Déjà vu | The Vineyard of the Saker

by Kakaouskia

Greetings to the Saker community and readers.

Let us imagine that we are tasked with producing a sequel to the 1990s masterpiece “First Gulf war”, this time to be filmed in Syria.

We will definitely need a villain; lucky for us we have two: Vladimir Putin and Bashar Al Assad. Throw in a criminal organisation – let’s call them ISIS – for good measure and the cast is ready as the good guys are again the same. This is after all part of the franchise.

Now for the plot. Hmm, first we need drama. How it was done the first time? Ah yes, the Nayirah testimony at the UN. This time though Nayirah got a bit old to be a protagonist, so we should use Nadia Murad to testify.

Also how about a hospital bombing? Perhaps two? How about five on a single day? I have a better idea – how about showing a video of babies in incubators suffering?

If all the above sound familiar, then you are not mistaken. The events of the last 48 hours in Syria leave a bitter case of Deja vu to anyone old enough to remember how support was rallied for the First Gulf war.

The problem this time is that it is not the world versus a third-rate Army; this time the powers that be apparently have decided to take on Russia. Nuclear weapons aside, Russia is probably the only country along with the US who can produce first rate modern fighters, nuclear and diesel submarines, modern warships, missiles, space assets etc and can do so indigenously and simultaneously. This kind of industrial capacity is a decisive factor in wars.

While the Turkish Prime Minister has been calling Russia a terrorist organisation (in Kiev of all places) and the Saudis threatening to remove Assad by force, Russia has been acting:

A Tu-214R (modern ISR plane, replacement of IL-20 Coot) landed at Latakia, in a very visible flight. The plane had its transponder on for the duration of the flight so that everybody in the world could know where it was going.

Russian navy units keep pouring into Eastern Mediterranean. For those wondering how capable a tiny corvette can be, remember it was this kind of ships that launched the Kalibr cruise missile salvo some time ago.

Meanwhile, NATO has deployed Standing Nato Maritime Group 2 in the Aegean. This force consists of five frigates and is mission supposedly is “to conduct reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of the illegal crossings in the area”. Despite the fact that 5 frigates cannot possibly patrol an island-infested sea like the Aegean, the catch here is that there is no framework what to do with any illegals they might apprehend. Task forces do not deploy without specific orders, therefore one can assume that its task is something more that refugees.

On the diplomatic front, Victoria Nuland had a meeting with the Polish defence Minister on February 11^th during a visit to Warsaw. And three days later the same Defence Minister announces that Poland will deploy a small number of F-16s to fight ISIS in Syria.

Another piece of the puzzle is that the British have deployed 1600 soldiers to Jordan for a logistics exercise designed to simulate support for the deployment of 30,000 troops. This figure is quite large and personally I doubt that the Brits will commit such a large ground force. However it is an indication as to what they envision their role will be in the coming months; after all why hold this drill in Jordan? Still, according to an article in The Telegraph, an army source is quoted to say that “This isn’t a counter-Isil exercise. If anything, this is much more about us being prepared to join the US in Ukraine than it is in Syria.”

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are trying to build a grant alliance under the guise of a military exercise launched on 15^th February dubbed “North Thunder”. In this war game forces from the following countries participate:

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senagal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Chad, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt, Mauritania and Mauritius, in addition to the peninsula shield forces.

The fact to note here is that some of the participants, like the UAE, are already involved militarily in the Yemen campaign. And that Egypt has transferred heavy armour units to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of this drill.

The problem for any invaders though is that only Turkey shares a land border with Syria; if the Saudis or whoever else wants to enter Syria, they have the following options, each with its own caveats:

Via Turkey: The most sensible route however this implies transport of heavy units by sea. Assuming that the expeditionary fleet exists, a movement of a few thousand troops and heavy equipment in Eastern Mediterranean cannot go unnoticed by the Russian fleet.

Crossing through Iraq from Saudi Arabia: Doubtful the Iraqi government will concede to this. Although doable, it has the risk of attacks of attrition long before any expeditionary force reaches the Iraq – Syria border.

Crossing through Jordan: Although easier task that crossing through Iraq; still it makes Jordan a legitimate target. Still, a rather decent option.

Crossing from Jordan to Lebanon and then on to Syria: A non-option as Hezbollah will do its best to bog down any force into Lebanon itself.

The Russians surely expect something like this, hence the deployment of the Tu-214R. This plane is practically an eye in the sky that looks down hunting for land / sea units and listening on everything in the air. The fact that Russia has perhaps 2-3 operational planes of this model and has decided to deploy one in Syria speaks volumes of what they are expecting that requires such capabilities to be present.

Public statements aside, it is logical to assume a ground force of perhaps 20,000 troops supported by a good portion of the Turkish air force with the addition of Saudi and other Arab air assets.

What can Russia and the other players do in this case?

As the Saker has pointed out, the Russian positions in Latakia are not easily defended; 45Km from the Turkish border is within artillery’s range. However as recent history teaches us when Shaakasvily attacked Russian positions on 08.08.2008 Russia did not abandon her troops and within 60 hours the road to Tbilisi was wide open. The Georgian army of the time was partially equipped and trained by Israel and the “West”. Russians did not even hesitate to pay a visit to US Marines in Poti and seize various pieces of equipment.

If things get hot, Russia has the capability to eliminate military positions and installations within Turkey with assets operating from within Russian borders. For this reason I fully expect Turkey to utilise the Incirlik AB as the main staging ground for air assets as it is a full NATO air base with significant US assets which include 21 USAFE units. The Turks might consider this presence as a form of “shield” against possible Russian attack.

However the Turkish Air force cannot afford to commit too large chunk of its 240 strong F-16 force to the Syrian border as what will stop Russian AF then from coming south?

As for the effectiveness of any invading forces, the ones with the most battle experience are the Turks. Small and medium scale incursions to both Iraq and Syria have been a usual phenomenon in the past years. Operations of this kind do generate considerable experience to participating commanders. On the other hand the effectiveness of the Yemen campaign by the Saudis leaves a lot to be desired from their military.

Depending on the level of any hostilities, I expect the Russians to demonstrate their ability for truly combined operations not only by defending themselves but by causing problems elsewhere for example in the Black Sea or even in the Aegean itself.

As for the Kurds and Hezbollah, I expect them to be the front line troops in a war of attrition as both forces have vast experience fighting against numerically superior enemies with full air force support. The Syrian army could be used as a means of plugging any holes and assisting the Kurds or Hezbollah wherever needed.

Iran will probably be the trump card in this potential conflict. It is the only player which has the capacity to counter any ground invasion of Syria with an equal ground force of its own. While I do not expect them to get involved in any skirmish at the Turkey – Syria border, I do expect them to hold the line at the south of Syria should the Saudis decide to enter from there. And I also expect them to assist with Special Forces or with medium-level ground units should any Saudi forces enter Syria.

All of the above of course assume a worst-case scenario of total war. If all the Turks want is to bolster their national image for the sake of internal politics, the Russians can look the other way and perhaps resort to tipping off the Kurds/Hezbollah/Syrian Army when strikes are directed their way in order to minimise casualties.

It appears that the pieces are being assembled and the game is afoot. Let us all hope that sane heads will prevail and stop this madness before it escalates further. Again, what might happens depends on how far each side wants to go or is trapped into. During the Georgian War, Russia used only elements of the 58^th Army. In this case, the potential is for a whole military district to be engaged.

P.S. Speaking of history, it appears that Mrs Merkel needs a sharp lesson. She called for a no-fly zone in Syria. She should find a library and study what has happened the last time the Luftwaffe tried to impose something on Russia. The result was rather unfortunate for Germany.

mmiriww on February 18, 2016 · at 11:39 pm EST/EDT

Merkel forget her meds.. Now she looks like an (redacted) in need of (redacted). I remember her saying Putin is out of his mind. She has the nerve after financing the ukie facists to assume others will forget, I went straight to do not wait, another Nazi looney that thinks because they were able to rope a dope Europe into financing German hegemony that we are all idiots and blind. Only now we have that midget in france who thinks he’s nepoline and a hitlerite who are dividing up the spoils.

10 Times the CIA Used Secret Armies to Overthrow Foreign Governments by Justin King, Anti Media

As more and more evidence mounts that the US government was secretly assisting the Islamic State, it might be time to point out a few instances when the Central Intelligence Agency created secret armies.

CIA once started a war over bananas…

Cuba: Probably the best known secret army. Castro nationalized the assets of western companies after his government took power, so the US decided to overthrow the government of Cuba and install a puppet regime.

El Salvador: The US-supported Salvadoran government faced opposition from communist rebels. US intelligence saw an obvious and simple answer: establish death squads.

Afghanistan: The US armed and trained the Mujaheddin fighters through Operation Cyclone.

Guatemala: This little CIA caper is the origin of the term “Banana Republic.”

He began to propose legislation to end the US multinational’s monopoly on almost everything in the country. So what else could the CIA do? The agency overthrew the legal government and triggered a war… over bananas.

Congo: In the 1960s, Belgium was ending its colonial rule over Congo. Rather than allow self-determination, the CIA staged assassinations, armed rebel forces, brought in European mercenaries, and even backed them up with a secret air force.

Nicaragua (the second time): In the 1980s, the leftist Sandinistas took power. The CIA backed the Contra militia that opposed them. The agency funneled them arms, ran cocaine for them, and trained the organization.

Angola: The CIA hired French and South African mercenaries to assist right-wing groups in their fight against the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola.

Ukraine (the first time): During the second World War, the Nazis set up a partisan group in Ukraine to harass and slow the advancing Soviet forces. At the end of World War II, US intelligence began funding and assisting the partisan group.

Venezuela: In 2002, a group within Venezuela attempted to oust the government. There is even circumstantial evidence a more recent second attempt.

Ukraine (the second time): The most recent revolution in Ukraine may have started organically, however, it was seized upon by US intelligence.

