Tag: NATO

US Sends Warship into Russia’s Gulf of Mexico – Amid Tensions with Turkey

There are no coincidences really. I wonder if the US Empire’s navy commanders read Paul Craig Roberts blog and then react accordingly:

It appears that Washington intends to withdraw from the Open Skies agreement with Russia .. The Open Skies Treaty allowed the US and Russia to overfly each other’s territory in order that there could be mutual assurance that one country or the other wasn’t building up forces for attack ..

.. then Roberts writes:

.. Washington is currently raising tensions in the Black Sea, arming Ukraine, Georgia, and Romania, countries that border the Black Sea along with Russia, Turkey, and Bulgaria.The US and its NATO puppets are conducting military exercises in this internal sea that hosts Russia’s Crimean naval base ..

.. then Roberts suggests a strategic move that would stop the US/NATO in their tracks:

.. Russia can declare the Black Sea on Russia’s own coast to be a Russian national security interest.

It would be a highly responsible decision for the Russian government to prevent the dangers that Washington is creating by taking a lesson from Ancient Rome.

Rome declared a much larger sea, the Mediterranean Sea,to be “mare nostrum,” — our sea.The Russians could declare the Black Sea to be “our sea.”

Russia should be able to treat the Black Sea like the US treats the Gulf of Mexico, right? If Iranian or Russian naval vessels were performing military exercises in the Gulf of Mexico, the US media (neo-con mouth pieces) would be crying and shouting foul!

Here is the US Navy’s response as shared by Sputnik:

The US warship, armed with cruise missiles and interceptors, marks the seventh entry of an American missile destroyer into the Black Sea since the beginning of the year, as well as the second of the USS Porter.

Commander of the US 6th Fleet Vice Admiral Lisa Franchetti has commented on the USS Porter’s arrival in the Black Sea.

According to a statement published in the newspaper Stars and Stripes, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was deployed to an area near Russia’s borders in order to carry out routine operations, showing NATO allies and US partners in the region the country’s “dedication to freedom of navigation”.

How about that. Great timing!

Then, on queue, the US talks about some sanctions (1st level of warfare when negotiations breaks down) against Turkey for invading Syria (but the US did that and was not sanctioned, “above the law” anyone?). Turkey has already agreed to purchase Russian S-400 missile defense platforms, and these sanctions seem to push Turkey towards Russia. Geographically, it might help to note what role Turkey plays in Black Sea access:

 

Turkey’s ability to restrict access to the Black Sea comes from a pre-WWII agreement:

Montreux Convention

.. the 1936 Montreux Convention [2], which makes Turkey the gatekeeper to the Black Sea and lays down the rules to be applied by Turkey in allowing the entry of ships from the Mediterranean.

These rules state that “in time of peace, merchant vessels shall enjoy complete freedom of transit and navigation in the Straits, by day and by night, under any flag and with any kind of cargo” (Article 2).

However, they impose very severe restrictions on the entry of warships belonging to non-Black Sea states and on how long they can remain in the Black Sea… And Article 18(2) stipulates:

“Vessels of war belonging to non-Black Sea Powers shall not remain in the Black Sea more than twenty-one days, whatever be the object of their presence there.”

In addition, under Article 13, Turkey must be notified in advance of a proposed passage through the Straits by a warship, 15 days in advance in the case of warships belonging to non-Black Sea powers, and the notification must “specify the destination, name, type and number of the vessels, as also the date of entry for the outward passage and, if necessary, for the return journey”.

Now you can see why NATO advances into Ukraine also needed a Turkey NATO membership as well to ensure US Empire warship access ANYTIME.

I believe that the US Empire/NATO has over played its hand since the USSR dissolved into various republics. Even though the US Empire promised that NATO would not advance in the wake of the Soviet collapse, it did so anyway.

So whether Russia becomes bold at this point and follows Paul Craig Robert’s suggestion about the Black Sea (based on how Rome essentially did the same centuries ago) or if Turkey flips back out of NATO over the US Empire’s bully tactics, things seem to be a changing in the Geo-political world at an increasing rate.

Stay tuned!

-SF1

 

NATO’s Push Using Ukraine for Azov Sea Access – Encroachment on Russia?

