by Paul Schmutz Schaller for The Saker Blog
In the actual strategic situation, we can observe a dynamic equilibrium between the two main forces. On the one hand, we have the USA with its allies, on the other side, there are China, Russia and some important other countries.
The side of the USA is the descending power, which has dominated the planet for a long period. It has a considerable economic and military strength and its culture has still a dominating position. However, around the beginning of 2019, the side of the USA has lost its status of being in the phase of the strategic offensive, which has lasted at least 75 years. This marks a huge change of the situation in the world. Some reasons for this change are the following: the ascension of China during the last 40 years; the renaissance of a reasonable politics, based on the defence of the national interests, in Russia; the election of Trump in 2016 which has provoked a deep crisis in the USA and in the West in general. The most important element however, in my eyes, is the awakening of the Middle East, which is of course a region of critical importance. This awakening started with the Iranian revolution in 1979. Some further decisive steps were the successful striking back of the Iraqi aggression war 1980-1988, the foundation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and its victory against Israel in 2006, the success of Syria and Assad in the fight against the terrorists and their helpers, as well as the disaster of the USA wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
My proposal for the date of the end of the phase of the strategic offensive is based on some events in the beginning of this year. On the one hand, there was the failure of the absurd putsch in Venezuela, which was in some sense the last offensive card in the hands of Trump. On the other hand, it was the reaction in the West to the breakout of a military conflict between India and Pakistan in February. Nobody in the West made visible efforts in order to neutralise this dangerous situation. Only the countries of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) – both India and Pakistan are members – worked in this direction.
One should not underestimate the USA in this new phase. It is quite possible that Trump is rather tough as a “defender”. Anyway, I was surprised about his actions during the recent G20 Summit in Osaka. First, Trump found a quite elegant way to play down the conflict with Turkey about the S-400 systems by blaming Obama for this problem. Second, there was the meeting with Kim (North Korea), which could correct, in some sense, the missed meeting from Hanoi (February 2019) between Kim and Trump.
The other side, that is China, Russia and some other important countries, has very much solidified its inner cohesion during the last months. This side has clarified its vision of the future world, demanding mutual respect and collective efforts for a peaceful international development. It shows a clear alternative to the hegemonic Western domination of the past.
The actual situation of a dynamic equilibrium may last for some time. Both sides will fight for gaining the initiative. The first big test is the crisis around Iran. At first, the USA had the initiative by the politics of “maximal pressure”. However, Iran has reacted in an active manner so that this initiative is almost evaporated. Now, we have a war of nerves. Both sides seem to be aware that this conflict is a real issue for obtaining the initiative. It is therefore not very probable that the conflict will be resolved quickly or that one side will obtain a big victory.
But let us analyse a little bit the two sides with respect to this crisis around Iran. The side of Iran is the just side since the politics of “maximal pressure” is illegal by all international standards. The Iranian political direction is solid and their natural inner differences are obviously discussed in a reasonable, democratic manner. The Iranians know their military strengths and weaknesses. They have a clear strategy: active defence, no negotiations with the USA as long as the latter keep their anti-Iranian sanctions, few confidence in the role of the bigger European countries, strengthen the ties with the regional countries and with Russia and China, confidence in the determination of the Iranian people. As for China and Russia, they remain – for the moment – rather in the background. However, they are certainly prepared to play a much more active role. This means that Iran disposes of a big strategic reserve.
The side of the USA is unjust. Their behaviour is brutal and they are quite isolated. Economically and militarily, they are stronger than Iran, globally speaking. However, the USA cannot concentrate only on Iran since they intend to defend their worldwide hegemony. And, for the USA, this conflict is not a matter of life or death. On the whole, the side of the USA has not the determination of the Iranian side. Therefore, if the Iranians keep their nerves, – and I have no doubt about this – one cannot see a way for the side of the USA to win this conflict. But the latter is probably able to harass Iran and the Iranian people for quite a while.
In the actual situation, the war in Syria can again get an enormous signification. It is quite possible that Syria will be a crucial element in order to gain the strategic initiative. Since some weeks, the Syrian army, with the firm support of Russia, attacks the remaining terrorists in Idlib and the neighboring provinces. As we have learned during the last years, these Syrian offensives usually start rather slowly. They first intend to weaken the defence of the terrorists and to better know their military positions. But then, the advances of the Syrian army can be rapid. There are strong signs that the Syrian government has decided to make clear progresses now and that Russia fully agrees. Therefore, I am confident that important results will be obtained.
