By Dmitry Orlov, posted with permission from the author
I have received a flurry of emails from people concerned that World War III could erupt at any moment. Most of their concern has a single cause: the crazy stuff printed and broadcast by Western press. But I would like to suggest that it is Western press that is the problem, not any incipient military conflict involving the Ukraine. Western press is a joke: there were no weapons of mass destruction; freon does not poke holes in the ozone layer; Trump was not a Russian agent; Syria did not use chemical weapons against its own people; carbon dioxide emissions cause global cooling, not global warming (but not much of it in any case); there are no Russian troops in the Donbass; and… Russia is not going to invade and annex the Ukraine. Furthermore, no number of enticements or provocations can make Russia want to do so. It just plain doesn’t want to trouble itself with that miserable, blighted land.
Suppose you are in a tense negotiation with someone. And suppose that someone puts a plate on the table. On that plate is a bagel. It has green spots and white hair growing out, it is oozing brownish goo, it reeks of ammonia and even the flies are refusing to land on it. And suppose that certain someone then says: if you eat this bagel, it’s war! That’s a tough negotiating stance, isn’t it? After all, that’s really laying down the law, giving an ultimatum, no ifs ands or buts and all that. By adopting this stance, Biden gets to channel just the tiniest bit of John Wayne, with a swagger instead of his usual precarious stumble. For a brief, shining moment he gets to talk to a real world leader and look presidential rather than like a doddering fool who has a useless toxic bimbo for a sidekick.
That’s essentially what Biden did. He told Putin in no uncertain terms: If you invade the Ukraine, then there will be sanctions from Hell. (Begging the question of what sanctions from Heaven would be like, but, never mind, the US is Hell and the Russians seem OK with that.) Biden was careful to point out that the US would not come to the Ukraine’s rescue, because the Ukraine is not a NATO member and so the US is under no obligation to actually take any risks on its behalf, but rest assured that it would huff and it will puff and threaten to blow Putin’s house down should he invade. And should he not invade, then would be right back to “Hey, Vlad, it’s great to see you! It’s your pal Joe, remember me?”.
But would Putin ever be tempted to “eat that bagel”? No, certainly not! The Ukraine is looking most unsavory. Ever since its independence three decades ago it has been progressively dismantled by a rapacious oligarchy, its industry sold for scrap and its infrastructure decaying to truly dangerous levels.
Its major assets are as follows:
• 15 Soviet-era nuclear reactors which are being run flat out but there are rolling blackouts anyway, and which are due to be shut down for good, with no funds available to refurbish them
• Quite a lot of good farmland but a dire shortage of paved roads, locomotives or rolling stock to bring the harvest to the docks
• An aging and destitute population that has shrunk by about a third since independence since most able-bodied people have gone to work abroad, millions of them moving to Russia.
• A gas pipeline network that is technically obsolete, being five times less energy efficient than the newest Nord Stream 2, and that is having its redundant pieces cut up and sold for scrap even as some of it is still running.
Its liabilities include a very high level of external debt that is unlikely to ever be repaid using export revenues and a large crop of neo-Nazi meatheads with blood on their hands. Russia has already got almost everything it wanted from the Ukraine, which is Crimea and the Donbass.
The only thing Russia wants from the US regarding the Ukraine is a written security guarantee that the Ukraine will never be made part of NATO, or have NATO troops or weapons systems on its soil, or be allowed to enter into any other anti-Russian alliances that may crop up should NATO dry up and blow away. Putin asked the US to sign binding legal documents that will block any further encroachment on lands that border Russian territory. This would reduce the risk of an accidental war and allow Russia to focus less military strength on its western border.
However, such security guarantees are not something that Biden can provide without suffering a massive loss of face and destroying any sense of purpose that NATO has been struggling in vain to cultivate ever since the USSR collapsed three decades ago. But sometimes just making a demand is almost as good as having it acceded to. If the US fails to help Russia meet its perfectly reasonable security requirements, then that unties Russia’s hands to do so without US help, leaving the Americans free to simply ignore the situation (something they know how to do quite well) to avoid embarrassing themselves.
And that is a good option to have, since there is no shortage of embarrassments for the Biden administration as it is. Producer price inflation in the US is already running at 25%, and is likely to translate into 12-15% consumer price inflation by next summer, but any attempt to crush inflation by raising interest rates Paul Volcker-style would instantly collapse the entire financial pyramid scheme. As it is, the nation’s finances are in a state that will soon necessitate the Congress to pass a bill declaring the term “balanced budget” to be hate speech. Given the experience in Afghanistan, repatriating all the US troops stationed overseas before the money runs out, to avoid stranding them in faraway lands without any resupply, is going to be a bit of a doozy. The midterm elections next fall are likely to make Biden a lame duck for his remaining two years as the number of people willing to vote for his party is likely to be exceeded by the number of those wanting to give Biden another colonoscopy.
Against this backdrop, it becomes obvious why Biden was visibly eager to talk to Putin and even raised his hands in a teleconference hug, for here is a national leader whose biggest national problem of late is a certain rogue parliamentarian (Rashkin of the Communists) who shot a moose without first obtaining a hunting license. Never mind that Putin referred to his teleconference with Biden as a “protocol event” and spoke the words “Mr. Biden” with an even mixture of exasperation and resignation. It was all in a day’s work for Putin, and so you should probably find something else to worry about because World War III over the Ukraine is off the table. There is no grand finale for America to look forward to; just lots of pain, and then, of course… collapse.
Please support my efforts at https://patreon.com/orlov or https://subscribestar.com/orlov.
Thank you Mr Orlov. I am not as optimistic as you are, since ‘stranger things have happened’ than peace breaking out all over Ukraine/the world, but I agree with your assessment of Biden (US) having his (their) cojones in the fire…and its starting to burn.
I also thought that Mr. Orlov was too optimistic. But now look here:
https://www.rt.com/russia/542863-zelensky-donbass-referendum/
The winds of change are blowing.
One must be really patience , everything is going as good as it is. Only time going to show what really happened between those two people.Just for instance – next day mr.404 come up with comment without any sense- RF don’t build up any army on the borders of UA. What the joke
The collapse is well under way, every sector of the economy is suffering from labor shortages.
We are now quickly becoming fewer people working harder, and we all should know damn well this is not sustainable, and that ignoring the problems, only leads to quicker collapses.
Maybe the US of A will provoke a war in Ukraine and then absorb the refugees and use them as cheap labour kkkkk
Paulo
I am very pleased to see that Mr. Orlov is of the opinion that there will not be any war over Ukraine. However, I have my doubts and you could well be right that the US could provoke a war, using Ukraine as a proxy.
The US elite has for years been buying up real estate outside the country, the two top favorites being New Zealand and Tasmania. They are obviously preparing getaways should a financial crash occur, as is highly likely. However, I fear that the neocons in the US cannot resist the temptation of trying once more to destroy Russia, this time by provoking it to attack Ukraine and isolate it politically, economically and financially (just listen to Victoria Nuland). The overall intent is to separate Europe from Russia and turn it towards the US, especially when it comes to energy, even though analysts have years ago stipulated that the US does not have the capacity to supply all of Europe’s needs. Also, separating Russia from Europe is illogical, as Russia is part of Europe while the US is over the other side of the Atlantic, while hoping that Russia can be destroyed financially is now nothing more than wishful thinking, devoid of reality.
