This analysis was written for the Unz Review.
With the Neocon coup against Trump now completed (at least in its main objective, that is the neutralization of Trump, the subsidiary objective, impeaching Trump and removing him from office remains something for the future) the world has to deal, yet again, with a very dangerous situation: the AngloZionist Empire is on a rapid decline, but the Neocons are back in power and they will do anything and everything in their power to stop and reverse this trend. It is also painfully obvious from their rhetoric, as well as from their past actions, that the only “solution” out the Neocons see is to trigger some kind of war. So the pressing question now becomes this: “whom will the Empire strike next?”. Will it be the DPRK or Syria? Iran or Venezuela? In the Ukraine, maybe? Or do the Neocons seek war with Russia or China?
Now, of course, if we assume that the Neocons are completely crazy, then everything is possible, from a US invasion of Lesotho to a simultaneous thermonuclear attack on Russia and China. I am in no way dismissing the insanity (and depravity) of the Neocons, but I also see no point in analyzing that which is clearly irrational, if only because all modern theories of deterrence always imply a “rational actor” and not a crazy lunatic on an suicidal amok run. For our purposes, therefore, we will assume that there is a semblance of rational thinking left in Washington DC and that even if the Neocons decide to launch some clearly crazy operation, somebody in the top levels of power will find the courage prevent this, just like Admiral Fallon did it with his “not on my watch!” which possibly prevented a US attack on Iran in 2007). So, assuming a modicum of rationality is still involved, where could the Empire strike next?
The ideal scenario
We all by now know exactly what the Empire likes to do: find some weak country, subvert it, accuse it of human right violations, slap economic sanctions, trigger riots and militarily intervene in “defense” of “democracy”, “freedom” and “self-determination” (or some other combo of equally pious and meaningless concepts). But that is only the ‘political recipe’. What I want to look into is what I call “the American way of war”, that is the way US commanders like to fight.
During the Cold War, most of the US force planning, procurement, doctrine and training was focused on fighting a large conventional war against the Soviet Union and it was clearly understood that this conventional war could escalate into a nuclear war. Setting aside the nuclear aspect for a while (it is not relevant to our discussion), I would characterize the conventional dimension of such a war as “heavy”: centered on large formations (divisions, brigades), involving a lot of armor and artillery, this kind of warfare would involve immense logistical efforts on both sides and that, in turn, would involve deep-strikes on second echelon forces, supply dumps, strategic axes of communications (roads, railways, bridges, etc.) and a defense in depth in key sectors. The battlefield would be huge, hundreds of kilometers away on both sides of the FEBA (Forward Edge of Battle Area, or “front line”). On all levels, tactical, operational and strategic, defenses would be prepared in two, possibly three, echelons. To give you an idea of the distances involved, the Soviet 2nd strategic echelon in Europe was deployed as far back as the Ukraine! (this is why, by the way, the Ukraine inherited huge ammo dumps from the Soviet Union, and why there never was a shortage of weapons on any side for the conduct of the Ukrainian civil war). With the collapse of the Soviet Union’s Empire, this entire threat disappeared, well, if not overnight, then almost overnight. Of course, the Gulf War provided the US armed forces and NATO one last, but big, “goodbye party” (against an enemy which had absolutely no chance to prevail), but soon thereafter it became pretty clear to US strategists that the “heavy war” was over and that armored brigades might not be the most useful war-fighting tool in the US arsenal.