Living in a Western oriented country, which happens to be Switzerland, I came to the conclusion, some time ago, that Western societies have become too sclerotic and have lost the capacity to positively contribute to the development in the world. This is just a fact, it does not bother me. Nevertheless, as persons (or groups or movements), we can do our contributions for a post-western world as well as possible, being aware that the main burden is carried by other nations.
I would argue; in furtherance of the logic of this post, that if we are to use the word “super power” at all it should be used as an accurate description of the real objective forces in play, in real living time, rather than a mental habit accumulated from the past. A dog that can only bark in the night as it gives off an increasingly putrid stench of decay and death is not a super power, despite what it thinks it may be. This means realistically, that given the obvious fact that the Russia, China, Iran grouping, with its ongoing convergent creativity and balanced global outreach, as well as its organic moral superiority, is now the real planetary super power. With its attendant self confidence and creative intelligence. Is it not the case that this becomes more obvious every day? To use traditional language, a real super power is able to display what some may call the mandate of heaven, or alternatively, the breath of the world dragon. The poets are often the first to discern this.
The poets (and prophets) have discerned long ago, and traditions perpetuated their insights, that the countries under the seven stars of the circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major, the ‘Great Bear’, the ‘Great Wagon’, the ‘Seven Oxen’ (Septem triones), the ‘Big Dipper’, being closer both to the Celestial Pole and the Earthly one are entrusted with the ‘mandate of heaven’. The constellation of Draco is also a circumpolar constellation (never setting), coiling around the north celestial Pole. ‘Poetically’, Draco’s terrestrial projection is the Himalayan-Caucasian-Carpathian-Alpine mountainous chain.
The Sino-Russian convergence is ‘celestially’ ordained. Sooner or later America would be attracted in that sphere. But that would require a ‘repentance’, in the sense of ‘metanoia’- change of mind, spiritual conversion.
Anon; A very intriguing comment indeed! Please give more detail about this celestial prophetic insight you speak of. It fits very nicely with the feeling I was seeking to open up. I agree with your point exactly although coming from a different tradition. As to your requirement that America would need a total change of heart and sense of self to join this becoming world, – again clearly so. My sense is that very change you speak of is in fact America’s hidden destiny. Very well hidden we could obviously add. It is a destiny I believe that history has long prepared America to encounter and it will drag the nation through a bath of very spectacular suffering, a form of suffering that is clearly self induced. I like to think of it as America as the stronghold of the world’s great Satan, from which the nation is going to be forced to emancipate itself from through massive self struggle. This struggle is clearly shaping up before our very eyes. Does the prophetic tradition you write of have anything to offer regarding America?
I see the US more as a Super Power that has reached the senile dementia stage of life. This does not, as yet, diminish their Super Power status, it just makes it unpredictable and gives over-sized influence to their “nurses” – who are the multi-national corporations and Israel.
Tiu; I agree and that’s an apt metaphor and comment. I would only add the other issue is that the senile patient is also running out of its magic paper money because those same nurses have been stealing from its pockets every night.
The Iran situation is the most selective of all crises. Deftly manufactured by Israel/Bibi and the Sunni Arabs, Iran has been manipulated away from its international agreement JCPOA. The US quit that agreement. The EU has stepped back from it, against its own self interests and only Russia and China and the UN Secretary General and IAEA authorities are fighting diplomatically to revive it.
Using sanctions instead of naval blockades, bombs and missiles, the US Hegemon is waging war against the people of Iran, against the government of Iran and the proxies of Iran by crushing the oil export trade of Iran and drying up the income Iran’s economy requires to support its citizens and proxies.
As we have seen with Cuba, Iraq under Saddam, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea, as well as somewhat with Russia, sanctions work. They shrivel a nation’s vitality, growth and strength. They do not necessarily achieve the intended outcome which in most cases is radical change of government and capitulation to the Hegemon’s demands.
There is also this factor of sanctions as existential threat—they have no symmetrical or asymmetrical equivalent the other side can employ. Thus, a nation under sanctions must learn to survive or it and/or its government will die.
The interesting situation we see in mid-summer 2019 is that all the nations I mention above have formed into a fist in the face of the Hegemon. They work together, and in various formations at times, diplomatically, economically, militarily, technologically, secretively and comprehensively with other friendly nations to resist and overcome the sanctions.