So, what are we going to get ? Peace or war ? We shall see. What is dangerous here is the economic and financial situation in the US, with the neocons being tempted to start a wider war in the hope that it would boost the economy, although analysts have years ago stated that this old bankers trick cannot work any more due to the gigantic US foreign and domestic debts, the fact that the dollar is printed backed by nothing and the fact that a heap of industry has been moved outside the US. Do the neocons know this ? I am not sure.
I always love to try and train people who cant speak the language, I’m a pro at that.
“Fewer people working harder” has been the American corporate wet dream for decades. Traditionally the price of a company’s stock would rise with each layoff. But that’s being taken to extremes now, and not even Wall Street is impressed by any corporate “rightsizing,” especially if the corporations can’t control it.
It’s something of a perfect storm brewing, really. Some of the labor shortage is caused by people still afraid of COVID; some is caused by people nearing retirement age who either don’t want to reenter the labor market, or who find the door barred shut — just because corporations are screaming “labor shortage!” at the top of their lungs doesn’t mean they’re in any hurry to increase their payrolls, especially with people who might have a memory of having been treated somewhat better at a previous job. This is especially true in the “service sector” where shops and restaurants would rather cut hours and, as noted, have fewer people do more (usually uncompensated) work. Small wonder people aren’t flocking to apply to these jobs.
Furthermore, a lot of the “hiring bonuses” and other “incentives” are either meager or utter mirages. What’s a $1500 signing bonus for a truck driver when nowadays most truck drivers are “independent contractors” who are expected to own their own rigs, and maintain them on their own dime, to meet unrealistic delivery deadlines and gross a princely $45K annually?
Yup, the whole rotten system is coming apart at the seams, and at an ever accelerating pace.
Probably about right with inflation eating up the working class in the U.S. and its financial sector a complete mess due to letting business run the country with its paid for clowns which are as corrupt as they come in the three branches of government then factor in the fact that I read in the near short term China’s economy will be three times the size of that in the U.S. The EU will have a choice either dump the west and go east or end up the same way the U.S. will end up barefoot and pregnant and no place to go.
I don’t see how anything less than prolonged general strikes and even armed revolution in the several EU states — or the collapse of the USA — will cause the EU to “dump the west” — or even, for that matter, to dump the EU, which is almost tantamount to the same thing. US-aligned politicians and parties have a near-total lock on European politics — of the EU countries only Hungary is arguably an exception — and most of the opposition is either fake or quickly brought to heel (think Podemos or Syriza).
Concur all. Excellent work, young man!
I like to read D. Orlov, but he should definitely stay away from climate science as it destroys his credibility.
Uhm, I’m almost sure Dmitry will be around to protect his credibility lol. But let me ask you a question. Are you very sure you know what the Russian stance is on current climate science? (Which incidentally is a prohibited topic on the blog – refer to the Moderation Policy).
So, I won’t talk about it but just give you the idea that the Russians may have a very different view. Martyanov wrote quite a humorous piece. You may be surprised and perhaps be a little slower talking about credibility.
He is basically talking about the Arctic. “Oops! Wait a minute, you are telling me that Russia … was on it and didn’t buy this AGW BS?”
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/11/seemengly-insignificant-news.html
I’m sorry, but chlorofluorocarbons, what used to pass for Freon, do, in fact degrade the ozone layer. This was established about 40 years ago. It is the chlorine in the chlorofluorocarbons which is the culprit, catalyzing the destruction of ozone on the surface of ice crystals. This is why ‘modern’ freons are chlorine-free, and why one has to go through excess paperwork to purchase carbon tetrachloride.
The effect of CFCs on stratospheric ozone is an unproven hypothesis. What is proven is that Dupont Corp, which had patented CFC replacements (which were worse in every way) succeeded in making money with them by unfairly repressing their competition through regulatory maneuvering, a.k.a. the Montreal Protocol. Now that they’ve made their money no mention is made of the ozone layer, which is same as ever, holes over Antarctica forming every winter BECAUSE IT’S DARK THERE.
Most of the stratospheric ozone is generated at a 40 km altitude in the equatorial region. It is made through the photolysis of molecular oxygen by short wave ultraviolet. Then the ozone is transported globally, reaching the poles. The highest concentration of ozone is at a 15-20 km altitude, not coinciding with it’s highest production rate, but the science has an answer to that.
In the Antarctic during their winter (our summer) it becomes very cold and a vortex forms, which prevents the ozone delivery from the equatorial region. At the peak of Antarctic winter, again die to extremely low temperatures, polar stratospheric clouds form, whose surfaces help to convert inactive chlorine (from chemicals like hydrogen chloride and chlorine nitrate) into active chlorine (molecular chlorine and hydrochorous acid). The latter two accumulate in very large amounts and when the sun finally rises (October-November), these chemicals become photolysed in a very short period of time, releasing high level of chlorine atoms. Those chlorine atoms destroy the ozone. Often the concentration of ozone at the 15 km altitude drops to 10-20% of its normal value – hence journos called it the “ozone hole”. The reaction occurs through the radical-chain mechanism, so one chlorine atom can “kill” about hundred thousand ozone molecules before it gets lost by reacting with the atmospheric methane.
There are scientific papers reporting those measurements, which were made using balloons, aircraft, satellites, and column sunlight absorption. The papers were published in solid peer reviewed scientific journals. There were laboratory and modeling studies afterwards explaining the observations.
I believe it was several high altitude nuclear weapons tests that are in large part responsible for ozone destruction over the poles, conducted mostly by the U.S.
Starfish Prime, for example, when they deliberately attempted to destroy the Van Allen belts, in the early 60’s.
They permanently damaged them and a big Soviet test created some new ones!
So, rather than expose Classified insanity, blame CFC’s…..
Not to argue they aren’t harmful as well
They pale in comparison, though….
I hope I’ve furthered the conversation
The consequences of the “starfish prime” test sound convincing.
Saludos !
In defense of Mr. Orlov (who does not need defending), the issues he has listed are among the issues of ‘science’ mythology which are being used for one thing.
That thing is an ever-expanding global regulatory system run by control freaks.
There is some real science, which is used to support the popular religion of ‘science’. Yes, carbon dioxide can be demonstrated to scatter infrared. And yes, the old freon degrades ozone in thin air in laboratory demonstrations.
Ten or fifteen years ago I used to think Tony Heller (AKA Steven Goddard) was a crackpot and lunatic and paid little or no attention to his website. I used to think Alex Jones … nevermind, he’s still a lunatic. But Heller has turned out to be more correct than not — facts and figures are constantly fudged, and alarm bells rung, while the global climate continues to do whatever it does without referring to the ‘science’.
