[This analysis was written for the Unz Review]
The Middle-East is literally exploding: the Houthis have delivered an extremely effective blow against Saudi oil production which (so they claim) has now dropped by 50% before bouncing back; there are persistent rumors that Russian Su-35S and S-400 has threatened to shoot down Israeli aircraft attacking Syria; Lebanon has declared that it will defend itself against Israeli attacks; Hezbollah has been threatening to deliver crippling strikes on Israel and even Israeli officials; Turkey has purchased Russian air defenses and says that if the USA refuses to deliver their F-35S, then Turkey will consider Su-35s and even maybe Su-57’s. Bibi Netanyahu tried to use Putin for his reelection campaign (well, he really is trying desperately to stay out of jail) but had to go home empty handed and, according to the JP, his mission was a failure.
Finally, and just to make sure that the crises are only limited to the Middle-East: the Polaks and the EU Court have successfully sued to try to force Russia to use the Ukie gas transit; the USA is invoking ancient treaties to threaten Venezuela; the UK is going to hell in a handbasket; Europe (well, Germany) can’t even get the Polaks to heel about North Stream 2 (well, they *are* heeling, of course, but to Uncle Shmuel, not Angela Merkel); India and Pakistan are threatening one another over Kashmir. Did I forget anything?
Oh yes, the DPRK is firing new missiles; the US wants to blame Iran for the Houthi attacks; China categorically rejects such accusations, while Russia continues to announce new revolutionary weapons built on new principles and plans to deploy the S-500 “Prometheus”, just to make sure the Empire does not get any stupid ideas about trying to strike Russia (or her allies which will begin purchasing the S-500 in 2021, according official sources).
I am sure I have forgotten plenty. Really, the Empire is collapsing on all fronts and that, in turn, means the chances that the ignorant dimwits in the White House will do something very stupid, dramatically increase.
Yes, I know, Bolton was fired. And I applaud that, but considering that I believe that Pompeo is even more delusional and evil than Bolton (not to mention fantastically arrogant!), that is hardly a reason to hope (I just read that Robert C. O’Brien will succeed Bolton; he used to be the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department; I wonder if that means even more kidnappings of Russian nationals worldwide…?).
There is so much to cover here that I will limit myself to a few points about the Middle-East which I think are important.
First, the partial destruction of the most important Saudi oil facilities is a HUGE embarrassment for the US. Remember that the KSA is really the “center” of CENTCOM and even the reason for its existence (to “protect” Iran from the USSR and officially keep the Shah safe, but in reality this was also part of a major deal between the USA the KSA: “you accept payment only in dollars and we will protect you against everybody“). Sure, there is a long list of western stooges to which a similar promise was made, including Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Manuel Noriega, Hosni Mubarak and many others; most are now dead, the rest in jail (iirc). Now its the turn of the Saudis it seems: not only could the super-duper “better than the S-300” patriots not stop the Houthis, all of the combined might of CENTCOM failed too.
Second, I can only concur with ‘b’ at Moon of Alabama – the war is over for the KSA. Whether they realize it or not makes no difference. Okay, it will make a difference in time, but in time only. The Saudis and their AngloZionist patrons have three solutions:
- Continue pretty much like before: that is the definition of insanity if different results are expected.
- Escalate and strike Iran, following which the entire Middle-East will explode with dramatic consequences.
- Do what the US always does: declare victory and leave.
Obviously, the third option is the only sensible one, but who said that Bibi, Trump or MbS are sensible at all? Tulsi Gabbard joined me in calling Trump somebody’s bitch, except I call him an Israeli bitch whereas Gabbard calls him a Saudi bitch. Same difference!
There is, however, one restraining factor: if Trump ever strikes Iran he will become the “disposable President” for the Neocons: Iran will use the opportunity to strike Israel and Trump will be impeached for it (the Neocons are, after all, in total control of the DNC and many key committees in Congress).
So this will all boil down to Trump and whether he has the info and brains to realize that an attack on Iran will wreck his Presidency (which is already FUBARed enough and attacking Iran will make it official) and he will be both impeached and, obviously, never reelected.
Third, could the Houthis have done it themselves? Absolutely yes. Iran did not have to strike directly, precisely because the Houthis were capable of doing it themselves. Check out this official exhibit of Houthi ballistic missiles and drones and see for yourself here and here. Furthermore, the Houthis are becoming very similar to Hezbollah and they have clearly learned advanced missile and drone capabilities (from Iran, which is why the Israelis and the US are so angry). Now I am not, repeat, NOT saying that Iran did not help or that this strike would have been as successful had Iran not provided intelligence, targeting, technical expertise, etc. But if there is any evidence of direct Iranian involvement, let this “malevolent manatee” (which is how Fred Reed referred to Pompeo) show it to the world, and it better be better than the crap they showed for Skripal or the chemical false flags in Syria.
Fourth, what this means for the KSA and their AngloZionist patrons is that the Houthis can strike anywhere inside the KSA with total impunity. And not only in the KSA. Furthermore, I suspect that Iran can also hit every single oil or gas related facility in the Middle-East just like it can strike every US/CENTCOM/NATO/Israeli objective it wants. Furthermore, in case of total war in the Middle-East, you can expect missiles raining down on US facilities not only from Yemen (Houthis) and Lebanon (Hezbollah) but also potentially from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fifth, it really does not matter where or what the US and/or Saudis and/or Israelis fire at Iran, the response will be the same, at least according to Professor Marandi: it will be massive and the oil and gas export capability of the entire Middle-East will be threatened. There is no safe, cheap or effective way to strike Iran. But do the folks in DC realize that?
Next, I want to offer a few points about the alleged interception of Israeli F-35 by Russian Su-35S over Syria.
First, we really don’t have the facts, so let’s wait a little. Most stories about this come from one Arabic online paper. Now, in the last 24 hours there was “sort of kinda” confirmation from Russia, but not from officials, and these reports were not so much giving factual details as gloating that Netanyahu walked away from Russia with nothing.
Second, my best guess is that this story is probably based on reality. The Israelis have been behaving as if they did not care about the Russian presence in Syria: so they engage in airstrikes exclusively for PR purposes (remember, Bibi wants to avoid jail!) and the Russians probably complained and were ignored, and now they’ve had enough.
Third, the fact that the Jerusalem Post had to published a horrified article about this event conclusively proves that those who were trying to convince us that Russia and Israel were working hand in hand and that Putin was Bibi’s best friend were, well, full of crapola and their clickbait was just that: clickbait.
Fourth, there are those technology buffs who will always try to prove that the Su-35S is vastly superior to the F-35 and that this story is very credible and those who will explain that the F-35 is vastly superior to the Su-35S and that this story is pure invention. The truth is that it is useless and meaningless to compare two advanced aircraft “in the abstract” or declare that one is so much better than the other. Okay, yes, the Su-35S is superior in many aspects to the F-35, but most definitely not in all possible scenarios. In fact, we would also need to know what other aircraft were in the air at the time – including AWACs, SEAD and EW – and we would need to find out exactly what role the Russian S-400s played (if any). Generally, I urge you not to engage in a) “bean-counting” (only looking at quantities) or in b) making direct combat aircraft comparisons. In the latter case, we would need to know what kind (and how much) of training the pilots got, what kind of weapons they had, what kind of sensors they used and how, and more generally, exactly how the Israelis decided to structure their attack and how the Russians decided to respond. Finally, we would have to get some detail on sensor fusing, network-centric operations, datalinks, etc. Since we know nothing about any of that, I recommend that we don’t dwell on aircraft/radar/missile X vs aircraft/radar/missile Y. It’s just not worth it.
Fifth, there are already rumors about this being a false flag operation of the Israelis, the British, the KSA or the US. Well, I sure can’t prove a negative, but I see no compelling reason to make such conclusions. First, this is really bad news for the Empire and, second, the Houthis have done similar actions many times in the past and there is no reason to suspect that they could not have done what they did. Still, it is also undeniable that any hike in oil prices benefits a lot of people (USA shale, Russia, the KSA, etc.). Finally, there is always and by definition the risk of the Israelis and their Neocon allies pulling off some kind of false flag to finally trigger a US attack on Iran. All these are, however, only indirect arguments, at least so far. The fact that a false flag is possible does not mean it actually happened, let’s never forget that and never drop to premature or unfounded conclusions.