I don’t know about you, but I like to put the shoe on the other foot and see how it feels. You know, like Ron Paul would say, the Golden Rule but on the macro level .. “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

So when I hear from this Fort Russ article that NATO is using Ukraine toward asserting force into the Azov Sea, I had to look into it. At first glance this is not unlike the Russian fleet pushing itself into the St. Lawrence Seaway:

…  or the Straits of Juan de Fuca:

I contend that it is NOT like Russians entering the expansive Gulf of Mexico.

Let’s look at the Sea of Azov:

To narrow down on the rather small Azov Sea, we see what is going on:

This “sea” is almost landlocked. Notice that even without the Azov Sea, Ukraine is NOT landlocked. Yes, trade would be much easier for those on this sea IF peace were in power, however, those at the Pentagon hate peace and the Ukraine government is their puppet now that ISIS has been diminished and being redeployed.

 

You can see here that outside of Kerch is where the Russians built a awesome bridge that allowed the Crimean population to flourish with trade expenses lowered.

Should you see this as Russian encroachment, just know that the people of Crimea (and that of Dombass which has yet to be liberated) are solid Russians culturally:

So with this context, consider what NATO is up to:

the European Parliament approved a resolution calling on the executive authorities of the EU to provide for increased sanctions against the Russian Federation based upon the building of the Crimean bridge and the accusation – not unreasonable – that Russia now controls the Sea of Azov.

To assist in understanding what is at stake, consider the treaties that are in place:

Lavrov said a bilateral treaty with Ukraine prohibits military drills in the area around Azov without a green light from Moscow.:

“Now Ukraine wants to hold NATO drills in the Sea of Azov but it will be impossible to go there because our treaty with Ukraine requires mutual consent for the passage of warships into the Sea of Azov,” Lavrov told French media on Thursday. “But they want this and they are being actively goaded into this.”

That is correct .. if a bully comes into your neighborhood, you have to be firm:

Russia has reconfirmed earlier in the week that the Sea of Azov is ‘off limits’ to NATO and the U.S, for any purposes including drills and exercises.

To enter the Azov Sea, NATO ships would have to go under the new bridge in a waterway that is only just under 2 miles wide at its narrowest point.

Sorry, there is ZERO reason for NATO to move in this direction unless its real motive is conflict with the Russian military.

The US prompting of NATO policies that will be outfitting the Ukrainian navy with refurbished warships to not only stupid but dangerous.

The US / Ukraine alliance will not end well as one should understand the neo-Nazi underpinnings of the current Ukraine regime.

Please research this yourself .. know your locale, but also know your world as you will learn much about your government when you hear how they behave abroad.

-SF1

Playground Rules for Bullies: Does Not Apply to US Empire

The US government has a website JUST for addressing bullies. It reads:

When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time.

Well I want to turn in Bolton and Pence man, they are out of control on the world’s playground man.

Here is a Bolton example from 2002 before the Iraq Invasion:

“I got a phone call from John Bolton – it was first time I had contact with him – and he said he had instructions to tell me that I have to resign from the organization, and I asked him why,” Bustani told RT. “He said “Cheney wants you out,” Bustani recalled Bolton saying, referring to the then-vice president of the United States. that [my] management style was not agreeable to Washington.” …

… Bustani said he “owed nothing” to the US, pointing out that he was appointed by all OPCW member states. Striking a more sinister tone, Bolton said: “OK, so there will be retaliation. Prepare to accept the consequences. We know where your kids are.”

According to Bustani, two of his children were in New York at the time, and his daughter was in London.

Believe me, this is not the only data point. Bolton is known in DC as a “madman,” the “serial abuser,” the “bully” who happens to also be pretty effective at getting things done.

Why I bring this up now is the uptick on the rants against Russia and China now that the circus in town (all things Kavanaugh) is done. In this Moon of Alabama article, it is detailed to what extent the effort is to deflect once again from internal US issues to a world full of villains. Personally, I think with the impending demise of the prime proxy of US / Israel / UK / Saudi Arabia (ISIS) in the Middle East, there needs to be a “boogieman” bridge to keep the public sheep scared enough to let the US government and Deep State do what they want to do.