Would US intelligence secretly back a brutal, murderous paramilitary group to destabilize a country on the US hit list? Of course. The US intelligence apparatus has been doing it for about 60 years.

http://humansarefree.com/2016/02/10-times-cia-used-secret-armies-to.html

After all these shenigaism, this is how I feel.. Its pointless and rather useless but this is reality. No meaning what so ever.. But for lack of something to do, lets INAVDE NORWAY!!!! I hate it they have wide broadband so cheap!

Beached America By Robert C. Koehler

For at least the last four decades now I feel like I’ve been living in Beached America: a nation that has lost its values, even as it writhes in violent agitation, inflicting its military on the vulnerable regions of the planet.

It does so in the name of those lost values . . . democracy, freedom, equality. These are just dead words at this point, public relations blather, silently followed by a sigh: yada, yada, yada. Then we send in the drones.

This is the behavior of a nation that is spiritually beached. Ideas that could open up the future have long been gagged, mocked and marginalized, locked in a closet somewhere. No way can they be allowed to have political influence. Thanks, mainstream media.

Here, for instance, is the Washington Post, holding forth on the death of Antonin Scalia and the looming congressional impasse over the appointment of his successor. Rather than dig for what’s at stake, Post writer James Hohmann merely revels in the political gamesmanship of it all. Mitch McConnell’s decision to use the Republican Senate majority to block the president’s replacement choice is, he writes, “a bold and understandable gambit designed to prevent a leftward lurch in jurisprudence.”

But: “Assuming the president picks a Hispanic, African American or Asian American — bonus points if she’s a woman — this could be exactly what Democrats need to re-activate the Obama coalition that fueled his victories in 2008 and 2012.”

I quote these words simply because they’re typical of a media that has utterly divested its reportage of depth and value. They merrily describe the contours of the game of Big Politics to American news consumers. Bonus points if she’s a woman!

Whatever once mattered — civil rights, women’s rights, or the denial thereof — has morphed into some sort of meaningless political post-modernism, lots of yada yada but we all know that winning is the only thing that matters, and even that doesn’t really matter because it changes nothing. The deep reality in which we live cannot be touched.

This is Beached America.

It is in this context that I bring up Michael Moore’s new documentary, Where To Invade Next, not because it’s without flaws but because, my God, it rips back the surface of American politics and frees a fair number of imprisoned concepts — like, oh, forgiveness, childhood creativity, the honest embrace of one’s own history — and sets them loose in the present moment.

These concepts, or rather, this depth of possibility for a better, more compassionate world that they represent, which had political momentum up through the ’60s and early ’70s, when various movements — civil rights, of course, followed by the anti-war movement, feminism, gay rights, environmentalism — shattered Jim Crow and crashed the American political scene, have been stalled and muted, banned from presidential politics, reduced to an obscenity called “political correctness,” since Reagan, since Nixon.

This is Beached America.

Remarkably, this depth of possibility has made its presence felt in the 2016 presidential race. The media-corporate-military consensus that has claimed control over the national destiny for more than four decades is trembling. Possibility and human hope are coming back to life in the campaign for Bernie Sanders, who finally has begun putting his proposed social programs into the context of recklessly unchecked military spending: “When we went to war in Iraq, the trillions we spent there, not a problem,” he said this week in Michigan, comparing this to the dearth of funding available to solve Flint’s water crisis.

Also coming back to life in this campaign are the opposite of such ideas: the good old days of Jim Crow racism, blustering forth in the voice of Donald Trump, which has freed itself from political correctness.

Into these roiling waters paddles Michael Moore. The faux-premise of Where To Invade Next is that America’s military leaders, beside themselves over the utter failure of their wars since the Big One that ended in 1945, have asked for Moore’s advice about what to do next. This sends him on a literal tour of eight European countries, plus Tunisia, in search of something the United States can grab abroad other than oil.

What resonates about the ideas he “steals” from these countries is that they have serious depth and social implication. They only make sense in a social context devoted to the liberation of human potential — a conviction that that’s the point of our social structure.

Some of the ideas are fairly simple: more paid vacation time for workers (Italy), better lunches for schoolchildren (France). But they begin escalating in complexity — and controversy — as Moore forges across Europe.

In Norway, for instance, he looks at the prison system, which is truly focused on healing rather than punishment. In Norway’s maximum security prisons, convicted murderers have the keys to their own rooms, which look more like college dorms than medieval dungeons. At one point, Moore even interviews the father of a child murdered by Anders Breivik, the man who went on a racist, anti-immigrant rampage in that country in 2011, killing 77 people, most of them kids at a summer camp. Breivik was given a mere 21 years in prison. The dad talked about forgiveness.

Forgiveness! Is there a riskier concept to bring to the American public? The day after Breivik’s rampage, Mayor Fabian Stang of Oslo said, “I don’t think security can solve problems. We need to teach greater respect.” Moore reanimates this idea in his movie, puts it forth as a value to embrace. Most of the reviews I’ve read can’t mask their cynicism about it. But forgiveness isn’t the simple act the cynics see it as. Forgiving a terrible wrong means transcending rather than perpetuating it. This takes commitment and courage beyond anything our political system asks of us, but, as Moore implies, this is what the future asks of us.

In Germany, Moore visits an elementary-school classroom in which the students have been asked to bring an item precious to them — something they’d take with them if they were being forced to leave their homes forever. Each child places his or her keepsake in a suitcase, which symbolizes the suitcase of a Holocaust victim. The teacher closes the suitcase.

The idea Moore is stealing here is as “simple” as forgiveness. Acknowledge your history. Acknowledge your sins. America doesn’t acknowledge the genocide of Native Americans and shrugs off its legacy of slavery. At what cost?

What if such questions found their way into our national politics? Could real values — and their implications — enter the debate? Could a spiritually beached nation see a course for itself beyond endless war?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44255.htm

65 Comments

Anonymous on February 18, 2016 · at 11:11 pm EST/EDT

This is an example of the absolute trash being peddled by the msm out on the fringes.
Although it belongs in the rubbish bin as ‘news’ it is interesting to see how the narrative is spun in a western conclave backwater. This local trash excuse for journalism does not even provide a ‘contact us’ link so one can at least send in a suitable comment/complaint. Comments sections sometimes exist but good luck getting through and registration/ID is required. It is propaganda mush fed to the blind and deaf. Thank goodness there are channels like this to use. I don’t know, but I assume this is fairly typical across the western hegemonic domain.

http://www.watoday.com.au/world/to-understand-vladimir-putins-mission-in-syria-look-at-chechnya-and-ukraine-20160217-gmw9te.html
- NZ Watcher on February 19, 2016 · at 5:06 am EST/EDT
  
  How I would so enjoy to spend a few minutes in the same room as Mr Paul McGeough – the author of said article in Sydney News.
  Surprised or NZ news not parroting it
- Auslander on February 19, 2016 · at 5:08 am EST/EDT
  
  While I do not buy the entire scenario in the article there is a fair amount of truth to it. As one can see, the clans are slowly gathering and that is on both sides.
  
  MSM is to the point of being ludicrous, beyond even fantasy. In Russia the media is not quite so blatant and some of the more pointed reports are clearly a combination of parody and sarcasm but depending on who you read the foolishness can be just as silly to anyone with a modicum of common sense.
  
  The link you listed is another case in point, any article that lists Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in instantly on the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot list as it is run from a flat in UK and has, to be kind, a bit of a tilted agenda.
  
  As for a/the coming war, we are already in it and have been for five years. How it will end I don’t know but it is rapidly turning in to winner takes all and that ain’t good for either side.
  
  Auslander
  Author, Never The Last One
  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGCY8KK
teranam13 on February 18, 2016 · at 11:15 pm EST/EDT

Good analysis–I assume you assume that Israel will stay out of this until the dust settles and the pickings are easy. Jordan tries to play it safe so unless it is made very worth its while, it will not let the Saudis pass.

As for the Turks, if they attack Syria, they attack Russia. Let us be clear about this. One thing is very certain : it will be fast, hot and nasty. How can Putin even think of letting them get a foot in the door? Down that road lays disaster. The Russian strategy always has been: get in, achieve victory, make stability and get out. ASAP. Syria is not Donbass, nor is Turkey the wayward child that will return to the fold sooner or later in historical time.
- Scott on February 19, 2016 · at 2:46 am EST/EDT
  
  Thanks, Kakaouskia.
  
  It looks like the US and EU members want to set up Saudis so Russia would destroy its infrastructure and the price of oil would go up, saving the Western economies from an imminent collapse, at least for some time.
  
  It also looks like the US and EU want to set up Turkey so Russia would destroy its infrastructure and the EU would be able to replace Erdogan with someone less difficult.
  
  If the US and UK + Poland start armed operation against Donbass, the junta in Kiev will be taken down immediately. People in Ukraine have already fed up with this fascist regime, and cannot wait to get rid of them.
  
  Russia, and its allies, has already won in the Middle East. If all these scenarios commence, Russia will capture this victory permanently.
  - Paul II on February 19, 2016 · at 8:13 am EST/EDT
    
    The West could probably remove Erdoghan without too much trouble if they wanted to. Turkey is so penetrated by NATO assets that it isn’t funny. Notice how they didn’t even complain about the obviously questionable election results a few months ago. The likely agenda is more complicated – Kurdistan, for example. Possibly having Russia damaged by Turkish attacks on Russian ships, besides forcing Russia to expose various technologies or weapons locations that Russia would prefer to keep secret.
    
