Something quite amazing has just happened. Following the terrorist attack in Ankara which killed 34 people and injured another 125, Turkish authorities first declared that they will not accept US condolences. Then the Turks launched a military operation against “Kurdish terrorists in northern Syria“. Turkey then claimed to have neutralized 184 terrorists.
What is not mentioned in those articles is that the target of the Turkish strike was the US-run center for the training and education of PKK militants in Rojava. There are rumors that the Turks gave the US enough warning time to evacuate most of its personnel.
Does that sound familiar?
If it does, it is because it is very similar to what the Iranians did when they hit US bases in Iraq following the murder of General Solemani in a US drone strike.
If the above is true, and rumors are very much “if” and cannot be considered as proven fact, then that means that a NATO member state (Turkey) just attacked a US base and, like Iran, got away with it: the “The Finest Fighting Force in the History of the World” just got whacked hard and humiliated for a second time and could do absolutely nothing to defend itself or even save face.
How big a slap in the face did Uncle Shmuel get this time? According to the Turkish defense minister, Hulusi Akar,
Terrorists’ shelters, bunkers, caves, tunnels, and warehouses were successfully destroyed,” Akar said, adding that “the so-called headquarters of the terrorist organization were also hit and destroyed.” Overall, the Defense Ministry claimed that the strikes hit nearly 90 targets, which it said were connected to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG).
Even allowing for some “patriotic exaggeration”, it is pretty clear that Ergodan’s revenge strike was both quite substantial and, apparently, rather effective.
So, what do we have here? A NATO member state all but accused the US of a major terrorist attack against its capital city, and then that NATO member state openly attacked a US-run facility (let’s not call it a base, that would be inaccurate).
Is Erdogan’s claim even credible? Absolutely! Not only has the US already attempted to overthrow and kill Erdogan, who was saved in extremis by Russian special forces (same with Ianukovich), but we also know that the US overthrew General de Gaulle in 1968-1969 and that NATO covert forces were used to stage false flag attacks against NATO allies (especially Italy) in the so-called GLADIO operation.
NATO is not a defensive alliance – it never was – but it is a tool of US colonial domination.
This was always true, hence the famous words spoken in the now faraway 1950s when the first NATO Secretary General, British General Hasting Ismay, bluntly admitted that real the purpose of NATO was to keep the “Russians out, Americans in, Germans down“. Let’s take these elements one by one, starting with the last one:
- “Keep the Germans down”: here the word “Germans” is a placeholder for any and all European leaders or countries who want true sovereignty and agency. Translation: enslave the Europeans
- “Keep the Americans in”: in order to crush any European liberation movement. Translation: place US overlords over all the EU nations.
- “Keep the Russians out”: make sure that Russia does not liberate Europe. Translation: demonize Russia and do anything and everything to prevent peace on the European continent. If possible, break-up, subjugate or otherwise destroy Russia.
Need proof? How about the undeniable act of war against Germany (and, I would argue, the entire EU) when the Anglos blew up NS1/NS2? Is that not proof enough?
Against that background, we have to ask ourselves: what does it even mean to be a NATO member state in 2022?
The truth is that NATO was a pure creation of the Cold War and that in the real world of 2022 it is a total anachronism. Being a NATO member state really means very little. Not only are some “more equal than others” in NATO, but there are also non-NATO states which are far more “NATOized” than actual NATO members states (I think of Israel or, of course, the Nazi occupied Ukraine). And being a member of NATO does not protect you from anything, not from external attacks and not against internal ones either.
According to Col (Ret) MacGregor, the war in the Ukraine might well bring about the collapse of both NATO and the EU. I very much agree with him. I would say that such a collapse will not so much be the result of embarrassing defeats as it will be due to the deep internal contradictions inside both organizations.
By the way, this is not our topic today, but I think that the CSTO has much of the same problems and contradictions as NATO. So is what we observe a “NATO problem” or a problem of artificial and generally obsolete alliances? I would argue for the latter.
But let’s leave a discussion of the CSTO for another day.
In the case of Turkey this problem is made even worse by a total incompatibility between Islam and the Woke ideology now openly promoted (and enforced) by the US and NATO.
Then there is geography. Turkey has some pretty powerful regional neighbors, including not only Greece or Israel, but also Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Syria and, course, Russia. Can Turkey count on any type of US/NATO “protection” from such powerful neighbors?