Interestingly, the old freon became a problem just about the same time DuPont’s patent on it ran out and it became public domain. So we needed a new freon… Also interestingly, the constant pronouncements of hellish doom by global warmists has amounted to nothing much over the many decades of such pronouncements. It is still cold in winter. The fact, which has gradually become clear, is that the earth and its weather systems and geology and dynamics are far more complex and powerful than anything we are likely to manage by regulation.
Keep an eye on the ‘global warming’ propaganda as we slide down the far side of the peak oil curve. The control freaks will be thumping their chests and shouting their triumph because carbon usage is down, and nothing much happened to the climate.
As for Russia, she will do well to avoid the ministrations of the globalist control freaks. I’m afraid my country is lost to them.
Everyone, please close this conversation down. It breaks site rules and is going off-topic. Any further will go to trash or be removed. Mod.
Alex Jones was right! Love him or hate him, he has more credibility than all other media – mainstream or alternative.
Hello, I second Marcel on that one. Speaking with confidence is great but then, D. Orlov, stick to your area of expertise. Or back up your statements. No offense. That said, I wonder myself about the state of affairs as far the financial globalists . I would appreciate your opinion on it. It seems that they used the US Empire as a convenient bully until worn out. Plus the sabotage of the country. Is it the city of London that is pulling the strings of Biden’s administration ? Probably not that clear cut. I guess it is a futile attempt to identify who is doing it. Again, it is essential to have accountability coupled with power. But anonymity and opacity prevent that.
China seems to be a truly sovereign Nation , for different reasons, one having its government regulating the banks as National organisms. What about Russian banks? What is the sovereignty of Russia? It seems that Russia has one patriotic foot (including of course the army) and one foot in supranational corporations? I wonder if China and Russia would consider, in coordination with a reformed U.N and international Law, dismantle the « free market », tax heavens and the anonymity of trusts and such. Having an international agreement anti corruption, anti-conglomerates of societies. Also, I wonder if international Law could be applied retroactively on gangster moves like the U.S extraterritoriality of it convenient « laws », like for example, getting back Alstom from General Electric. I know there is a very long list of bigger crimes committed by U.S dirty business. Crimes against humanity. What could be the future of the CIA? I realize that it would be wiser to wonder about my own future and prepare it by attending to the little things I can do at the local level. Starting by being calm, attentive and kind. Still, I wonder.
I wonder about that last image of the barefoot pregnant woman with nowhere to go. I would like to turn that picture into a barefoot pregnant woman at home in her heart and in nature, wandering and wondering. I still believe that, getting into times of scarcity, solidarity will grow on us. It might be the beginning of a new start, or at least an end in dignity. Be well, thank you.
Nice chuckle first thing in the morning. Biden seems to have been chosen for his remarkable resemblance to the US “superpower” as a whole: aging, senile, incoherent, belligerent, and feeble. So much talk with so little substance. Time for sedation and the rest home for both of them, possibly with physical restraints as well.
So how do Brandon and Ze now find some distracting event to keep the gigantic domestic internal contradictions from spiraling into even bigger contradictions?
Thank you Mr Orlov for a succinct and to the point post.
This was the crux of the two hour talks on the 7th as you have clearly articulated:
“..The only thing Russia wants from the US regarding the Ukraine is a written security guarantee that the Ukraine will never be made part of NATO, or have NATO troops or weapons systems on its soil, or be allowed to enter into any other anti-Russian alliances that may crop up should NATO dry up and blow away. Putin asked the US to sign binding legal documents that will block any further encroachment on lands that border Russian territory. This would reduce the risk of an accidental war and allow Russia to focus less military strength on its western border……. But sometimes just making a demand is almost as good as having it acceded to. If the US fails to help Russia meet its perfectly reasonable security requirements, then that unties Russia’s hands to do so without US help…..”
That was the reason for Russia to speak to the collective “Biden” on Tuesday. Russia’s security and wanting guarantees in writing. Russia most definitely does not want the mouldy, nazi infested bagel!
As you point out – making the demand was the crucial move – VVP and team know the US is non-agreement capable – but the point is the demand was made direct – President to President recorded for posterity.
As you say, if the US fails to help achieve this – Russia’s hands are untied. Russia was/is laying the groundwork.
“……However, such security guarantees are not something that Biden can provide without suffering a massive loss of face and destroying any sense of purpose that NATO has been struggling in vain to cultivate ever since the USSR collapsed three decades ago………”
Well the collective “Biden” has come up with this solution to save face:
https://tass.com/world/1374257
“…..Biden disclosed that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that during their video conference that, in case of the “invasion,” Washington will send its troops to the Bucharest 9 states……
In case of the alleged Russian “invasion” in Ukraine, the US intends to send its troops to NATO states, but not in Ukraine itself, US President Joe Biden told journalists Saturday. The head of state was asked why he decided to abandon the idea to deploy US forces in Ukraine in case of the “invasion.” “It was never on the table,” the US President replied…….”
A deliciously lucid explanation of the empire’s Kabuki theater. Bravo!
People must unite and with one voice NO to AZ elites! It is the lust for power and domination that is driving world to war. If not in Ukraine, dangerous tensions will be elsewhere!
“Against this backdrop, it becomes obvious why Biden was visibly eager to talk to Putin ”
Attention span of US politics always has been short, and recently became even shorter. We shouldn’t go to deep into analisys of Biden’s eagèrness to talk to Putin.
Trump supporters recently launched masterfull anti-Biden campaign ( “Lets go Brandon!” & “I did that”) that led to unprecedented tapping into strategic oil reserves. Bidenites was forced to counter with big guns to stay in saddle. Since bombing campaign is out of question (for many reasons described above), they fabricated reality where Biden scared away Putin and saved Ukraine from imminent destruction.
Why Putin decided to play along is lingering question.
Who, if I may ask and show my ignorance, is “Brandon?”
Antoinetta III
It’s a political code for “Fvck Joe Biden”. Long story, just do a search on the term “Let’s go Brandon”.
I would prefer that because we are an international commentariat, people would explain just in short if they use it as it is US-centric.
Its simple
Every month clash is delayed Russia has 10 more Kinzhals, 10 More Zirkons, more tanks, planes, submarines, Poseidos S-400, S-500 etc.
Unnoticed in all the brouhaha surrounding Covid (which I am not commenting on) and global warming (which I am not commenting on) and the fast approaching train wreck of WWIII (which I am not commenting on), is the current state of representative and accountable democratic government across the “West”.
Somehow men and women of average intelligence but with overweening egos and ambition (politicians) have gained a taste of real Power. By this I mean the ability to say, go here/do not go there and do this/do not do that. Small wonder they like it and think that by keeping all the brouhaha front page news, they can keep it.
Once we could look forward to the next round of elections and hope to change things. Unfortunately I think that their replacements, should they be replaced, will also like it.
And from there the only things that come to mind are clichés like “junk-yard dogs” and “rocky roads”. Merry Christmas, anyway .
It’s another of these hollowwood recurring trash season rehashed: Same threats, same stupid claims of immanent invasion of Ukrland by Russia and same media howls.
Why does Dimitry need to spend time on this bs? It’s extremely tiresome to set the record straight for Western audiences.