    If Turkey falls into civil war and Russia and Iran destroy KSA, perhaps the Sunni-Shia issue will get a lot worse. And perhaps Turkey will have a civil war and ethnic cleansing for some time. Russia’s economy has always been her weak point, and the Ukraine and Turkey were important. A zone of instability is not really what Russia and Iran want. And don’t forget another few million refugees for Europe. How many does it take to justify martial law?
- Lumi on February 19, 2016 · at 7:03 pm EST/EDT
  
  I agree, a very good analysis. Uncle Sam is pushing for a greater war, Obama and his “legacy” notwithstanding, all the while trying to look responsible …
  
  Incirlik air force family members were urged to move back home last autumn, may some fireworks are anticipated:
  U.S. military families have until Oct. 1 to decide to leave Turkey air base – Sep 21, 2015
  Hundreds of military families urged to leave Turkey – Sep 4, 2015
  
  On the John Batchelor Show, Erdogan was referred to as a “president-dictator” who is sliding into war … Ominous. The Zionists are very unhappy with Obama. They don’t like Trump either.
  
  http://johnbatchelorshow.com/podcasts/download
  * Syria’s Chemical Weapons Undestroyed. Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
  * Obama’s Failed Management of Libya, Iraq & Syria. Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover.
Uncle Bob 1 on February 18, 2016 · at 11:19 pm EST/EDT

Very good article,except Jordan doesn’t border Lebanon. So without crossing into Israel that route is out for the “coalition” forces. I suspect Jordan will be the route,if they try an invasion.And possibly a two-pronged invasion. With Turkey invading from the North and the Saudi “coalition” from the South through Jordan.The good guys will need to be alert on both directions.Or our side will be caught between the two.The Syrians (and who ever else) needs to put such a hurting on the Saudis that they are crushed and running as fast as they can out of Syria. That would force most of the stooge “coalition” to break-up. And if the hurting is bad enough (which it needs to be) the Saudis will never try that again. As for the Turks,I suspect Syria (and whoever) will need to accept that it will have to be a full war with them.Unless the Turkish military can also be hurt badly enough to “regime change” Erdagon in a coup.And then they might withdraw on their own. Otherwise it will take the fall of Ankara to end the war.Probably followed by either the Federalization or dismemberment of Turkey.Either way its a hard and bloody job ahead. And the allies need to steel themselves to the need to finish the job totally.
- T S on February 19, 2016 · at 12:02 am EST/EDT
  
  Third to last sentence is a viable objective. the bankers will take care of Saudi Arabia after a defeat.
mmiriww on February 18, 2016 · at 11:39 pm EST/EDT

Merkel forget her meds.. Now she looks like an (redacted) in need of (redacted). I remember her saying Putin is out of his mind. She has the nerve after financing the ukie facists to assume others will forget, I went straight to do not wait, another Nazi looney that thinks because they were able to rope a dope Europe into financing German hegemony that we are all idiots and blind. Only now we have that midget in france who thinks he’s nepoline and a hitlerite who are dividing up the spoils.

10 Times the CIA Used Secret Armies to Overthrow Foreign Governments by Justin King, Anti Media

As more and more evidence mounts that the US government was secretly assisting the Islamic State, it might be time to point out a few instances when the Central Intelligence Agency created secret armies.

CIA once started a war over bananas…

Cuba: Probably the best known secret army. Castro nationalized the assets of western companies after his government took power, so the US decided to overthrow the government of Cuba and install a puppet regime.

El Salvador: The US-supported Salvadoran government faced opposition from communist rebels. US intelligence saw an obvious and simple answer: establish death squads.

Afghanistan: The US armed and trained the Mujaheddin fighters through Operation Cyclone.

Guatemala: This little CIA caper is the origin of the term “Banana Republic.”

He began to propose legislation to end the US multinational’s monopoly on almost everything in the country. So what else could the CIA do? The agency overthrew the legal government and triggered a war… over bananas.

Congo: In the 1960s, Belgium was ending its colonial rule over Congo. Rather than allow self-determination, the CIA staged assassinations, armed rebel forces, brought in European mercenaries, and even backed them up with a secret air force.

Nicaragua (the second time): In the 1980s, the leftist Sandinistas took power. The CIA backed the Contra militia that opposed them. The agency funneled them arms, ran cocaine for them, and trained the organization.

Angola: The CIA hired French and South African mercenaries to assist right-wing groups in their fight against the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola.

Ukraine (the first time): During the second World War, the Nazis set up a partisan group in Ukraine to harass and slow the advancing Soviet forces. At the end of World War II, US intelligence began funding and assisting the partisan group.

Venezuela: In 2002, a group within Venezuela attempted to oust the government. There is even circumstantial evidence a more recent second attempt.

Ukraine (the second time): The most recent revolution in Ukraine may have started organically, however, it was seized upon by US intelligence.

Would US intelligence secretly back a brutal, murderous paramilitary group to destabilize a country on the US hit list? Of course. The US intelligence apparatus has been doing it for about 60 years.

http://humansarefree.com/2016/02/10-times-cia-used-secret-armies-to.html

After all these shenigaism, this is how I feel.. Its pointless and rather useless but this is reality. No meaning what so ever.. But for lack of something to do, lets INAVDE NORWAY!!!! I hate it they have wide broadband so cheap!

Beached America By Robert C. Koehler

For at least the last four decades now I feel like I’ve been living in Beached America: a nation that has lost its values, even as it writhes in violent agitation, inflicting its military on the vulnerable regions of the planet.

It does so in the name of those lost values . . . democracy, freedom, equality. These are just dead words at this point, public relations blather, silently followed by a sigh: yada, yada, yada. Then we send in the drones.

This is the behavior of a nation that is spiritually beached. Ideas that could open up the future have long been gagged, mocked and marginalized, locked in a closet somewhere. No way can they be allowed to have political influence. Thanks, mainstream media.

Here, for instance, is the Washington Post, holding forth on the death of Antonin Scalia and the looming congressional impasse over the appointment of his successor. Rather than dig for what’s at stake, Post writer James Hohmann merely revels in the political gamesmanship of it all. Mitch McConnell’s decision to use the Republican Senate majority to block the president’s replacement choice is, he writes, “a bold and understandable gambit designed to prevent a leftward lurch in jurisprudence.”

But: “Assuming the president picks a Hispanic, African American or Asian American — bonus points if she’s a woman — this could be exactly what Democrats need to re-activate the Obama coalition that fueled his victories in 2008 and 2012.”

I quote these words simply because they’re typical of a media that has utterly divested its reportage of depth and value. They merrily describe the contours of the game of Big Politics to American news consumers. Bonus points if she’s a woman!

Whatever once mattered — civil rights, women’s rights, or the denial thereof — has morphed into some sort of meaningless political post-modernism, lots of yada yada but we all know that winning is the only thing that matters, and even that doesn’t really matter because it changes nothing. The deep reality in which we live cannot be touched.

This is Beached America.

It is in this context that I bring up Michael Moore’s new documentary, Where To Invade Next, not because it’s without flaws but because, my God, it rips back the surface of American politics and frees a fair number of imprisoned concepts — like, oh, forgiveness, childhood creativity, the honest embrace of one’s own history — and sets them loose in the present moment.

These concepts, or rather, this depth of possibility for a better, more compassionate world that they represent, which had political momentum up through the ’60s and early ’70s, when various movements — civil rights, of course, followed by the anti-war movement, feminism, gay rights, environmentalism — shattered Jim Crow and crashed the American political scene, have been stalled and muted, banned from presidential politics, reduced to an obscenity called “political correctness,” since Reagan, since Nixon.

This is Beached America.

Remarkably, this depth of possibility has made its presence felt in the 2016 presidential race. The media-corporate-military consensus that has claimed control over the national destiny for more than four decades is trembling. Possibility and human hope are coming back to life in the campaign for Bernie Sanders, who finally has begun putting his proposed social programs into the context of recklessly unchecked military spending: “When we went to war in Iraq, the trillions we spent there, not a problem,” he said this week in Michigan, comparing this to the dearth of funding available to solve Flint’s water crisis.

Also coming back to life in this campaign are the opposite of such ideas: the good old days of Jim Crow racism, blustering forth in the voice of Donald Trump, which has freed itself from political correctness.

Into these roiling waters paddles Michael Moore. The faux-premise of Where To Invade Next is that America’s military leaders, beside themselves over the utter failure of their wars since the Big One that ended in 1945, have asked for Moore’s advice about what to do next. This sends him on a literal tour of eight European countries, plus Tunisia, in search of something the United States can grab abroad other than oil.

What resonates about the ideas he “steals” from these countries is that they have serious depth and social implication. They only make sense in a social context devoted to the liberation of human potential — a conviction that that’s the point of our social structure.

Some of the ideas are fairly simple: more paid vacation time for workers (Italy), better lunches for schoolchildren (France). But they begin escalating in complexity — and controversy — as Moore forges across Europe.

In Norway, for instance, he looks at the prison system, which is truly focused on healing rather than punishment. In Norway’s maximum security prisons, convicted murderers have the keys to their own rooms, which look more like college dorms than medieval dungeons. At one point, Moore even interviews the father of a child murdered by Anders Breivik, the man who went on a racist, anti-immigrant rampage in that country in 2011, killing 77 people, most of them kids at a summer camp. Breivik was given a mere 21 years in prison. The dad talked about forgiveness.

Forgiveness! Is there a riskier concept to bring to the American public? The day after Breivik’s rampage, Mayor Fabian Stang of Oslo said, “I don’t think security can solve problems. We need to teach greater respect.” Moore reanimates this idea in his movie, puts it forth as a value to embrace. Most of the reviews I’ve read can’t mask their cynicism about it. But forgiveness isn’t the simple act the cynics see it as. Forgiving a terrible wrong means transcending rather than perpetuating it. This takes commitment and courage beyond anything our political system asks of us, but, as Moore implies, this is what the future asks of us.

In Germany, Moore visits an elementary-school classroom in which the students have been asked to bring an item precious to them — something they’d take with them if they were being forced to leave their homes forever. Each child places his or her keepsake in a suitcase, which symbolizes the suitcase of a Holocaust victim. The teacher closes the suitcase.

The idea Moore is stealing here is as “simple” as forgiveness. Acknowledge your history. Acknowledge your sins. America doesn’t acknowledge the genocide of Native Americans and shrugs off its legacy of slavery. At what cost?