Ask the Saudis how much the US/NATO helped them against the Houthis!
Ask the Israelis how much the US/NATO helped them against Hezbollah?
If anything, the Iranian strikes on CENTCOM bases have demonstrated that the US does not have the stomach to take on Iran. In sharp contrast, the Russian and Iranian intervention in Syria defeated the US plans for a “New Middle East” or, shall we say, it did bring about a “new Middle-East”, but most definitely not the one the US Neocons were hoping for!
Add to this is major deterioration in the relationship between the US and MBS’ Saudi Arabia and we get an amazing picture: the USA and NATO (which the US dragged into the region) are gradually becoming irrelevant in the Middle-East. Instead, new “big actors” are gradually filling the void, including Russia and Iran who are now even gradually allowing Saudi Arabia to participate in a much needed regional dialog about the future of the region.
The phenomenal weakness of the US/NATO/CENTCOM is best illustrated by the US reaction to the Turkish strikes: Uncle Shmuel endorsed (no kidding!!!) the Turkish strikes :-)
How absolutely pathetic is that for a wannabe superpower?
Will this process have an impact on the NATO war against Russia?
Well, let’s imagine that Russia would really strike some target inside Poland (which is what the Ukies claimed, as did the Poles until Uncle Shmuel told them to cool it). What would happen next?
Does anybody still remember what happened when Erdogan flew to Mons to beg for NATO protection against Russia (following the downing of a Russian Su-24 over northern Syria by a joint US-Turkish operation, possibly executed without Erdogan’s knowledge, at least that was his claim). What did NATO promise or give the Turks? Absolutely *nothing* (other than “consultations”).
Now the Poles might be delusional enough to think that a US President might order a retaliatory attack on Russia if Russia strikes Poland, but those of us who know the USA and its ruling elites know that this is nonsense. Why? Simply because a US/NATO counter-strike on Russian forces would result in an immediate Russian response.
And then what?
The truth is very stark in its simplicity:
- The US/NATO do not have the manpower or firepower needed to take on Russia in a conventional combined arms war.
- Any use of nuclear weapons will result in an immediate retaliation most likely resulting into a unwinnable full-scale nuclear war.
So here is the deal: whether Western politicians understand that or not, military professionals all know the truth – NATO can’t defend ANY of its members against a truly modern military. Why?
Let’s look at what capabilities the US/NATO truly have:
- The USN has a superb submarine force (both SSNs and SSBNs) capable for firing large numbers of relatively obsolete cruise missiles (and plenty of SLBMs)
- A still very capable, if rather old, nuclear triad
- A quantitative (only!) conventional advantage over Russia
- Superb (but very vulnerable!) C4ISR capabilities
- A printing press allowing for the quasi infinite printing of dollars
- A comprador elite ruling over all the NATO/EU countries
- The most formidable propaganda machine in history
So what does NATO lack to be a credible military force?
Obviously, “boots on the ground”. And I don’t mean a few subunits from the 101st or 82AB or US special forces or even a so-called “armored brigade” which, in reality, lacks adequate TO&E to qualify as such. I am talking about a “land warfare” force capable of fighting a modern and extremely determined enemy.
[Sidebar: if this is a topic of interest to you, may I recommend my article “Debunking popular clichés about modern warfare” written in 2016 but which is still mostly relevant]
The USA, Israel and the KSA all fell into the same trap: the delusion that by spending billions and billions of dollars on massively over-priced and massively under-performing military hardware will allow you to defeat an enemy assumed to be “less sophisticated”. Hence the need to use:
- Proxy forces
- PMCs
- PSYOPS
- Corruption
All of the above are a normal part of any modern war, but in the case of the US/NATO they are not just part of a bigger plan, they are central to any US/NATO operation, thereby dramatically decreasing the true capabilities of the US/NATO. In sharp contrast, countries like Russia or Iran can deploy “boots on the ground”, and very capable ones at that (remember that the Iranians are those who trained Hezbollah!).
What does all this mean practically?
It means that even if the Russians decided to strike at a NATO country, the tensions would go through the roof, but it is highly UN-likely that any US President would allow any action which could result in a full-scale nuclear war! Remember, for Russia, this is an existential war, no less than WWII, whereas no Anglo leader would ever dare launch a suicidal attack on Russian forces which would most likely result in the full obliteration of the US/UK and any other country participating (for example by hosting forward deployed standoff weapons) in such an attack.