What this presents to the Hegemon is a global battlefield impossible to rule, impossible to control, impossible to manage, and impossible to afford.
With Trump as commander-in-chief, acting out as hegemon-field marshal, the US cannot press its maximal pressure option everywhere, all the time. Even with its gargantuan military, its metastatic alliances and supine vassals to help, Russia and China laugh at the US military and Iran figuratively spits on US boots. North Korea and Venezuela dare the US to attempt military invasion. And Cuba continues its socialist salsa-rhythmic defiance despite sixty years of a vicious containment and economic starvation manipulated by Washington. Syrians are literally fighting to the death to regain their sovereignty and control their traditional borders and natural resources.
No one will cave to the US. All these sanctioned nations are allies now as the unipolar hegemon is desperate for a victory over someone, somewhere. There is little doubt that it won’t choose Iran. That would be like piercing its own carotid or femoral artery. The US would bleed out in the sands and waters of the Persian Gulf long before Iran could be defeated.
There is also this factor of sanctions as existential threat—they have no symmetrical or asymmetrical equivalent the other side can employ.
I agree with most of your post except for this sentence. The “symmetrical” response would be to file litigation with WTO, UN, & USA courts, which would obviously waste huge amounts of time & money. The asymetrical responses, which take a bit more time to work, have included:
*Steadily abandoning US dollar in bilateral trade
*Building up gold reserves
*Building up alternative infrastructure that avoids NATO’s forces
*Using technologies outside of USA control
*Abandoning Hollywood
If the rise of gold to all time highs in many currencies is any indication, these asymmetrical responses are steadily proving their effectiveness. The actions of the deep state, such as the rush to push “transgender rights,” attempted colour revolution in Hong Kong, etc reflect desperation, in my opinion.
The equivalent is not realized, Dick, by any of those options. Words have meaning. There is no equivalent to sanctions. Did you think I hadn’t considered precisely all the options. None are even close to the equivalent weapon of sanctions.
That is why they are illegal unless UNSC sanctioned. However, under the unipolar hegemony, international law and precedent are trashed.
You can list a thousand actions but nothing is equivalent to US Sanctions.
Even as every principle in interstate relations and international humanitarian law is ignored or trashed, as you observe, the political vermin here in Austfailia, who battle to be the most groveling and servile towards the USA and Israel, rave on about ‘the International Rules Based Order’, uttered like a brainless hypocrite’s mantra. In the Through the Looking Glass world that these craven boot-lickers inhabit, the USA, the greatest desecrator of any ‘rules’, is the guardian of the IRBO, and the victims of US aggression are the villains. The inversion of reality naturally goes unnoticed let alone criticised as the deranged and diabolical hypocrisy that it is.
In Serbia, sanctions caused societal upheaval: Law-abiding citizens became impoverished, since they had to pay black market prices for goods they previously bought in the open market (like petrol!) and criminal, underground hustlers became rich and powerful..
Even though we are no longer sanctioned, Serbia’s GDP, to this day, does not match the true economic activity as there is a massive undeclared “grey economy”. This parallel economy is what feeds corruption.. sanctions are truly “gifts that keep on giving”.
Sanctions are slow motion genocide, so they suit the demons in Thanatopolis DC and Tel Aviv, and their allied devils in Riyadh, right down to the ground. They LOVE killing-it is central to all their religions cum group psychopathies, from Talmudic Judaism to its pups, Wahhabist genocide (now spreading like a plague in Indonesia)and Dominionist Exceptionalist Yankee Supremacism, just itching for the Rapture and End Times. The world is certainly heading for destruction, surely very soon through ecological catastrophe or, alternatively, through the death throes of the rabid Western ‘elite’ dogs. Just heard that one military religious thug, a veteran of our role in the genocides in Afghanistan and Iraq, one of numerous such sub-fascists now driving the ruling regime ever further Right, viciously denouncing China as the equivalent of Nazi Germany. He is now being praised by the ABC feminazi harridan as ‘a brave man’. This is an insanely vicious trope that emerged a little while ago in the media sewer, the ABC, ground zero for unhinged Sinoiphobic hatred here, but now mentioned here, and two nights ago by the ‘realist’ US ‘expert’ Mearsheimer. Rabid dogs go ‘barking’ mad in their hydrophobic death-throes, and that is clearly the case with the West. Right now.