What if such questions found their way into our national politics? Could real values — and their implications — enter the debate? Could a spiritually beached nation see a course for itself beyond endless war?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44255.htm
- Uncle Bob 1 on February 19, 2016 · at 1:55 am EST/EDT
  
  It “could”! But whether it “will” is another matter. As I type, the two candidates (only two) that might change the US are being destroyed. One of them,Trump,is a case of suicide. With a “push” from his own party combined. Now that he has laid out some of the problems the US has.And got a lot of support doing that. He can’t shut up. But instead is turning people off with some of his ideas of what to do about them.He’s got at least 30% of the population that wouldn’t vote for “on a bet”. And that number is growing. Even if he won the Republican primaries (debatable it itself) the general election is where his biggest problems lay. Unless?,we’ll return to that later.
  
  With the other candidate,its a case of pure homicide. He,Sanders,is being murdered by the leaders of his own party. The Democratic Party elite is killing him. They are determined that Hillary will be the candidate for their party,and the “peoples wishes” be damned.They are using every dirty trick in the book they can think of to kill him.He could win most of the votes ( and just might) and still they won’t make him the winner. If he “loses” the nomination,there are two ways he could go.One is to run anyway as a third party candidate. Could he win? Who knows. It would be really hard. The other is to “accept” defeat and get behind Hillary.Maybe? But it would be hard to stomach that. So actually there is a third choice. Just do nothing.And he might do that. But for his voters,its another matter. Some of them “might” support Hillary. Some others might just not vote at all. But,strange as it seems. I hear a lot of them saying they might hold their nose and vote for Trump if he was the Republican running.Which is what ,when I said,we’d come back to his chances later,I meant. If he took Democrat voters from Hillary he might win.
  
  But unless something changes,I think the two party “establishments”,by “hook and by crook” will put Hillary and Cruz (or Rubio,but I think Cruz) as the candidates. What to make of them? Hillary is a greedy Russophobic elitist,masked as a “democratic reformer” (and that’s her good traits). We all know she is owned by the elite. And she hates Russia. Though a lot of that is just hubris,not ideological. And if she gets elected,war is a really strong possibility. Cruz on the other hand,I believe is “worse” than Hillary (I know that seems hard to believe). But he is driven by ideology,not just greed.I consider him a real nazi “in Libertarian clothes”.He comes from “nowhere” a couple of years ago. The son of fanatically anti-Communist parents. And to people like that,Russia means Communism. And all of a sudden is a darling of the far-right. With seemingly endless amounts of money to spend. To Trump’s “bluster”,he’s the cold ideological technocrat. I believe he is a far worse choice than even Hillary. His ideology pushes him to fascism. With her its greed mostly.
  
  So will we have war before the elections? That’s a hard one to answer. Will we have war after the election? If Trump or Sanders is elected “probably not”. But with Hillary,or even worse,Cruz as President. I think the odds move almost off the charts towards “yes”.
  - TooLegit2Quit on February 19, 2016 · at 5:22 pm EST/EDT
    
    @ Uncle Bob 1:
    
    Thanks for that recap Uncle B. Much appreciated because with all that is going on with Syria and in Europe itself, I can’t really pay a lot of attention to the presidential candidates situation in the US.
    
    How about a forth possibly?
    
    If both Trump and Sanders get cheated out of the presidential candidacy, and they decide to run independently (I believe Trump already hinted at this a few months ago), why not give the US political establishment a brain aneurysm, and run together? Sanders-Trump or Trump-Sanders. Either way, it would give those dinosaurs with one foot on the grave such as Cheney, that last heart attack that might just finally finish them off! For that reason alone, even if they don’t win, is well worth pulling this political stunt.
    
    And it would be such an easy sell too… imagine the memes; a republican and a democrat set their differences aside to join forces to save America (or some other patriotic nonsense like that), or, Capitalism and Socialism team-up to beat a bigger enemy: the US political dynasties running and ruining the country for decades.
    And I know the internet will love it. Or what they now call; “social media”/”social networks” (god! I hate those terms), but it’s true, the young love a good trolling and the young voters are mainly behind Sanders, so see? There’ll be a method to this madness.
    
    Hey! One can dream! :-)
    And not that I’m a huge fan of either of them, but anything must and should be done, no matter how crazy it may sound, in order to stave off a world war. All the other candidates are bonafide, born and bred war-mongers.
    
    -TL2Q
  - ioan on February 19, 2016 · at 6:19 pm EST/EDT
    
    UB1
    
    Have anybody followed the Pope’s mass-celebrations in Mexico ? The last one has been done at just a few yards from the US border.The Pope prayed for those who fled illegally in the US.After that,in the plane – in mid air – he gave a short speech regarding Donald Trump exclamation on the issue of closing the border,ending the illegal immigrants back and the famous wall which he wants to build.
    The Pope said : ” …there must be bridges build not walls,who think at this is not a christian …”
    I found it somehow strange that the Roman Catholic Pope is meddling directly in the US presidential campaign ? is there an agenda out there in the Vatican ? or maybe am I wrong
  - Anonymous on February 21, 2016 · at 1:41 pm EST/EDT
    
    It may be just possible that the electorate,(those who have not been disenfranchised by the furious and continuous efforts of the duopoly) might just jump ship when Senator Sanders gets ripped off by the Clinton mafia. The bright spot commentators miss is that Sen. Sanders is speaking to the issues which affect all citizens, articulating the domestic agenda of the occupy movement. This is resonating broadly across ideological sectors. It may be possible that the people following the Sanders insurgency don´t need a leader to tell them what to do. They are becoming engaged in their communities, and can see the writing on the wall. They are turning to the internet for information, and laughing at the msm propaganda.
    If they can´t have Sanders, the only candidate consistent with their issues is Dr Jill Stein, of the Green Party. Sen. Sanders is honest enough to agree with her on domestic issues, and her foreign policy anti war stance resonates widely with the public. He would´t even have to run with her, just give a nod. She has the numbers to win if only every millennial who wants debt forgiveness to the indentured servitude of their student loans votes for her. Add in Bernie´s crowd, and you have a real race against any one the duopoly puts forth.
    I do think there are those in high places who would prefer a wider war to a democracy at home, and that may be a real danger.
  - Charles Fasola on February 21, 2016 · at 3:21 pm EST/EDT
    
    C’mon Bob. “The two candidates that might change the U.S.”….
    
    Do you actually believe whoever is president sets policy in the empire? Do you actually believe the dog and pony show that are the presidential elections are not just that? Decisions are made by those who pull the puppets strings. It’s just an illusion for the delusional who believe democratic processes exist here in empire. Participation in which makes one complicit in empire’s crimes.
    
    Wake up!
- Peter J.Antonsen on February 19, 2016 · at 12:47 pm EST/EDT
  
  mmiriww
  
  You save all your attacks for the Republican gang. Miraculously, you manage to discuss American politics without a mention of Democrat gangers, Oligarch puppet & War Criminals Obomber, H. Clinton, or Kerry, among others.
  
  ” Possibility and human hope are coming back to life in the campaign for Bernie Sanders, who finally has begun putting his proposed social programs into the context of recklessly unchecked military spending:”
  
  “finally,” After a lifetime of Sanders supporting US Imperialism, voting to finance All its wars, you hint that there is something positive in Sanders. “finally”
  
  Sanders supports the Zionist Genocide against Palestinians. He is an Agent of the Land Thieves. Sanders is part of the problem, not of the solution. He is running cover for H. Clinton, as Trump is for the Repubs. There is no Hope Here!
  
  You should have numbered and dated your partial list of American Oligarch crimes. Then you will have revealed how many of them were committed by the Democrat gang.
  
  Any discussion of America’s political realities, that does not mention the Coup d’etat in Dallas, on November 22, 1963, is a complete Misdirection – at inception. JF Kennedy was our last Constitutional President. After, and millions of murdered humans, and dozens of destroyed countries, later…… Recall? LBJohnson, (Democrat, & one of the assassins of JFK, and the Republic), “Hey! Hey! LBJ, How many kids have you killed today?” Remember???
  
  The Twin Dem & Repub gangs are performing a “pretend democracy” function for their Zionist Oligarch masters in the MOSSAD/CIA. Their job is to obfuscate, and lead the Rubes to ruin.
  
  The finest American Statesman, Ron Paul, has been calling for the Bringing Home of All American Troops! His website is worth a perusal. Bring the Troops Home! Where have we heard that before?
  
  https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiUpKyx7YPLAhWK1h4KHfLeBDkQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fronpaulinstitute.org%2F&usg=AFQjCNFb11uiqVZVbAx6I2O26Uwxt2flTQ&sig2=3AHsozYxBe57ieUgS8u9NA
  
  You might have mentioned Snowden, Assange, and Manning, among others.
  
  Face it! There is no easy road out of this mess! The American -Power Elite- will not provide us with the tools for their own demise. Sanders has not been placed there for our salvation, quite the opposite. He is the worst of the lot. [Sanders is the Judas Goat.] They are all controlled criminal servants of the Rothschilds and company. They are running an Electoral Circus, a Scam.
  
  Former President Carter, has (repeatedly), said America is no longer a democracy.
  
  We need to Restore The Republic! There is no other road!
  
  Durruti
  - Charles Fasola on February 21, 2016 · at 4:29 pm EST/EDT
    
    Well, as a sort of play on the lyrics of J. Lennon, allow me to state:
    You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world.
    But, you never state a real solution, for once I’d like to hear your plan?
    
    Ron Paul, the finest amerikan statesman. He might wish to “bring the troops home”, but his stated domestic policies are somewhat of a joke. And, I can’t stop thinking he raised Rand. Sort of puts a major damper on all things Paulian; except bringing home our heroes.
    
    And, Carter, another member of the group who like the violent criminal who finds jesus and forgiveness when facing their demise suddenly changes his evil ways. Carter, a goddamned war criminal, who now lectures others concerning deeds similar to those he committed. It’s too late Jimmy for atonement, your crimes are too great.
    
