNC cannot claim any credibility. Not that they even needed this trick: Sanders proved to be just as much of a fraud and a piece of shit as the mad witch. However, DNC has nothing to do with it. Obama administration was supposed to represent the country, not DNC. If the ability of Trump to act as President depended on the credibility of RNC (which is as low as that of DNC, although they did not falsify primaries, to the dismay of Deep State), our country is done for.
The President is supposed to be the leader of the country, not just his party. The actions of both Obama and Trump in the international affairs that are meant for internal consumption undermine the US more than any act of its avowed enemies.
@A123ChuckOrloski , says: December 26, 2018 at 9:52 pm GMTThe only force that endangered civilian airliners were those firing anti-aircraft missiles that could hit those planes.
Are you saying that when Israeli rockets see a civilian aircraft, they turn away from it? LOL.
@Cloak And Dagger Yes, C&D. Agree.anon [265] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 11:05 pm GMTFyi, I particularly despise the Zionist GWOT designations, "collateral damage," and the demonic branding of wartime Prisoners of War as "non-combatants," and exempt from internationally recognized Geneva Convention treatment while in ZUSA military captivity.
As a veteran who took an August 1970 solemn oath to honor humane treatment of war prisoners, & post-9/11, am wondering if taking such noble vow was being done throughout Basic Training posts, stationed across our (argh!) "Homeland."
Really made me sick to see how Sergeant Charles Garner and P.F.C. Lyndi England were held accountable for their barbaric Abu Ghraib acts, and shortly afterward, the freak-intellectual, John Yoo, became the distorted administration's Prisoner-Torture High Priest. (Zigh)
Am wondering in which prosperous U.S. Zionist "career" field has John Yoo landed?
Hm. Perhaps U.R. Comment-Research Specialist can help me here?Thanks a lot, C&D!
@A123anon [265] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 11:08 pm GMT-- Do violent Iranian al-Hezbollah forces in Syria take off for Christian holidays? No?
-- Do violent Iranian al-Hamas forces in Gaza disrespect their own religion by launching offensive, border assaults every Friday? Yes?everyone is violent except israel – yes? no?
@anonymoysanon [265] Disclaimer , says: December 26, 2018 at 11:11 pm GMTI've got good news for you. Sometimes the world/truth is really black and white. And in this case, certainly is: Trump is a fraud , has always been and will always be.
we can't be 100% sure yet but it's looking that way
unless that wall starts getting built pronto i don't see any reason to suport him 2020
@RobinGWinston1984 , says: December 26, 2018 at 11:46 pm GMTAs Zbig Brzezinski admitted .
this creep should be written out of history
same with kissinger
All right and clearanon [228] Disclaimer , says: December 27, 2018 at 12:16 am GMT
Pity, that the lot is stained by the dropping-like sterotype about Goebels' "big lie"
Never mind it's of Hitler's labour, not Goebels', but, more important, in Mein Kampf it is clearly expressed as a warning (beware..) against the chosen-tribe techniques.. The autor should be learned enough to know better: superficiality or malice?@A123 You are so desperate that you are looking under the mattress to find your last penny. Why don't you ask your grandmother to ( Ben Guiron or Gold mare or some WaPo Rubin or KKK- Krathamer Kristol Kagan ) to find it for you ?jacques sheete , says: December 27, 2018 at 12:44 am GMT@anonYour article names the supporters
He does that consistently and it's exactly what needs to be done. It's also what makes him one of the few people I bother to read any more.
We 'Merkins would be a lot better off with a few more PGs around and I hope he had a fine Christmas was a very Happy Nw Year!
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.strategic-culture.org
On December 19, Donald Trump announced in a Twitter message: "Our boys, our young women, our men, they're all coming back and they're coming back now. We won". Shortly thereafter, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement: "We have started the process of returning US troops home from Syria as we transition to the next phase of the campaign".
The reasons for Donald Trump's move are many, but they are mainly driven by US domestic concerns. The temperature is heating up for Trump following the midterms, as the Democrats prepare to take command of the House of Representatives in January, something that Trump had always hoped to avert. He surrounded himself with generals, in the forlorn hope that this would somehow protect him. If the last two years of his presidency were constantly under the cloud of Mueller's investigation, or insinuations of being an agent of Putin, from January 2019 the situation is going to get much more complicated. The Democratic electoral base is baying for the President's impeachment, the party already in full pre-primary mode, with more than 20 candidates competing, with the incumbent of the White House offering the rallying cry.
The combination of these factors has forced Trump to change gears, considering that the military-industrial-intelligence-media-complex has always been ready to get rid of Trump, even in favor of a President Pence. The only option available for Trump in order to have a chance of reelection in 2020 is to undertake a self-promotion tour, a practice in which he has few peers, and which will involve him repeating his mantra of "Promises Made, Promises Kept". He will list how he has fought against the fake-news media, suffered internal sabotage, as well as other efforts (from the Fed, the FBI, and Mueller himself) to hamper his efforts to "Make America Great Again".