The United States enlists (delegates to) NATO countries to spread the s**t in global media in return for guaranteed safety given by the empire’s military. So Britian punts first at Russia:

The anti-Russian campaign is about alleged Russian spying, hacking and influence operations. .. Britain accused Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU) of spying attempts against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague and Switzerland, of spying attempts against the British Foreign Office, of influence campaigns related to European and the U.S. elections, and of hacking the international doping agency WADA. British media willingly helped to exaggerate the claims:

“The Foreign Office attributed six specific attacks to GRU-backed hackers and identified 12 hacking group code names as fronts for the GRU – Fancy Bear, Voodoo Bear, APT28, Sofacy, Pawnstorm, Sednit, CyberCaliphate, Cyber Berku, BlackEnergy Actors, STRONTIUM, Tsar Team and Sandworm.”

The “hacking group code names” the Guardian tries to sell to its readers do not refer to hacking groups but to certain cyberattack methods. Once such a method is known it can be used by any competent group and individual. Attributing such an attack is nearly impossible. Moreover Fancybear, ATP28, Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group, Sednit and Strontium are just different names for one and the same well known method.

S**T = propaganda

So we have yet another show on the heels of over a year of Russia’s “meddling” in US elections (proven to be accomplished by the DNC itself as well as Israel’s Zionist organizations, both deep state and not so deep state) and after the Kavanaugh “Halftime Show”.

About the same time a few days ago, The Netherlands also did it’s part also targeting Russia:

The Netherland for its part released a flurry of information about the alleged spying attempts against the OPCW in The Hague. It claims that four GRU agents traveled to The Hague on official Russian diplomatic passports to sniff out the WiFi network of the OPCW. (WiFi networks are notoriously easy to hack. If the OPCW is indeed using such it should not be trusted with any security relevant issues.) The Russian officials were allegedly very secretive, even cleaning out their own hotel trash, while they, at the same, time carried laptops with private data and even taxi receipts showing their travel from a GRU headquarter in Moscow to the airport. Like in the Skripal/Novichok saga the Russian spies are, at the same time, portrayed as supervillains and hapless amateurs. Real spies are neither.

More s**t = More propaganda

95%+ of Americans soak all this up and believe it to be fact. It doesn’t matter if they align with Democrats or Republicans or even many times Libertarians, they still believe the statist BS.

What remains hidden to Americans is actions their own government and deep state have accomplished over the years and decades. Psychologically, it is usually people who would do atrocious things to others who are the first to project this kind of behavior on other people. These psychopaths and sociopaths are deeply embedded in our government and deep state and they don’t realize that this very behavior is what gives them away (to those who can see these red flags).

Think about the past 5 years alone where it was revealed the grand scale of U.S. and British spying (courtesy of Edward Snowden) and thanks to the Wikileaks Vault 7 leak of various CIA hacking tools was publicized. You have to know by now that the Pentagon runs large social media manipulation campaigns, right? You have to also know by now that the British GHCQ hacked Belgium’s main telecom network to spy on various international organizations in Brussels, like the OPCW mentioned at the top of this post. In fact, one of the NSA’s first mandates was to hack into the OPCW as early as September 2000 according to this article:

According to last week’s Shadow Brokers leak, the NSA compromised a DNS server of the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in September 2000, two years after the Iraq Liberation Act and Operation Desert Fox, but before the Bush election.

On the Chinese front, VP Pence took aim with the following bogus claim:

Vice President Mike Pence accused China on Thursday of trying to undermine President Donald Trump as the administration deploys tough new rhetoric over Chinese trade, economic and foreign policies. … Sounding the alarm, Pence warned other nations to be wary of doing business with China, condemning the Asian country’s “debt diplomacy” that allows it to draw developing nations into its orbit…

And then the Pentagon chimed in with it’s claims:

China represents a “significant and growing risk” to the supply of materials vital to the U.S. military, according to a new Pentagon-led report that seeks to mend weaknesses in core U.S. industries vital to national security. The nearly 150-page report, seen by Reuters on Thursday ahead of its formal release Friday, concluded there are nearly 300 vulnerabilities that could affect critical materials and components essential to the U.S. military.

Nothing is said about the times the US has done the same starting as early as 1982 according to this article:

A CIA operation to sabotage Soviet industry by duping Moscow into stealing booby-trapped software was spectacularly successful when it triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian gas pipeline, it emerged yesterday. … Mr Reed writes that the software “was programmed to reset pump speeds and valve settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to pipeline joints and welds”.