This is when US strategists, mostly from Special Operation Forces, developed what I like to call “war on the cheap”. It works something like this: first, get the CIA to fund, arm and train some local insurgents (if needed, bring some from abroad); next embed US Special Forces with these local insurgents and provide them with FACs (forward air controllers, frontline soldiers specially trained to direct close support fixed and rotary wing aircraft to strike at enemy forces in direct contact with US and “friendlies”); finally, deploy enough aircraft in and around the combat zone (on aircraft carriers, in neighboring countries or even on seized local airstrips) to support combat operations day and night. The key notion is simple: provide the friendly insurgents with an overwhelming advantage in firepower. You have all seen this on YouTube: US and “coalition” forces advance until they get into a firefight and, unless they rapidly prevail, they call in an airstrike which results into a huge BOOM!!! following by cheering Americans and friendlies and the total disappearance of the attackers. Repeat that enough times, and you get an easy, cheap and rapid victory over a completely outgunned enemy. This basic approach can be enhanced by various “supplements” such as providing the insurgents with better gear (antitank weapons, night vision, communications, etc.) and bringing in some US or allied forces, including mercenaries, to take care of the really tough targets.
While many in the US armed forces were deeply skeptical of this new approach, the dominance of the Special Forces types and the success, at least temporary, of this “war on the cheap” in Afghanistan made it immensely popular with US politicians and propagandists. Best of all, this type of warfare resulted in very few casualties for the Americans and even provided them with a high degree of “plausible deniability” should something go wrong. Of course, the various three letter spooks loved it too.
What so many failed to realize in the early euphoria about US invincibility was that this “war on the cheap” made three very risky assumptions:
First and foremost, it relied on a deeply demoralized enemy who felt that, like in the series “Star Trek”, resistance to the Borg (aka the USA) was futile because even if the actual US forces deployed were limited in size and capabilities, the Americans would, no doubt, bring in more and more forces if needed, until the opposition was crushed.
Second, this type of warfare assumes that the US can get air superiority over the entire battlefield. Americans do not like to provide close air support when they can be shot down by enemy aircraft or missiles.
Third, this type of warfare requires the presence of local insurgents who can be used as “boots on the ground” to actually occupy and control territory. We will now see that all three of these assumptions are not necessarily true or, to put it even better, that the AngloZionists have run out of countries in which these assumptions still apply. Let’s take them one by one.
Hezbollah, Lebanon 2006
Okay, this war did not officially involve the USA, true, but it did involve Israel, which is more or less the same, at least for our purposes. While it is true that superior Hezbollah tactics and preparation of the battlefield did play an important role, and while it is undeniable that Russian anti-tank weapons gave Hezbollah the capability to attack and destroy even the most advanced Israeli tanks, the single most important development of this war was that for the first time in the Middle-East a rather small and comparatively weak Arab force showed no fear whatsoever when confronted with the putatively “invincible Tshahal”. The British reporter Robert Fisk was the first person to detect this immense change and its tremendous implications: (emphasis added)
You heard Sharon, before he suffered his massive stroke, he used this phrase in the Knesset, you know, “The Palestinians must feel pain.” This was during one of the intifadas. The idea that if you continue to beat and beat and beat the Arabs, they will submit, that eventually they’ll go on their knees and give you what you want. And this is totally, utterly self-delusional, because it doesn’t apply anymore. It used to apply 30 years ago, when I first arrived in the Middle East. If the Israelis crossed the Lebanese border, the Palestinians jumped in their cars and drove to Beirut and went to the cinema. Now when the Israelis cross the Lebanese border, the Hezbollah jump in their cars in Beirut and race to the south to join battle with them. But the key thing now is that Arabs are not afraid any more. Their leaders are afraid, the Mubaraks of this world, the president of Egypt, King Abdullah II of Jordan. They’re afraid. They shake and tremble in their golden mosques, because they were supported by us. But the people are no longer afraid.
This is absolutely huge and what the “Divine Victory” of the Party of God first achieved in 2006 is now repeated in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere. The fear of the “sole superpower” is finally gone, replaced by a burning desire to settle an infinite list of scores with the AngloZionists and their occupation forces.
Hezbollah also proved another very important thing: the winning strategy when faced against a superior enemy is not to try to protect yourself against his attacks, but to deny him a lucrative target. Put simply: “a cammo tent is better than a bunker” or, if you prefer “if they can spot you, they can kill you”. The more academic way to put is would be this: “don’t contest your enemy’s superiority – make it irrelevant”.