Trump has perhaps understood that in order to be re-elected, he must pursue a simple media strategy that will have a direct impact on his base. Withdrawing US troops from Syria, and partly from Afghanistan, serves this purpose. It is an easy way to win with his constituents, while it is a heavy blow to his fiercest critics in Washington who are against this decision. Given that 70% of Americans think that the war in Afghanistan was a mistake, the more that the mainstream media attacks Trump for his decision to withdraw, the more they direct votes to Trump. In this sense, Trump's move seems to be directed at a domestic rather than an international audience.
The decision to get out of Syria is timed to coincide with another move that will also very much please Trump's base. The government shutdown is a result of the Democrats refusing to fund Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border. It is not difficult to understand that the average citizen is fed up with the useless wars in the Middle East, and Trump's words on immigration resonate with his voters. The more the media, the Democrats and the deep state criticize Trump on the wall, on the Syria pull out and on shutting down the government, the more they are campaigning for him.
This is why in order to understand the withdrawal of the United States from Syria it is necessary to see things from Trump's perspective, even as frustrating, confusing and incomprehensible that may seem at times.
The difference this time around was that the decision to withdraw US troops from Syria was Trump's alone, not something imposed on him by the generals that surround him. The choice to announce to his base, via Twitter, a victory against ISIS and the immediate withdrawal of US troops was a smart election move with an eye on the 2020 election.
It is possible that Trump, as is his wont, also wanted to send a message to his alleged French and British allies present in the northeast of Syria alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US soldiers. Trump may be now taunting: "Let's see what you can do without the US!"
It is as if Trump is admonishing these countries in a more concrete way for not lifting their weight in terms of military spending. Trump is vindictive and is not averse, after taking advantage of his opponent, to kicking him once he is down. Trump could be correct in this regard, and maybe French and British forces will be forced to withdraw their small group of 400 to 500 illegal occupiers of Syrian territory. Macron has for now reacted angrily at Trump's decision, intensifying the division between the two, and is adamant that the French military presence in Syria will continue.
There is also a more refined reason to justify the US withdrawal, even if Trump is probably unaware of it. The problem in these cases is always trying to peer through the fog of war and propaganda in order to discern the clear, unadulterated truth.
We should begin by listing the winners and losers of the Syrian conflict. Damascus, Moscow, Tehran and Hezbollah have won the war against aggression. Riyadh, Doha, Paris, London, Tel Aviv and Washington, with their al Qaeda, Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist proxies, failed to destroy Syria, and following seven years of effort, are forced to scurry away in defeat.
Those who are walking a tightrope between war and defeat are Ankara and the so-called SDF. The withdrawal of the United States has confirmed the balance on the ledger of winners and losers, with the clock counting down for Erdogan and the SDF to make their next determinative move.
The enemies of Syria survive thanks to repeated bluffs. The Americans of the military-industrial-intelligence apparatus maintain the pretence that they still have an influence in Syria, what with troops on the ground, attacking Trump for withdrawing. In fact, since the Russians have imposed a no-fly-zone across the country, with the S-300 systems and other sophisticated equipment that integrate the Syrian air-defenses into the Russian air defenses, US coalition planes are for all intents and purposes grounded, and the same goes for the Israelis.
Of course the French and British in Syria are infected with the same delusional disease, choosing to believe that they can count for something without the US presence. We will see in the near future whether they also withdraw their illegal presence from Syria.
The biggest bluff of all probably comes from Erdogan, who for months threatened to invade Syria to fight ISIS, the Kurds, or any other plausible excuse to invade a sovereign country for the purposes of advancing his dreams of expanding Turkish territory as far as Idlib (which Erdogan considers a province of Turkey). Such an invasion, however, is unlikely to happen, as it would unite the SDF, Damascus and her allies to reject the Turkish advance on Syrian territory.
The Kurds in turn seem to have only one option left, namely, a forced negotiation with Damascus to give back to the Syrian people, in exchange for protection, the control of their territory that is rich in oil and gas.
Erdogan wants to eliminate the SDF, and until now, the only thing that stood in his way was the US military presence. He even threatened to attack several times, even in spite of the presence of US troops. Ankara has long been on a collision course with NATO countries on account of this. By removing US troops, Trump imagines, relations between Turkey and the US may also improve. This of course is of little interest to the US deep state, since Erdogan, like Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), is considered unsuitable, and is accordingly branded a "dictator".
Trump probably believes that with this move, as with his defense of MBS concerning Khashoggi, that he can try and establish a strong personal friendship with Erdogan. There are even talks about the sale of Patriot systems to the Turks and the extradition of Gulen.
When Will They Leave, and Cui Prodest?
It remains to be confirmed when and to what extent US troops will leave Syria. If the US had no voice in the future in Syria, with 2,000 men on the ground, now it has even less. Leaving behind 200 to 300 special forces and CIA operatives, together with another 400 to 500 French and British personnel, will, once they are captured with their Daesh and al Qaeda friends, be an excellent bargaining chip for Damascus, as they were in Aleppo.
