by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author)
US President stirs up a hornet’s nest with his press conference alongside his Russian counterpart, but it seems that no ‘grand bargain’ was struck on Syria, and on Iran they appear to strongly disagree.
“The Cold War is a thing of the past.” By the time President Putin said as much during preliminary remarks at his joint press conference with President Trump in Helsinki, it was clear this would not stand. Not after so much investment by American conservatives in Cold War 2.0.
Russophobia is a 24/7 industry, and all concerned, including its media vassals, remain absolutely livid with the “disgraceful” Trump-Putin presser. Trump has “colluded with Russia.” How could the President of the United States promote “moral equivalence” with a “world-class thug”?
Multiple opportunities for apoplectic outrage were in order.
Trump: “Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed. As of about four hours ago.”
Putin: “The United States could be more decisive in nudging Ukrainian leadership.”
Trump: “There was no collusion… I beat Hillary Clinton easily.”
Putin: “We should be guided by facts. Can you name a single fact that would definitively prove collusion? This is nonsense.”
Then, the clincher: the Russian president calls [Special Counsel] Robert Mueller’s ‘bluff’, offering to interrogate the Russians indicted for alleged election meddling in the US if Mueller makes an official request to Moscow. But in exchange, Russia would expect the US to question Americans on whether Moscow should face charges for illegal actions.
Trump hits it out of the park when asked whether he believes US intelligence, which concluded that Russia did meddle in the election, or Putin, who strongly denies it.
“President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
As if this was not enough, Trump doubles down invoking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) server. “I really do want to see the server. Where is the server? I want to know. Where is the server and what is the server saying?”
It was inevitable that a strategically crucial summit between the Russian and American presidencies would be hijacked by the dementia of the US news cycle.
Trump was unfazed. He knows that the DNC computer hard-drives – the source of an alleged “hacking” – simply “disappeared” while in the custody of US intel, FBI included. He knows the bandwidth necessary for file transfer was much larger than a hack might have managed in the time allowed. It was a leak, a download into a flash-drive.
Additionally, Putin knows that Mueller knows he will never be able to drag 12 Russian intelligence agents into a US courtroom. So the – debunked – indictment, announced only three days before Helsinki, was nothing more than a pre-emptive, judicial hand grenade.
No wonder John Brennan, a former CIA director under the Obama administration, is fuming. “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to exceed the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.”
How Syria and Ukraine are linked
However, there are reasons to expect at least minimal progress on three fronts in Helsinki: a solution for the Syria tragedy, an effort to limit nuclear weapons and save the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty signed in 1987 by Reagan and Gorbachev, and a positive drive to normalize US-Russia relations, away from Cold War 2.0.
Trump knew he had nothing to offer Putin to negotiate on Syria. The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) now controls virtually 90% of national territory. Russia is firmly established in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially after signing a 49-year agreement with Damascus.
Even considering careful mentions of Israel on both sides, Putin certainly did not agree to force Iran out of Syria.
No “grand bargain” on Iran seems to be in the cards. The top adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, was in Moscow last week. The Moscow-Tehran entente cordiale seems unbreakable. In parallel, as Asia Times has learned, Bashar al-Assad has told Moscow he might even agree to Iran leaving Syria, but Israel would have to return the occupied Golan Heights. So, the status quo remains.
Putin did mention both presidents discussed the Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action and essentially they, strongly, agree to disagree. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have written a letter formally rejecting an appeal for carve-outs in finance, energy and healthcare by Germany, France and the UK. A maximum economic blockade remains the name of the game. Putin may have impressed on Trump the possible dire consequences of a US oil embargo on Iran, and even the (far-fetched) scenario of Tehran blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Judging by what both presidents said, and what has been leaked so far, Trump may not have offered an explicit US recognition of Crimea for Russia, or an easing of Ukraine-linked sanctions.
It’s reasonable to picture a very delicate ballet in terms of what they really discussed in relation to Ukraine. Once again, the only thing Trump could offer on Ukraine is an easing of sanctions. But for Russia the stakes are much higher.
Putin clearly sees Southwest Asia and Central and Eastern Europe as totally integrated. The Black Sea basin is where Russia intersects with Ukraine, Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Or, historically, where the former Russian, Ottoman and Habsburg empires converged.
A Greater Black Sea implies the geopolitical convergence of what’s happening in both Syria and Ukraine. That’s why for the Kremlin only an overall package matters. It’s not by accident that Washington identified these two nodes – destabilizing Damascus and turning the tables in Kiev – to cause problems for Moscow.