Sixth, let’s look at the targets themselves. We are talking about oil facilities, huge ones, which under the logic of US/NATO/Israel (aka the “Axis of Kindness”) is most definitely classified as “regime support infrastructure” or something similar. Furthermore, even under non Axis of Kindness logic, the laws of war allow strikes on infrastructures critical to the enemy’s military effort. So while TV stations, embassies or medical factories are NOT legal targets, critical oil facilities are. The ONLY stipulation is that the attacking side make an honest effort in selecting targets and munitions and try to avoid avoidable casualties. As far as I know, the Saudis have mentioned zero victims. Yes, that is unlikely, but that is how things stand for the time being. In this case, the Houthi strike was absolutely legitimate, especially considering the kind of genocidal devastation the Axis of Kindness and the KSA have unleashed against Yemen.
Lastly, I will venture a guess as to why the US and Saudi air defense were so useless: they probably never expected an attack from Yemen, at least not such a sophisticated one. Most of the US/KSA air defenses are deployed to defend against an attack from Iran, from the northern direction. The fact that this strike was so successful strongly suggest that it came from the south, from Yemen.
Conclusion: (Sept 18th, 1816Z)
I was about to conclude that according to RT, the Saudi Oil Minister has declared that the KSA “don’t know yet who is responsible” and that this was good news. Then I saw this: “Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of sponsoring oil-plant attack, says it ‘couldn’t have originated in Yemen“, also on RT. Not good. Not credible either.
For one thing, had it been Iran, the strike would have been far more massive and would have only been a part of a much bigger, full-scale, attack not only on Saudi oil facilities, but also on all crucial CENTCOM installations and forces. There is no way the Iranians would have opened major hostilities (and these strikes were definitely described by the Saudis as “major”) just to wait for a massive US/KSA/Israeli retaliation. The Iranians are most certainly not going to repeat Saddam Hussein’s crucial mistake and allow the US/CENTCOM/NATO/Israel/KSA the time needed to prepare for a massive attack on Iran. I am monitoring various “indicators and warnings” which would suggest that the USA is up to no good, and so far I have noticed only one potentially worrying event: MSC Sealift and US transportation Command has ordered a no-notice turbo activation of between 23 to 25 ships from the 46 ship Ready Reserve Force (RRF have to be 5-day ready). This is an unprecedented number since 2003 and it could mean somebody just taking precautions or someone is getting twitchy. But the timing is usually September, but not in this number (more about this here). But please keep in mind that such indicators cannot be considered in isolation from other facts. Should there be more, I will do my best to report them on the blog.
The fact that US/KSA air defenses performed so miserably does not mean that the USA is totally clueless about ‘whodunit’. There are a lot of other sensors and systems (including in space) which will detect a missile launch (especially a ballistic missile!) and there are some radar modes which allow for long-range detection but not necessarily capable of track-while-scan or of long-range engagements. Furthermore, you can also monitor data signals and general telemetry, and since the US has immense databases with the “signature” signals from all sorts of enemy hardware, they also probably could accurately assess which type of systems were used. Just in this case, just as in the case of MH-17, the Pentagon knows exactly ‘whodunit’. Ditto for the Russians who have a lot of SIGINT/FISINT in the Middle-East (and in space).
But in the last days of the Empire, facts don’t really matter. What matters is whatever is seen as politically expedient by the folks in the White House and in Israel. My biggest hope is that Trump finds out the truth about the strikes and that he has enough brains left to understand that should he strike Iran he will lose the election and will probably even be impeached to boot.
Let’s hope that his narcissistic instincts will save our long-suffering planet!
The Saker
Interesting analysis. Can I just chip in having read this about the cruise missiles:
https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1208062/meet-the-quds-1/
The US is saying can’t be Yemen and so do the Saudis, trying very hard to pin the blame on Iran. Convenient, if it were the Houthis getting blame, the Western media would just pack up & go to the next newsworthy event.
The RRF ships to watch in the 28 that are being activated as an exercise are these:
modified SeaLand SL-7 containerships, Fast Sealift Ships (FSS) for the Military Sealift Command.
https://gcaptain.com/us-orders-large-scale-turbo-activation-of-ready-reserve-force-ships/
https://armedservices.house.gov/_cache/files/1/4/14380ece-153c-41a6-81bd-f4b91c1f8cc9/67423FBD2E9063DD27B4F3218C7E724D.rrf-surge-sealift-readiness-snapshot-unclas-v6mar18-n00-.pdf
These are those that spearheaded the logistics link in both Gulf Iraq wars.
Thanks Nat for these most interesting comments!
The Saker
Noted on one of the military forums I view. Also, some other units have quietly gotten their ‘stand to’ orders. I hope this does not go beyond saber rattling, but on the other hand, hope springs eternal.
Auslander
What makes anyone think these ships (for logistics) are not just as vulnerable to missiles as warships?
You amass an armada, someone will attack it as it draws close.
And where is this “war” going to launch?
Unless Iran’s ballistic missiles have anti ship capabilities, these logistics ships would probably go to either Israel, west coast of Saudi Arabia, or as reinforcements following a successful US Marine Corps conquest of a Lebanese port. Only then would those supplies & equipment have a chance to be used against Iran; otherwise the Iranians could easily pick them off in the Gulf of Oman.
Dick Lenning: “following a successful US Marine Corps conquest of a Lebanese port.”
???!!
After their experience in Beirut, in the Reagan days, I would imagine that the Marines might prefer to give Lebanon a big miss.
If US Marines, or a joint USMC+US Army+Israeli army task force were successful in taking a Lebanese port, only then would these US logistics ships be of any use against iran. That is a big “if” BTW…
To accomplish such a mission the US would have to commit a large force to overcome Hezbollah’s tenacity, skills, & morale. The ultimate question for the US military: is it worth it? (I’m guessing no!)
Because they won’t go near the Gulf in the 1st Gulf unless heavily escorted by US Navy & co.
(Surprise, there is a convoy system in operation in Strait of Hormuz & the Saudi Navy has just joined it). Smacks of mission creep.
My take is they will offload in Red Sea, (as some have done in past).
Quote:
What makes anyone think these ships (for logistics) are not just as vulnerable to missiles as warships?
Unquote
Just to add to what I mentioned above: for those of you who would like to details.
The US plans to create an “International Maritime Surveillance Mission” isn’t making waves internationally. The idea for 55 vessels to patrol in the Persian Gulf isn’t taking shape. So far only 4 countries
– Australia,
Bahrain,
UK, and
Saudi Arabia –
have joined Operation Sentinel.
The incremental steps that US is taking, could easily morph into a fully fledged blockade attempt ‘a la’ Operation Sharp Guard (Also a multi-year joint naval blockade in the Adriatic Sea in 1990s).
Austfailia is not a ‘country’. It is a stooge, a satellite, a colony or a dependency, of the USA, depending on your preference.
Mulga – I fully echo your statement that Australia is nothing more than a stooge, a satellite, a fully fledged vassal state, a boot licking quivering puppet, a sycophantic suck up, a place governed by chinless toadies with the independence of a budgie in a cage. It sure as heck isn’t a sovereign country. Unlike Iran, or any other assigned enemy.
It all comes down to the thing called the Grand Prior who swears an path to the Queen which superceds all other oaths past present future and therefore obviates the oath sworn by the same person as Governor General. Each of the federated states has a Prior. They are successive backups to the Grand Prior. One cannot become a Prior or Grand Prior except via the path of the Chartered Order of St John.
The plan is for the UK to meld with its so called former colonies to form a Union State. In this way Sustralua will become nuclear-armed. That is if the US does not dismember Australia first. Western Australia is ready to jump ship and become New California. Far North Queensland and the Top End plus Papua are moving along an action pipe too. Interesting times ahead.