The military-industrial-intelligence-media complex considers Trump's decision the worst of of all possible moves. Mattis even resigned on account of this. The presence of US troops in Syria allowed the foreign-policy establishment to continue to formulate plans (and spend money to pay a lot of people in Washington) based on the delusion that they are doing something in Syria to change the course of events. For Israel, it is a double disaster, with Netanyahu desperate to survive, seeking to factor in expected elections in a now-or-never political move. Trump probably understands that Bibi is done for, and that at this point, the withdrawal of troops, fulfilling a fundamental electoral promise, counts more than Israeli money and his friendship to Bibi.
Erdogan has two options before him. On the one hand, he can act against the Kurds. On the other hand, he can sit down at the negotiating table with Damascus and the SDF, in an Astana format, guided by Iran and Russia. Putin and Rouhani are certainly pushing for this solution. Trump, on the other hand, would like to see Turkey enter Syria in the place of US forces, to demonstrate he concluded a win-win deal for everyone, beating the deep-state at their own game.
Erdogan does not really have the military force necessary to enter Syria, which is the big secret. He would be against both the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the SDF, though the two not necessarily in an alliance.
There is a triple bluff going on, and this is what is complicating the situation so much. On the one hand, the SDF is bluffing in not wanting help from Damascus in case Erdogan sends in his forces; on the other hand, Erdogan is bluffing in suggesting he is able to conquer the territory held by the SDF; and finally, the French and British are bluffing by telling the SDF they will be able to help them against both Erdogan and/or Assad.
Iran, Russia, Syria are the only ones who do not need to bluff, because they occupy the best position – the commanding heights. They view Trump's decisions and his allies with distrust. They know very well that these are mostly moves for internal consumption by the enemies of Syria.
If the US withdraws, there is so much to be gained. The priority then becomes the west of Syria, sealing the borders with Jordan, removing the pockets of terrorists from the east, and securing the al-Tanf crossing. If the SDF will request protection from Damascus and will be willing to participate in the liberation of the country and its reconstruction, Erdogan will be done for, and this could lead to the total liberation of Idlib. It would be the best possible outcome, an important national reconciliation between two important parts of the population. It would give Damascus new economic impetus and prepare the Syrian people to expel the remaining invaders (ISIS and the FSA/ Turkish Armed Forces) from the country, both in Idlib and in the northeast in Afrin.
Russia is aware of the risk that Erdogan is running with the choices he will take in the coming days. Perhaps the reason why Putin chose diplomacy over war with Turkey after the downing of a Russian Su-24 in 2015 was in order to arrive at this precise moment, with as many elements as possible present to convince Erdogan to stick with Russia and Iran instead of embracing Trump's strategy and putting himself on an open collision course with Damascus, Moscow and Tehran.
Putin has always been five moves ahead. He is aware that the US could not stay long in Syria. He knows that France and the UK cannot support the SDF, and that the SDF cannot hold territory it holds in Syria without an agreement with Damascus. He is also conscious that Turkey does not have the strength to enter Syria and hold the territory if it did. It would only be able justify an advance on Idlib with the support of the Russian Air Force.
Putin has certainly made it clear to Erdogan that if he made such a move to attack the SDF and enter Syria, Russia in turn would militarily support the SAA with its air force to free Idlib; and in case of incidents with Turkey, the Russian armed forces would respond with all the interest earned from the unrequited downing of the Su-24 in 2015.
Erdogan has no choice. He must find an agreement with Damascus, and this is why he found himself commenting on Trump's words the following day, criticizing US sanctions on Iran in the presence of Iranian president Rouhani. The SDF know that they are between a rock and a hard place, and have already sent a delegation to start negotiations with Damascus.
Trump's move was driven by US domestic politics and aimed at the 2020 elections. But in doing so, Trump inevitably called out once and for all the bluffs built by Syria's enemies, infuriating in the process the neoliberal imperialist establishment, revealing how each of these factions has no more cards to play and is in actual fact destined for defeat.
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Dec 27, 2018 | www.unz.com
renfro , says: December 26, 2018 at 11:20 pm GMT
@ChuckOrloski They are constantly, constantly stealing.17 charged in massive Holocaust fraud case -- US news -- Crime
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40093058/ns/us /charged-million-holocaust-fraud-case/Nov 9, 2010 -- 17 charged in $42 million Holocaust fraud case. FBI: Employees at Jewish Claims Center had people pretend to be victims of Nazi persecution so they could collect money German funds over 6000 phony claims
Germany Seeks Compensation for $57M Holocaust Fraud -- The Forward
https://forward.com › News › WorldApr 17, 2015 -- Germany is for the first time seeking compensation for the $57 million lost to fraud at the Claims Conference. But the Holocaust agency says it
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