Since then Wikileaks resources lists > 25 cases of US “supply chain manipulation” of either computer hardware or software. Another search for “supply chain” in the Snowden archives shows 18 documents describing such ‘projects’.

Again, the US psychopaths are projecting their behavior on other nations.

Along these lines, I am personally going to learn about “5 Types of People Who Can Ruin Your Life” as not only do our government leadership, Deep State, etc. all are filled with people like Bolton and Pence, but corporations who are wedded tightly to this highly dysfunctional government have similar issues inside of them. I believe that being able to see these “red-flags” is most important in these days where it seems like everything is in the political arena (Diversity in the Workplace, etc)

-SF1

Ukraine Conflict Ramp Up Eminent?

Donetsk People’s Republic leader Alexander Zakharchenko

No sooner had I posted a couple days ago about Novorossiya federation in the eastern areas of Ukraine that emerged in 2014 and word comes of possible escalation on the Kiev government’s fight in two eastern provinces with assistance from the US, of course. A tip-off toward this trend that might neglect the Minsk II Agreement agreed to (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany) on 12FEB2015 (to a protocol that was agreed to the previous September 2014 called Minsk I) was the assassination of a leader of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic leader Alexander Zakharchenko on 31AUG2018.

This “match” was lit to activate those in Russia who believe that Putin is too passive when it comes to these two provinces in Ukraine that are saturated with Russian culture / language. Putin actually urged these breakaway republics (Luhansk (LPR) and Donetsk (DPR)) NOT to ask for reunification with Russia for geopolitical reasons. The US/NATO wants a fight to break out here just like they hope a fight will break out in Syria.

The latest detailed map for the Minsk II Agreement lines between Ukraine and “rebel” forces can be seen at this excellent site.

The rebels are attempting to hold this all together as the leader’s wife met with them on the front lines as articulated in this article:

Wife of the DPR Head Nataliya arrived to the front to talk to soldiers. She told them to tell all the questions and problems to the Commanders and that she would take part, and do everything possible to help.She asked them to save that her husband Alexandr Zakharchenko started in 2014.

The rebels have been getting Intel that things are brewing again, courtesy of the United States as outlined in this article and quoted below:

According to DPR Deputy Commander-In-Chief Eduard Basurin:

“(o)ur intelligence (indicates) that subdivisions of (Kiev’s) 128th Brigade are on full alert. Main attack force was deployed on the Mariupol direction” near Donbass. An offensive could start any time.

On Sunday, DPR spokesman Daniil Bezsonov said large numbers of US and Canadian military personnel arrived in Ukraine ahead of what may be a major offensive in Donbass, saying:

“Our intelligence noticed the arrival of a large number of foreign servicemen to the 56th motorized infantry and 406th artillery brigades near Urzuf.”

“The arrival of a group of high-ranking military officials from the US and Canadian armed forces to the headquarters of (Kiev’s) Operational Command East was also noticed.”

“(I)t seems that the command of Ukraine’s ‘unified forces operation’ allocates the central role in an offensive to the 36th marines brigade, 56th mechanized infantry and 79th assault airborne brigades.”

“Nazis from the Azov group will be tasked to back the offensive in the rear. All these operations will be commanded by the military from the United States and Canada, or, in other words, by NATO military.”

I find it no coincidence that the US would choose this time to escalate pressure in both eastern Ukraine and Syria. The neo-cons in Washington DC are itching for a fight somewhere as elections loom on the horizon and having a conflict break out that the US could “police” and ensure “humanitarian” efforts are made would look good on the Trump administration AND would bring in the war-hawk Democrats under the DC neo-con umbrella. Unifying the remnants of the McCain era allies that crossed political aisles is a win-win for any administration that is in power, because if the Deep State is happy, then the government, politicians and MIC are all happy.

I swear, DC stands for Dysfunctional Central .. where sociopaths and psychopaths hook up.