    Give me some direction, Pete. Tell me the plan.
    - Peter J.Antonsen on February 21, 2016 · at 8:16 pm EST/EDT
      
      J’n suis pas Charlie.
      
      “Pete. Tell me the plan.”
      
      You show me yours, & I’ll show you mine.
xcvv on February 19, 2016 · at 12:27 am EST/EDT

“NATO has deployed Standing Nato Maritime Group 2 in the Aegean”

The NATO deployment in the Aegean Sea is not about deterring illegal immigrants.
The main purpose is for NATO to control the Aegean Sea and to contain the Russian Navy.
It is possible that NATO plans to stop the passing of the Black fleet Russian ships through Aegean and Bosporus.

They use illegal immigration as a pretext. They have no intention to stop the flows. If they had, they would have forced Turkey to accept back all these people.

The SYRIZA puppet government of Greece has surrendered to NATO the control of the Aegean sea. Never before something like this happened in the history of the Greek state during peace times or during the cold war.
- vot tak on February 19, 2016 · at 5:15 am EST/EDT
  
  xcvv
  
  They cant stop Russian naval movements in the Aegean, but the will try to monitor them as part of a larger plan of supporting israel’s terrorist war against Syria.
Paul Greewood on February 19, 2016 · at 12:50 am EST/EDT

Merkel is a disaster and has isolated Germany as in 1914. It worked with Austria to admit human wave invasion into the EU and fell into Erdogan’s trap to destabilise Greece and gain control of German cities. Merkel is now allied to Turkey and against Russia as in 1915 when the Turks massacred Armenians. This woman knows no history. Then again the GDR taught poor history and modern German schools teach no history.

The education of Western leaders today is exceedingly poor, they lack culture and historical grasp. They are not leaders in any sense simply mediocrities made for television studios. L?avrov must be very disappointed in the low quality of his counterparts
- know the truth on February 19, 2016 · at 11:43 am EST/EDT
  
  My sentiments exactly. The current crop of western “leaders” are midgets mentally and intellectually and are more on the level of corporate mid level management than statesmen. Their intelligence level is basically those of juvenile delinquents in armani suits.
  This explains the sreies of gross miscalculations they make over and over again. They never rated Russia militarily, in their stupidity and arrogance they had the Russian military down as a third rate military with rust bucket ships and equipment, obama even called Russia a “regional power” only two years ago which was why the doddering old fool mccain “guaranteed” Russia would never intervene in Syria. They only had fear for Russias nuclear asernal not its military which was what had stopped them attacking Russia before now and why the pschopaths in Washington were determined to advance their missile defence shield in Europe to counter that threat which they wrongly saw as being the only danger to them from Russia.
  Imagine the consternation and stupefaction in western governments and “think tanks” when president Putin decided to intervene in Syria and proved to the evil morons that Russia too is capable of “shock and awe”, they couldnt believe it and it threw their whole duplicituous strategy in Syria into disarray. Just a few days back we now have the bomber in chief admitting in an interview that Russia is the “2nd most powerful military” in the world, can you imagine that.
  The west is led by evil morons who would be hard pushed to run a medium sized company successfully never mind entire countries, and that does not bode well either for their citizens or for the world.
Eimar on February 19, 2016 · at 12:53 am EST/EDT

Re the Brits planning to give US a leg-up in UKieland:

http://www.pravdareport.com/russia/politics/15-02-2016/133336-ukraine_war_russia-0/

Seems recently-retrieved-from-ouster Yats is getting ready to declare war on Russia.

No doubt the instruction came from Nuland.
Guess she threatened to sexually harass him like the braided, brassy Julia Tymonchenko if he didn’t comply.

No word yet from Porkchopsko.
C I eh? on February 19, 2016 · at 1:06 am EST/EDT

Is nuclear war imminent?

Sotto voce, the earth does tremble.

Supporters of Russia and Syria at Saker blog are divided into two main camps. The positions are basically as follows:

1) The Russians have been outmaneuvered and nuclear war is imminent; or 2) Putin and Lavrov have everything under control, peace will be won (eventually) at the negotiating table.

My admiration for Thierry Meyssan grows by the day. His recent article (Feb 15) cuts to the chase, though it always take me several days to catch up to his farsighted prognostications. Please read the first paragraph of his most recent article where he describes the competing disposition of Western elites and openly names many of the aggressors:

Since the conference of the Friends of Syria, in Paris on the 4th July 2012, the war against Syria had escaped the control of the White House and the Kremlin. The agreement they had reached during the first Geneva Conference, on the 30th June 2012, had never been implemented. The numerous ulterior tentatives for peace had all been sabotaged by a group of warmongers which included top-level US political personalities (John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Jeffrey Feltman, David Petraeus, John Allen), and multinationals (Exxon-Mobil, the KKR investment fund, the private army Blackwater-Academi), as well as certain states (Germany, Saudi Arabia, France, Israël, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Turkey).

http://www.voltairenet.org/article190282.html

Pay attention. You will know them by their works and propaganda. Erdogan is with Israel but as for the Turkish army this is still indeterminate. We don’t really know but I strongly suspect the Turk army will not be invading Syria directly. Turkey only needs to capture their so-called security zone and that can be done with proxy forces including Turkish Wolves. They will get artillery support from the Turkish side but direct confrontation with Russia is a very bad idea, particularly at this moment.

Unfortunatly our perceptions of both positions and how events will transpire, nuclear war or not nuclear war, are heavily influenced by the programmed interests and desires of competing factions within the Anglo + Zionist establishment media (inner and outer). None of these positions, including that of Russia as expressed by RT, necessarily represent the interests of We the People although Russia clearly takes OUR interests into account. Their allied Anglo faction mostly do not, unless you’re pro ‘expert’ or technocrat.

Of course all of us are united in our opposition to nuclear war. We are the coalition of the unwilling because we’re not totally f**king insane.

By the way if you’re a fan of escatology or the First/Second coming theses, you’re in secret alliance with the Ziocons, though you may know it not.

You and I, we are the Russians and Syrians of this world, the barely represented Third Estate of modernity. What ever comes of this fight, you and I will earn most of the grief but thank God for Vladimir Putin!

Let’s take a closer look at the factions:

Faction ‘A’ is faction Dabiq — the War Party or Pax Universalis, led by criminal ZIonist Neocons who drive all maniacal Western aggression. Everyone from Hilllary Clinton to Dickhead Cheney are on this team. This is Big Oil plus the War machine and security-industrial-information complex. All those who profit from maximizing human misery are on this side. Although saying it makes many skittish faction Dabiq means to institute a Luciferian One World Order. They are not just power hungry but power mad.

Against them are arrayed the combined forces of faction ‘B’ — Sanitarians of the plutocrat Sanatorium, Pax Americanus + Multi Polaris (Russia/China/Iran). These are the bankers who have power but very few physical assets with which to counter the Party of War. Think again about all those baker assasinations. Despite their wealth they are always suceptible to this kind of intimidation, usually by thugs from Blackwater/Academi or Mossad.

Now you know why the price of oil has been demolished with the active participation of Russia, Iran and China. The Saudi money spigot to the Neocons and Israel must be turned off and Russia is well positioned to hold out while Iran just got 100 billion dollars returned after their no nukes agreement with the banker controlled White House. Putin cannot destroy the Russian Central Bank because as luck would have it, they are his most important allies within Russia.

The good news is Russia will have no problem with finances for the duration of the conflict.

Hence the need for Kissinger to go to Russia and enlist Putin more fully to their cause, or maybe plan strategy. Truthfully Putin’s been with them all along. This is a most delicate dance but it is an extraordinary accomplishment for the Obama administration to have made such a deal. It makes me puke but Obama looks set to go down in history as a ‘great’ President who helped save the world from Nuclear catastrophe, along with his great buddy Vladimir Putin without whom none of it would have ever been possible.

You will be forgiven for having great difficulty accepting the banksters are the good guys and in fact they are not. They are the lesser of two evils, allied with Russia. What they promise is a peaceful transition (mainly for financiers and old money oligarchs) plus an orderly deflation of the US dollar hegemony bubble. The 2008 financial crisis will be repeated no matter the victor. In fact it is already done. Perhaps certain Ziocon supporting Wall Street goons will be offered up as a sacrifice to lessen public fury but the greatest theft of wealth EVER (via derivatives) has already taken place and the banksters do mean to consolidate their gains and technocratic future at the expense of everyone who isn’t rich like them.

President Obama represents the Sanitarians for good and for ill. Putin is his most important ally and gives faction ‘B’ military influence on the ground in Syria — which Obama doesn’t have because he does not control the US military or NATO. Despite considerable variance between the positions of Russia and the Anglos there is no disagreement that the Clinton Pax Universalis Dabiq alternative is much too awful to ponder. Even inspite of the Kremlin-Whitehouse agreement they are likely to intiate a nuclear war to further their gains because for them losing is not an option. Stopping them will be very difficult and Israel will likely be their Samson Option bag boy.

Now get ready for another shocker:

President Vladimir Putin, meet President Jeb Bush.

If this happens there will be peace on earth, in the capitalist sense that is. It is possible we get Vice President Jeb Bush, using Dick Cheney’s Vice Presidency as a template it might be preferable for Jeb to take the reins via the much less publicly demanding position as official number 2, secret number 1.

There’s your setup. The Anglos are at war with the Ziocons. Hillary and her controller-minions are being setup for a fall of epic proportions by their arch rivals the Bush-led Anglo establismentarians, in alliance with Russia.

Now the candidacy of Donald Trump begins making sense. So do Putin’s supportive words, scoffed at by Ziocon media. Trumps job is to control and mainipulate a lacklustre Republican race between two utterly uninspiring latino lifetime actors and act as a candidate of last resort. The setup is for the benefit of Jeb Bush and the old money he represents. Jeb is a sleeper candidate right now but can’t win easily unless the candidacy of Hillary Clinton is demolished. That process is already underway. Either way, Jeb Bush will almost certainly be found on the Republican ticket come election day.