Does that mean that we have to anticipate a Russian strike on Poland, Romania or the UK?
No, not at all. In fact, it would be very dangerous for the Russians to only leave a stark choice to the Hegemony: admit defeat or commit suicide. And since the Russians do have escalation dominance (that is to say that they have balanced capabilities from the small-arms fire level to a full intercontinental nuclear war, and with all the stages in between these two extremes) they, unlike the US/NATO. are not stuck between the choice of surrender or suicide.
That being said, it would also be misguided to assume that Russia “would never dare strike a NATO member state”. The Poles might be willing to wager their future and even existence on such a invalid inference, but not the folks at the Pentagon or elsewhere in the decision centers of the Hegemony.
Conclusion:
Douglas MacGregor is right, the NATO war against Russia might very well result in the collapse of both NATO and the EU which, in turn, will place an official “last nail”, into the coffin of an already long-deceased Hegemony which currently still exists only because of its momentum and its propaganda machine.
I would argue that NATO is already falling apart before our eyes, a process which the economic, social, political, economic and spiritual crises which are plaguing the entire EU will only accelerate. And, of course, the most amazing thing about this is that this collapse is not the result of some Machiavellian plan cooked up by the Russians, the Chinese or the Iranians, but a direct consequence of decades of truly suicidal policies: they did it to themselves!
Now, the Russians, the Chinese and the Iranians are mostly waiting, watching (probably smiling) and planning for the Hegemony-free multi-polar world they want to bring about, with or without the participation of the USA and Europe.
Andrei
The biggest mistake of both Turkey and Saudi Arabia is that they are both heavily invested is overpriced US weapons. This makes both countries reliant on the USA for spare parts.
Both countries would be better off starting to move to Russian air defense systems that the US is so deathly afraid of.
Turkey is in an interesting situation caught between Iran, Russia and Syria. The US always trying to insert itself.
The one thing Ukraine has exposed is that the US cannot and will not protect you. Nor are “US interest” aligned with her allies. It looks more to me that the USA is intent on strip-mining the EU/UK. What to do with the spent tailings might be an issue.
“This makes both countries reliant on the USA for spare parts”
Spare parts the US doesn’t even have, so a really smooth move on their part.
If the US crashes the Euro and EU economies and NATO is based on 2% of GDP, it would seem that the USA is shooting NATO in the head. Now that is a smooth move!
At the same time though money is being thrown into contracts for the next 2 or 3 years of U.S. weapons production, seems we are running short after all the Ukrainian operations.
Don’t SA and Turkey now have S-400’s ? Very telling that USA cancelled Turkey’s F-35 order on the strength of that.
The biggest supplier of war toys in word history, with no principles whatsoever would not have done that out of spite. $$$ come before anything with them. They did it because everyone would find out that S-400’s can do a turkey shoot, on F-35 “Turkeys”.
Excellent analysis, and if it turns out Turkey did bomb a US training centre in Syria then this will have massive implications for the Syrian theatre and beyond, as well as the prognosis for NATO.
Very uplifting.
Agree and welcome back Andrei your writing is based on hard facts and analysis
your back with a bang with this one well done Sir and thanks for posting, hope things are improving in Florida for you cheers
“they did it to themselves”: the “they” are only “docile servant goyims” and their real bosses – the zionist bankers – must be reeling now. Their real power, the one that counts – not the money but human ressources – is crumbling as you so well illustrate.
Harfang67
Oh please, you can’t bring everything back to “The Jews they”.
I mean, if that is how you think you think, then please abstain from posting here, ok?
Joe Biden, a Catholic, is on record declaring that he is a Zionist. He said that one does not need to be a Jew to be a Zionist. So maybe harfang67’s comment, which did not mention Jews, is OK. Or am I missing something?
Great article by the way.
The anti-war movement in the U.S. has always been anti-NATO as well. But the uniparty has always quashed any momentum from the peace-loving populace here. Hell, they have never even been held accountable for shooting college students at Kent State University and Jackson State for protesting the Vietnam War.
God bless Russia and Her allies for fighting what is clearly a righteous war against NATO and the globalists. I pray that the enemies of God come to the realization of the inescapability of spiritual law before it’s too late.
Biden/Americans are using Jews for their own interests: to prot the petrodollar in the middle east
Your “Jewish” US Dollar is backed by an anglosaxon Military and arab oil.