The Gulf is so packed with Warships it would be like shooting fish in a barrel,in their Imperial arrogance they just don’t get it.
Saker,
Man, I like the kind of military analysis you do. I am an armchair military strategist. I have read Clausewitz’s ‘On War’ and ‘The campaign of 1812 in Russia’ and I am a junkie of books about military campaigns.
Say, could you recommend me a book or books about modern military strategical and tactical operation?
Thanks.
Ask http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/ (aka Andrei Martyanov).
It is impossible to give you good advice just with what you told me.
Tactics, operational art and strategy are complex field, they take years to understand.
Also, there are so much sub-fields…
Here is one I really liked:
“Surprise Attack” by Richard Betts
https://www.amazon.com/Surprise-Attack-Lessons-Defense-Planning/dp/0815709293
Another one I like a lot is
“Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace, Revised and Enlarged Edition” by Ed Luttwak
https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Logic-Peace-Revised-Enlarged/dp/0674007034/
Finally, there is this one:
“The Half War: Planning U.s. Rapid Deployment Forces To Meet A Limited Contingency 1960-1983” by Bob Haffa.
https://www.amazon.com/Half-War-Deployment-Contingency-1960-1983-ebook/dp/B07V2PJP3P/
I know all three authors personally as I had them as teachers and all three are very interesting.
Think of it as an “intro into war studies” or something similar.
If having read these, you want more, THEN you can get books about tactics, operational art and strategy.
At least, this is what I recommend.
Kind regards
The Saker
Truth be told, these are not really books about “modern military strategical and tactical operations”
Thanks, man! Very much appreciated.
I humbly suggest you start at the beginning. That would have to be “The Art of War”, by Sun Tzu and Sun Pin.
Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-3085-8
This version has has very good annotation, without which we westerners would struggle to get the full understanding.
To my mind all the technical approaches are of little use if one does not understand the philosophical underpinnings that they are based upon.
The only way to identify the responsible party is to observe the consequences. If KSA proceeds to lose interest in the war upon Yemen …..
The slow, but ever increasing, downward curve of the empires fortunes is evident. Gone are the days when a battleship or two off a coast brought someone ‘to heel’, today’s technology has put paid to that little foible, witness the ‘backward’ rebels tossing some cruise (supposedly) missiles at a few, albeit vast in size, POL production facilities in KSA.
That being said, I don’t see the empire falling any time soon. The downward curve may increase in angle with time and as any wounded animal does, it may lash out as a last resort, but the empire is quite far from a ‘last resort’ and will be for some time yet. Still and all, it is obvious that TE (The Empire) is not the omnipotent power it was a a scant decade or two ago. The list of failures, failures that still resulted in untold deaths and catastrophic social and economic upheaval and destruction, is growing. Not exponentially, yet, but growing.
Krimea was the harbinger of doom for TE, no doubt. That was the first, and in the halls of ‘power’ in Foggy Bottom and Five Points regarded is an unfathomable affront, failure of the hegemony. TE’s failure to secure Sevastopol and Krimu in what they thought was a flawless operation will go down in history as the turning point, the beginning of the end. The war in Novorossiya is a byproduct of this failure, irregardless of the savage destruction and loss of life fomented by TE via not only proxies but actual boots on the ground in Novorossiya.
Since then, Syria has been rescued from oblivion and outright slavery, Iran is standing tall and brave, the Houthi’s are fighting back against KSA, read TE, tooth and claw, the efforts to secure areas of Africa have led to senseless deaths of TE soldiers (far more than is publicized) and abject failure, and even in TE’s own back yard, Venezuela stood up to TE and so far is still standing, and the running sore of Afghanistan has produced nothing in 18 years except casualty lists that, if the truth was known, would have the citizens of TE in the streets, let alone the incredible costs of that ‘war’.
On the other hand, those who are cheering on the ‘demise’ of TE had better damned sight think and be careful what you pray for. TE/eu are one and the same, joined at the waist, and if and when TE/eu ‘fall’, think of what will happen to you, and us. While TE may be evil, TE has a mega population who will rapidly descend in to abject poverty, including you, that will make the demise of SSSR look like a kindergarten tea party, life as you knew it will be gone, replaced by unbelievable, and very dangerous, social and economic turmoil.
Think about it. I was in Moskau several times as SSSR tottered and then collapsed, and it ain’t pretty. Imagine sitting in a car driven by a bull Colonel (no Sargant available to drive) involved with a well known security apparatus situated on Dzerzinsky Square and he’s buying petrol from a government tank truck on a back street in Moskau, cash on the barrel head, because his State vouture for same was useless. Or watching him removing the windscreen wipers from his machine when we parked it, knowing full well if he didn’t, when we returned to the machine after five minutes they would be gone. Or sitting at stop light and having two achingly beautiful young women wash the windscreen for kopeki and once they figured out I was foreign, literally offering themselves. Electric for your house or flat? Good luck. Law enforcement cadre (cops)? Pull out your wallet if you want help. Wallet? Are the greenbacks worth the paper they are printed on? Food? What will your wife say when she goes to her local food emporium and the shelves are empty and the prices have risen 500% in two weeks? And this is just scratching the surface. How many of you know how to grow food? How many of you know how to fix things, I mean really fix things, not something as simple as replacing a light bulb (if you can find one for sale)? Heat? Natural gas? Petrol? Fresh bread? Working ‘bank card’ machines? How many of your friends have these skills? Can you live without internet and the idiotic ‘social media’? How many of you have salable skills useful in a non technical economy?
A word to the wise. We all know TE is falling, but one would hope, and pray, that the fall is a gentle. That is what you should be praying for, a gentle decline, not a demise.
Auslander
Author http://rhauslander.com
Never The Last One https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGCY8KK A deep look in to Russia, her culture and her Armed Forces, in essence a look at the emergence of Russian Federation.
An Incident On Simonka https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ERKH3IU March 2014. NATO Is invited to leave Sevastopol, one way or the other.
Wisdom, well stated, Auslander.
Hey Auslander. American here. I appreciated your comment greatly. Unfortunately, the collapse is coming, and nothing can be done to stop it. America will likely devolve into a civil war as the Neocons/Zionists desperately try to hang onto power. They will lose. Although many will die, this event is necessary in order to wake up the millions of mindless Americans out of their stupor, so that we might be awakened, and humbled, back into a state of sanity.
Do not feel too sorry for us. Our country’s population willingly allowed themselves to turn into a nation of sleepwalking sheep. Everyone has to suffer the consequences of the mistakes they make in their individual lifetime… The United States is no different.
The alternative to this is that the US destroys the entire planet in an all-out nuclear war. Obviously, the collapse of the US and an internal civil war is far preferable to that scenario. There just is no avoiding it. The factions within the US are too at odds with the American people. It’s just that simple. What has been sown must be reaped. The Neocons will kill a lot of innocent people in their attempt to hang onto power, but in the end, they will be castrated, and there is no-one that will suffer a more humiliating defeat than they. Richly deserved.
As an American, I am doing everything I can to prepare and to lead people against the Neocons and their demonic agenda. I can only imagine what this world would become if the Neocons/Zionists ended up winning. This planet would be a dark, ugly, and totally enslaved, and radioactive, place. Not a planet worth living on. When this outcome is considered, it becomes quite obvious what must be done.
Godspeed my friends!
Great comment. Completely agree with everything you said.
Auslander ~~ thank you for your insights.
This is how the world ends: with a bang, And a whimper.