Just heard the depraved ranting of Andrew Hastie comparing the rise of China to Nazi Germany, and the response from Thug Dutton and Thug Morrison. Complete looney tunes stuff.
If they want to talk about Nazi’s, perhaps they should discuss the behaviour of the Anglo Zionist Empire in the last 30 odd years. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine would be…. Oh wait, what am I thinking?
Empire apparatchiks like Hastie are just the lowest of the low. Yet the Nazi like United States invades, bombs and drones country after country, throws sanctions around like confetti, supports jihadist proxies, supports the terrorist MEK cult in Iran, and desperately wants to take down Iran for…. Them. As I said the other day, its like the last days of Caligula.
Short thought, as usual. Sanctions are a nasty and dirty attempt at pushing over the edge targeted populations and thus forcing them to revolt against their own elected governments. While the “bastard” sitting in “his” chair breathing out heavy garlic breath is waiting for results. English in 1500’s and French revolutions in 1700’s not to mention Two Russian are excellent examples. In short the one who holds the bank calls himself the superpower.
One point-the West has NEVER ‘…positively contributed to development in the world’. The West, with very many individual exceptions of course, and some ideological and cultural ones, but the Western states and ruling classes, have ALWAYS acted as genocidal pirates, parasites, exploiters, slave-drivers and blood-suckers. One estimate is that England sucked 42,000,000,000,000 from India alone. Time for reparations, methinks.
One needs to remember the fastest way to get rich is to steal. If you want to build those grand boulevards, castles, museums, universities, parks, encourage your people to think risk free, one has to plunder and plunder big. Portugal, Spain, France, England, Turkey built all their above said things on OPP (other peoples property).
And had, I think, similar plans for North America (as the subcontinent).
But the colonist rebels were even greedier than the Brits!
Colin Woodard points out, in American Nations, that the Civil War was actually a war for the American West.
Who would control it, its resources, esp. minerals, and esp who would control railroad infrastructure to the West Coast and the Pacific World.
Now I am reading a book about the American Revolution, and I must say that i can see that this, too, was a War for the American West: Who would control the continent and its riches, rivers (transportation infrastructure to the Gulf and hence the Caribbean, Latin America, and Mexico), not to mention the potentially arable land and forests (who would wrest control from the Native Americans: the Brits, the French, or the Colonial Rebels (you get just one guess)?
So, yes, i gotta agree. Even the war for liberty, equality, the pursuit of happiness, etc. etc. was of course really about unchecked expansion and control of resources, preferably extracted with others’ labor and capital.
Katherine
Yet another American crime that is swept under the rug by the Anglo American propaganda machine and regimes:
Homs: US Starving Civilians in Al-Rukban Camp to Make Them Obedient
https://syria360.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/homs-us-starving-civilians-in-al-rukban-camp-to-make-them-obedient/
Attempting to starve civilians to compel political obedience to the American occupation of Syria exemplifies the blood-stained “values” of the Anglo Axis nations that are backing jihadist terrorism in Syria, invaded and occupy Iraq based on lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction, or invaded and occupy Afghanistan based on the Nazi-style deception called the War on Terrorism.
Starvation was a tactic used in the genocide of the Native Americans. Straight out of the Old Testament/Torah-destroy the crops, stores and animals. And then there is the chemical weapon onslaught on Vietnam in the defoliation campaign of ecocide. And the chemical assault on coca cultivation in the client death-squad state of Colombia. Then there is glyphosate, etc, etc. The hatred of Life on Earth is pretty plain to see.
Not content with starving the Syrian people into democracy, America is now seeking to starve the Venezuelan people into democracy.
American is truly exceptionalist in its ability to inflict suffering around the planet, all the while masquerading as a force for universal good!
US Empire Tightens Sanctions On Venezuela And Manning
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/08/08/us-empire-tightens-sanctions-on-venezuela-and-manning/
It would be interesting to hear an opinion from an Indian….
Personally I find this demand for reparations doesn’t make much sense. I come from a country that was colonised (Ottoman empire). I do not feel that there is anything the Turks (the successors of Ottomans) could do at this point to compensate us. OK they could give us money, but how would it change history? This cannot whitewash their crimes.