Now too the “groundswell” of “unprecedented” support by “young people” for the ultra-Jewey ‘socialist’ Bernie Sanders begins making sense. Who do you think has been engineering that groundswell btw?

Score 5 points if you said George Bush’s select friends at the CIA. They were betrayed by the Necons when Bill Clinton was pushed to the fore by the Ziocons. GHW Bush has been plotting his revenge ever since.

It’s the Anglo Establishment brothers and sisters! That’s the very best we can do. Political assasinations are not out of the question because this thing is far from decided. This could still get very ugly and nuclear war is still very much on the table, especially if Hillary Satan takes control of the White House.

If the Bushies win the US will sit down with Russia and finalize their pending agreement. Whether you believe the Anglos will keep their agreements with Russia or a international capitalist system can ever be stable is another matter altogether. It is possible this crisis only gets pushed ahead by a decade or two. Your choices, right now, are nuclear war or not nuclear war and that’s all people like us will ever be asked. Even then, your answer hardly matters.

Now, take a shot at my theory but please please please READ READ READ what I said before doing so.
- Uncle Bob 1 on February 19, 2016 · at 2:10 am EST/EDT
  
  There might be a lot of truth there. I hope so at least. In my post a little while ago I gave my rundown of the candidates. But I didn’t think about Trump picking Bush as a running mate. There is something to be said for that. He might be able to negate some of the Hispanic hate for Trump (eat into the “Trump,no way” 30%). So that could help him. But he should start on that now. Before the primaries “really” take off.
- Hayek on February 19, 2016 · at 2:28 am EST/EDT
  
  I think you need to put the kettle on and have a nice cup of hot tea and relax. You are thinking way too hard,as many seem to on this site. Americans are not too interested in what is taking place in foreign lands ( unless they are dying there of course). They are interested in not having a job,not being able to pay the bills , losing their homes etc. The elites on either side of the same coin are losing influence in the messaging and manipulation war that are called elections because they have run out of BS that the public will consume anymore. This is not happening in a vacumn, economies are collapsing worldwide and political fiefdoms across the globe are experiencing the same fightback against their corruption and control. It would be reassuring in a perverse sort of way to believe that the powers that be know what they are doing , alas they are traveling blind like the rest of us.
- Peter AU on February 19, 2016 · at 6:43 am EST/EDT
  
  Conspiracy theories… grab the right hat and away we go.
  That there are conspiracies and that money controls politics there is no doubt.
  But the theories are a dime a dozen on the internet.
  All the average punter can go on is the facts available.
  - C I eh? on February 19, 2016 · at 5:35 pm EST/EDT
    
    Geez..
    
    No. Not ‘conspiracy theories.’ Geopolitical speculation and discussion based on current events.
    
    Congrats. You’ve swallowed the programming of our criminal elite.
    - Hayek on February 21, 2016 · at 2:57 pm EST/EDT
      
      Well, I quess we can put that one to bed. Next !
Dennis James Leary on February 19, 2016 · at 1:28 am EST/EDT

Deja vu joins karma in a dance of life and death. Once again Russia bears the brunt of defeating the legions of hell.

I send love into this volatile mix of payments come due where bets are called and accounts settled.

Why Russia? Because she has the greatest land mass around the earth’s most strategic point, the North Pole. Russia controls earth’s energetic flow. She is the last line of defense against the combined forces of the primordial rebellion converging here on our planet.

The repercussions of the coming battle will be felt throughout the universe unless the charges are reversed. Love will prevail but our species may not survive in any recognizable form.

The saker and her vineyard are being given precognitions and battle positions. Conceived by anagram and birthed by labor we are powered by animal totems and the most ancient of modems.

It’s an honor to be chosen as a major matrix point although the ride may be more than explosive.

“No man alive will come to you
With another tale to tell
This wheel’s on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode!”
-Dylan
- Anonymous on February 19, 2016 · at 7:13 am EST/EDT
  
  Curious why you keep pushing Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman) who is the very essence of AZ empire.
  
  ie good ole americian “drugs, s.. and rock and roll”
  - Dennis James Leary on February 19, 2016 · at 5:47 pm EST/EDT
    
    We need to know our enemy if love is to prevail. Dylan has gone behind the lines and has not returned unscarred.
    
    I also must know my enemy. Dylan portrays evil like no one since Shakespeare; and he does it with style and grace.
    
    Awesome beauty lies just across the borderline from bloody lies.
    
    Good question. I guess the answer is blowing in the wind.
    - Hayek on February 19, 2016 · at 7:59 pm EST/EDT
      
      Actually Bob was standing on the shoulders of one “Woody Guthrie “. Woody was the one who took the road less travelled . Bob was the one who monetized the protest
Anonymous on February 19, 2016 · at 2:41 am EST/EDT

FEB 18
US officials asked Russia to avoid bombing broad areas of northern Syria, where several dozen US special operation forces have been working with Syrians fighting the Islamic State group, the Pentagon disclosed on Thursday.

The request, which had not been revealed previously, goes beyond what the Pentagon calls its “memorandum of understanding” with the Russians to avoid inadvertent military air collisions over Syria.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the Russians were not told exactly where the US special operations troops are operating but were asked to avoid certain broad areas as a safety measure. He said the Russians have honored the US request.
http://www.todayszaman.com/world_us-asked-russia-not-to-bomb-near-us-commandos-in-syria_412713.html
SanctuaryOne on February 19, 2016 · at 2:48 am EST/EDT

“Crossing from Jordan to Lebanon and then on to Syria” Say what?

Syria is next to Jordan -you’d have to go through Israel to get to Lebanon and then back over to Syria. Good luck with that one.
The Suez canal is the other option but you might want to avoid landing at Tartus or Latakia in Syria -very dangerous bears are rumoured to live there. If you don’t get blown out of the water, keep going on to Turkey -although it is also rumoured that dangerous madmen live there.
fullback84 on February 19, 2016 · at 3:48 am EST/EDT

C I eh? Some very interesting takes on the Anglo and Zionist power structure. I just don’t see any coherent opposition within the Anglosphere yet. They’ve lost a lot of influence in a short amount of time. It will be an uphill battle to overtake the neocons and steer the Empire again unless:

1:They need to draft an official policy paper and make it public just as the drafters of The Project for a New American Century did. (with signatures an all)
2: Have the financial backing of all the big money(like the ones you mentioned) to build counter-think tanks to try to get a foot back in Washington policy making door.
3. They need their own media. Bankroll a whole new television network. They won’t get anywhere without it.
4.They need to create an alliance of the merchant class. It’s this class that the Zionist are really hurting, but they are ignored and cowed by the relentless neocon policies of sanctions and destructive wars.
Just my thoughts, but very interesting take on this madness.
sweeeetwater on February 19, 2016 · at 4:11 am EST/EDT

In the meantime…Erdogan’s son under investigation for money laundering in Bologna
- sweeeetwater on February 19, 2016 · at 4:38 am EST/EDT
  
  The Italian prosecutors are the few things clean in Italy. The indicted politicians often have changed the laws to save themselves
  - Anonymous on February 19, 2016 · at 5:53 am EST/EDT
    
    Same’s France.
    See where supposedly the news is the french police or some arm is grilling the evil elf himself, for at least the 3rd time that I recall the past 2 years, for supposed election graft corruption slush funds whatever.
    Yet he’s never been charged to date, & he’s running in the prez race supposedly for 2018 there.
    
    http://www.jeune-garde87.org/wp-content/gallery/photo-personnalite-national/sarkozy-tourmente.png
    - sweeeetwater on February 19, 2016 · at 8:02 pm EST/EDT
      
      Probably the only example in the world, under the Italian Constitution, the prosecutors and the judges are independent of any other power, except the Constitution, and the Constitutional Court. In Italy, a politician can not replace a judge he does not like. Instead, in France: “Yes, we can!”
vot tak on February 19, 2016 · at 5:04 am EST/EDT

Kakaouskia

Interesting analysis. Agree with most, but question:

“Saudi Arabia and Turkey are trying to build a grant alliance under the guise of a military exercise launched on 15th February dubbed “North Thunder”. In this war game forces from the following countries participate:

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Senagal, Sudan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Chad, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Egypt, Mauritania and Mauritius, in addition to the peninsula shield forces.”

I don’t question that they may be involved in these military exercises, but doubt these countries will join israel’s turk toys in warring on Syria. Egypt especially, since they oppose the muslim brotherhood types israel is fostering in turkey. Actually, despite all the zionazi hype pushing for intervention, since their cannibal proxies are failing, I doubt anybody besides turkey will answer the zionazi call to war of that group of nations involved in that military exercise. Nothing besides the most nominal for even the most aligned with zionazi, inc. interests.

“P.S. Speaking of history, it appears that Mrs Merkel needs a sharp lesson. She called for a no-fly zone in Syria. She should find a library and study what has happened the last time the Luftwaffe tried to impose something on Russia. The result was rather unfortunate for Germany.”

Agree, berkel (an Anglicised rendering of the freak’s name meaning berk from hell) is so blinded by her loyalty to israel, she has essentially lost touch with reality ukro-nazi style.
Anonymous on February 19, 2016 · at 5:46 am EST/EDT

Whoooo’s next?

US plans to reopen military base in Iceland
Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:3AM

The US has planned to reopen a Cold War-era naval base in Iceland, amid deteriorating relations between Washington and Moscow over the crises in Ukraine and Syria.

According to sources, the base, known as Keflavik Air Base was originally built during World War II and is located near Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. It will be renovated to house a new generation of surveillance planes.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/19/451086/Keflavik-Air-Base-North-Atlantic-Sigmundur-Dav-Gunnlaugsson-Reykjavik-Grapevine-Paul-Fontaine

US to have ‘serious conversation’ with China over its militarization
Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:11AM

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/18/450911/china-john-kerry-us-south-china-sea-militarization
Steve on February 19, 2016 · at 6:03 am EST/EDT

Erdogan’s son investigated in Italy money-laundering probe.