I will heed your advice to pray that the fall is gentle. Now, here is how prayer works, based on a lifetime of experience: when I pray, it is like my arm is stretched out towards the object of my prayer, but I can reach out only half way. If the person I am praying for does not likewise have their arm reaching out, there is no connection, and the prayer effectively falls dead. The sender and receiver have to both be ready. ….(I am not saying “don’t pray”). …. there are plenty of reasons for unanswered prayers. Sometimes the answers come in other ways than what we expected! Maybe the original request was flawed. A prayer can be sent that if it were granted it would cause more harm than good, when considering the “big picture”….maybe Crucifixion must happen before Resurrection. The spiritual how-to gurus neglect to mention this. No bed of roses here. I can pray for wisdom, and sometimes there is a pain that comes with that that is so awful that I call it the pain of wisdom.. This why so many people loose themselves in silly, mindless distractions. They emphatically do Not want to Know. Maybe they have been “programmed to forget” needful things. This is the kind of stuff that destroys nations: the forgetting of consequences.
Another thing that concerns me greatly, as to why the fall may Not be so gentle, is a terrible thing called karma, and karma is a bastard. How many nations has the United States caused to “fall gently” ? I must ask myself: knowing this, then, how well am I prepared for a “demise scenario”? I frankly suspect that I will not survive it.
That is a beautiful and fascinating comment. Thank you. I learned here.
I suggest you begin to learn and begin, growing vegetables…. the most basic might be the better way to go, root crops, etc…. things like potatoes, turnips, carrots…..
In the US the climate and soil is better than here in Newfoundland, so you will be able to grow enough to get through the winter.
Good luck.
Chad on Auslander post:
“…how well am I prepared for a “demise scenario”? I frankly suspect that I will not survive it.”
The just-in-time food logistics systems for metropolitan areas is an Achilles heel for hundreds of millions of people. Any breakdown in electricity or water supply will compound the misery, and if this happens in winter then heating fuels will quickly become in short supply.
Living in suburbia will be a nightmare without gasoline for the vehicle because so much of what might still be available will be beyond reach, or require more than your two arms to bring essentials back home. Then there is the endemic use of pharmaceutical products that sustains life for many. How can a 30-day prescription be replaced under these adverse conditions?
We have been painted into a survival corner by the very conveniences that constitute “smart living” in our age. I suppose you could try using a credit card to arrange same-day-delivery of those things that you desperately need. Telecom and internet service will become very tenuous, so good luck with that.
I suspect that I, too, will not survive a “demise scenario”.
herrqlys
As a bit of a worrisome comment, I know more than a few in CehSha (US), mostly prior or current ready to retire military, who are quietly ‘winding things up and moving home’, IOW they are leaving their comfortable lives in the coastal areas and, as one so eloquently explained it, ‘leaving the hedonistic life of frantic consumerism, taking our children and going back to Middle America, back to our farms and small towns where life is livable’.
Another one was discussing with me what life would be like in his small down in Alabama when TE begins to fall. As he put it, ‘LE’, the cops, know each and every addict and pusher in this town and know who the suppliers are. These people are also the main criminals, stealing and looting to support their addiction and consuming unbelievable amounts of government funds to ‘treat’ their addiction and keep them above a subsistence level of life. He clearly said that the day after TE ‘falls’, there will be no ‘opiate crisis’ in his town. And Law Enforcement are four square for and involved in the prospective solution.
Your comment about the Achilles Heal of suburban life hit the nail on the head. Just in time food supply, just in time petrol supply, just in time most anything supply, and if ‘just in time’ is two days late, the ‘social turmoil’, read ‘every man for himself’, will start as the strong take from the weak….as always happens in a cataclysmic process/disaster. No electric so food spoils. No water, and who has a well (we do, with an available hand pump), and what do you do? Anyone know how to make an outhouse? Anyone know how to make a cold cellar and how to preserve organic foods? Anyone know how to make crop fertilizer that don’t come in a bag? The ‘do you knows’ are endless, but food for thought.
Auslander
I foresee things getting very ugly if the demise is not relatively gentle.
I am getting more grateful for knowing how to do the things you mentioned every month that passes tbh.
I live on a island in a small city, i have also made several plans on how to get out of here. Luckily i live in Norway so potable water is not a problem, i am most concerned about keeping us warm if i live in the secular world when the empire falls.
herrglys
Here in Europe the power infrastructure is now forcefully destroyed by lunatics. We in CH will have a shortage of 50% in Winter from 2040 on and that only if mobility is not transferred to electric as is generally planned, then it will be much earlier.
As soon you have less than 60% of base band e-power generation capability (meaning a steady source of production) the whole interconnected e-net will collapse which obviously is now effected by a broad front of Neo-Trozkytes, Neo-Liberals and Eco-Fascists, not that they planned it, it’s just a convergence of abject evil and stupidity (which at some point become indistinguishable anyway).
If there is an earthly guiding hand behind all this, then they obviously plan for a violent, brutal and bloody reverse against that insanity in form of a type of fascism which they will prepare for. Europe is to become the relieve valve and generator of a polarity potential for the Empire as it seems – or in short cannibalism starting from the periphery.
Only a miracle can save us now here, as always Europe will be in the thick of it…..
“How can a 30-day prescription be replaced under these adverse conditions?”
Get off your prescriptions ahead of time. Modern medication does nothing but suppressing the symptoms and mostly poison the body. Buy bulk vitamin C of good quality, magnesium-chloride and sodium-bicarbonate (animal food quality=good and dirt cheap) and get truly healed. A daily fasting may be useful if overweight (max 8 hours of eating your three (or two) meals a day, and 16 hours of only water).
Buy the book from Dr Thomas Levy “Curing the incurable” based on the work of the good doctors Frederick Klenner, Robert Cathcart and others, and read up on the uses of magnesium-chloride and sodium-bicarbonate …
Wishing you all good health!
These comments are going off-topic – please take them to the MFC. Mod.
Powerful comment, it struck me like a fist.
God bless you Chad.
@Auslander,
Once again you write an excellent Comment, and with an eloquence that very few people possess.
I can’t tell you how much I agree with your point in the paragraph starting with “those who are cheering on the demise of TE…..”.
I’ve made the same point on this site 2-3 years back: the last thing I want, or anyone with any sanity or humanity would want is a catastrophic collapse of United States and its dependencies (like canada, México, the EU etc). Wishing this isn’t just wrong on moral grounds it’s also shooting yourself (and your families) in the collective foot. Even neutral non dependencies (economies like Vietnam, Venezuela, Uruguay, Mozambique, etc.) will be badly affected by such a scenario (even China!). What is wanted is the end to the violent carnage imposed on the world, the theft other countries goods and services paid for with counterfeit “money” (aka western fiat currency) and for the United States and the overrated overvalued parasitical economies of Western Europe to reconstitute themselves to become real economies based on the production of real goods and services (not the fake economy based on virtual services and virtual products (IT software virtual “products”, Banking, Insurance, etc) and perceived value as opposed to real value. End the empire and its pillaging -keep the component Countries whole stable and living within their means. Oh yes, before I forget: it is essential for the incorrigible, loud, trouble making and inherently corrupt and internationally destabilizing UK to be forever cut down to its real size in terms of global political influence. Criminality is endemic to this country’s establishment (centered in Bankster England), they will never change, they will never cease to try and foment trouble as long they have the means to do so. Therefore therefore their means to do so needs to stripped: they need to be reduced politically to their true condition physically and economically (which is that of a small province of Europe with an economy on par with Spain ) without being able to hijack or ride the coattails of the EU or the USA. Hopefully, Brexit will achieve that. When the mindset of empire goes, along with the means for parasites, such as the British elite, or other small nations or political or economic factions with equally Machiavellian impulses to hijack the capacities of either the people of the US or the peoples of EU towards their own ends, then the world will start to stabilize.
The nightmare scenario you outlined and witnessed in Russia has happened in Brasil, Turkey and other countries: it is horrible. The elites will be fine, but mostly innocent masses will be devastated. It is not a joke. Therefore, like you, I hope the transformation to a normal nationhood from empire will be gentle, it’s in everyone’s self interest.
I agree, particularly concerning the moral dimension of hoping for a peaceful end to the Real Evil Empire, but what of Israel? There a peace with the Palestinians in their own, normal country, in the West Bank and Gaza and with the Right of Return observed, seems to me the only way forward, But that ends the apartheid lunacy of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and the others, the Palestinians etc, reduced to inferiority, and I doubt that the hardcore Zionazis will go along with that. And another absolute priority for global peace is the end of the Zionazis’ control of the USA and the rest of the West, another Mission Impossible I would say. And what of the Sordid Barbarian regime and Wahhabism? Is there any place in a peaceful for world for a genocidal death-cult like Wahhabism?