Watched your talk at, I think it was the “long now foundation”, ages ago and noticed how your common sense approach to Western holy woke “transformity” dogma, while elaborating on “collapse”, was so amusing to the audience. It was quiet some time ago where woke was not omnipresent but common sense to Western ears was already something frivolous.
I have to ask you dear Dimitry:
I think you’d agree that the Western world is already in collapse. What if anything has changed about your views on collapse applied to the West? Do you still see an orderly degradation or something different at play here?
Anyway, wish you and your family good health and peace in these lunatic times.
What has changed? Well, I once thought that I would view collapse close-up, from the inside. I tried to promote various lifehacks to make the US survivable, such as seasteading and homesteading. But about 5 years ago I decided that much of the West, and the US especially, is too unstable and too insane (a mental health hazard, if you will), is incompatible with bringing up healthy children and maintaining healthy family relationships, and so I left, never to come back. I never saw it as an “orderly degradation” but this is simply ridiculous. I am not going to waste my life sojourning among a bunch of perverse, Devil-worshiping cry-babies. Life is too short for that.
Thank you for your reply Dimitry!
I have assumed as much. A lot of discussions and plain stupid everyday life has taught me the same thing.
What I meant with “orderly degradation” was your comparison of collapse to the collapse of the USSR. If I remember correctly, you stated – in the sense of – that too many Americans have the idea of a “Mad Max” style of collapse. Yes, it is real life satire, hypocrisy and all the other unsustainable life facts in the West that make it impossible to reason with many, if not most people. People have to have some modicum of foundational ideas, just to comprehend each other.
Even if I have never lived in the US for extended periods of time, I can see the same root of disease here in Europe (in some regards much more degenerate). I think Europeans sit on a volcano of ethnic, religious and political warfare and local hot war. It will be a massacre. You see it very explicitly in France, which is on the brink if you ask me. The wide spread loss of real state monopoly on violence, will light this country up, like Belgium, ex-Yugoslavia, the UK and state fracturing of German speaking countries.
Mr. Orlov, we have come to a moldy sandwich, which stinks and crumbles, from those sandwiches she shared on Maidan Square in Kiev Victoria Nunland. And after that she stated: Ukraine is a free country and many Russians would like to live in such a country. And you really remember Mr. Orlov, America expects only pain until it collapses.
Wow! Another good essay from Dmitry Orlov. Great stuff.
I just had my fourth colonoscopy yesterday. The prep is a rigorous purgative.
I had the usual versed/fentanyl and when I got home I smoked a legal joint of my homegrown Egmont herb.
I put on a few old albums (in the garage, natch) and listened to an old Bob Dylan album. Pepe Escobar is right. Little Bobby is a genius. I’m sorry I was grumpy at him for not getting together with Jimi, calling the tune, and leading us into the forest, echoing with laughter. But what the hell.
Keep up the good writing, Dmitry.
Brother Blue Iconoclast
The West is undergoing civilisational collapse and that always starts within.
Russia has re-emerged from the Yeltsin Era as a Nation State with ability to defend its borders – and – because of its aid to Edward Snowden – it looks much more impressive than UK or USA in terms of safe refuge.
UK and USA as maritime powers are facing eclipse from China which wants to protect its maritime trade and sea routes from US interdiction. Russia does not need a surface navy to project power since it is Eurasian land mass – but US/UK want to break any possible ties with Germany to keep Western Europe in the sphere.
I predict France will end up allied to Russia.
“Russia does not need a surface navy to project power…”
What?!!! That made me do a spit-take. How is Russia, if attacked, supposed to instantly vaporize all of Washington without its attack submarines? As the saying goes, Russia has but two allies: its army and its navy.
Mr. Orlov wrote, “Biden was careful to point out that the US would not come to the Ukraine’s rescue, because the Ukraine is not a NATO member and so the US is under no obligation to actually take any risks on its behalf, …”
Uh huh.
Let’s take a journey into the past, back to July 25, 1990. We find ourselves listening in on a discussion between Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq and April Glaspie, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.
“Saddam Hussein – If we could keep the whole of the Shatt al Arab – our strategic goal in our war with Iran – we will make concessions (to the Kuwaitis). But, if we are forced to choose between keeping half of the Shatt and the whole of Iraq (i.e., in Saddam s view, including Kuwait ) then we will give up all of the Shatt to defend our claims on Kuwait to keep the whole of Iraq in the shape we wish it to be. (pause) What is the United States’ opinion on this?”
“U.S. Ambassador Glaspie – We have no opinion on your Arab – Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960’s, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America.”
On August 2, 1990, Saddam’s massed troops invade and occupy Kuwait.
On January 17th of the next year (1991), the U.S. military along with a coalition of other countries’ militaries (the majority of which just happen to be NATO members) attack Iraqi occupying forces inside Kuwait.
Promises and inferences spoken by diplomats and political appointees are liars without blushing (Врёт — и глазом не мигнёт.)
And while I stand on my podium of condemnation, how come President Putin doesn’t call for NATO to be disbanded since its original purpose was to provide a defensive umbrella against the Soviet Union, which officially dissolved itself on December 26, 1991?
NATO is no longer about “defending democracy”, it’s become a mercenary force, a proxy for the United States who by the way, provides the greatest amount of its funding. It has declared itself an unabashed political and military alliance (see: https://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html ).
It’s capo dei capi, Jens Stoltenberg, the flaming peacock from Norway who had previously received an award for “bringing fresh ideas to global problems” said,
“I expect that Germany will continue to be part of nuclear sharing because it’s so important for the whole of European defence framework. The alternative to NATO nuclear sharing is different types of bilateral arrangements. Germany can off course decide whether there will be nuclear weapons in your country but the alternative is that we end up with nuclear weapons in other countries in Europe also to the east of Germany“
President Putin needs to point out the hypocrisy of the U.S.-NATO alliance and how it will lead the world to a catastrophic apocalypse if it does not stop the rattle of sabers and shaking of fists against the Russian Federation.
Not a banal Rashkin, an unfit deputy to the State Duma (the bottom fee of the “virtual” Parliament))) RF from the Communist Party of Russia Comrade Rashkin, V.F.. And everything else is correct!
On request by Dmitry, this fix was done. Platoshkin -> Rashkin.
Can we reasonably compare today’s Ukrainian crisis with the Cuban crisis in 1962?
Sure, that would be a reasonable comparison if Russia’s missile batteries were positioned all along the Canadian and the Mexican borders, ready to fire into the US.
It is an historic fact that sometimes completely corrupt and incompetent governments collapse. If Ukraine does collapse (with everybody shooting at everybody else, and millions of refugees heading for Europe) Then someone will have to take over the country to straighten things out. What about those 14 nuclear reactor power plants? The need will be to get rid of most of the oligarchs; and kill, arrest or chase the trouble makers out of the country (they could always be sent to Canada). NATO seems to be saying that Russia won’t be allowed to do this.
Obviously Russia does not want to have to do this but who will? The Chinese would love to manage the farmland, redevelop the infrastructure and make Ukraine part of the Belt Road Initiative, but they are too far away!