Looking back it is quite obvious that one of the most formidable weapons in the AngloZionist arsenal was not the nuclear bomb or the aircraft carrier, but a propaganda machine which for decades successfully convinced millions of people around the globe that the US was invincible: the US had the best weapons, the best trained soldiers, the most advanced tactics, etc. Turns out this is total nonsense – the US military in the real world was nothing like its propaganda-world counterpart: when is the last time the US actually won a war against an adversary capable of meaningful resistance? The Pacific in WWII?
[Sidebar: I chose the example of Hezbollah in 2006 to illustrate the collapse of the “sacred into surrender” paradigm, but to illustrate the “don’t contest your enemy’s superiority – make it irrelevant” the better, and earlier, example would be Kosovo in 1998-1999 when a huge operation involved the entire NATO air forces which lasted for 78 days (the Israeli aggression against Lebanon lasted only 33 days) resulted in exactly nothing: a few destroyed APCs, a few old aircraft destroyed on the ground, and a Serbian Army Corps which was unscathed, but which Milosevic ordered to withdraw for personal, political reasons. The Serbs were the first ones to prove this “target denial” strategy as viable even against an adversary with advanced intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities]
Russians task force, Syria 2015
As I have always insisted that the Russian operation in Syria was not a case of “the Russians are coming” or “the war is over”. The reality is that the Russians sent is a very small force and that this force did not so much defeat Daesh as it changed the fundamental character of the political context of the war: simply put – by going in the Russians not only made it much harder politically for the Americans to intervene, they also denied them the ability to use their favorite “war on the cheap” against the Syrians.
When the Russians first deployed their task force to Syria they did not bring with them anywhere near the kind of capabilities which would deny the Americans the use of the Syrian air space. Even after the shooting down of the Russian SU-24 by the Turks, the Russians only deployed enough air-defenses and air superiority fighters to protect themselves from a similar attack by the Turks. Even today, as I write these words, if the USAF or USN decided to take control of the Syrian airspace they could undoubtedly do it simply because in purely numerical terms the Russians still do not have enough air defenses or, even less so, combat aircraft, to deny the Syrian airspace to the Americans. Oh sure, such a US attack would come at a very real costs for the Americans, both militarily and politically, but anybody who really believes that the tiny Russian air contingent of 33 combat aircraft (of which only 19 can actually contest the Syrian airspace: 4 SU-30, 6 SU-34, 9 Su-27) and an unknown number of S-300/S-400/S-1 Pantsir batteries can actually defeat the combined airpower of CENTCOM and NATO is delusional to the extreme or simply does not understand modern warfare.
The problem for the Americans is formed by a matrix of risks which, of course, includes Russian military capabilities, but also includes the political risks of establishing a no-fly zone over Syria. Not only would such a move be another major escalation in the already totally illegal US intervention in this war, but it would require a sustained effort to suppress the Syrian (and, potentially, Russian) air defenses and that is something the White House is not willing to do right now, especially when it remains completely unclear what such a risky operation would achieve. As a result, the American did strike here and there, just like the Israelis, but in reality their efforts are pretty much useless.
Even worse is the fact that the Russians are now turning the tables on the Americans and providing the Syrian forces with FACs and close air support, especially in key areas. The Russians have also deployed artillery controllers and heavy artillery systems, including multiple-rocket launchers and heavy flamethrowers, which are all giving the firepower advantage to the government forces. Paradoxically, it is the Russians who are now fighting a “war on the cheap” while denying this options to the Americans and their allies.