Dear Auslander,
On behalf of the Mexicans that we are so far from God and so close to the empire, this one can go a lot to hell and it will be a national holiday.
I much appreciate your realistic comment as well Auslander. As someone already at the bottom of the pyramid, I already know how tough things are financially. When the whole organised system collapses, how indeed do you survive it? Going without the internet or unable to withdraw what money you do have at an ATM. Many people are completely oblivious of what’s coming. Not a clue.
There are those who have real assets that will employ those at the “bottom'”of the “pyramid” to earn a living.
I have assets and I have and WILL do that!
Auslander
What an outstanding comment!!!
Cheers
Col
Thanks for this wise and foreseeing comment, Auslander. Almost a topic in itself.
As they say, ‘be careful what you wish for’.
Let me add that the world is so intertwined in materials, logistics and finance, that it won’t be an isolated event. When the USA hits the wall, many will do too.
That is a scary thought, but not one to avoid.
Cheers, Rob
Auslander,
I’m looking at 73 now and understand personally the Empire’s decline. At 19 I bled in a rice paddy for what? I didn’t know. 66′-67′ was for me like an egg in a buffalo stampede. I still lay in bed in the wee hours wondering how I survived. There is a saying; “If they are shooting at you when you leave, you lost”. We lost then for sure. After that the “victories” were small and managed. The losses grew. The “Empire” is failing. Good. The result can be VERY bad or a managed decline. I think we are in a managed decline. It’s like a company forced into receivership and the assets revalued and equitably distributed to the interested parties. For the “West”, I think it may not be as brutal as the ” receivership” the USSR endured. Even so, it will not be fun. Empire is good business for those who supply the “tools” for such. They also think they can ride it out. Hopefully, NOT this time. The wild card is what it always has been. “Follow the money”. More specifically, what it represents and who emits it. It MUST represent profitable production of goods and services (capital”) in sensible trade arrangements among sovereign political
entities. In the dissolution of the USSR “oligarchs” with fiat capital bought up the “store” for pennies on the dollar. That must not be allowed to happen again in the next “collapse” that I guarantee is unfolding.
Think of Trump what you may. I have my view. It is that he is not a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, American, or any such label. 90%+ of the media is virulently against him. He has funny hair and doesn’t button his suit. He is immersed in a Swamp he says he wants to drain. I was in an Infantry Platoon in heavy combat and had to accept some soldiers who I could not trust. That’s where he is. If not for all the adversity, he and Putin plus others would be farther along in this Swamp Draining than they are. They share enemies. It is a process. Entities exist that have no allegiances but to themselves. They need not votes for power. They have Central banks. Patriots of humanity like us must look for and recognize the ratchet of small victories in the defeat of Empire. They ARE there if you look.
I will survive. I have worked the earth, produced steel, survived combat, have university education, successful business, still garden, do my own repairs, champion rifleman etc, hard assets and no debt, and humility to still learn.
What’s coming will not be pleasant. I have grandchildren. But above all, I still have hope.
“Gentle decline………..”.
Alpha 1/3 Xray
Steve Pahs/wolfhound
Steve Pahs
Thank you for your erudite comment. I am in the same boat as you, same age although I didn’t bleed in a rice paddy, I did my bleeding elsewhere, three times not counting the odd nicks and scrapes that make civilians run for the sawbones while you and I wrap a dirty sock around it and kept going.
I fully understand the mess President Trump is in, and it’s far from his making. I don’t care what kind of man he is but I deeply care what kind of president he makes, in spite of the media and traitors hounding him like never seen before in the history of our relatively young country. I wouldn’t trade places with him for all the tea in China and then some. However, it took me a while to understand that every time we left somewhere ‘they’ were shooting at us, read close to 30 years of service, and therein is the problem. I didn’t turn my coat and never will, but on the other hand, since I was given a once in a life time opportunity to live elsewhere I consider this little village my home and I will defend it to the death to protect my wife, our ‘children’ (we have no two leg children, all of ours have four legs), our friends and our land, don’t matter who comes unbidden. I just hope it doesn’t come to that, although it very nearly did a scant few years ago and we and our friends were ready.
I, too, have hope. Gentle decline, indeed……
Auslander
True and wise words.
إفتح لي أبواب التوبة / Open to me the gates of repentance (Lyric Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFO2SW-etHk
Ha ha, we all (maybe not all, OK) have watched “Moscow on the Hudson” (quite long time ago)! There was toilet paper also in the scene.
The latest retaliation against Iran from the U.S. is to apply more sanctions, the same type of sanctions that led to Iranian independence, So for now it’s more bark than bite b/c the all the bite is used up yet the barking political capital has fuel in the tank compliments of the deranged congress still attacking the Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Talk about yesterdays news and the fog of tomorrow, those people have been proved beyond useless and their aint no return to sanity any time soon.
Not too long ago sanctions can gradually followed with invasion like Iraqi war has demonstrated. However the newfound strength by axis of resistance from some small nations like North Korea, Lebanon (Hezbollah) and SYRIA (with the help of Russia) etc has effectively cut TE to their size accordingly. This massage is well received by not so many sane people left within TE structure. They understand that war bigger than Syria is totally unmanageable. Resorting to sanction after accusing Iran over Saudi main oil refinery attack would mean there will be no Iran invasion for this time. This view can be explained by the fact that TE well informed that sanction is totally useless as far as its pure intention is concern. However sanction can serve well for the bully to stay in his place as a bully. Remember attack on a nation livelihood justifies war by itself; sanction is not needed if war is imminent (land, naval and air blockade is part of invasion objectives).
One option to be considered is it’s a Hezbollah product designed by their friends and sent to the Houthis for beta testing.
https://www.salon.com/2019/08/22/evangelicals-told-trump-he-was-chosen-by-god-now-he-says-it-himself/
Trump Tower is 203 meters tall and that is 666 feet.
Time to wake up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/31/opinion/trump-evangelicals-cyrus-king.html
Try and understand how far from rationality this situation truly is.
trump (v.1) “surpass, beat,” 1580s, from trump (n.). Related: trumped; trumping; trump (v.2) “fabricate, devise,” 1690s, from trump “deceive, cheat” (1510s), from Middle English trumpen (late 14c.), from Old French tromper “to deceive,” of uncertain origin. Apparently from se tromper de “to mock,” from Old French tromper “to blow a trumpet.” Brachet explains this as “to play the horn, alluding to quacks and mountebanks, who attracted the public by blowing a horn, and then cheated them into buying.” Related: trumped; trumping; trumped up “false, concocted” (first recorded 1728); trump (n.1) “playing card of a suit ranking above others.”
Then add to the mix Macron…whose name means a mark…leading a military of 10 kingdoms…
The name is not as complicated as you are saying. It actually means “Long”, depending on which Greek dialect you are looking at (Pontus (Black Sea), Crete, both use Doric dialect in their local speech). Normally you would say Makris.
I saw this on twitter, and I’m not getting it. Btw, Cyrus was Persian king…so Trump being Cyrus makes no sense at all.
The Cyrus reference may relate to Cyrus the Great, King of the Persians, who in act of generosity released the Jews from their captivity by the Babylonians in about 500 bc. I think thats right ?
yeah, put Persians are Iranians!!!
Is Trump to be proud to be called king of Iran?
And from whose captivity is he going to free Jews?
And where he gonna move those Jews freed from captivity to?
My favourite theory is that Trump is like Croesus. He went to the Delphic Oracle to get advice on his proposed war on Persia. The oracle replied, delphically, that if Croesus attacked Persia, then a great Empire would fall. It did, but it was Croesus’s Empire, not the Persian.
Pretty sharp analysis.
Thank you very much Saker for this much needed expert amalysis of recent events!