I believe Turkey has been leaning towards Russia for some time. As I recall the Nato base removed nuclear weapons out of Turkey to Greece sometime back, Turkey is much involved and invested with Russian business, and Turkey is much willing to work with Russia whereas Nato is not. There will, more like, be a New Middle East for Turkey is the regional power there.
Turkey has been a primary tourist destination for Russians for quite some time. Someone also mentioned recently that Turkey has the largest flour mills in Europe. If Russia ends up taking the rest of lower Ukraine, this would imply even more leverage on Turkey to leave a now proven useless NATO.
You have to hand it to the USA though, they created the world’s largest Afghanistan outside of Afghanistan with Ukraine.
Except they dumped a whole more coin into that deep dark money pit.
as well as the ecconomy of Turkey has been under sever strain for years , the gas hub bonanza was offered right after the EU rules forced south stream to go to Turkey , it gives Putin great leverage and is a win win for both countries cheap energy is going to be rare in the world now and Turkey is locked in to it
I already have accumulated a ‘strike’ on Mastodon for spreading misinformation on account of my replying to a post by the great strategist and humanitarian, Anne Applebaum where she praised Lloyd Austin’s Halifax speech as terrific news;
My reply was tough and direct but a fair synopsis:
She and her husband did not condemn the NordStream attack which will cause much hardship and did cause severe environmental damage. (Her hubby tweeted something …)
Ukraine is run by inveterate Nazis.
Lloyd Austin has no experience in modern full scale warfare against a prepared opponent and further, our armed forces have not faced an opponent as tough as Ukraine much less Russia.
Misinformation? Really?
So neither an open exchange of views nor checking to see if your ‘facts’ comport with reality is how we roll now. Simply. Terrible.
I should swing for the fences and post a link to your fine analysis and MacGregor’s latest interview, but for the fact that I deeply believe in free software and that is what powers Mastodon. Most of my comments concern computer programming languages.
Is there any literature on the direct role of the US in the 1968 European uprisings and the overthrow of De Gaulle? This is very interesting. The cultural shift from the 1968’s is essential to understand the abysmal state of the Western Europe of today.
@Ambiorix
A good starting point should be former MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit who most conveniently chameleoned from ´Danny The Red´ to ´Danny the Green´. This individual was born in France to German parents and was granted French citizenship nearly 50 years after he was expelled from the country for “disturbing the peace” as a leader of the May 1968 student uprising and for 10 years considered to be “persona non grata” in France.
Yes, I know the politician, but what has the US to do with this?
I took the time to reread the recommend article “Debunking popular clichés about modern warfare”. I remember when this was 1st published and can’t believe it has been that long ago.
I haven’t the knowledge or the experience of someone like Col. McGregor but even with my much smaller military background I know there are many ways to view military conflict within the strategic and operational context. There are different spheres to consider like air, land, sea and space but before you can get to that natural resources, land use, and industries underpin combat capabilities. Food is the foundation for successful operations, followed by raw materials and facilities to convert them to military hardware, etc. Petro, electrical, nuclear power, water supplies and the means to transport are just a few of the important things to consider.
Transportation networks and supply chain either expedite or impede military capabilities. Only a few nations on earth possess the economic potential to be great military powers and none are totally self sufficient, so where there are deficiencies it is very important to have some degree of control over the geographical area of consequence. Hence, the reason the Donbass region is of such concern for the RF.
Telecommunications systems and command and control also play a very important part and not just in the propaganda sphere.
There are also regional geographical quirks to consider. For example, the Greenland-Iceland-Norway gaps in conjunction with anti submarine warfare. Or the Challenger deep south of Gaum and its potential to upset the island chain defense systems.
Cultural factors also play a part, but there are so many factors that go into successful military planning that it is impossible to list them all. It takes a large and well educated team of specialists to even start this process.
When you start to do a very preliminary analysis of the NATO conflict with Russia in its current form it is easy to spot massive deficiencies on the part of NATO planners but there are some advantages. It is obvious to me NATO cannot withstand a protracted conflict in Ukraine. Raw materials, energy, production capabilities, a shorter line of supply and transport for the RF are just a few items that conspire against NATO. I really don’t understand what NATO is playing at but this is the same group of planners that have made one blunder after the other most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation a wise man once said. Stupid people just can’t help being stupid, I suppose.