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/184557/Erdogan-son-investigated-in-Italy-money.html#.VsOO0hv9Y3g.twitter
hestroy on February 19, 2016 · at 7:57 am EST/EDT

Excellent analyse.
know the truth on February 19, 2016 · at 8:12 am EST/EDT

“P.S. Speaking of history, it appears that Mrs Merkel needs a sharp lesson. She called for a no-fly zone in Syria. She should find a library and study what has happened the last time the Luftwaffe tried to impose something on Russia. The result was rather unfortunate for Germany”.

This harpy is being blackmailed by the NSA, its not for nothing that they spent years eavesdropping on her private phone calls and all her actions over the past few years have gone directly against the interests of her own country and citizens, pushing for sanctions against Russia that are damaging the German economy etc.
As for the populations of the “west” they are both ignorant and stupid, dumbed down to an incredible degree with not a little amount of collaboration and acquiescence with what their so called “elected representatives” are doing in their name. Again lets hark back to history, it was only after Hitlers wermacht began taking a pounding with German cities being destroyed and razed to the ground and the German army in full retreat that the German people “suddenly” realized Hitler was bad for them and began turning against him, not before when he was invading and conquering country after country, they were all for him then. This is the same situation we currently have with western citizens regarding their governments. The people couldn’t give a toss as long as they are alright in their nice neat western “1st world” countries, but guess what, its all coming home to the west, the unprecedented influx of refugees being just the first signs of the approaching western apocalypse.
The day will also come when Berlin, London, France, Warsaw, etc., will resemble downtown Aleppo and Homs and Falujah in their current state, brought to you courtesy of the evil and demented psychopaths ruling the west. The day will come when millions of Europeans will also be forced to flee from their homes to escape the war and terror they have so often visited upon the middle east and North Africa and the rest of the globe. What goes around will always come around, and they deserve everything coming their way.
Svenrojensen on February 19, 2016 · at 9:15 am EST/EDT

Interesting article though disagree with a) Turkish military (andpolice)based on conscripts has been unable to effectively control/quell the Kurds after more than 30years. Admit that parts of south east central turkey represent a ‘guerilla’ haven. Also Kurds are amajority in many regions. b) Erdogan is playing to the domestic gallery as partly the continuous family scandals etc are catching up.
C) PS…please give Merkel and Germans a break, they are a vassal state under US-banking tutelage with no constitution or referendum, no peace treaty, 60000 US military and nukes – even after reunification the Bankers had a domineering leverage. Quote ‘drunken bum and art fraud ‘ Churchill, NATO = Soviets out, US in, Germans down!!
Most of EU are vassal states too, now Yanks want to return to Iceland, only country with the guts to kick out IMF and jail bankers…as Hungary.
Jordan and Iraq are unlikely to permit mercenaries with a few hopeless Saudi half baked officers to go trotting around creating more mayhem..SAS and US special ops have that privelige…
JJ on February 19, 2016 · at 9:42 am EST/EDT

use of psychotropic drugs by ISIA, CIA, in middle east and Ukraine……….tablets and in population water supplies as weapon of mass zombification…..extract

http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/ukraine-psychotropic-chemical-weapons.html

“Behind the frenzy of ISIS thugs and “Ukrainian punishers” are “tablets of terror” – a powerful amphetamine, “Captagon”, killing pity and giving physical stamina.

The newspaper ‘Il Giornale’ published an article by Gian Michalisin, which stated that Captagon was first used in Cairo. “The tablet of terror” was distributed among the “Arab spring” as an elixir of renewal and tightening of the revolution, putting the crowd into a frenzy, ready to sacrifice themselves from Tunisia to Egypt, from Libya to Syria.

The deadly amphetamine has become a nightmare for the Middle East: in ecstasy people cut and kill with a smile on their face and emptiness in their head. The Kurds documented it in the pockets of hundreds of militants killed in Kobani. Analysis of audio recordings conducted by American intelligence, which were recorded by Jihadi John, the British militant, who carried out the execution of Western hostages, showed that the executioner was under the influence of amphetamines.

The protesters caught in the hands of police in 2011 revealed the dose of the drug they were on. Many of them admitted that they had received the “miracle pill” from the organizers of the demonstrations, giving them “courage and strength”. The drug of the “Muslim brotherhood” at the time was supplied by Dubai and Qatar…………………..

“Made in 2011 in a NATO laboratory in Bulgaria, Captagon is now produced in the entire Middle East, including in Syria. In early April 2014, the Syrian Arab army seized a car full of Captagon tablets and a tank containing a ton of Captagon (Fenethylline Hydrochloride) — an amphetamine that causes euphoria and inhibits pain. Mixed with other drugs, such as hashish, it is a “basic nutrition” to “jihadists”, who no longer feel their own and others suffering, committing atrocities “with laughter”.

In February 2014, in the article “Psychotropic drugs as tools of manipulation of public consciousness in general, and in particular Euromaiden”, the author not only reviewed the use of artificial stimulants in the wars, but also noted that “ex-boxer” Klitschko, under the guise of sports bags, took drugs to the “Maidan” – combat psychostimulants of the U.S. army, included in the first aid kit of the special forces.

These drugs give not only a greater sense of confidence, but also deprive the need for rest and sleep. High doses give intense mental stimulation and active wakefulness that can last up to 3 days. After a long period of using psychostimulants, psychosis begins, often accompanied by hallucinations and delusions that cause extreme aggression (which is still observed in the occupied Ukraine).

We also wrote that “the fighters of the Maidan” received not only money from abroad, but also drugs that were freely and cheaply sold at “NulandMaidan”.

In April 2014 the acting mayor of Kiev, Volodymyr Bondarenko admitted that in the occupied city hall during the “euromaidan” was a workshop for the manufacture of drugs. These drugs were distributed to mass murderers in Odessa on May 2nd.

Industrial quantities of chemicals for the production of Captagon in Ukraine were delivered, in particular, on 11th May. At Kiev airport, under cover of strict secrecy, the cargo arrived and was unloaded, consisting of containers of prepared amphetamine pills. The cargo was accompanied by CIA officers, soldiers and 70 mercenaries from Polish PMCs. In Kiev SBU, soldiers, cargo and containers of chemicals were not inspected and left the airport building in tinted cars.

Then there were several deliveries, before the manufacture of tablets for punishers, which were deployed on the territory of Ukraine itself.

Today, under the influence of drugs, the former armed forces of Ukraine and mercenaries, on the orders of the native regime of the oligarchs and their foreign accomplices, perform direct genocide of Russians in Novorossiya.”
- Eimar on February 19, 2016 · at 10:32 am EST/EDT
  
  Jj
  
  I’ve long maintained drugs explain much more than ideology: the frenzied violence we witness in zones designated for destabilization owe far more to their use than politics.
  
  And a banking system that launders their origin and transit through shell companies.
  - JJ on February 19, 2016 · at 11:31 am EST/EDT
    
    note NATO /Ukraine backed Moldova
    
    is operating hybrid war
    
    MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. A hybrid war is waged against Transdniestria, and the region faces immense pressure, acting foreign minister Vitaly Ignatiev told a press conference on Friday.
    “We are in a very difficult situation today. We haven’t experienced such immense pressure since the start of the 1990s when we proclaimed independence,” Ignatiev said adding that “at least there is no military pressure.”
    “A hybrid war is being waged against Transdniestria. The attention of the international community and Russia as guarantor of peace are very important to us,” he noted.
    “Against this backdrop, Moldova is increasing pressure by opening criminal cases against our citizens, including entrepreneurs and officials, there are already more than 200 cases,” Ignatiev said.
    OPINION
    Zamyatina
    Tamara
    Military analyst: Kiev tries to provoke Russia-NATO clash over Transdniestria
    “The negotiations process is in a systemic crisis, Moldova dodges dialogue, political meetings are sabotaged,” he added.
    Resumption of talks depends on Moldova
    The resumption of talks in the 5+2 format on Transdniestrian settlement depend on Moldova’s readiness for compromises, acting foreign minister Vitaly Ignatiev told a press conference on Friday.
    “Special Representative of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Chairperson-in-Officer Cord Meier-Klodt made a visit recently, we also held a meeting with Sergey Gubarev (Russia’s representative on Transdniestrian settlement) and discussed prospects of resuming talks,” Ignatiev said answering a TASS question.
    READ ALSO
    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
    Ukraine concentrates military groupings on border with Crimea, Transdniestria — Poroshenko
    “There is not dialogue paradigm now. Moldova is opening criminal cases against our citizens, including against leaders of separate expert groups. Eleven expert groups have low dynamics. Our task is to boost it,” he added.
    “Our main task is to work closely so that the process has substantive basis. Molodova does not demonstrate negotiability and sabotages the mechanism.
    
    More:
    http://tass.ru/en/world/857876
A. Dane on February 19, 2016 · at 11:34 am EST/EDT

WWIII being cancelled ?

NATO is risking disintegration by its continued wars and expansion outside its original North Atlantic sphere. The North Atlantic people are feed up by NATO being controlled by the CROWN.

The U.S. Federal Government is long overdue, going Bankrupt. The 50 States of America is on the brink of a revolution against the Federal Gov. The American people are feed up by their Government being controlled by the CROWN.

The UK Government are facing rebellion from the British people; regarding UK Gov. failed policies of loss of sovereignty to the EU, and the refugee crises. The British people are feed up by their government being controlled by the CROWN.

The EU is risking disintegration, on the same reasons as in the UK. The Euro is facing collapse, and Nations are turning back toward National sovereignty. The people of Europe are feed up by the EU being controlled by the CROWN.