Putin sees a stable Syria and a stable Ukraine as essential to ease his burden in dealing with the Balkans and the Baltics. We’re back once again to that classic geopolitical staple, the Intermarium (“between the seas”). That’s the ultra-contested rimland from Estonia in the north to Bulgaria in the south – and to the Caucasus in the east. Once, that used to frame the clash between Germany and Russia. Now, that frames the clash between the US and Russia.
In a fascinating echo of the summit in Helsinki, Western strategists do lose their sleep gaming on Russia being able to “Finlandize” this whole rimland.
And that brings us, inevitably, to what could be termed The German Question. What is Putin’s ultimate goal: a quite close business and strategic relationship with Germany (German business is in favor)? Or some sort of entente cordiale with the US? EU diplomats in Brussels are openly discussing that underneath all the thunder and lightning, this is the holy of the holies.
Take a walk on the wild side
The now notorious key takeaway from a Trump interview at his golf club in Turnberry, Scotland, before Helsinki, may offer some clues.
“Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe. Russia is a foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they are competitive.”
Putin certainly knows it. But even Trump, while not being a Clausewitzian strategist, may have had an intuition that the post-WWII liberal order, built by a hegemonic US and bent on permanent US military hegemony over the Eurasian landmass while subduing a vassal Europe, is waning.
While Trump firebombs this United States of Europe as an “unfair” competitor of the US, it’s essential to remember that it was the White House that asked for the Helsinki summit, not the Kremlin.
Trump treats the EU with undisguised disdain. He would love nothing better than for the EU to dissolve. His Arab “partners” can be easily controlled by fear. He has all but declared economic war on China and is on tariff overdrive – even as the IMF warns that the global economy runs the risk of losing around $500 billion in the process. And he faces the ultimate intractable, the China-Russia-Iran axis of Eurasian integration, which simply won’t go away.
So, talking to “world-class thug” Putin – in usual suspect terminology – is a must. A divide-and-rule here, a deal there – who knows what some hustling will bring? To paraphrase Lou Reed, New Trump City “is the place where they say “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.”
During the Helsinki presser, Putin, fresh from Russia’s spectacular World Cup soft power PR coup, passed a football to Trump. The US president said he would give it to his son, Barron, and passed the ball to First Lady Melania. Well, the ball is now in Melania’s court.
About turn today….”.I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump said. “Could be other people also. A lot of people out there,” he added.”
I didn’t like that either but it may be that the R team see it as essential to keep the Congressional Hearings going. They have to nail down the treasonable actions of the FBI, DOJ in getting FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign beginning
when Admiral Mike Rogers shut down contractor access to the NSA/FBI database (April 18th, 2016) the outside group needed a workaround. That’s where DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie Ohr come into play. The DOJ side of the operation was conducted within the National Security Division (John P Carlin head). The DOJ-NSD via Bruce Ohr, could use the NSA/FBI database and pass information to, and receive information from, Nellie Ohr. Steele then washed the unlawful Ohr-NSD-FBI raw intelligence by putting it into his dossier, and feeding it back into the FBI via Nellie, Bruce delivery to FBI.
The DOJ/FBI then used the laundered intelligence to enhance their FISA Title-1 Surveillance warrant against Carter Page to gain access to the monitor the Trump campaign, legally. Remember what Hillary said, “If he gets elected we will all hang? She knew what she was talking about
About turn’s mean nothing to the Trumpster who whistles out of both sides of his mouth by the day if not the minute.
Everybody ‘meddles’ in almost every country’s elections if only by stating who they’d rather see win. From private citizens to world leaders. It’s still a relatively free world and everyone has an opinion and social media like Facebook and Twitter are open to the world (well almost). In fact we have a ‘manifestly destined’ country now rulesd by a ‘Twitteronomy’.
I really can’t get over the mind-numbing stupidity of those who believe that 1 in 6 million facebook entries over a short period swayed a country of over 300 million people. First it made everyone vote for Trump and then when the postings showed no such thing it ‘sowed discord’ so then everyone voted for Trump. Give it a rest.
It demonstrates not only low IQ but perhaps negative IQ.