You state that one of the main reasons the Saudi defenses were so useless against this Houthi attack is because the Saudi defenses are deployed towards the North to deflect an attack against Iran.
However, this was not the first attack from the South: A month ago, the Houthis attacked the Shaybah super-giant oil field from the South. So the Saudis were already alerted to this direction of attack. Is it possible that the Saudis defenses are simply unable to deflect this type of drone attack regardless of where it is coming from?
Unlikely. The US air defenses are not 360 degrees, they have to be roughly “pointed” (I am using a metaphor) towards the direction of likely attack. That could explain a lot, at least in the case of Patriot SAMs vs ballistic missiles.
Drones are a totally different matter. They are VERY hard to intercept, especially by SAM only. Drones have a very low radar cross section but they can fly far and very accurately. All in need is a 486 CPU, a little RAM and a little hard disk. Then a GPS/GLONASS/GNSS to guide yourself, and VOILA! you got yourself a pretty decent (if slow) cruise missile.
Any cellphone is enough hardware to guide a drone.
As for explosives, I would imagine HE with fiberglass/epoxy fragments.
Drones are a bitch to defeat, the Russians have been doing it successfully around Khmeimin, but they have the most advanced SAMs on the planet (especially their S-400 and Pantsirs), they often have an AWACs in the air, and their defenses are fully integrated.
But if you compare the money spent by Russian on anti-drone efforts vs how much a halfway decent attack drone costs, the difference is of several orders of magnitude.
So yes, it is possible that the drones simply flew around US/KSA radars and missiles.
My 2cts
The Saker
I forgot to add:
slow drones are easier to shoot down with AA canons
but they are *harder* to destroy from an aircraft
Cheers!
Is it not too late to impeach Trump as only 13 months are left before 2020 elections?
The Brent oil has lost almost 7% and is back at 63 usd +-
WTI even lower.
The oil reached 86 usd less than one year ago:
https://www.boursorama.com/bourse/matieres-premieres/cours/8xBRN/
The houthis are now threatening the Emirates.
Is a major Lehman moment 2.0 coming soon?
Liquidity Shortage Getting Worse: Fed’s Repo Oversubscribed As Funding Demand Soars 50% Overnight
(Not seen since 2008)
$53.2 Billion In QE Lite: Fed Concludes First Repo In A Decade Amid Liquidity Panic
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fed-has-lost-control-rates-again
It seems that the banksters casino is in deep troubles.
See my post on next thread.
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/09/18/doubting-irans-link-macron-sends-french-experts-investigate-saudi-oil-attack/
Macron the bringer of false peace.
It is Macron’s Arab/Israeli Peace Plan that will prevail over that soon to be put forward by Trump.
For those afeared of the Almighty and having even a passing familiarity with the Book of Revelations the fact that the word ‘macron’ means a ‘mark’ should ring alarm bells. He sits upon the green throne of the Paris Climate Accords. Worships the god of fortresses – Jupiter. Refuses siring children. And non hetero to boot.
Much appreciate your sombre and rational analysis Saker. However, do the fruit loops in Washington and Tel Aviv truly understand the consequences of striking Iran. Or has their sheer pathological hatred of Iran blinded them to the fact the Middle East will be consumed in flames if they attack Iran. The old biblical adage: ‘reap what you sow’.
In the decrepit presstitute Australian media today, they dutifully reported Saudi Arabia’s accusations against Iran. How predictable.
Oh, and seeing Psycho Bibi going to jail would be great, however it would never be at The Hague for war crimes tho. After all, vile creatures like Tony Blair and Dick Cheney still roam free.
“if Trump ever strikes Iran he will become the “disposable President” for the Neocons: Iran will use the opportunity to strike Israel and Trump will be impeached for it”
An american president impeached for aggressive war. Very, very unlikely. Never happened before. In this instance, if trump attacked Iran, both the aipac run congress and the zionazi-gay media would cheer him on. It’s what they are doing now.
This impeachment nonsense is as phony as the Russian election influence crap. These are psywar.
Agreed.
There has *never* been an American president impacted for waging aggressive wars.
Never–not the Vietnam or Korean Wars. Not the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Not the “humanitarian” bombings of Serbia or Libya. Not any of the USA’s dirty covert wars in Latin America, Africa, Asia or anywhere else.
Never.
In fact, it is more likely that the fake anti-Trump Resistance (TM) and entire American political establishment and media would put on their patriotic knee pads and blow Mr. Trump to show their support for him.
Oh no, of course not!
Not for an “aggressive war”
but only for *LOOSING* any war
Kind regards
https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-us-use-greece-block-russia-black-sea/5689554
The treachery of Bartholemew has another vector now through which he can continue to harm the body orthodox
Interesting article. Although Alexandropouli is not as strategic as the Bosporus…But they are definitely wooing Greece.
Btw, Pope Francis just shared the relics of St. Peter with Bartholomew to ” promote full communion” between the 2 churches..
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-says-gift-of-st-peters-bones-meant-to-signify-efforts-toward-catholic-orthodox-unity-70651
At this point, this is irrelevant. Bartholomew has, by any truly Orthodox theology, already become a heretic a long time ago.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople has become a “Eastern Rite Papacy”.
How sad…
The Saker
S, you are so correct.
This is for amusement of all of us Orthodox Christians about him:
Η ΝΕΑ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΑ ΘΡΗΣΚΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ 666 (New world religion of AntiChrist 666)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF7T-_FtENA
One more:
ΒΑΡΘΟΛΟΜΑΙΟΣ…ΕΝΑΣ ΑΠ’ ΤΟΥΣ ΜΕΓΙΣΤΟΥΣ ΠΡΟΔΟΤΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ
(…one of the .. traitors of Orthodoxy and Greece)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtQ8uYWgFtI
He recently made a speech in Atlanta,USA, which caused an outrage of all the Orthodox Greeks, something to do with Coca-Cola .
The video is by an archeologist and TV personality E. Beksis. English words are overlayed by Greek, but
you can still hear the speaker. Check the 1:40.
One last addition. The voice you hear is of Metropolitis of Florina. The video is short 1min. The title is: The kiss of Judas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiNPUFW0YXc
One more about the schism from Greek news (it also has some Russian speaker):
The title: ΣΕ ΝΕΟ ΣΧΙΣΜΑ ΟΔΗΓΕΙ Ο ΒΑΡΘΟΛΟΜΑΙΟΣ ΤΗΝ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ (Bartholomeos is driving the Orthodoxy to the schism) with key comment that Bartholomeos refuses to back off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CrSCw1SpOM
One more of what Metropolitis of Piraeus had to say about this being a geopolitical game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQjJ7UPEly0
Sorry, I am back to show you the illegality of the schism and the helping hand of Constantinople.
I’ll give the voice to couple of points.
Here, https://theduran.com/church-of-greece-and-its-arguments-concerning-ukraines-autocephaly-issue/
the fellow writes nad I quote as he starts with:
“A church should not judge another church’s decisions prior to an Ecumenical Council, to which the decisions are referred for completion. …”
“… The Church Pentarchy was introduced by Ecumenical Councils (II, IV and Trullo), and the primacy in the dyptychs of Old Rome, New Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem. …”
“… Unfortunately, however, because of the Church of Russia and some other Churches supporting it, no agreement was reached regarding this text …”
My comment is: Unfortunately??? Is he for real?
He continues:
“… Therefore, the Church of Greece cannot refuse to accept the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding the patriarchal tomos of autocephaly granted to the Church in Ukraine. …”
Here I go to the Greek TV, where Μητροπολίτης Πειραιώς κ.κ.Σεραφείμ (Mitropolitis of Piraeus) was asked to shed some light on the subject of relations between “Moscow and Constantinople”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQjJ7UPEly0
At 1:32 he talks about the historical rules of canonical rights. at 2:05 he says “Church can not be used as a tool for geopolitical plans and schemes.
He continues that the only head of the church is Christ and not some person, whoever it may be.