I agree hard to figure out just what Nato hoped to gain in this conflict and why the west is so willing to advertise huge sums of money into Ukraine {just in the hope of saving face ? ..ie Nato isn’t a empty shell paper tiger that is Really just corruption now an possible money laundering from the tax payers to the banks of uber wealthy types who profit off chaos/destruction
but I liked your laying out all the nuts an bolts info really interesting stuff to ponder
Thanks
It is funny, right? Usually when you start the planning process you have some objective in mind. Now I think Mr. Austin has stated, “We want to see Russia weakened” sometime in April.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/defense-secretary-austin-russia-ukraine-rebecca-grant
I’ll take that as the objective. So what has actually happened since Mr. Austin publicly made this statement in April? Which has had their economy and military readiness diminished more, NATO or Russia? For what reason does NATO want to see Russia weakened and is there a follow up plan once Russia is weakened? At what point is the ROI not worth the initial investment? Something just doesn’t add up to me. But then again I thought the same thing about Afghanistan.
“At what point is the ROI not worth the initial investment?”
If the idea, long term, is to break Russia in 5/6 different countries(and the West already said that many times, quite clearly) you can be 100 % sure that you will have a fantastic ROI at the end of the road. The Anglos are going to have collateral for the next 3 centuries.
When it comes to Turkey and Erdogan, let’s not jump to conclusions. He’s a very sly fox because he often plays one nation against another. After all, he sits right in the middle Between The East & the West.
Anyone who has studied a little about Erdogan knows that. Nothing new here.
Man with no shoes must weep for man with no feet.
The US and its Euro vassals are all masquerading as going concerns when in fact they’re all joined at the hip bankrupt. Should Europe (Brussels) fall off a cliff, the US follows soon after.
For a few hundred (oligarchs, bankers and political elite) this war is also existential, in their twisted psyche.
Ye Olde Colonial Empire will not roll over and die like a good chap, it’s rotten.
Empires an Tyrants never surrender they have to be killed …history of the world
Since it seems obvious the Empire won’t go head to head agains’t Russia , seems they will try the ‘death by a thousand cuts’ method , new hot spots seem arriving almost weekly now , some new some have been ongoing but seems like news is just all bad everywhere and the worst is yet to come , The usa printing press running nonstop since 2008 seems to have hit a snag with all the interest rising on all the Debt {the US ecconomy has not been growing just borrowing from the future to pay today in worlds largest ponzi scheme in history has discovered paradise and hell exist both same time here and no one is truly safe . or ‘chosen’
One key player rarely mentioned is the Vatican. If the East/West political split is largely based on the Great Schism then it would be reasonable to assume that the Vatican has a big role. Since the outcome of the current war would also have a big impact on the Vatican I can’t imagine that it would not be actively involved.
I was floored when Col Mac stated in the posted video with this article, that German officers think the BRD is ready to walk away from NATO. I can’t imagine the current Red-Green-Black coalition government in Berlin would leave NATO… they love the war in Ukraine (it’s the royal road to Carbon Neutrality)…
But any other German with a working brain realizes that the Ukronazis are toxic to German long-term interests (as is vassalage to the US).
Germany’s best prospects lay in aligning with the BRICS Multi-Polar World Order ed by China- Russia.
I can’t imagine the current Red-Green-Black coalition government in Berlin would leave NATO… they love the war in Ukraine
This is what is most interesting about the crypto crash and the SBF multi-dimensional scam: the US Democrats were all offered a finger in the pie of scamming off “donations to Ukraine” – and it seems highly probable that elites throughout the West, especially all the top politicos, were also offered a finger in the FTX crypto pie in order to motivate their support for Ukraine. Their unwavering and nationally suicidal support for Ukraine can only be explained by personal financial incentives (combined of course with the usual blackmail, the other side of the coin).
“A NATO member state all but accused the US of a major terrorist attack against its capital city, and then that NATO member state openly attacked a US-run facility (let’s not call it a base, that would be inaccurate).”
Wait, did Germany finally call out America and Great Britain as the perpetrators of the Nordstream 2 terrorist attack?!? It’s only a matter of time before Germany invokes NATO’s Article 5 against the USA and UK!
Seriously, though, this is how warped NATO is as an alliance:
It’s likely that the leading member states of NATO (the USA and UK) have staged attacks on other member nations (like Germany or Turkey), who in turn could creditably invoke Article 5 against other NATO countries.
NATO needs an amendment to their charter that this hallowed alliance provides defense for its member nations–from each other, that is.