My favourite Groupthink lunacy, among many peddled by the fakestream presstitutes, is the one where Putin is responsible for fomenting social, economic, racial and sectarian discord in the USA. Without Putin’s Evil interference, Americans would be united in amity and fellow feeling, working together harmoniously to create a just and benevolent society. But then again the utter absurdity that the USA, the country responsible for more interference, from subversion, sabotage and monetary funding of traitorous elements up to sanctions and illegal aggression and genocide, than all other countries combined in history, by orders of magnitude, is complaining of, fake, ‘interference’ in its thoroughly corrupted system, is accepted without a single scintilla of dissent throughout the Western media sewer, is probably even more deranged. Take your pick.
M Mumblebrain
Yes, first impression is the incredulous disbelief of the witch hunt on the media which reminds one of Arthur Miller’s Crucible and the provincial-minded mob unthinking. However, we shouldn’t get too worked up for the media and their chosen speakers do not represent the general thinking public. I’d like to know where Trump stands, for after his EU visit and the Helsinki Summit, I’m beginning to see another 2016, but this time going the reverse way, perhaps. Peace was repeated often, a welcome word indeed, by Trump and Putin, though there were also contradictions from Trump who talked of peace, then went on to describe the necessity for NATO and increasing weaponry. But I do feel so sorry for Trump returning to the US to bow down to so much vicious accusations and venom against Russia, he contradicted himself yet again. All these shocking contradictions might just be revealing to us that POTUS not only has his hands tied behind back; he might be in constant danger who knows? We might need to understand him better; he’s definitely more human from what I’ve seen of his facial expression and body language recently? Isn’t it shocking when the vicious media and its chosen opposition speakers impaled and threatened treason on their democratically elected leader taking/sharing responsibility and speaking for peace … now I see why Xi brought out Shakespeare in his mother of all parliaments speech in the UK. What a treacherous time we live in or has it always been like this?
Anne, the ruling Western elites are psychopaths. Capitalism was created by and for psychopaths, and that type has evolved over the centuries into more and more malignant types, just as capitalism has moved beyond its days of Protean productivity (save in China)into the parasitic Olympus of rentier, financialised, debt-fueled blood-sucking, manipulation and speculation.
The fruits of the last forty years of neo-liberal economic policy are there for all to see. Unprecedented debt, record inequality, poverty and elite wealth, a collapse in Western living standards, particularly in the Anglosphere, a great fall in productivity, and an ecological Holocaust of ubiquitous pollution of every kind imaginable. The elites knew that this situation was untenable, but continued on their way because they know no other modus operandi. If a capitalist grows a conscience, or goes off to hide out in New Zealand, there’s always another enthusiastic psychopath, or one hundred, eager to take his place. They must have always known that immiserating the mass of humanity would cause an explosion, but they thought they could put it off forever (or until they were dead) with unrelenting brainwashing, Divide and Rule tactics like ‘Identity Politics’, and the cultivation of foreign monsters, like ‘al-Qaeda’ (a creation of the USA and its stooges) Russia, China, Iran etc. If there are enough Transformers movies, Fortnite video- games, opioid epidemics of self-culling, ‘Colour Revolutions’ and Me Too movements, the fateful reckoning can be put off indefinitely. Unfortunately, the constellation of crises is moving, decisively, beyond their efforts to control, and ‘the Deluge’ awaits-socially and climatologically.
Mulga, you are 100% right. I recently moved from the US of AIPAC where I spent about 14 years. I lived all around the country and have met many people much more than an average person. I have to say I have never seen such a degree of normalized backstabbing and jealousy (apart from maybe UK).
I tend to forget and forgive (although I am very good at doing revenge) , but a friend recently reminded me of how many American ‘friends’ screwed me over or back-stabbed me even though I helped them on many occasions.
One of them offered me a job and made me move across country only to change his mind after 3 weeks or so. Another one wanted me to help her start a business. After months of waiting and wasting time she changed her mind. Another one wanted to buy an investment property together. After I spent months searching and checking out various properties – when it came time to actually commit – he changed his mind. Multiply all these flakes by a hundred and you get the picture. I think they learn from TV to pretend to be business wise and ready to invest and collaborate (hoping nothing will actually happen with the agreement and that they could profit somehow without doing anything). Then they just run away.
Anglosheeple are the most turned against each other sheeple I have ever seen. I’ve met milenials who were really upset when their ‘best friends’ got a better promotion then they did. Another few friends became visibly upset when I got an offer to do an exhibition in LA (and I really helped these two a lot – but karma seems to be catching up with them – one of them had a plane accident a few days ago and ended up being paraplegic).
Every time I used to return from Argentina, Japan, Serbia etc – it took about a week to feel half dead mentally. It’s such a sick, inhumane, completely detached from human biology and instincts kind of a morbid shithole. I hope to never go back.