Tavrik, We have enough trouble makers right here already starting with the dancing black faced fool globalist currently occupying the post of prime minister, although many refer to him as the prime minstrel. Send the trouble makers to Mexico. The cartels will sort them out.
They say this is a repeat of the Cuban Missile Crisis. If i remember correctly, the US president got shot not so long after this. I wouldn’t be surprised this happening again.
Dmitry I enjoyed the useless toxic bimbo as Joe’s sidekick LMAO but that was insulting to the typical useless toxic Americanski bimbos & babarogas. Spaceba Thank You for some humor!!
Now on the serious side I M A US Army Veteran And we need to bring all our troops home now! No more disposable heros & chicken hawk politicians orders should not be followed without a declaration of war!! That means every war we Americans were in since 1945 were illegal AKA unconstitutional! We should have made peaceful & mutually beneficial relations with Russians long ago!
Energy comes in many guises: light is a form of energy, heat is a form of energy, movement of matter is a form of energy, electricity is a form of energy, and so on. They each have distinctive properties: light is quite different from heat.
Radiation comes in many guises, each with different properties. The reaction of radiation and matter depends on the kind of radiation and the nature of the matter concerned.
Carbon dioxide is a gaseous material that hinders the passage of heat: It acts like a blanket, or a wet-suit. It allows sunlight to pass through without hindrance. It does NOT cause global cooling. It dissolves in water to form a weak acid that can be detrimental to some forms of life, but clearly not all. Many people enjoy carbonated water.
Carbon dioxide is a so-called “greenhouse gas”. It is a product of burning fossil fuels. Hundreds of millions of years of stored carbon (in the form of fossil fuels) has been burnt since the start of the Industrial Revolution and particularly in the last century. If it is so harmless then why the effort of ‘carbon capture’? Plants have been doing this for around 3 billion years, it being stored as the chemical energy of fossils. Holes in the ozone layer is another story.
Please don’t weaken good arguments by extraneous statements that are weak in substance.
Please don’t weaken this comment section with your inaccurate ramblings on subjects of which your knowledge is clearly very limited. You’ve been had by people who used regulatory capture to push Dupont’s patented freon replacements and are currently using a similar trick to impose a carbon tax on everyone.
Removed. Breaks site rules and going off-topic. Mod.
To David Kennedy
I would suggest that it is your extraneous statements that are weak in substance. You obviously have not read Dmitry’s sublime piece on this very topic/subject, totally backed by reseach and science. That his brilliant analysis and insight should be the top teaching aid to ignoramuses who believe in the detrimental effects of “greenhouse gases” and everything else that goes with the so-called “climat change “gravy train”.
Dmitry can run rings around people like that, including your good self.
Please shut this conversation down everyone. Breaks site rules. Mod
D. Orlov has a brilliant insight, and the reason for Putin wanting this protocol meeting, but forcing it on Biden without asking for it himself.
“However, such security guarantees are not something that Biden can provide without suffering a massive loss of face and destroying any sense of purpose that NATO has been struggling in vain to cultivate ever since the USSR collapsed three decades ago. But sometimes just making a demand is almost as good as having it acceded to. If the US fails to help Russia meet its perfectly reasonable security requirements, then that unties Russia’s hands to do so without US help . . .”
The massing of troops that ignited Biden to ask Putin to submit to a video meeting was a clever use of Shoigu’s exercises.
Putin got what Dmitry indicates, freed hands to dispose of the lunatics in Ukraine with no interference from US and NATO.
Thank God, somebody here got the key point! Yes, that’s exactly right.
“”…security guarantees are not something that Biden can provide without suffering a massive loss of face…”
It´s not so much about Mr. Biden losing face or even saving some other part of his anatomy. It´s just that NO US president or other pooh-bah can credibly guarantee ANYTHING (written or otherwise) beyond the 4-years tenure of their administration in Washington. Mr. Trump made that perfectly clear when he abrogated the Intermediate Nuclear Forces, JCPOA, Paris climate agreements, World Health Organisation protocols, bioweapons prohibitions, etc., etc., etc.
^^;;^^
Morc
This, on the other hand, is not at all a key point. If the Americans sign a document that stipulates where Russia’s red lines are and what happens to those that cross it, and then they go ahead they cross it, then they will only have themselves to blame for the consequences but won’t have a reason to escalate. This is rather different from voluntary compliance; this is coercion to peace: something the Russians are quite good at.
If it’s true, it’s pure Machiavelli
One more article from Dmitry stating the facts with humor.
The DuPont dynasty is one of the 13 dynasties owning the Western central bank system, incl. the US Federal Reserve.
Before the Putin Biden conference, these dynasties were threatening to ban Russia from their SWIFT Banking transfer system. However China and Russia will just use the Chinese CIPS system, created in 2015, and completely ditch the dollar as world trade currency.
JFK tried to break America free of the western central banking system, and got killed for it.
So did Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and in the process a flourishing Libya was plundered and destroyed.
These 13 Globalist dynasties want us to go to war with Russia, because she is one the few Nation left, which refuse to submit to their central Banking scam.
One of the new Refrigerants, called R404A, is a blend of CF3CHF2, CF3CH3 and CH2FCF3. Check them out.
Lots of hard-heard-facts is coming out these days, to a hardcore indoctrinated western population.
Well done Dmitri.
How Biden can survive disposing of the Kiev lunatics with so much US and NATO assets around and inside Ukraine?
Anything, from forced election, coup, all the way to open invasion will be unbearable humiliation for collective West. They first must retreat all visible forces to have excuse for not helping poor Ukies.
Something’s fishy is here…
Afterthought for my previous post:
If They use Biden as scapegoat, then betraying Ukies is doable. He miraculously survived Afghanistan retreat, so why not recycle him?
You might be right, Larchmonter445.
What is still going on in Eastern Ukraine is “ethnic cleansing”, though I would not call it genocide, as Putin recently did. It is being engineered by the (((usual suspects))) who originated in the former Khazarian Kingdom of that region, and whose descendants occupy senior positions in Ukraine, the US State Department as well as the rogue state with water problems and poor neighborly relations in the Eastern Med.
No one will want to raise a family in Donbass for the foreseeable future, which will cause a demographic spiral. Millions have already moved to Russia.
So 10 more years of declining population, 10 years for Putin to retire. The (((usual suspects))) may simply be playing the long game.
Joe Biden is of no consequence in that.
“The midterm elections next fall are likely to make Biden a lame duck for his remaining two years as the number of people willing to vote for his party is likely to be exceeded by the number of those wanting to give Biden another colonoscopy.” I really like this phrase although I would argue that a substantial portion of the US populace would be more than happy to give bidet his next colon exploratory as long as they get to use a large piece of wood to insert the instrument and an even larger mechanical persuasion device to pound it in place.