At 3:35 he says “we have witnessed a ground shaking attempt by the NATO to influence the church. The other fellow argued that in the past the church was involved in Georgia Serbia and Bulgaria”
At 5:29 Mitropolitis says: the rules even though are above any nation or ethnicity do recognize them as a factor.
At 5:34 he says that canon 17 allows for the church to follow the politics.
At 6:25 he says that Ukraine has always been under the rule of Moscow, but the SU somewhat changed the rules and after the collapse of SU it (Ukraine) became an independent country. Then he says that that Ukraine (particularly Kiev and Dniepr) is the heart of Russian world as the Prince of Kiev Vladimir (the grandson of Saint Olga) was the first Christened prince of Rus (6:43).
At 7:29 he says in 1589 Patriarch of Moscow was given an autocephaly and in 1686 Ukraine (Church) separated from Constantinople and became part of Moscow with Moscow, which has the exclusive right to elect all the Metropolites in the World of Rus, which includes Kiev.
I am going to stop here as this is an important fact for us to understand that Constantinople surrendered any and all rights to Moscow (400+ years ago).
Therefore in my opinion whatever happened, is just an illegal geopolitical game.
Metropolitis talks more about it, saying that it’s not the church of Ukraine that wants to separate from Moscow but the parliament of Ukraine under the direction of Poroshenko, who have no right to make any decisions with regards to Church affairs.
Very illuminating insights into the situation by Fr. Andrew Phillips @http://www.events.orthodoxengland.org.uk/the-centre-can-hold-because-of-the-cleansing-of-the-church/:
“As perhaps the only priest who had suffered from ‘the blood-dimmed tide’ of all three groups of aggressive, troll-like extremists, I cannot but rejoice with our brothers and sisters who have at last escaped the clutches of the Phanariots. The plot of the Phanar to hand over St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris to Ukrainian schismatics and rededicate it to apostate traitors and mass-murderers like the robber of souls, Andrei Bobola or Josaphat, has failed.
Meanwhile, the Phanar’s incoherent and schismatic head, Patriarch Bartholomew, yesterday met Pope Francis and the head of the Ukrainian Uniats in Rome to discuss merging the Uniats with his tiny and failed OCU organization in the Ukraine. A joint Phanariot-Papist Galician Synagogue of Fascist Ukrainian xenophobes may soon be formed there, uniting all haters of the Church of God. It will be financed by the State Department in Washington, which has already sent out its ambassadors in the Balkans to bully and bribe Local Churches into recognizing the Galician Synagogue. In this they failed”.
Some people have expressed the concern that the un-canonical granting of ‘autocephaly’ to the OCU had precisely that in view. No need to say that it was received with derision and assorted insults by the ‘ukrainian’ nationalists.
The returning of the ‘Rue Daru Archdiocese’ to the Russian Church after nearly a century of estrangement is a momentous event. Hopefully all splinters of the Orthodox Church will see the light. God works in mysterious ways.
Motto: So David prevailed over Goliath with a sling and a stone !
I remember what Karl Rove once said:
” “We’re an empire ( Goliath ) now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” (Ron Suskind, NYTimes Magazine, Oct. 17, 2004).
God resists the proud,but gives grace to the humble!
What goes around comes around. This time the Houthis are history’s actors and Karl Rove et al. should study what they did. And while they are studying the reality of Abqaiq–Khurais attack,Houthis will act again,creating other new realities…..
https://www.rt.com/news/469104-houthis-new-drones-attack-uae/
I hope that Saudi Arabia and UAE will make peace with Houthis ( no need for the new realities ) , stop buying useless weapons from US or Europe and invest that money in economy,infrastructure,science,culture,education,peacefull religion,health…all the good things that really matters.
Finally a positive good proposal. Thank you for not playing Star Wars or Who sunk my Battleship.
Interesting report here, Yemini General explaining how they did it and why they might do it again:
http://www.english.iswnews.com/7272/press-conference-of-yemeni-armed-forces-and-unveiling-details-of-ansarallahs-operation-in-east-of-saudi-arabia/
It might be time for me to do the shopping and stock up on important stuff.
RT worlds apart covers the Yemen subject today with a ME expert and the role of Russia in that region….
….Saudi Foreign minister says mimimum damage…if we were to believe that surely that means a very very clever identifying of particular targets within the facilities and that the main damage has been extremely psychological to Saudi and USA? That their delusional hubris and helplessness as been exposed in believing their superiority over Yemen as they will not accept Yemen has the capability of such an attack despite previous attempts?
Yemeni drones beat US, Saudi billion dollar air defenses – Sep 19
September 19, 2019
Iran has time and again denied the allegations and dismissed them as part of what Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called a campaign of “maximum deceit” that aims to cover America’s
failures in confronting Iran through force and pressure.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has advised all sides to avoid jumping to conclusions
and wait for the investigations to wrap up.
“Given that there is an international investigation, let’s wait for the results,” he said Thursday.
Germany and the UK have also called for restraint until the investigators finish their work.
Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono has also weighed in on the issue, saying he has yet to see
any hard evidence that links Iran to the attacks.
“We are not aware of any information that points to Iran,” Kono told reporters at a briefing
on Wednesday. “We believe the Houthis carried out the attack based on the statement
claiming responsibility.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/09/19/606572/US-missile-defenses-iran-yemen-Aramco-attack-Patriot
It would be really nice if Russia would make a deal with Venezuela to install the s-400 defensive system there. The proliferation of these highly effective systems seems to be truly a peacekeeping move that helps restrain the US Empire from striking wherever it wishes.
Motto: Eastern Rite Papacy or First without equal !
In picture:
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/sas/image/102723/272358.p.jpg?mtime=1504179082
or in some words:
https://orthochristian.com/122190.html
About Trump compared to Cyrus the Great ,maybe there is some subliminal messages in the background. King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Second Temple ,called the Temple of Zerubbabel.
Now there are rumors about building the Third Temple in Jerusalem,where the antichrist will be crowned as the Emperor of the world ( messiah for Jews, ” christ ” for christian-Zionists who believe in the heresy of Millennialism and so on…) He will unite all the people under the final and absolute dictatorship ,the one without escape.
With the NATO bases throughout the world defenseless against the ” Houthis ” drone and cruise missile attacks ,Trumps said he would prefer a negotiated resolution to the crisis.
Thanks God,we can still breathe for a while !
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.timesofisrael.com/op-ed-calls-on-israel-to-nuke-germany-iran/amp/
Yeah but….eschatological factors are in play and avooding contemplation of such things is a type of sin I think.
https://orientalreview.org/2019/09/20/strong-men-in-europe-tony-abbott-visits-hungary/
Someone should tell Orban that Tony Abbott is a war mongering dog who hopefully will face judgement in court for his association with the downing of the two Malaysian airliners MH17 and MH370. The Rhode scholar Abbott is a stinking filft bag.
It’s the first time I write here and it is a honor for me to comment on The Saker’s blog.
I am an Iranian writing to you from Tehran. In the last couple of years I had the opportunity to meet in forums first class thinkers from all around the world, Pepe Escobar, Thierry Meyssan, Dr. Barret and many many more.
By pure coincidence I came to know a website in the US run by a person called Brandon Smith and I followed his articles since about 4 years. Amazingly he was able to predict Brexit through logical reasoning and the presidency of Trump as well and again based on pure facts.
I do not agree with those who have the slightest sympathy for Trump. Without any doubt he is controlled opposition and he was only chosen by the globalists to become president, as the collapse of the US empire must have happened under his presidency and Trump must act as a scapegoat for the destruction of conservatism and libertarians, and he knows it. If we are to believe Brandon Trump must initiate a war with Iran, he has no choice and in the course of this war his handlers will collapse the US economy.
http://www.alt-market.com/index.php/articles/3930-who-really-benefits-from-the-iran-attacked-saudi-arabia-narrative
http://www.pravdareport.com/russia/142762-kaliningrad/
Quite difficult to consider things in isolation. Threats to Kaliningrad are not material.