If the story is to believed, the corollary is that the US Government has been wasting mountains of money.
After all, the story is that Russia spend a very small amount of money and bought a few FB and Twit ads and thus changed the course of history by electing Trump.
Meanwhile, the US is telling its citizens that it must spend $5 billion destabilizing Ukraine and billions more trying for regime change in Syria. So, they could have spend this money improving the lives of ordinary Americans and accomplished both goals for the price of just a few FB and Twit ads. We want our money back!!!!!
Israel First partisans do not ‘interfere’ in US politics. They CONTROL it, but that’s OK by the presstitutes. I wonder why.
Do you ever see the presstitudes criticize Israel, or fail to give Israel’s announcements full coverage without any question or fact checking?
For Americans who favor freedom and liberty, the worst thing that could have happened to America is that it became the most powerful nation in the world.
Because of this, everyone wants to control the American government. Controlling the American government provides much power. Much more than the days when the standing army was small and a President only had a handful of aides.
Thus, every force out there that thirsts after power wants to meddle and interfere with the American elections in order to try to grab the power of the American government and military for their own purposes.
And, I wonder if Trump chuckled when he said this, because the one story that has been quickly forgotten was when it was proved that foreign governments did collude with the Trump campaign to put him into office and change American policy. The problem for screaming media is that it was the wrong countries. They want to blame Russia, but this was not Russia. It was revealed how ever that the Saudi crown prince MBS and Israel’s Netanyahu did hold meetings with candidate Trump and promised money and support to help him win elections. The results can be seen as the bodies stack up from their wars, and having Trump lead America directly into the middle of a Shiite-Sunni religious war that is highly likely to be disasterous for America to have gotten involved with. So, Trump knows people who meddled in the election, and knows they were not the Russians. There were lots of people out there.
Yes…what a terrifying prospect an end to the rekindled cold war would be…no wonder the US is in utter turmoil over the Helsinki summit…any sort of progress is a terrible blow to the MIC who desperately need enemies in all shapes and sizes.
Sadly
Col
Pepe does a superb job in a few paragraphs.
What the US-Russia impasse is all about:
“Putin clearly sees Southwest Asia and Central and Eastern Europe as totally integrated. The Black Sea basin is where Russia intersects with Ukraine, Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Or, historically, where the former Russian, Ottoman and Habsburg empires converged.
A Greater Black Sea implies the geopolitical convergence of what’s happening in both Syria and Ukraine. That’s why for the Kremlin only an overall package matters. It’s not by accident that Washington identified these two nodes – destabilizing Damascus and turning the tables in Kiev – to cause problems for Moscow.
Putin sees a stable Syria and a stable Ukraine as essential to ease his burden in dealing with the Balkans and the Baltics. We’re back once again to that classic geopolitical staple, the Intermarium (“between the seas”). That’s the ultra-contested rimland from Estonia in the north to Bulgaria in the south – and to the Caucasus in the east. Once, that used to frame the clash between Germany and Russia. Now, that frames the clash between the US and Russia.”
Everything depends on stabilization. US depends on chaos and disruption. So, the US must change tactics.
Putin has the military (especially Southern Military District) on full ready alert. Massive tactical nuclear firepower, huge numbers of S-400 units, well over 100,000 men, major battle-tested Aerospace forces on the tarmacs ready to defend Crimea, the Black Sea and primed to confront the manpower NATO and US has placed at the borders.
Thus, the US can pull a trigger or talk. Putin and Trump began some talks.
Note how they both assured that each President’s military talks in Syria with the other’s military, all the time and generally very well.
Only the crazies want war.
USA for the last 70 yrs or so, indeed depends on chaos and disruption. But a chaos and disruption on American terms. Russia might want stability, but stability on Russian terms. Neither is good for the world.
What is wrong with ‘..stability on Russian terms’?
Stability on someone’s terms is not a real stability.
No, you are wrong. This is a stability, just on the other side’s terms, which in turn means: The other side has the upper hand. Live with it or die, this is how it works in real world. This is no Hollywood.
It doesn’t matter whose side’s terms. It is not a real stability. Where is the multilateral world?
We’ve seen that stability on one’s sides terms is at best a very fragile stability. Fragile because it depends on wise and rational leadership of that side that prizes that stability. When the leadership of that one side is either unwise or has other goals and decides that the stability has little value, then the stability quickly vanishes in a puff of stage smoke since there are no other forces guaranteeing that stability. Thus, a multipolar stability is far more dependable since it requires a balance of power and the leaders of a single pole can not just throw the stability away like yesterday’s McDonald’s wrappings.