War. Regardless of what Biden mumbled during the ‘conference’ the fact remains that war, real war (is there any other?) is but a gnat’s eyelash from starting. I don’t say anything here that is not either common knowledge locally (Sevastopol, city and/or Gorod) or readily visible ‘eyes on’ personally but plain for everyone and anyone to see. Whether war is coming or not, Mother is fully prepared. There are no young or middle aged men lounging on the streets now beyond the few drunks who Mother does not want anyway (druggies are very few here, one joint gets you a year, two is intent to distribute and gets you five or so). Case in point. I am not young and I am ill to a point and VCO, all (for those metric challenged) 4’10” of her, can not work like a man, ergo we have a pool of willing hands to help as needed, all serving one way or another. Not a one has been available for five and more months and only two have been close enough to answer the phone with a short conversation. Reading the tea leaves this means Mother has stood to and is as ready as possible no matter what the future may bring. It’s to the point that both VCO and I have been told the duties we will have when it starts and the term used when we were given our orders was not ‘If it starts’, it was ‘When it starts’. Gawd I hope they are wrong but on the other hand I can well understand the ‘stand to’ orders in light of the never ending barrage of threats from Foggy Bottom et al and the much vaunted halls of ‘power’ in eu. A pox on the lot of them, the bastids will start a war they can’t win and screw up life for everyone for a long time….if we survive.
I still say, being an avid student of history, we are at an hour before midnight on 27 July 2014. Seems The World has learned nothing in the ensuing hundred or so years since that fateful date, the full graveyards of millions haven’t affected them one bit. But they will this time, SehSha can no longer rely on an ocean between her and the actual hostilities and one missile to Krimu or any other Russian lands will reap a hellfire in retaliation although if the missile is not nuke the retaliation will not be nuke either. On the other hand, the lot of you living in SehSha/eu should stop and think. What if a conventional warhead takes out your waste water facility or your water purification system? No need to nuke you, you will nuke yourselves in three days when you have no clean water pouring out of your taps and you can’t flush your toilet, your favorite McNasties or other eateries can’t serve you because of no water, your food emporiums can’t work, no water to clean with, etc etc ETC. What if one or two local strategic bridges are dropped on the interstate/Autobahn or locally? How many of you have more than a day or two of food stored in the house and as an aside does said storage rely on electricity? If so you can kiss that storage goodbye, you won’t have electric either. Candles and MRE’s, anyone? I’ve advised my few friends in SehSha/eu to get minimum 200 liter water storage with purification tablets and military ration packs to last 30 days minimum plus a diesel generator with enough fuel to last two weeks running full time to at least run the refrigeration systems and internet, an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure hands down. And don’t forget powder and ball for your musket, you will need it when the ‘woke’ crowd ‘wokes’ up and understands they ain’t got no food, no water, no alpha whiskey and no petrol and McNasties/Burger King whatever don’t work no more. Yup, on 200th thought there is no need for Mother to nuke anything in Uncle Sugar Land or eu, a little strategic conventional action and Western Culture will self destruct in less than a week.
Auslander
Author
Never The Last One, paper back edition. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1521849056 Never the Last One: a Novel of Spetznaz, opens our eyes to the Russian world not described in American news or fiction.
An Incident On Simonka paperback edition. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1696160715 NATO Is Invited To Leave Sevastopol, One Way Or The Other.
Auslander, my dear friend,
Here in SoCal they have readied us with rolling blackouts, water shortage regimes, and CalTrans closing overpasses and diverting freeways all over the landscape. All we need is total panic and roving clans of marauders who will test our 2nd Amendment rights. (Of course, ammo shortages have been a long time issue.)
Seal Beach Naval Station is a brief crow flight from here and we all assume a major Russian strike will relieve us of existence and any need for generators or stored water. Flat land, blast wave and an instant ending is quite likely. If it doesn’t come via hypersonic or ICBM, it might be via Poseidon-caused tsunami. We stand about 10 feet above sea level, so a 200 ft. wall of the cold Pacific is our south-western front. To the north-east lies Prado Dam, which is fully capable of flooding us to rooftops in most of the flatland county.
America’s pathetic grid will be gone for certain, so the idea of electricity in a war climate is ludicrous. It will be a year before the US is electrified should Russia choose to fry the grid.
Thus, water gone and grid gone is all Russia needs to do if she wants to use conventional and cyber as a limited response to a strike which is not total war.
The US is like a drunk on stilts. Destiny is obvious.
All of Putin’s efforts are directed at avoiding war and letting the stilts take care of the drunk.
Larchmonter, my old friend and comrade,
I knew where you live but I didn’t know you were in such low land. Not good for sure but unless Uncle Sugar gets stupud and tosses a nuke I doubt if the altercation will go nuke, or should I say I sincerely hope it don’t go nuke.
Either way we’ll receive enough conventional ordinance in this berg to really test Buk, S300, S400 and S500 and whatever else is floating around this AO to the max. Let’s hope they work to specs but then how many do we have as opposed to how many cruise missiles are on the way? Methinks we’ll loose the numbers game so all we can hope for is the splatter affect doesn’t affect us, we’re not quite a klick from the harbor and all the berths empty they may be and the specialist base the same distance a little to our west and I have no doubts that the prime real estate the specialists are ensconced on will be flattened.
Problem in SehSha/eu is no one remembers how to fend for themselves. I know how to make a field latrine in ten minutes if that long. I know for a fact that I can dig down a meter and I’ll have clean fresh water coming from up the hill plus three close neighbors have wells and I’ve got one heck of a diesel generator so water pumps are not a problem. I can also run any water we get through the main house filter system so we should be good to go. With the current situation we’ve got extra food in for the children and we’re quietly building up stocks in nonperishable foods. All in all we’re as prepared as we can be assuming a missiles don’t get crazy and choose our little compound as Ground Zero. If that happens it won’t matter anyhow, 3.5 meter stone walls do tend to keep blast waves out….and in. Fate is fate and we’re both close to finding out how fickle fate can be. Hope not, but the current situation is worrying.
Auslander
You two need to go rent a hotel room together. Seriously!
C’mon Dimitri, let bromance shine in this grim times!
Make Love – not War. Peace.
You, sir, lived in SehSha too long. Polite and erudite discourse between old friends can only be read the way you did by someone a tad jaded by too much exposure to the madhouse just south of Canada.
well said Auslander, I did not like that snide/flippant comment either, particularly about two men old enough to be his daddy!
It detracts from a thoughtful piece.
we live in a sad age.
Most are reduced to a sarcastic retort for a cheap laugh.
Auslander, I always appreciate your back-and-forths with Larch, thanks.
A.H.H.
My charming half Slav/half Tatar bride and I have been married for 15 years. Ain’t no way I’m chasing another skirt, let alone an old coot who’s danged near my age if not older. Maybe I should post a photo of Ye’lean’chka, aka VCO, Victory Charlie Oscar, Vertically Challenged One. He’ll swoon. If Her Excellency and I were any happier we’d be arrested for ‘un-Soviet hording of happiness and failure to share same in the local collective’. She’s a crack shot, too, putting holes in small things at 150 meters over open sights. I always half joke that one should never annoy a Russian lady, they don’t take prisoners and you will have a very sad day, and the ‘no prisoners’ is eyes on with that little dickens. I showed her what the article writer said, she got a good giggle so all is not lost on his efforts.