ROFLMAO.
U.S and NATO/U.N peaked in the Korean War, and has been in rapid decline since the Vietnam War, the failure of SEATO. There was a brief resurgence with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Persian Gulf war, but resumed decline with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ukraine, The Iranian unrest, and tensions with China are the death throes of the Anglo-American Israeli empire.
But what if the Globalists’ plan is to collapse both NATO and the EU? They have wanted one world government for quite some time and to achieve that they need to dismantle both, EU and NATO. In other word, they are dismantling the old Hegemony to build a new Hegemony. “Timeo Danaos Et Dona Ferentes”
Hegemony backed by what?! No Nato no hegemony.
Nato is the west and US. If you collapse Nato then you collapse the west, then you have no hegemony and no replacement hegemony from the west.
Makes more sense if the collapsing west tries to collapse the rest of the world with them.
Even if tomorrow Russia atack an army base in Poland or Romania, NATO will do nothing. They will probably start screaming something about Article 5 or how the West is going to “teach Russia a lesson”. They will not respond, NATO is a paper tiger. It is all bluffing and PR.
I would even dare to say that even if Russia sink a US ship in the middle of the ocean, nothing will happen.The Russians would even say “we did it, so what”?
My 2 cents.
GERMAN ARMY PREPARES FOR WAR WITH RUSSIA: Classified documents obtained by German Media outlet Der Spiegel indicate the German military is making preparations for a war with Russia. The report titled “Operational Instructions for the Armed Forces” was prepared by Inspector General of the German Armed Forces, General Eberhard Zorn, who called on German military forces to prepare for Russian attacks that could “occur without warning” and create “high casualties.” Zorn warned in the report that a direct conflict along NATO’s eastern flank had become “likely,” saying German forces must focus efforts on training and building operational readiness for a “high-intensity scenario” to form a “backbone of deterrence.” Zorn indicated that this requires the German military to be able to provide “combat and action-ready forces” independent of U.S. support, as “war in Europe is again a reality,” and NATO could not afford to begin planning and massing forces only when an attack occurs. (AC: Zorn’s comments reflect ongoing concerns of a delayed American response to a potential conflict in Europe. NATO countries like Germany are concerned over a lack of logistical capacity and reductions in U.S. stockpiles of armed vehicles after the closure of several U.S. installations in Germany. – R.P.)
“In Bern, Dulles and Vanden Heuvel began conferring with their Nazi contacts on how German forces would be redeployed against the Soviet Union, America’s ally against Hitler, after Britain and the United States would conclude what they hoped would be a separate peace deal with the Nazis.
The British intelligence strategist Van den Heuvel and Dulles met in February 1943 with a representative of the Nazi SS (“storm troopers”)—the section of the German regime then in charge of exterminating the Jews. The SS spokesman was a German prince from Czechoslovakia, Max Egon Hohenlohe,[2] Dulles’s friend of 20 years.
In reporting on those 1943 discussions in Bern, Hohenlohe said that Dulles told him the post-war arrangements must permit “the existence of a ‘Greater Germany’ which would include Austria and a section of Czechoslovakia. This … would be a part of ‘a cordon sanitaire against Bolshevism and pan-Slavism’ which … would be ‘the best guarantee of order and progress in Central and Eastern Europe.’”
“
This is a very good article from Topwar explaining the complicated situation in the area:
https://en.topwar.ru/205473-kogot-mech-perspektivy-voennoj-operacii-turcii.html
“Claw-Sword”. Prospects for Turkish Military Operation
The beginning of the week was marked not only by the start of the World Cup in Qatar, but also by the start of Turkey’s military operation in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, codenamed “Claw-sword”. There are quite a lot of messages on this topic, and the events at first glance seem quite serious in terms of consequences.
For example, an air strike on an American military training base in Syrian Kurdistan (the so-called Rojava). There are no reports of casualties among the Americans, although, most likely, they simply do not exist, and the United States was warned in advance “through communication channels”. But the fact itself is loud and revealing, because, according to the Turkish intelligence service MIT, the girl who carried out the attack in Istanbul was trained at this base and was a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
I believe it’s a mistake to think of NATO as some kind of autonomous body that is capable of acting and thinking for itself. It is just a dog pound run by the US and populated by strays, misfits and rejects that crave attention and rely on feeding by its masters. Take away the US and NATO is exposed for what it really is – a bunch of yapping curs.