Putin’s terms are National- and International Law. You think that’s no good and want it differently? Put your ideas on paper and send them to your local gov’t rep.
I see your point AI, but I rather see ‘..stability on Russia’s terms’ as markedly different from stability on US terms. Stability on Russia’s terms, I believe, is the same as stability on China’s terms, and that of most sane states, societies and peoples. That is respect for the sovereignty of other states, non-interference in the affairs of other states, and a proper concern and respect for human diversity, of populations, political systems, social arrangements and hopes for the future. Stability on US terms, if not simply the stability of the mass grave and rubble-field, equates to perpetual servitude to the USA and US-ordained social and economic arrangements that guarantee inequality, mass poverty, social sadism and division and xenophobia and distrust of others. I know which I prefer, and which gives humanity some hope of long-term survival, and which does not.
Al
The Russian response to the absolute chaos caused by Washington in both Syria and Ukraine looks like a pretty good step towards stability from where I am standing… down here in little old NZ!
Cheers
Col
So Pepe wants to set a low key tone to the summit, but actually a lot happened for a first encounter. It’s really foolish for anyone to think their would be a marriage proposal on the first date. Trump showed a lot of guts in facing down the deep state, which did it’s all out best to scuttle the summit. If they don’t find a way to kill him, he may be emboldened to challenge them more deeply in the future.
Doesn’t matter what Trump knows or says, he is weak. There is only one hope: God save Putin!
Or better: FSB and Army save Putin?!
And we all should pray for peace…
This summit was far better than what I’d hoped. At best, i was thinking the two men would personally like each other and lay the groundwork for better relations. There were many doubters and naysayers among those here on this website to the idea that even that meager achievement was possible.
What we got instead was, in addition to good rapport between the two leaders, was Trump coming out openly against the MIC. That is huge, and even if he did backtrack on that a bit it shows that he is not in the pocket of the Zionists and the Deep State. I am therefore hopeful of a good second half to Trump’s term, if he can stay alive that long.
They will be aiming for him now.
I’m guessing both you and ‘mike k’ above are Americans?Which would explain why you think whatever Trump said against the MIC/Deep State is important.And it maybe important, for Americans, but bear in mind a lot of people here are not Americans and as such don’t consider USA’s internal power struggles to be important(or real for that matter – for all we know the entire thing could be political theater).What we tend to pay attention to is what the USA does on their foreign policy, on the ground, and there has been zero changes in this regard.No different than the meeting with Kim.
@anon12309846
Hey, I’m from the US, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why people continue to fall for the charades of the US politicians. They are all puppets of the Zionists, so what does it matter when they speak out of the other side of their mouth? Once you understand the nature of politicians in the US, and for the most part the rest of the west, you should understand they will never go against their Zionist overlords. If that’s the case what’s the point of paying attention to any of it? Trumps subservience to the Zionists is well documented, so I don’t know why people continue to place their hope in him. It’s all one giant sick joke, that gets tiring to follow.
There is no civilian control of the military anymore in America.
Its actually been true since at least Clinton. Hard to tell because it is so rare for an elected President to go against the military. Bush certainly didn’t. Although he did try to go too far and an Admiral on the joint chiefs of staff veto’d the President’s orders for a war with Iran.
Trump is the weakest President in such terms. Remember, he signalled his surrender to the military very early on in his Presidency. He gave much greater authority to the military to launch operations, with no Presidential approval required.
We’ve seen examples in Syria that Trump is not in control. Trump announced to a cheering crowd that he would be getting out of Syria. Generals then went before Congress and said, no they would not be leaving Syria. That’s hardly a mlitary that’s jumping when told to jump by their Commander-in-Chief. We saw this back during Obama as well, when Kerry negotiated a cease-fire in Syria that was then destroyed by the military bombing a Syria army unit in support of an IS attack.
We saw this in the Kim summit also. Trump announced that the provacative exercises that practice decapitating the North Korean leadership would end. Again, the military at first refused. I’m still not sure where that stands, but it may be that the South Koreans effectively cancelled the exercises that Trump could not cancel when they said they would not participate. We saw this earlier concerning North Korea when Trump publicly ordered a carrier and its group to Korea, but the Pentagon refused the order and the carrier was sited down by Indonesia sailing SE and obviously not going anywhere near Korea.