Auslander
So, you start talking past everyone else, and when I call you out on it you start casting aspersions? Nice!
Rather than trying to justify an imminent war with the Ukraine, the media seems to be trying to push a war. It reminds me of their bluster after A’stan pullout and the various Syrian false flag attacks when Trump refused to escalate. This leads me to believe Biden Inc is not as closely aligned with the MIC faction as he is with China for business purposes.
I disagree with many on this site however about the imminence of the collapse of the US. The globalists have things pretty much the way they want, and if not stopped will soon sweep away the last vestiges of a republican system to usher in an open tyranny. Once this happens, they’ll consolidate and then go back to their old tricks, this time without the annoyance of worrying about public opinion.
I wish i could share your optimism Mr Orlov about the chance of war.
I have gradually learned not to live life driven by fear, but by the truth. It sometimes brings things into perspective.
First comment ever, here. My disagreement is that words from the mouth of Biden actually represent the words of the power centers running US Foreign policy.
For decades some opinion scientists have predicted the US imminent total collapse and they continue do so. From this line of thinking Russia should not worry of any dangers coming from the US and just wait for this collapse to happen.
@Shessar
Collapse of civilisation is order of magnitude longer process. Centuries, not decades. Also not smooth as in many oversimplified graphs. It is not unlike stock trading zigzag line. The trend is obvious decline.
Main problem is that we can not pinpoint origin of Western civilization, hence many calculations failed.
Did it started with USA only? Is it Great Britain Empire that shifted Capitol overseas? Maybe European royal families from middle ages united into one global mafia?
Whatever, all traits of declining civilization are here. All we know for sure, this is not the first dying Empire in history. Romans rebound few times before disappearance.
US grabbed insane amount of resources from the World, If those riches are not divided among multiple centres of power, I’m sure we wouldn’t have this discussion now. Luckily it is infinitely harder to squeeze war-money from those Scrooges than to put loot into their coffers.
Now, when they finaly face opponent that can fight back, they act as pack of little barking bitches, not as single, confident beast.
Indeed, Russia should play defence until Bully punches himself out. Ocasionaly helping colonies to secede.
In the end, Empire will scatter into individual states. Some relatively strong, some will be eaten by it’s former allies.
It’s only natural
The population of Ukraine has declined by 50%. In 1989 it had a population of 52,000,000. Today the population stands at 26,000,000. The government in Kiev refuses to perform a census since this would only confirm these claims. Ukrainian national, Andrey Vajra explains how he arrived at this 26,000,000 figure at the 6:00 mark of this video.
https://youtu.be/7UQ10b2rGko?t=358
From 2014 i was checking the population movement and i came up with a figure of 4.5 million moving permanently to Russia. 1.5 million crossing the border temporarily and working in Russia “until things settle down again” in the Ukraine. 500,000 moving across daily to “insecure” jobs in Russia (ie they want to remain living in the Ukraine). On the Western side there are 500,000 Ukrainians who have wandered over the “Slovak” and “Hungarian” parts of the Ukraine and have gradually found permanent/temporary jobs in Slovakia and Hungary.
Then there are some 1 million Donbass citizens who live in central and western Ukraine but still have family links in the Donbass…such as my current girlfriend.
Some 300,000 Ukrainians in the UK…many on 6 month visas (so they are here 3 months…return for 3 months then back here for 3 months etc) , who have displaced the 500,000 Poles who were here until a few years ago, more than likely an equivalent number in Germany, France, Italy (judging by the incredible number of staff in companies that i contact across Europe that say they are Ukrainians)
I find it unbelievably sad to read the comments of contributors on this website who rubbish what was once quite a nice place to live in…There continue to be many Ukrainians who, whilst finding daily life a struggle, do actually like to live there – and NOT because they are “so infatuated with the USA” but because of historic family and cultural roots….and many do actually emphasise with Russia (but have to be careful due to the current internal politics).
I experienced the same phenomenon in 1990 when i enjoyed a relationship with a Berlin girlfriend. She was a western Berliner, caught in 1961 on the Eastern side of the new wall. She had a job in the Ministry of State Security. She experienced the psychological tyranny within Honeckers government…but also the superb benefits of their socialist system …she then experienced the Wall coming down…and i took her literally across all of Europe for 13 years…
Where does she live now? ? East Germany of course. Shes seen the worst of what East Germany could offer…and the best that West German and British life could offer…and her preference is to live in East Germany …and she was always a strong supporter of Russia, even after the 1953 event…
Exact same with my Ukrainian GF…shes happy there…she might indeed wish to do some travelling elsewhere but her family and roots are in the Ukraine…
so i for one, dont give up on the talent that still wants to live there…
Just MHO…
Biden keeps the moldy bagel.
He loses the opportunity to coax Putin to step a little step away from China. Offering him nothing, Biden received nothing.
Biden also does not gain help from Russia to get a new JCPOA deal with Iran. The last one, in 2015, Russia and China helped solidify the deal with Iran. This time, Biden is all alone and his great ally in the Middle East, Israel is hellbent on starting a war with Iran for Biden to fight.
Biden stands (barely) all alone, lost in confusion.
He threatened devastating sanctions and Putin swept them aside like the threat was a gnat in the room.
Biden had to try to regather the Normandy Group, Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia, but Russia wants no part of that situation. Ukraine wants the US to make the talks five at the table, but Russia wants no part of that situation.
Biden is faced with a choke bone called Minsk 2 stuck in the Ukie throat, ever resurrecting from the impossible atmosphere of Donbass. Kiev can’t swallow even Step 1 of the 13 steps of the Minsk 2 Agreement.
Biden has to show he can get Russian troops away from Russian borders. Putin wants words written on paper in exchange for lowering the temperature in the near abroad.
The US is faced with Brussels that thinks like Kiev that the US should join in on a war with Russia.
Biden can’t convince Brussels or Kiev that the US wants no part of a war. The US has its hands full with what may blow up in the Middle East and what may blow up in Taiwan.
The three big sticks of dynamite, each with very short fuses, are held by Biden and the US.
His friends are dancing around him with torches and lighters trying to ignite a stick of TNT.
Brussels and Kiev trying to light the stick with Russia’s name on it.
Israel and Evangelicals trying to light the stick with Iran’s name on it.
Taiwan, Japan and Australia trying to light the stick with China’s name on it.
Biden will have to force NATO to give Putin what he wants.
That makes the most sense, because Putin then would be available to work on the Iran nuclear issue and help with the Taiwan issue.
Meanwhile, Biden’s historic Presidency is the worst in history, and it is on the fast track domestically and internationally to get much worse. He desperately needs a win somewhere.
Ukraine is the easiest place. Like JFK had to give up Intermediate Range Missiles in Turkey in order to “win” the Cuban missile crisis, Biden has to give up Ukraine in order to save NATO and the Atlanticist Alliance.
He can pound his chest as the Russian troops return to barracks if he gives Putin what he wants.