Just for the record, the Ottomans, unlike the West, did not contribute anything culturally, scientifically or otherwise to humanity, and this in spite of the fact that they captured Byzantium, and sat on the crossroads between east and west…
At least the West came up with vaccines, antibiotics, new farming methods, modern healthcare, c-sections, system of laws, ..all this has contributed to humanity and to the victims who survived colonialism…
You will be better able to understand the expression of Prince Demetrius Cantemir of Moldavia (the first to write a ‘History of the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire’) in his address to Tsar Peter I, that the ‘cruel monarchy of the Ottomans’ which ‘like a runt born outside the laws of nature’ hindered the ‘progress and natural growth of the son and noble successor’ [of the ‘Empire’], the ‘Boreal monarchy’ (Russia), with the help of the senescent and entered in decrepitude Empire of the ‘[Roman] Occident’. But Cantemir was an Orthodox Prince and Philosopher. His vision of the ‘evolution’ of Mankind was not that of the struggle between Left and Right.
The western pirates didn’t came India for sightseeing, they came to LOOT and PLUNDER. Before their arrival, Mughal India was the richest country in the world contributing 28% of worlds’ GDP. The British pirates who went to Emperor Jehangir seeking permission for trade, was thinking even if he gets permission what would he sell to them because they have got everything in their finest quality and in abundance. There was no homeless and no beggers on the streets to be seen.
Morally, socially and culturally bankrupt Britain cannot reparate us all the wealth they stole and sufferings inflicted upon us. Now, if they are true human beings with integrity, they can give us back our memories by returning manuscripts, artifects etcetera.
Mughals did not plunder India?
No. They were born, lived and died in India. Their contributions to civilizational, technological and economical advancements are immense.
Go to NASA and see for yourself, the first rocket was invented by Tipu Sultan (Tipu Saib as the French call him) of Mysore Kingdom. You know what is Mysore Kingdom to Britain in 17th century, what is Iran today to the US.
Tipu Sultan was a villain, a Rothschild stooge who stole Indian Temple gold
https://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2011/10/tipu-sultan-unmasked-capt-ajit.html
Tipu was nobodys’ servant except God. His state was so prosperous that hundreds of thousands of peasants from adjacent Britain ruled Madras province migrated and settled there. Had he been Rothschild’s stooge, western looters would never had topple his government. Only after they succeeded in killing him in 1799, they declared that now India is ours.
Settlers will never appreciate the good of natives. Their prejudices towards their victims precedes all things.
I must point out that Sultan’s Genocide against the “natives” was responsible for his wealth. There is absolutely nothing to admire about him except his efforts to defeat another set of invading barbarians – the British.
@Paul. He was a native himself and a great human being. He possessed no wealth. He wasn’t an oppressor but a protector. All life forms were safe in his just rule. As I worte in an earlier comment, be happy with your lies. We have cleansed our minds and hearts from centuries of lies and deceptions.
Seekers may read the book ‘TIGER’ by Kate Brittlebank for an honest biography.
Question: Will the Hindus he slaughtered be happy with the “lies” told about him? Anyway, like all the lies that have brainwashed and deracinated the bhartiyan people lies about Sultan shall also pass. Peace.
Tipu as a two timing traitor and a confusing personality. He got to power killing his Hindu kings (Hyder Ali his father that is). He tried to deal with the British and the English at same time but his real infamy is the massive killing of Hindus (and some Christians) to accomplish his goal.
Not sure how Tipu is relevant, but to show the Muslim kings in India still thinking they are Turks is in plain sight to see. The last Nizam of Hyderabad (now state in India) went on to marry a Turkic princess in the 20th century.
Luckily one strong man Sardar Patel was able to integrate India after Independence in short order when all these kingdoms were sending out SOS to their colonial masters so they could cling on and rape the country to the last paisa.
You know what is the worst fear of the West (predator world order) is the resurgent of real Islam (an attitude) based on JUSTICE and nothing else. Despite all their efforts since centuries to counter and suppress and completely vanish from the memories of the people, justice based attitude has surfaced on the horizon to put the mankind back on the obit of its origin. No amount of tarnishing and demonizing will reverse this process.
That period is not so far, when human beings will be recognised as human beings not as a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a this or that and other nonsense. Our peculiarities and diverse characteristics will be acknowledged and allowed to manifest. Everything will be put in its natural order.
@Hans. Below an excerpt from the book ‘India in Cognitive Dissonance’ for you as an example to show the extent of British lies and their distortion of history.