Negotiating with Trump about America’s foreign or military policy is a waste of time. Trump does not have the power to implement anything that he agrees to do. The meetings between the American Generals and the Russian military are far more important as its the American generals who can decide policy and make and keep promises.
@Jon. I would go further and say, Trump turned the tables on his sly opponents. You insinuate that I am secretely in collusion with President Putin? Very well then, I shall hold a private Meeting with him in public, and we shall hold a Joint Press Conference.
At which President Putin, who is a man of the real world, the world of hard objective verifiable facts, who knows whats what and says it like it is, steps up and bats Trump’s opponents out of bounds with one simple question — can you produce any facts to back up your snide accusations?
Which suddenly makes President Trump seem to have more plain common sense than his opponents — and proves that he and President Putin really might have a thing going between them.
It looks like Trump went to primarily negotiate the safety of the northern Israeli border. Putin tried to sell this for some (some) safety of the southern Russian border.
Remember, one thing we know for certain is that both NATO and the US government have programs of hundreds of millions of dollars/euros a year in “countering Russian propaganda.” And of course anyone who’s completed the Orwell 101 course knows that “countering Russian propaganda” is the same thing as “producing propaganda targeting Russia.”
That there is a permanent industry in producing “RussiaPhobia” is a fact. We know at least some of the funding. But we wouldn’t know any of the funding that stays in the shadows, like for instance US and NATO weapons manufacturers pumping some of their own money into the effort knowing that this means future profits. Or some of the side money such as the same people funding politicians who take an anti-Russian stance and always vote for new expensive weapons programs.
There is indeed such an industry. We know it exists. The trick is refusing to let their voluminous propaganda into our minds.
History will be the judge if Trump was placed under neocon control before or after the elections. I still want to know why 200 admirals and generals backed Trump during the election process. Did they want a puppet in the White House ?
Before the Helsinki meeting I wrote that Trump was going to Finland d to see what concessions he could get from Putin. He got none, except that both agreed to hold more talks. And the elite in the US ? It went insane because of that press conference, because Trump was not tough enough with Putin. And what should Trump have done ? Submit threats, as if Putin represents some banana republic ?
What is alarming is the mentality behind the response of both the US elite and the media it controls. Both turned on Trump like a bunch of kids, screaming that things were not done their way, namely turning Putin into a scared political puppet of some banana republic. This can be taken as proof that the US elite is still living in the past, when the US could do as it pleased in much of the world. The question is can the US elite adjust to new circumstances, accepting reality ? This remains to be seen.
As for Germany, yes, Putin wants to see it in the Russian-Chinese economic camp. I think it’s inevitable. The old nightmare of Anglo-American bankers is coming true, the Russians and Germans getting close.
And Trump ? He made demands that EU countries increase their participation in financing both NATO and their own occupation by US troops, all with the aim of preventing Europe, especially Germany, of getting too close to Russia. Trump even offered Macron a special trade deal if France left the EU ? Why ? To bring it closer to Britain, so that both can contain Germany ?
Trump must know that the US empire is collapsing. The US elite must also sense it, except it will never accept it, going ahead with it’s globalist plans even if the US is destroyed financially.
I am now waiting to see what is going to happen. Is Trump going to make America great again ? How ? Is Trump going to curtail the power so the US elite ? How ? With the US military perhaps ? And where do the loyalties of the US military lie with ? Who controls the US military, bearing in mind how many officers Obama purged during his Presidency ? We shall get the answers in due course.
Why did 200 Admirals and Generals come out for Trump?
First, I went and looked at how many Admirals and Generals the US has. The answer is about 600 that are actively serving. Of course, most if not all of these who made this statement were retired. I think they have to be to legally join in politics, and of course coming out against Obama-Hillary when everyone said Hillary was sure to win the election would not have been a good career move. Especially because Hillary is known to be vindictive against those who don’t support her, and her campaigns of both 2008 and 2016 were build on telling people to support her early or else be out of favor once she won.
Thus, in the number 200 we are looking at a group of a pool that numbers several thousands.
In the last election, the pollsters said at the time of the election, which has since been forgotten, that a large number of the votes on each side were really votes against the opposition. This was the election of the two most hated candidates in history. Thus, its a rather good guess that at least some of these supported Trump because they disliked Hillary. Its also quite possible since we are dealing with retired officers that some of them retired precisely because they were pushed out during the earlier Clinton term of office, thus had good personal reasons for supporting Hillary’s opponent.