Putin will be eating popcorn while Kiev self-destructs as its military is forced to withdraw 75 km. from the contact line and begin to rust in place. Neutrality for Kiev is a death sentence for the Russophobic Ukies. But it is the only deal Biden will find. Time is running out on his Presidency.
This sounds nice in terms of what the “Joe Biden” clique/claque might wish to achieve. The problem is, can they assemble the requisite amount of intelligence and focus? My observations suggest that they cannot.
Observe Victoria Nuland, who is supposed to be an experienced Russia hand, recently holding forth in Kiev, saying that few Ukrainians would wish to live in Sverdlovsk or in Yekaterinburg (which she mispronounces Ekaterinburg). Never mind that lots of Ukrainians live there and many more want to; the two cities are the same! Sverdlovsk was renamed to Yekaterinburg in September of 1991. So, here she is, a Russia specialist with a BA in Russian Literature, being vague on the name of Russia’s 4th largest city!
With talent like that it is likely that “team Biden” will achieve absolutely nothing at all. What I find likely is that, as multiple overlapping crises unfold and become harder and harder to keep track of, Biden will simply fade out, making few public appearances or public pronouncements, while his handlers do all they can to keep the world convinced that the Great Wizard of Oz is still there and still powerful. We will hear thunderous rhetoric coming from the US mass media followed up by a whole bunch of nothing—every time.
You are definitely on target with that prediction. Signs of it already. The spokespeople can’t cover for his ineptitude and mangled statements of policy.
I merely pointed to his big issues/goals and the narrow path to any possible success. It goes through Moscow and VVP. Without Russia, nothing much is possible. China and India know this, Iran understands this and a plethora of smaller nations have set sail with Moscow.
Putin saved not only Russia, but hope and change for the rest of the world. The Hegemon came up against Russia and the thirty year run of unipolar rule has ended.
To Larchmonter
“The Hegemon came up against Russia and the thirty year run of unipolar rule has ended”.
Thank you! Could not have said it better myself.
Of course Russia wouldn’t benefit from eating the moldy bagel, just from trampling it to crumbs beneath its boot. It will always be a dagger aimed at Russia, and although you may laugh off the prospect of it doing any permanent harm, the day may come when it can do serious damage.
LOL! If a moldy bagel attacked me with a dagger, I’d be really worried. Mixed metaphors can be deadly.
To Constantine
Serious damage? The one and only attempt at that would be if the West feels seriously suicidal, as they will be absolutely and totally obliterated. When would that simple fact gets through your delusional western brains?
Dmitry Orlov — “I am not going to waste my life sojourning among a bunch of perverse, Devil-worshiping cry-babies. Life is too short for that.”
Respect. When all around you are losing their heads, it is wise to take yourself out of the asylum. Your children deserve a fighting chance elsewhere.
I counsel young Americans to learn to live elsewhere. They can go back to retire when they grow old, if nostalgia is that important to them, and if this madness has faded by then. But as they say, people go mad in herds, and only recover their senses one lonely person at a time.
” But as they say, people go mad in herds, and only recover their senses one lonely person at a time.”
And isn’t that soooo obvious right now. Especially under the reign of petty tyrants like Jacinda and her neighbourhood State premiers.
WWIII over Ukraine was never on the table. The US and NATO know full well that they have no capability to challenge Russia in Ukraine, and anything beyond that would result in WWIII – which no one wants over a rotten bagel like Ukraine.
The real issue is what *is* on the table in Ukraine. And that’s what the CIA and neocons hope to achieve by starting a war between Ukraine and Russia. We can’t be certain what those goals are, although there is plenty of speculation we can do, assuming that the neocons want a bunch of outcomes that in fact aren’t likely to actually happen. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is what the neocons want and what the neocons will do.
War between Ukraine and Russia is most definitely not off the table. The only thing off the table – and it always was – is that the US and NATO will involve themselves militarily directly in that conflict.
There is a chance that the Ukraine will manage to stage a provocation large enough for the Russians to pull the trigger. In that case the Russians will do a Georgia 08/08/2008 on the Ukraine, except that this is 14 years later and the Russian army is in much better shape. It will take it 3 long days, maybe 4, to demilitarize the Ukraine and pull out again, leaving the moldy bagel to continue stinking up Europe just as it did with Georgia. And what will the Americans and the various NATO “trainers” do (other than soil their panties?). Why, evacuate, of course!
dimitry do you have an opinion on how russia might deal with the multitude of aging nuclear power plants in ukraine in event of armed conflict? there rapid shutdown might present russia proper a real problem in case of radiation leaks.
Agree completely. My complaint was that too many analysts assume that just because Ukraine in NATO is off the table (which Biden didn’t even directly tell Zelensky in the phone call) and that Ukraine would lose the war that therefore there will be no war. Doesn’t follow if there are other agendas at play.
To me a tell-tale sign is the Ukrainian warship sent to the Kerch Straits shortly after Biden’s call. This tells me Biden never did tell Zelensky to de-escalate despite what the media is claiming (without any evidence.)
Dmitry Orlov — “But sometimes just making a demand is almost as good as having it acceded to. If the US fails to help Russia meet its perfectly reasonable security requirements, then that unties Russia’s hands to do so without US help . . .”
That is Russian judo for you. Biden thinks he is using Putin to score points before his home audience, and vitally, before his owners. Putin corners Biden with a demand that Biden cannot meet, which then frees Putin’s hands. Biden thinks he has laid a mouse trap, but Putin’s parry means that Biden’s cojones are now in the trap. Ouchie. Essentially, Putin talked past the puppet, addressing the puppet masters behind the curtain.
Dmitry Orlov — “The problem is, can they assemble the requisite amount of intelligence and focus? My observations suggest that they cannot…. So, here she is, a Russia specialist with a BA in Russian Literature, being vague on the name of Russia’s 4th largest city…. We will hear thunderous rhetoric coming from the US mass media followed up by a whole bunch of nothing—every time.”
Touche !!! Nothing like a plain-spoken truth-speaker to cut through the fog of confusion from too many words from the verbose, overly self-confident Americans.
My experience from doing business with Americans is that they talk a lot, and do too little. A dumb idiot’s oration will impress a room full of dumb idiots, but not a business partner who carefully studies the speaker.
Nuland is a typical sample of American verbosity: the more she talks, the more she is revealed to be an idiot.
Another idiot is Blinkin’ Blink’n: speaking from a position of imagined strength when he has none.
Then, there is Jake Sullivan, the sweaty-faced, scared shool boy, failing to sound coherent in a sea of lies.
Also, Palid Psaki, of the dead shark’s eyes, circling back from one inane excuse to another, like a badly-programmed robotic doll.
Your observations are absolutely Spot On.
We have the same pompous empty loudmouths in British political circles…
Always the party pooper: the RF is the pretend enemy you have when you don’t have an enemy, for military industrial big bucks & BigBiz world wide. When the world has just one owner, the you know who’s, it’s a party game. Destructive of life on earth? …. is what they do best. Enjoy
Biden disclosed that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that during their video conference that, in case of the “invasion,” Washington will send its troops to the Bucharest 9 states
https://tass.com/world/1374257