Tag: Ukraine

Will Biden Pull a FDR and Choose War to Deflect from His Own Failed Domestic Programs? Stay Tuned!

FDR Declares War on Japan and Germany (1941)

It must be tempting for the puppet in the White House to opt for war in eastern Europe rather than admit that his war on Covid and his Build Back Better plans are rubbish. All politicians look to “save face” when big mistakes are made. Any attempt to support Ukraine’s stupid-ness (something the US democrats were highly involved with when Obama was leading things in 2014) would easily shift to an all out war involving Russia.

For the geographically challenged, NATO’s promise in the early 1990s has be repeatedly broken to the point where NATO is not on Russia’s doorstep.

Moon of Alabama has an article out that outlines the latest lie around Russian build-up on Ukraine’s borders.

Ten days ago I wrote about the potential of war in the Ukraine:

There is fear in Russia that the U.S. is egging the Ukraine into a renewed active conflict with its renegade eastern Donbass region and thereby into a war with Russia.
…
The Biden administrations war mongering towards Russia may be seen to be free of cost. But it takes only one miscalculation in Kiev or some unforeseen incident in the Black Sea region and the situation could seriously escalate.

Moscow sees a salami slicing tactic at work that would only end with NATO directly confronting it on all its borders:

Moscow’s narrative is that the Western powers are deliberately fueling Ukraine’s revanchist instincts by arming it and encouraging President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is fighting for political survival, to believe that with Western support, a window of opportunity is opening to recapture the lost territories in Donbas and Crimea and thereby redeem his pledge to be his country’s savior.And second, as Moscow sees it, the rising tensions with Russia have become a convenient alibi to involve NATO directly in Ukraine’s security and make it a template of the West’s containment strategy against Russia.

It does seem similar to Bush II wanting to complete what Bush I did in Iraq, is being repeated now with Obama II (Biden) wanting to complete what Obama I did in the Ukraine in 2014.

Russia has stated that it would intervene in the Ukraine should Kiev decided to invade Donbass. It would be the end of the Ukraine Moscow has said. (Russia would likely end up with taking the majority Russian east and south of the Ukraine. The rest would end up as a landlocked agricultural Nazi infested enclave.)

The Kremlin has also multiple times complained about the ever increasing amount of NATO activities near its border. A U.S. study confirms those activities:

There were some 2,900 incidents between NATO and Russian forces between 2013 and 2020. The three-year moving average increased by more than 60 percent over this eight-year timespan.

Of course, NATO will accuse Russia of doing what they are in fact doing, that is what politicians do, time and again, which is why they always fail and war is always one stupid mistake away from reality.

Moon of Alabama outlines the lie below:

The U.S. for its part has claimed that Russia is assembling more troops at its borders with the Ukraine. The claim is false. The Ukrainian defense intelligence chief recently provided a map with a table which shows that Russia has current only 40 Battalion Tactical Groups (ATG) at the ready while during the last ‘Russia invades’ scare in April it had 53 BTGs ready to go. How 25% less troops at the ready are supposed to a new danger is not clear to me.

There is hope that Biden (Obama) will come to his senses and save face by choosing this off-ramp …

The Saker detects signs of secret negotiations between Washington and Moscow that may be at the core of the announced Putin-Biden summit:

Since a Presidential summit is only organized once both sides have already come to a general agreement, at least in principle, on at least some issues, if Putin and Biden do meet, that means that both sides have worked out at least the outlines of some kind important deal (not just empty statements, as was the case the first time around, at least officially).

In his recent speech Putin said “it is imperative to push for serious long-term guarantees that ensure Russia’s security in this area, because Russia cannot constantly be thinking about what could happen there tomorrow“.  If Biden is willing to not only give guarantees (the Russians, understandably, have *zero* trust in western promises, written or oral) but also to actually take actions, probably mutual, coordinated and verifiable actions by both sides, then a war in Europe could be avoided, rather easily in fact.

Will Biden undo the total mess created by Obama and Trump and their Neocon handlers?

Maybe.

This is all blow-back of typical US intervention in places where it puts the American Empire’s nose .. seems that you can’t fix stupid.

Peace out all!

-SF1

Washington DC: The Capital of Hypocrisy – When BS is Called Truth

It would be entertaining if it were not so sad and dangerous. Our political class, enables by the elites, scurry around pointing fingers at people assuming that no one can remember the past few years, let alone the past few decades.

Remember Democrats, the “peace” party? Well, they identify as the “war” party now. That transition was amazingly fast and all the sheep that identify with their blue sticker stayed true to blue.