There is always a proportion of an officer corps that supports a change of some form or another. Most who rise to be Admirals or Generals are political officers who play the game better than those they out-did to get the office. But some would have been on merit and might well have supported different theories within the military than what the high command and the bulk of the political officers supported. These would have supported an ‘outsider’ for President.
Also, there is a long tradition in the military of officers supporting Republicans. Dates back of course to the Vietnam War when the Democrats temporarily took a stand for peace and against mass slaughter in the name of Empire. Today that seems to be changing as the Democrats have become the more aggressive of the two war parties. But, when dealing with a pool of retired officers, it is probable that a majority of these would support a Republican candidate over a Democrat.
I’m guessing that the Russians see trade with Germany and the EU as gravy. They’ve read the tea leaves and see how the west wants to use sanctions to cut trade ties. Thus, the Russians have already turned to China as a more reliable trading partner. That trade will only grow and grow and grow, especially as the west attacks each of the two partners. That’s Russians trade future. Trade with Germany and the EU is just gravy. They’ll gladly lick up what they can get, but the meat of the meal is the trade with China.
Anonymous
Russia never turned to China because of sanctions. They were trading before that and creating international economic organizations. The point is that the EU cannot function without Russia, and not only because of Russian energy. When the US introduced sanctions, 500 German industrialists went to Russia, openly conducting negotiations. They opened subsidiaries in the country, which now employ 140.000 Russians. France, for example, ignored sanctions when energy is in question and participated in financing the Yamal gas project in the Arctic.
Putin meets Trump….
….and immediately Deep State throw in their own trump card, the finally found “real russian spy” Maria Butina.
It is not anymore Muller’s 13, the guys imaginary friends, it is something with the flesh!
EXCEPT that miss BUTINA seems to be a quisling, an American “spy” in Russia, that very “5th column”, “antlantic integrationist” ad so forth.
Read my brief comments at https://plus.google.com/+ChristineFelixon/posts/DEjDQuq1tgS
I am not really informed here, i heard that name for the first time two days ago.
But if i guessed right, if now Deep State starts burning their own witches, their own agents and spies just to make a plausible public show.
Desperation and resources scarcity?
Maria Butina is a “gun nut”, to use the American expression. She is an organizer for gun rights in Russia, and has been in contact with a Russian Senator who is a member of the US NRA. This Senator made a donation to the NRA, and the Democrats have been claiming he was trying to influence the election. That is ridiculous unless his donation was some high percentage of the $50 million the NRA used to influence the election.
She’s hardly a “US spy in Russia.” Clearly she has been trying to use her US connections to help her overall gun rights position in Russia. But I see zero evidence, despite all the wild US media accusations, that she is a “Kremlin agent” working to “undermine US democracy.”
It’s true, the “wild side” gestalt Pepe employs.
Peace and development in the departing paradigm is a “wild idea” and those that love that old familiar Empire Paradigm and the mind control chains that bind them to it ……hate this “wildness” that threatens what they are so comfortable with.
Meanwhile benefits are already being felt and many more are on the way, if the Empire (it goes way beyond the US) Deep State is crippled instead of Trump or Putin killed.
LPAC puts it nicely today:
“He (President Trump) referred with Putin to their “mutual friend, President Xi of China,” and all have established cooperation with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These four powers, supported by Japan and other important nations, can bring in a new paradigm of mutual and rapid economic progress, scientific breakthroughs, and peace.
American voters can now throw those elected officials who are now ranting and shouting against economic growth, progress and peace, out of office.
There are serious economic policy changes to be made. What the voters need in office, is candidates who will break up Wall Street banks with a Glass-Steagall Act, before they trigger another crash; and make sure that trillions in credit go into high-technology new infrastructure and scientific breakthroughs in energy and space. These are better ways than tariffs to finally make wages and productivity rise.
But the new paradigm of cooperation of the major powers, to the benefit of themselves and third countries, is essential. Like President Trump, we will have to fight for that.
The next game-changing summit is already appearing on the horizon — the traditional one between President Trump and President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico. There they can plan new rail, power, and water infrastructure building from the Rio Grande down, giving Central Americans and Mexicans great reason to stay in their home countries.
Finally: Ethiopia and Eritrea, two countries benefiting from the China-initiated “New Silk Road” reaching into Africa, reestablished full relations with celebrations July 16 after 20 years of ruinous war — no one accused either leader of treason.”