Never miss such a golden opportunity whenever you see one!
Whenever the still dangerous Bully par excellence ceases to inspire fear to kids in the school yard by terrorizing them all… it is high time for the brave and courageous to be assertive and to liberate themselves from his stronghold.
Lyrics for my song, Hegemon.
By and (c) GhAk, Grasshopper Kaplan
Gave you golden jewels
Piles of money
Bread and circuses
Clowns so funny
Don’t mean nothing
Don’t mean nothing…
All you have is your heart
Gave you fancy cars , jet airplanes
Gave you shooting galleries insane
Don’t mean nothing
Don’t mean nothing
All you have is your heart
These are first two verses….
I am wondering what did Turkey use to hit these targets ? Their drones ? Do they have same as Iran credible cruise missiles ? Jet attacks ? Air to surface ? Just wondering, as they seemed precise. Will keep researching out of curiosity.
When Donald Trump became US president & his administration engineered a policy change forcing the CIA to cease its tacit covert support & cooperation with ISIS in Iraq & Syria, & switching to provide military support for the Kurds by forming the SDF out of a YPG led assortment of marginal militant groups – including ex-ISIS & ex-al Nusra jihadists – Turkey reacted with outrage. At the time, there was a great deal of commentary, including in the alt-media, speculating on how far US support for the Kurds would go & posing the question, would the US risk its NATO allied relationship with Turkey? Every article & commentary I read on the subject stated unequivocally that the US would not alienate Turkey & would eventually drop the Kurds & betray them. Wherever I was able to post a comment, I argued that this would actually not happen, that the US would cultivate its relationship with the Kurds irrespective of Turkey’s complaints, & in the end, would actually come to blows with Turkey over the issue – it seems that moment has now come. What needs to be remembered here is how big a deal it was for the Trump admin to get the CIA to terminate its links with ISIS, for the CIA this was a huge blow, because co-opting ISIS was for them considered a huge success. Amongst much of the nonsense you unfortunately find on alt-media, was the claim that ISIS was created by the CIA. This is an incredible fallacy that many who should know better began claiming during the worst of the Syrian war. ISIS grew out of the Iraqi insurgency against the US occupation of Iraq, when it was known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which the US insisted on calling Al-Qaeda in Iraq – a name ISI never really used, not in that format – ISI was among the most deadly insurgent groups fighting US troops in Iraq. The US worked hard in Iraq to co-opt all insurgent groups, Sunni as well as Shia & had limited success, ISI seems to have been co-opted after the US killed its then leaders in 2010, Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi & Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, leading to the ascent of Ibrahim al-Badri, known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The expansion of ISI into Syria in 2011, a year after al-Baghdadi became Amir & later Khalifa, leading to ISI becoming the notorious ISIS was an operation carried out with close CIA co-ordination with Gulf military intel apparatus, Turkey & Israel – the latter had played major role in co-opting these groups in Iraq, with Mossad officers participating covertly in observing & conduction interrogations of insurgents during the war in Iraq 2003-2011. The US military, & elements of the DIA were openly upset about this partnership with ISIS, one of the reasons Obama attempted to placate them with the fake coalition against ISIS whilst approving the CIA to work with them indirectly. People like Mike Flynn, a DIA veteran, supported Trump on this basis & Trump’s pledge to end the US partnership with a group that the US military had fought in Iraq. This of course outraged the CIA, the Democrats & Wall St to whom they are very close, & so co-opting the Kurds was a form of concession to them. It was also a way to reorientate what the US & Israel have been trying to achieve in the Middle East, by supporting the Kurds in Syria as an extension of supporting the Kurds in Iraq, with whom Israel has a historically close relationship, despite the fact the Kurds of Syria are a very different grouping from those in Iraq. Still, the US & Israel are working closely with them all, & a recent result of this is that Iran has now taken military action against certain Kurdish groups in Iraq who they have accused of working to ferment civil war in Iran. These groups are PKK, who are basically one in the same as the YPG. The net result of all of this is that the US is sacrificing its relationship with Turkey to maintain its growing relationship with the Kurds, because the Kurds have become instrumental to US & Israeli plans for the Middle East. Turkey & Erdogan of course know what is going on & clearly have had enough – they are now prepared to extend their military action against the Kurds to include the US, if the US gets in the way, which it will, & will continue to do so. This is all part in parcel of a collapse of the unipolar world order, & the proliferation of conflict throughout strategically critical regions of the planet.