Apparently, Moon of Alabama (MoA) has been following the impeachment hearings, something that I would not waste my own time on, and noted some points of hypocrisy that only comes out when politicians open their mouths.

“It is clearly in our national interest to deter further Russian aggression,” Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said in explaining why Trump’s decision to withhold congressionally appropriated aid to the most immediate target of Russian expansionism didn’t align with U.S. policy.

But at a time when Democrats are simultaneously eager to influence public opinion in favor of ousting the president and quietly apprehensive that their hearings could stall or backfire, the first round felt more like the dress rehearsal for a serious one-act play than the opening night of a hit Broadway musical.

“In direct contravention of U.S. interests” says the NBC and quotes a member of the permanent state who declares “it is clearly in our national interest” to give weapons to Ukraine.

But is that really in the national U.S. interest? Who defined it as such?

President Obama was against giving weapons to Ukraine and never transferred any to Ukraine despite pressure from certain circles. Was Obama’s decision against U.S. national interest? Where are the Democrats or deep state members accusing him of that?

Russian aggression can be summed up in the following map:

Oh crap … wrong map? No, correct map, just a member of the permanent state talking BS .. “Russian aggression” .. pleeeeaaaasssseee.

MoA also points out who gets to set national foreign policy:

The U.S. constitution “empowers the President of the United States to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries.”

The constitution does not empower the “U.S. government policy community”, nor “the administration”, nor the “consensus view of the interagency” and certainly not one Lt.Col. Vindman to define the strategic interests of the United States and its foreign policy. It is the duly elected president who does that

The president does not like how the ‘American policy’ on Russia was built. He rightly believes that he was elected to change it. He had stated his opinion on Russia during his campaign and won the election. It is not ‘malign influence’ that makes him try to have good relations with Russia. It is his own conviction and legitimized by the voters.
…
[I]t is the president who sets the policies. The drones around him who serve “at his pleasure” are there to implement them.

Just as Thomas Jefferson changed course when he came into office after John Adams, so too can Trump after Obama, BUT WAIT .. is what Trump doing so different than Obama?:

President Obama was against giving weapons to Ukraine and never transferred any to Ukraine despite pressure from certain circles.

Oh really now. But something changed that got the Democrat’s dander up .. I am thinking they are courting the Military Industrial Complex more and more because all that lobbying money talks!

Finally, there seems to be some people in this world (much less than 5% for sure) that have thought things through .. and this Ukrainian businessman has been doing some thinkin’:

It is not in the interest of Ukraine to be a proxy for U.S. deep state antagonism towards Russia. Robber baron Igor Kolomoisky, who after the Maidan coup had financed the west-Ukrainian fascists who fought against east-Ukraine, says so directly in his recent NYT interview:

Mr. Kolomoisky, widely seen as Ukraine’s most powerful figure outside government, given his role as the patron of the recently elected President Volodymyr Zelensky, has experienced a remarkable change of heart: It is time, he said, for Ukraine to give up on the West and turn back toward Russia.“They’re stronger anyway. We have to improve our relations,” he said, comparing Russia’s power to that of Ukraine. “People want peace, a good life, they don’t want to be at war. And you” — America — “are forcing us to be at war, and not even giving us the money for it.”
…
Mr. Kolomoisky [..] told The Times in a profanity-laced discussion, the West has failed Ukraine, not providing enough money or sufficiently opening its markets.

Instead, he said, the United States is simply using Ukraine to try to weaken its geopolitical rival. “War against Russia,” he said, “to the last Ukrainian.” Rebuilding ties with Russia has become necessary for Ukraine’s economic survival, Mr. Kolomoisky argued. He predicted that the trauma of war will pass.
…
Mr. Kolomoisky said he was feverishly working out how to end the war, but he refused to divulge details because the Americans “will mess it up and get in the way.”

Yes, the US was just USING the Ukraine, that is why the color revolution under the Obama administration, just to undermine Russia.

Unfortunately, Trump has gone along with the economic war with Russia, but as it turns out, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so Russia of 2019 is a lot stronger than Russia of 2014. Maybe this is the 3D/4D/8D chess that Trump has been playing all along?

The bottom line? Well I agree with Bionic Mosquito on this one:

… he [Trump] was voted in based on his most basic attacks against the system: war and empire, central banking, Hillary is a crook and should be in prison, fix immigration.

On at least one of these – war and empire – I offer two thoughts: first he hasn’t started a meaningful new war; second, he is doing a great job of accelerating the rest of the world’s movement away from the American empire. Both are tremendous libertarian victories as far as I am concerned.

On the others, Trump has been pretty useless.

Now that is something to think about.

Signing out for now .. 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

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