What? How can that be? What’s this world coming to??? LOL
https://larouchepac.com/20180718/whom-should-american-voters-trust
The ones that broke profile and consigned the mind numbing 2016 Clinton Presidential Campaign to the Dustbin of History…..can finally trust their own judgment more than they have been able to do so in a very long time.
Still, very much work is ahead of them/us to thoroughly Drain the Swamp. It’s only down a few inches, but some people in remote areas of the world are already seeing the benefits……….
“American voters can now throw those elected officials who are now ranting and shouting against economic growth, progress and peace, out of office.”
If America was a democracy, this could occur. However, in modern America it sadly can not occur.
Most of America’s congressional districts are gerrymandered such that they belong permanently to one party or the other. And, with the wide-open campaign financing or bribery in the American system, it is very difficult to defeat an incumbent. The incumbents have a huge advantage in money. Since most districts are not competitive, they are allowed to accumulate their donations in case of a future challenge. Thus, an incumbent who’s been in office for several terms is likely sitting on a massive war-chest which they can use to defend their position.
There are a few seats around that are competitive, and which can change parties. Essentially it is like this. The only two parties allowed in the American two party system decide how the districts in each state are proportioned. For example, a state with 10 districts might be set up such that 5 belong to 1 party and 4 belong to the other party. The remaining district is the one that has to be created with a relative balance between the parties. Thus, it is the only district that is competitive.
Thus, almost all of the Congress always returns after each election. Its something like 95%. The main way seats change hands is when the holder of the seat decides its time to take their promotion to lobbyist and go for the big bucks. In that case, since the district is heavily tilted by gerrymandering towards one party, then that party holds a primary to decide who runs for the seat which they are then almost certain to win.
I have seen very few stories about pro-Trump candidates challenging and defeating incumbent denisons of the swamp to replace them in the districts the Republicans own. Likewise, very few on the Democratic side challenging the sitting Democrats. Such challenges are so rare, that when one does occur it gets a lot of attention, like the pro-Bernie Sanders lady in NYC who recently defeated a pro-war Hillary-style Democrat. But if you are hoping for the whole Congress to change, you’d need a whole wave of such battles and victories. And its plain from the ‘news’ that this has only really occurred in this one district thus far.
To summarize, there has been little news this year about pro-Trump candidates defeating incumbent Republicans to take those seats to support the President. And the one district in NYC is the only case I’ve seen of an opposition candidate defeating the Democrats pro-banker, pro-war, pro-deep state slate. In the fall elections, there won’t be many seats under contest. And in most races the Democrats are deciding to run former CIA or military officers as their candidates to try to take seats. These of course if elected would be very much in favor of the CIA campaigns to destabiliize nations and meddle in elections, and would join the “We-Want-Nuclear-War-And-We-Want-It-Now!” chant coming from the Democrats.
In America, Congress is largely unaffected by Democracy and changes very little from election to election.
Israel is trying to spin things so they look favorable to Israel, when they are not so favorable.
Agreeing to the 1974 cease-fire line is not a win for Israel. Syria at this point is finishing up a victory in a brutal civil war. As such, Syria is in no shape to go on and to try to retake the occupied Golan heights from Israel. An agreement to hold that line is no win for Israel as that line was never in threat.
However, it has been Israel that has been seeking to inject itself on the other side of that line. Israel keeps attacking Syrian military units on the Syrian side of the line. It is Israel that has been trying to tell Syria that Syria has no right to even approach that line. Israel has been trying to tell Syria that Syria must leave IS and Al-Qaeda ‘rebels’ in place on Syrian territory because Israel says Syria is not even allowed into the parts of their own country that approach that line.
If anything, the future of such an agreement is in Syria’s favor. Syria now appears to be winning their war against foriegn interference. Syria now has a trained core of battle-hardened soldiers. Syria now has firm alliances tested in battle with Hezbollah, Iran and Russia. If anything, Israel is now more restricted in that they can’t afford to attack Hezbollah anymore with a strong Syrian ally in the area. But Syria needs time to take advantage of this. Time to rebuild their country. Time to rebuild their military which has been sorely pressed and wounded at times in this war against foreign insurgency. When Syria regains the border that’s been in place for 45 years while still recovering from this war, that’s a win for Syria.
Thus, the return to the status quo of that old cease-fire line is in no way a victory for Israel. No matter how hard Israel tries to spin it as if it were some mighty victory.
It is/was not a civil war, it’s war of aggression financed by any countries; we all know which ones.
Syria is indeed in shape to retake the Golan Heights; they are, along with Hizbollah and Iran, stronger than ever.