Turkey has become the Bully of the class, and at risk being abandoned by its NATO allies.
The Turkish Gov. is also facing rebellion from its own population and military.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE have plundered the West via high oil prices for a lifetime. The Western population are feed up with these Governments. These Arabian Governments are facing rebellion from their own population, treason by their mercenary armies, and defeat from their war against Yemen.

The Israeli Government exists by the grace of the CROWN.
The Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE Government exist by the grace of the CROWN.
The Jordan Kingdom exists by the grace of the CROWN.

The US Dollar, The Euro, and Western Central Banking system is facing collapse from fraudulent finance and centralized economic policies, plundering the Western populations. The western population are feed up by being plundered by the CROWN.

The Western economic collapse and the grooving rage from the Western population threaten to eradicate the CROWN, followed by fragmentation of The EU and NATO.
An economic collapse may very well happen before the CROWN Succeed in starting WWIII
- JJ on February 19, 2016 · at 2:58 pm EST/EDT
  
  even though US asked for 2% of economy of countries to fund NATO and some haven’t, it does’t mean NATO can’t condense , retrenche to reaffirm itself as a North Atlantic locale organisation……..
- Lumi on February 19, 2016 · at 7:39 pm EST/EDT
  
  So what is “the CROWN” ??? The Danish Crown?
  - A. Dane on February 20, 2016 · at 1:50 am EST/EDT
    
    Prefab.
    According to old Catholic Christian Tradition, a King of a Country receives his Sovereign right to rule over his people (directly from God), when a High Priest puts a CROWN on his head.
    However, if a king fights many costly wars, and thereby gets in to unplayable debt to wealthy Family dynasties, he may decide to hand over his subjects (people) as slaves to pay for the debt.
    As a token of the loss of his sovereignty, he may handle over the CROWN to the money lenders.
    
    According to International recognized law, all people on earth must abide by The Law of the Land, i.e. the common Law of the Sovereign, under which they live.
    
    Who has the CROWN Today.
    The CROWN is the head of a trilateral: (Religious, Monetary, and Military) Shadow government, controlling all western Nations. Its primary goal is to obtain World Government.
    The CROWN reigns by the Law of the High seas, and is therefore exempt from The law of the Land.
    
    This Trilateral Shadow government resides in 3 Sovereign cities inside 3 sovereign Nations: The Vatican City (in Rome). The City of London (in London). District of Columbia (in Washington).
    
    The CROWN is controlling the Western world by owning The Bank of England, The US Federal Reserve, The European Central bank, The Bank of international settlements, The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, most Western Nations Central banks, and private Mega Banks.
    
    All of these Banks and most international business companies are owned by 13 family dynasties.
    The most prominent family being The Rothschild Family, whose fortune is estimated to be 500 Trillion Dollars, compared to The US Federal Governments Bankruptcy debt of 19 Trillion Dollars.
    The Rothschild Family formerly owns the State of Israel.
    
    When Uniting the Sovereign 50 States in America, they chose to contract a Private compagny to handle their International affairs on their behalf.
    The CROWN ovnes the private administration compagny called the US Federal Government Inc.
    The President of this company is pt. Barack Hussein Obama II.
    
    http://www.sinhalanet.net/three-corporations-run-the-world-city-of-london-washington-dc-and-vatican-city
    - Hayek on February 21, 2016 · at 10:53 pm EST/EDT
      
      I quess that’s my retirement screwed then.
      - A. Dane on February 22, 2016 · at 1:56 am EST/EDT
        
        To save your pension.
        Well: You Americans could start by calling all of your Troops Home to defend your own homeland.
        
        Next step is to push the US Federal Reserve Inc. and the US federal Government Inc. with its + 19 Trillion Dollars of bad Debt out on the High Sea, where they lawfully belong.
        This will properly anger The CROWN, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE as they hold most of the debt of the Private Company called the US Federal Government Inc.
        
        Then reinstate the American Constitution, clean out Congress, and claim back all of the land inside America, that the Private Federal Administration has stolen from the Sovereign 50 states in America.
        
        By doing so you would not only secure the pension for yourself and the future of all Americans, but you would set in motion a world wide process toward peace on earth.
    - Lumi on February 22, 2016 · at 6:24 pm EST/EDT
      
      So if it’s just 13 families they could be swiftly arrested and prosecuted, no?
      
      » The circle on the ground represents the female vagina, while the obelisk itself is the penis. This is commonly known as occult symbolism. «
      
      Well, this is commonly known as Mumpitz where I live. I mean, could be that there is more to it but the article ensures I cannot take it take it seriously.
      - A. Dane on February 23, 2016 · at 9:12 am EST/EDT
        
        In a Lawful society you can not arrest 13 families for being god at enriching them selves.
        
        What you can do is to take back, what rightfully belongs to your country.
        You can make it unlawful for citizens in you country to hold dual citizenship.
        
        You can make these 13 families adhered to the law of the Land, thereby paying the same tax-rate as everybody ells; instead of being able to transfer their wealth, tax-free out of your country.
        
        If they do not wish to adhere to the Law of the land, they must leave your country, and set out to the high seas, leaving their property behind.
        You can also decide to never do business with them, and thereby starve of the beast.
        
        Because of their devastating effect on you society, you can ban these13 families, and any of their Agents, from ever conducting a public office in your country.
        
        I don’t focus at all on the Penis vagina symbol——
        I regard the penis and vagina symbol just like Germans do, as Mumpitz = Nonsense, and especially irrelevant to the affairs of a State.
        
        But these 13 families and their Loge brothers/sisters focuses a lot upon this subject.
Jordan on February 19, 2016 · at 12:25 pm EST/EDT

I don’t think the Russians or their clients in the sandbox need worry about the likes of the British army. Read the 2003 ‘Ramzaj Reports’ and the performance of British Royal Marines, to see how these people really perform in the field as opposed to within their own deluded fantasies.
+Mikie on February 19, 2016 · at 2:38 pm EST/EDT

When you add up all those past and present “news” articles and “testimonies”, a vary scary picture emerges indeed. But somehow I doubt that Russians will be easily provoked into attacking Turkish territory, if at all. I think they will rather suffer some casualties in exchange for having the international law at their side.

I have to disagree on Latakia air base. I don’t think it is “exposed” as much as it looks. The location is in fairly safe Syrian government-held province, and any infantry attack would require serious force assembly of which which would not go unnoticed. The base is covered from air attack with some serious AA weapons and radars, and 45km from Turkish border is definitely NOT in the range of artillery.

A 155mm howitzer can reach about 28km, but at that distance the accuracy will suffer terribly. There are some ammunitions that are a quasi-rocket propelled that can get to about 42km but warhead is smaller and accuracy is even worse than regular shells. Any rocket attack will be picked up at launch or soon after, and that’s what Pantsir S1 is there for. It will be a good test, and I have no doubt it will pass with flying colours.

Lastly, I am certain that Russians have built either covered hangars by now or at least berms to protect the parked planes so any artillery attack can only destroy/damage one at a time. As in – each plane will have to be targeted separately, and that’s not easy to do without an observer, which again has to use some sort of communication which will be picked up and targeted, etc. etc.

Judging by the number of flights Russians are doing, I don’t think there will be many planes parked at all, and if the base is attacked you can be sure that anything in the air will be immediately recalled and retargeted at the attacking force.

Russians are not stupid. They are smart enough not to assume that the enemy is stupid either, and they will have all their bases covered.
eimar on February 19, 2016 · at 9:22 pm EST/EDT

Article from DefenseOne warns US to make preparations for the breakdown of Saudi Arabia:

http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/02/de-waal-and-chayes-saudi-arabia/125953/

Ps Reading around the net, it looks like Nigeria and Pakistan will definitely not be snookered into any invasion of Syria. But the drill in Hafer-al-Batin could be used as cover by NATO ‘special ops’ ( mercenaries) to caused a major setback in Syria.

Maybe a ‘dirty bomb’ with the stuff stolen from the US company in Iraq? To be blamed on Assad of course..

Or an attack on major power lines/dams/water supply?

The investors in the destruction of Syria are not going to give up easily. I hope Syria is keeping a close eye on southern borders..

Also, trouble between Saudi and United Arab Emirates in Yemen.
isabella on February 19, 2016 · at 10:09 pm EST/EDT

And where is China? They could be at least flying the flag in support of their strategic partner here as it’s very much needed.
If Russia is seriously compromised as a result of this humungous western build up, China can forget about it’s silk road and in fact forget about anything else altogether. Self interest alone should dictate they very much need to be present in some form, I would have thought – they are on the radar too.
- PokeTheTruth on February 20, 2016 · at 4:45 pm EST/EDT
  
  Dear Isabella,
  
  I expressed a similar idea about three months ago on the Fort Russ web site (see:http://www.fort-russ.com/2015/11/i-dare-you-turkey-possible-russian.html ).
  
  Larchmonter 445 (one of our more knowledgeable patrons of the Vineyard) summarized his belief from the Chinese point of view regarding the current situation in the Middle East. I would say his opinion on the subject has significant merit and I valued it.
Mohamed on February 21, 2016 · at 10:40 am EST/EDT

Dream On

Trump will be the President and no Stopping him. God Bless Obama, Putin and Trump.

No mentioned was made about the Elephant in the room. Why?

Because the Elephant has now become a Mouse.

Poor, Poor Clueless Netanyahu is scratching his head, wondering what is happening in his own backyard.

We keep forgetting that The Eternal Mercy is Greater!

Mohamed
Suzanne Majo De Kuyper on February 22, 2016 · at 6:15 pm EST/EDT

Brilliant again.

Yes, Mrs. Merkel does need several lessons. She is a traitor in no uncertain terms. She ditched the politician that put her in place, she, with the US forced sanctions, ditched Russia, the real heart of Europe, and then threw out the European Union itself in favour of protecting USA made ISIS. Where the Mrs could have offered a real pushback to US needs to erase Russia with EU forces, she supported America.

Unless there is some kind of political cleansing in Brussels, the US is promoting passive and younger, vulnerable females for EU offices, another Angela will appear. Time is of the essence.