“When the Kingdom of Amaravati fell to the British, it was then looted. At the time the Capital of that small tiny Kingdom, all houses and palaces were gold plated. The British cavarly used 7000 horses to carry away the loot from the city. But we never read about this in our history books. We learnt about this from the records kept in Telugu, as well as from records kept by the French sources. What the British have done is to cut-paste this same story onto Ghazni — that he looted Somnath, and carried away it’s gold on 7000 horses.”
You be happy with your lies!
“At least the West came up with vaccines, antibiotics, new farming methods, modern healthcare, c-sections, system of laws, ..all this has contributed to humanity and to the victims who survived colonialism…”
Perhaps. But that is only because they stopped everyone else from being able to contribute at that level and restricted to providing lower level labour.
For one to contribute, one should be allowed to think. Think outside the box and think controversially. The muslim culture forebodes these things. That’s why nothing came about. It does not mean there are no brilliant minds out there. Probably quite a lot not being put to good use.
Another perfect example is India. Most of Indian inventions in Math, Science, Astronomy, Education, Language, Medicine happened before the Mughal invasion. (To those who claimed Mughal was Indian, they’re are wrong. They were Turkic — Mughal stood for Mongol — Mongols who went west, converted to Islam and came back east). After Mughal invasion and during their rule the only innovations were building mosques and writing ghazals (as these were the only things allowed).
As to the person who claims the Brits had nothing to sell to them is making a mockery of the facts. They already had machine tools, printing presses, mechical looms and guns.
India problem is simple. 500 years of Mughal rule took away innovation. 300 years of British rule took away self esteem. It’s a work in progress and unlike China it has to dig deeper to get out.
The western civilization is the civilization of genocide and killing. They have nothing to offer to the mankind even today. Because whatever they possess is taken from others.
An example, in 17th century, India was the largest exporter of textile in the world. When the western pirates came, they pushed the industry to the brink of extinction by reducing prices, increasing taxes and then finally CUTTING THE FINGERS OF WEAVERS AND SKILLED LABOURS. Meanwhile establishing industries in England and exporting to other parts of the world including India.
When the western pirates came, India’s GDP was 28% of the world and they left (in reality they haven’t yet) in 1947, it was to reduced to hardly 2%.
@Faisal. No body cares. Count the first 10 things you use once you wake up. If there’s anything that’s not a western “invention” let me know. cheers.
Truth is truth, whether anybody cares or not, doesn’t matter.
Most of the things that we use today developed earlier to the “Dark age of the West”. When they took their genocidal adventure to other parts of the world, they stole everything they got and deprived the people who owns those things. What West has done is to develop those stolen technologies further and that’s it.
A civilization founded on blood cannot offer pro-life things but only blood. Which is why despite “boosting advancements” in all sphere of life, the West don’t have peace of mind. And the East, in spite of being subject of oppression for centuries, so compassionately came forward to liberate with yet another technique of Meditation.
LOL. When meditation don’t help and blood pressure shoots up, one’ll be popping a pill. That molecule came from you know where…
Meditation do help retrieve the sanity of life, for that one should have pure thoughts. But a mind full of ill-will and conspiring to achieve things at the expense of others suffering, will never be at peace and have to take refuge in pills, sometimes for sleep and other to end life itself.
Finland, with so-called finest “education” (brainwashed) system in the world has largest schizophrenia patients. So large that they have to open seperate supermarkets for them. Drug addicts highest among EU. Mass suicide. Abandoned childrens. Homeless population. Sexual abuse etcetera etcetera. And yet “development”, “innovation” and “progress”, really? A finest example of degenerate society.
Is Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, are Americans? 98% population of the Turtle Islands (renamed to The USA and Canada) are settlers from different parts of the world mostly from Europe. Where are the natives comprises of 400 tribes and nations and their finest civilization?
What have you got today? Terror. Guns and mass killings. What started five centuries ago by occupying others lands, killing natives, depriving them of their language, culture, arts, livelihood and resources, still continues.
Now, this western genocidal civilization has found yet another host and sharpened all their knives and teeths to do what they did to the inhabitants of Turtle Islands and elsewhere since then i.e. extermination of natives, occupying their lands and resources, in Jammu and Kashmir. Congratulations!
https://www.newsclick.in/decoding-PM-speech-kashmir-10-counter-questions
An Indian here: How would you re-interpret all of human history if you genuinely believed that the greatest gift in human life is this: ‘Living in full awareness of the said human life’?
In other words, life can be fulfilling even without reparations. And what did the colonizers finally gain? A century or so of vainglory — and now centuries of lapdog duty! Have I missed out anything?