US forces were about 300 meters from a joint counterterrorism base in #Hasakah, #Syria when a #Turkey airstrike hit Nov. 22, two sources, including a US defense official, tell
@VOANews
Saker,
Glad to see you’re back in action after having endured illness and two hurricanes. Nothing but best wishes for you and your family.
Enjoyed this article. I find NATO a black box and cannot for the life of me understand why the Collective West values its membership. The premise that Russia is some kind of wild animal threatening to invade and rumble through Europe at a moment’s notice – a false equivalency with Nazi Germany – is very puzzling. But years of propaganda defining post-Soviet Russia as cold war equivalent of the Soviet Union – a former ally of the US and UK – has had its intended effect. Somehow Russia cannot be admitted into the pool of “civilized” nations as to do so would contradict years of brainwashing and amount to a tacit, if not imaginary, defeat.
It’s important to understand that the USA military is a voluntary force and that any ground war with Russia would require conscription through an involuntary draft. There is NO chance the USA public would support a draft that would send its kids to front-lines of an unwinnable war with Russia. Sure, we’d allow “volunteers” to become cannon fodder, but conscription? After Vietnam, I seriously doubt conscription could muster any support unless it was the US itself that was threatened. Poland and the Baltics, if they initiated action against Russia, would be on their own despite NATO membership.
The one wild card in all of this is the UK. The “Putin” is being blamed for all things failing in the UK. Mercouris describes the UK economy has “locked into decline.” Little Britain is becoming a third world country and has no hope of reversing course. For the wealthy elites that govern Little Britain, this is fine. For the mass public, the elites may find release for their anger in reckless behavior (Nordstream and other terrorist attacks or pushing the boundaries of direct military involvement in Ukraine). They are rapidly assuming the position of the “North Korea” of Europe, a small economically depleted country with nukes. Like North Korea, their wild card behavior could elude control, even by the USA.
That said, I do find it odd that NATO (unelected) leader Stoltenberg could make the statement that a Russian victory over Ukraine is a “defeat for us all.” Stoltenberg has consistently framed the Ukrainian conflict as a “do or die” conflict between NATO and Russia. Yet how can this framing be permitted when it is nothing of the sort? (Should, when, if – pick your word) Russia defeat Ukraine in whatever definition Russia says represents victory, how is this a defeat for NATO? Ukraine is not a NATO member; therefore, it is not a defeat!
Looked at through this prism, one can easily discern that NATO is not a defensive alliance, but a group of thugs bent on world domination.
What Stoltenberg is effectively saying is: “Oh God, if we don’t defeat Russia, the game is up, everyone will realise NATO is just a bunch of corrupt fools who serve no purpose, we will be finished”.
Thank you for this lucid comment.
The link for the terrorist attack in Istanbul is wrong. You have linked to a 2016 attack in Ankara.
Not that it changes your articles premise, but just for the record its better if the link gets corrected.
In your list of leaders the Americans have removed since WW2, you omitted the name I expected to see. The name that appears rather relevant to El Presidente for Life Zelenski. That name is, Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, assassinated by the Kennedy administration in 1963 when they decided that new leadership was what was needed to turn around a floundering war.
I’ve been wondering when the Russians would start to bomb the Joe Biden Trail?
I came into this theater of the absurd during Vietnam. During Vietnam, America expanded its illegal war to neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia. The Americans explained this by saying that there was a key supply line for the NVA and the VC that must be bombed. It even had a name, The Ho Chi Minh Trail. Back then, I was young and did not yet know that everything would have a cute name from Madison Ave.
There is today a Joe Biden Trail that stretches across Europe to Ukraine. According to the Americans during the Vietnam War, the ‘Rules’ upon which Order is Based say that it is permissible to bomb such a supply line.
Of course, any American knows that trying to make such an argument over the fairness of the rules and the precedents you cite American law enforcement will leave you with an impressive display of bruises, if you are lucky. Because with the punches you’ll be told that the rules based order is “whatever I say it is!” … thump, bang, pow. Anyone who grew up poor in America knows this.
After lurking and spectating for so long, I shall participate and comment.
I entered the thrift store, came upon a bag, inscribed upon it the acronym ‘NATO’.
The bottom end of the bag had a bit of frayed fibers – it held no weight.
Like that bag, NATO holds no real weight. It is a legacy ‘brand’ from a bygone era, it needs to be retired.