-SF1

 

2014 Federation Attempt / 2018 Realities in Novorossiya

When the US/NATO interests back in 2013-2014, specifically the CIA, attempted the Ukraine Orange Revolution 2.0 (version 1.0 being back in 2004-2005), it became obvious rather fast that not unlike Syria (2011-?), this discontent was manufactured by US foreign policy interests. The US/NATO would love to have Ukraine (all of it) firmly in NATO and pressed up firmly on Russian’s border.

In a previous post, I talked a bit about the promises made in 1991-1994 to Russia that NATO would not enter any power vacuum that followed the split up of the USSR into many republics.  The US, never the upholder of treaties when violations of such ink and paper can offer something more for this anxious empire,  accomplished things behind the scenes like Ukraine’s Color / Orange Revolution in 2004 that triggered the masses to overthrow their government (which the US/NATO did not approve of) to tip the scales toward something more aligned with the US Empire’s mission and vision for the globe.

As noted in this Lew Rockwell article, version 1.0 became the template used elsewhere:

The Orange Revolution, as it was known at the time, was a classic CIA-engineered plot to impose their political outcome on the Ukrainian people. And they succeeded with flying colors.

That CIA-sponsored coup d’etat was so successful that it has since been used as a model for every other CIA-manufactured scheme that has toppled governments and reversed fair election outcomes the world over. In fact, the Ukraine is where the various social network utilities were used so effectively that the new MO has become known as the digital blitzkrieg. Never in human history have so many citizens been stampeded in the direction of overthrowing their government while being completely ignorant of the real forces manipulating the cattle prods.

Russia, when faced with foreign sponsored revolution directly on its border (how would the US react if this were happening in Canada or Mexico?), patiently assisted mainly to preserve life of Russian people in the region and ended up with Crimea asking to be annexed inside Russia itself. As far as the other Ukraine provinces that hold many Russians:

.. there was an effort to declare some type of separatist movement, whether absorbed by Russia OR independent along side Ukraine.

As it is many times when cultures overlap, there are never clear majorities or agendas in any given province, so a path forward is never clean and without disagreement, violence, or war.

Eight provinces emerged in 2014 full of ambition to federate into a New Russia:

.. with a flag that might look a little familiar in the United States, the original anti-tyranny flag based on the Christian St. Andrews cross:

 Novorossiya –

… proposed confederation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine, both of which share a border with Russia. Ukraine has designated the confederation as lying within an Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone.

Notice how this proposed federation would cut the rest of Ukraine from the Black Sea and the oceans and trade beyond. This is similar to how the Western (now Midwest region) states felt when the Confederate States of America was formed from seven seceded states. A panic would ensue when one thinks about the financial implications of such a change.

So in the last four years, there has been an uneasy state of “pause” in this movement as Russia sends these areas $1B USD annually, which is the SAME amount they also support the on-going Syrian defensive operations with. (NOTE: Iran supports the Syrian defenses to the tune of $10B USD annually, ten TIMES that of the Russians)

What are the thoughts now in these provinces toward the future? From this recent Russian Insider article:

According to a 2017 poll carried out by Germans, 45% want to join Russia, 35% want an autonomous status within the Ukraine, while only 21% want to return to the status quo.

The path forward and the timing of any Russian moves to solidify any path for these regions is unclear in the face of US sanctions and threats in the Syrian theater of operations. Russia is too smart to desire a two-front revolution/war of any kind.

As typical in an area that desperately wants to return to some normality in their lives and some security in their and their kid’s futures, some remain defiant, choosing an uncomfortable freedom instead of a stable slavery. People from the left as well as the communist side of the political spectum are aligned when it comes to Novorossiya:

Novorossiya is a core issue for almost all nationalists. Almost all of them can be expected to move from their current ambivalent position on Putin to outright opposition. [should Putin abandon the New Russia effort in Ukraine, which is highly doubtful]

While the nationalist response goes without saving, many Communists will also be quite unhappy. For instance, Zakhar Prilepin (famous author and chief editor of Svobodnaya Pressa, Russia’s best major leftist resource) and leftist activist Sergey Udaltsov (whom Western journalists called a political prisoner for leading the 2011-12 anti-Putin protests along with Navalny, before he revealed himself to be unhandshakeworthy in 2014) are Novorossiya supporters.

This is another region in which “stay tuned” is still a thing. Do your own research and learn more about other regions in this world that value liberty and freedom!

-SF1