“vaccines, antibiotics, new farming methods, modern healthcare”
Unfortunately all these ‘contributions’ are a burden on humanity and nature. Vaccines are mostly a huge scam and undermine the human immune system. Antibiotics did work for a while but are a certain dead end while really effective solutions, among other some from the SSSR, have been suppressed. New farming methods waste 1 million times the energy per harvested calory of food (energy in, energy out) compared to homestead farming from before the cheap (oil) energy revolution. Modern healthcare is completely controlled by Big Pharma and delivers treatment of the symptoms instead of the cause of the health problems. Any classical methods have been suppressed and even forbidden, and any new solutions or inventions effectively treating and healing disease have been suppressed, destroyed, ridiculed and rendered illegal. Think of Royal Rife, Hoxley, Essiac, etc., etc.
Cheers!
Do not over look the recent and troublesome domestic problems which could soon occupy much of Washingtons future energy’s. Thus taking the Iranians feet off the fire so to speak as the mains (MSM) and cons (congress) must devote more time and energy to portray the illusion of fighting these domestic troubles rather than the daily dose of international policing policy propaganda.
In the short run, sanctions can be a powerful tool to weaken an opponent. In the longer scheme of things, they are self isolating and therefore weaken the sanctioner.
@vot tak. Right. If EU$A does not trade with Iran, Syria, Russia, China, Venezuela and Cuba then these countries trade among each other or set up to manufacture at home what they used to import from EU$A. So EU$A loses if its intended victims refuse to cave in to economic blackmail.
@Serbian Girl. I am sorry to hear that Serbia developed a black market during its economic blackmail by the EU$A. It seems there was a failure in government at the top. I have always admired the Attlee / Churchill coalition govt in wartime Britain: while Churchill was making the big speeches, Attlee was quietly making sure that everybody got a fair ration; as a result, health and nutrition improved — a truly remarkable result for a country under siege.
The importance of Leadership and Social Consciousness has been forgotten by “Western” countries (which include some Middle Eastern countries like Israel and some Far Eastern countries like Australia). Most of our people are Consumers before they are Citizens.
@Maroudos. Ensuring fair ration to all, how? By shipping millions of tons of grains from India and starving and killing 6 millions in Bengal? Repeating exactly what they did 8 decades earlier (1856-58) in Madras that resulted death of 5 millions.
Read Mashusree Mukharjee’s book Churchill’s Secret War.
Dr NG, thank you for your empathy. Definitely, there is a leadership failure in my country. My family and I often had the impression that we could not distinguish the politicians from the racketeers… (this includes the CIA who are running a drug racket in the Balkans, allegedly)
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the underpinning of the US’s power – the US$ and the globalist trading project – is coming under serious and ultimately unsupportable strain. Having control of the world’s reserve currency is fine provided that this ‘exorbitant privilege’ is not abused. Human nature being what it is, however, this key advantage has been and continues to be abused. The state of the US economy – and therefore the whole global world economic system – is becoming critical, consider the following:
Sovereign US debt is now 106% of GDP. And this is just the debt of the US government. Private debt and unfunded future liabilities are not accounted for.
What’s left of US manufacturing industries are languishing.
Despite unprecedented money printing and deficit spending recovery from the 2008 blowout has been pitifully slow.
To keep the economy growing at historically sub-optimal levels of growth interest rates have broken the zero bound level and are actually in negative territory – both nominal and actual.
Investment markets cannot go anywhere without creating a bubble that eventually bursts. The bubble economy up to 2008 has been kept going by an even bigger bubble post-2008, and we know how this is headed.
Is this a picture of a healthy super-power? Or is it a picture of vulnerable giant close to exhausting its prime position? All the signs seem to be the latter.
What has America and her allies got that Iran can’t make herself, buy from her allies or do without?
The German media reported a critical situation on the German Army
German media reported the critical status of the Bundeswehr
Mr Schaller, good, hope-filled analyses. Only thing I don’t agree with is that you have underestimated the capacity of intelligence agencies of certain countries to create false flags operations, and muddy the already tense geopolitical situation in the world in mid-2019. The other thing is the international billionaire bankers’ will do anything to deflect the blame of collapsing global economy in mid-2019 than take responsibility for creating the biggest credit bubble. Thirdly, an empire never gives up it’s hegemony to up and coming power without a good fight.