I have an interesting video, which I just listen to. Giorgos Trangas, who is a very strong Amerikanofilos (America Friendly) asked an analyst for his opinion regarding the Iran-Yemen-KSA-US situation. Trangas did not like what the guy said and politely shut the guy up, but not before the guy said some very interesting things.
1. US and it’s allies will not have any Air attack freedom, which US had few years back, because Russia has become extremely powerful.
2. US recognizing this fact, is attempting to organize Shiites (Huthis and ones from KSA) conference, which would be friendly to US and Israel, while suggesting that KSA would loose any and all power over those Shiites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKG8vnMMMfM
The analysis starts at 47:00 with Trangas saying “the situation is boiling”, then he side steps and continues at 48:00 by saying that KSA claims that Huthis used drones similar to the type made by Iran. Then at 49:08 he goes to the analyst Evangelos Venetis. At 55:34 Venetis says that ground attack by the US on Yemen is highly unlikely since the area is similar to that of Afghanistan. He goes on to saying that US is going to get the Huthis and the Shiites of KSA together for talks. He continues that not to long ago any talk to Huthis would be considered improbable. Trangas ends this at 56:38.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/21/scott-morrison-scrambles-to-contain-political-mushroom-cloud-after-trump-raises-nuclear-option-with-iran
Scott Morrison is an evangelical. It is difficult to know for sure whether the Australian PM believes in the exceptionalist dogma of the so called rapture. Most evangelicals seem to believe in such. Some don’t. Australia has some history in the region. It was Australia who captured Palestine for the Comminwealth. Scott will be coming under enormous dogmatic pressure in DC to accept Trump is a impure but God chosen vessel in the mould of Cyrus the Great.
I need this Article translated into Spanish. I did translated parts of it for Social Media where I publish. There are milloons in Spain and Hispano America that need to know abou The Saker. Not many are PC / Web / Translators savvy
Interesting piece. My belief is that because of the precision, the detailed planning required and the total lack of truth so far, is that it was a raid by the Israeli terrorist operation out of Jerusalem.
You might call them the Israeli Air Force but they are terrorist mafia. Outside of the US, the UK or Russia I don’t think anyone else has the capability.
While it is pleasant to think the Houthis have this ability, I don’t think they have the sophistication or ability to achieve this level of precision (and neither has Iran)!
It was an Israeli air strike and logistically they could only approach from the west. The Israeli altercation with Russia over Syria was a diversion.
A famous Sherlock Holmes mystery story unravelled following the detective’s observation that a certain guard dog had not barked.
We are faced with a comparable mystery about the flight pattern(s) of Houthis, or Iranian, missiles or / or drones across the Saudi Kingdom, which was not captured by Saudi – Cent-com – US missile detectors, or satellites.
Then again, damage to domed Saudi oil plant equipment seems to have been remarkably precise — identically positioned on multiple domes, as if via optical targeting. Even US missiles cannot do that.
Perhaps the operation was two-phased:
1. Missiles were transported across the vast, empty, desert interior of the Saudi Kingdom at night and hidden by day — perhaps with assistance from Shia peoples in eastern SA.
2. The missiles were positioned and fired at the domes from outside the facility, but within close range.
No surprise . . . no Saudi / Cent-com / US missile and / or drone detectors “barked” the night of the raid.
And now we learn that the Saudi Kingdom is halting daily bombing flights over Yemen, with an understanding that the Houthis will halt their retaliatory operations.
Secretary Pompeo might save what credibility remains to him by dropping the suggestion that the Houthis are too primitive to effect the operation and that the dastardly Iranians are “really” to blame.
I thought all drones had optical targeting? They have an operator sitting remote looking at a TV screen. If these were what are called suicide drones in other instances, the operator just steers the kamikazi drone onto the dome while watching it all on the screen in front of her. Takes some time and practice with the equipment to be able to steer well from watching a TV screen, but its not all that hard to learn.
And the Saudi air defenses all face towards Iran. The well known ones like Patriots only can watch and fire into a 120 deg arc, so they are blind to their rear, which is where this facility is. And also, the Patriot was originally designed to shoot down fighter planes, then modified to shoot down incoming Scuds. But they aren’t very good against a small, low flying target that is following the terrain. Drones can be small things. And how detectable they are depends a lot on how they are powered. But in general, low powered and slow would be harder to spot than a big Global Hawk with a jet engine. Speed was not required for this mission.
“Do the folks in DC realize this?”
I say yes. Not Trump nor the Malevolent Manatee (I like that). But the people really in charge. The people at the Pentagon have already said no to attacking Iran. One was back during the Bush/Cheney regime, and I don’t believe Trump cancelled the recent attack but that instead the Pentagon just said no.
Same with the real money and power in America. The notion of oil shooting up to $200 or $300 a barrel and the economy diving into a deep recession won’t be good news to a lot of powerful people. Enough powerful people that control enough CongressCritters and Senators that Trump could be told very plainly that he should leave now because otherwise they ram impeachment through on a hurry-up schedule of about two days. They know they can do business with President Pence. That’s why he was on the ticket. A backup plan in case Trump did turn out badly.
So, yes, I do think the people really in power in DC know an attack on Iran is way too costly. They are happy to make profits from the war scares and ever enlarging defense budgets, but most of them are not crazy Christian Evangelicals like the Malevolent Manatee and they don’t really want the war that would end their world.
I’d never thought I’d use the words Malevolent and Manatee together. For those unfamiliar with Florida, Manatees are peaceful creatures and I can’t really picture a malevolent one. But the moniker does fit to Pompeo.
It is altogether more likely the West et al conducted the strikes on the Saudi crude oil deciphering refinery than the Houthi or Iran.
The world has watched a number of false flag attacks on Gulf shipping these past few months.
This latest false flag was meant to be a direct hit on Iran in terms of its touted peaceful path. The axis of resistance chess players understood the implications of this false flag attack immediately and chose to deflect the false flag generated blame onto the Houthi rather than allow the false blame to become cemented on Iran.
The Houthi can maybe continue to act as a foil to this vector of false flag attack. The West is not happy about the deflection onto the Houthi. Not at all.
It was a false flag attack. Period.
https://southfront.org/the-attack-on-saudi-arabias-oil-facility-the-patriot-air-defence-system-failed-why/
As I said it was a false flag meant to frame Iran.
The axis of resistance chess players partied the blow so that it landed on the Houthi.
This axis of resistance chess move tore the teeth out of the West’s false flag jackal.
As to books on military matters Moon of Alabama has a review of a new book by Andrei Martyanov: The (Real) Revolution In Military Affairs.
B also notes that Martyanov blogs at https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/
Brian
https://orientalreview.org/2019/09/23/who-launched-that-mystery-attack/
Yep. Yes Sir. Yeppity yep. It was a false flag initiated by the West.
The Yemen-Houthi spokesman stated, to boldly paraphrase: the strikes were carried out . . . with foreign assistance, from unnamed Saudi co-conspirators, aka, free men. This admission carries tremendous aspersions, in as much as, Saudi intrigues with Al Qaeda, and the incredible can-o-worms of this proxy force, leaves open the door to every mercenary agent to fill this mysterious “free man”, Houthi ally role.
Question becomes will the Yemen slaughter diminish and fade, or come to a head? Or maybe, this is the end of the house of Saud, and was that the goal from the very start, to show their weaknesses to the Islamic world? There is a war against the Houthi, and against Yemen, can these designs be undone? Has Syria been left alone now that Putin has stamped his foot?
Being negative with useless ridicule does not solve problems. Do us both a favor and create some good solutions for your global view.
All nations make mistakes, but they get things right as well. Let’s concentrate on getting the “right” percentage higher.
All things are possible.
God Bless
“I sure can’t prove a negative”
This is a well-known fallacy, typically from the atheist’s toolbox of bogus arguments. Strange to see it surfacing here.
Whatever proposition you prove is the negative of some proposition. If you can’t prove a negative, you can’t prove anyone wrong, whatever they say.
That some propositions are not falsifiable is a different matter, and makes for a respectable argument.