Good terrorists, aka “FSA”, Syria 2017
The main weakness of the Free Syrian Army is that it does not really exist, at least not on the ground. Oh sure, there are plenty of FSA Syrian exiles in Turkey and elsewhere, there are also plenty of Daesh/al-Qaeda types who try hard to look like an FSA to the likes of John McCain, and there are a few scattered armed groups here and there in Syria who would like to be “the FSA”. But in reality this was always an abstraction, a purely political concept. This virtual FSA could provide many useful things to the Americans, a narrative for the propaganda machine, a pious pretext to send it in the CIA, a small fig leaf to conceal the fact that Uncle Sam was in bed with al-Qaeda and Daesh and a political ideal to try to unify the world against Assad and the Syrian government. But what the FSA could never provide, was “boots on the ground”. Everybody else had them: Daesh and al-Qaeda for sure, but also the Syrians, the Iranians and Hezbollah and, of course, the Turks and the Kurds. But since the Takfiris were officially the enemy of the USA, the US was limited in the scope and nature of the support given to these Wahabi crazies. The Syrians, the Iranians and Hezbollah were demonized and so it was impossible to work with them. That left the Turks, who had terrible relations with the USA, especially after the US-backed coup against Erdogan, and the Kurds who were not too eager to fight and die deep inside Iraq and whose every move was observed with a great deal of hostility by Ankara. As the war progressed the terrible reality finally hit the Americans: they had no “boots on the ground” to embed their Special Ops with or to support.
The best illustration of this reality is the latest American debacle in the al-Tanf region near the Jordanian border. The Americans, backed by the Jordanians, quietly invaded this mostly empty part of the Syrian desert with the hope of cutting off the lines of communications between the Syrians and the Iraqis. Instead, what happened was that the Syrians cut the Americans off and reached the border first, thereby making the American presence simply useless (see here and here for details). It appears that the Americans have now given up, at least temporarily, on al-Tanf, and that US forces will be withdrawn and redeployed elsewhere in Syria.
So who is next – Venezuela?
A quick look back in history shows us that the Americans have always had problem with their local “allies” (i.e. puppets). Some were pretty good (South Koreans), others much less so (Contras), but all in all each US use of local forces comes with an inherent risk: the locals often have their own, sometimes very different, agenda and they soon come to realize that if they depend on the Americans, the Americans also depend on them. Add to this the well-known fact that Americans are not exactly known for their, shall we say, “multi-cultural sensitivity and expertise” (just see how few of them even know the local language!) and you will see why US intelligence usually becomes aware of this problem by the time it is way too late to fix it (no amount of fancy technology can be substituted for solid, expert human intelligence). The reality is that Americans are typically clueless about the environment they operate in. The US debacle in Syria (or in Libya or the Ukraine, for that matter) is an excellent illustration of this.
Now that we have identified some of the doctrinal and operational weaknesses of the US “war on the cheap” approach, let’s apply them to a list of potential target countries:
Assumption | Demoralized enemy | Air superiority | Boots on the ground |
North Korea | ? | Yes | No |
Syria | No | No | No |
Iran | No | Yes | No |
Venezuela | ? | Yes | Yes? |
Russia | No | No | No |
The Ukraine | No | No | Yes |
China | No | No | No |
Notes: “demoralized enemy” and “air superiority” are my best guesstimate, I might be wrong; “boots on the ground” refers to to a indigenous and combat capable force already inside the country (as opposed to a foreign intervention) capable of seizing and holding ground, and not just some small insurgent group or a political opposition.
If my estimates are correct, then the only candidate for a US intervention would be Venezuela. However, what is missing here is the time factor: a US intervention, to be successful, would require an realistic exit strategy (the US is already overextended and the very last thing the Empire needs would be getting bogged down in another useless and unwinnable war à la Afghanistan. Also, while I gave the Venezuelan opposition a tentative “yes” for its ability to play the “boots on the ground” role (especially if backed by Colombia), I am not at all sure that the pro-American forces in Venezuela have anywhere near the capabilities of the regular armed forces (which, I believe, would oppose a US invasion) or the various Leftist guerrilla groups who tolerated the Chavez-Maduro rule but who have kept their weapons “just in case”. Furthermore, there is the issue of terrain. While Caracas might be easy to seize in an optimistic scenario, the rest of the country would be difficult and dangerous to try to operate in. Finally, there is the issue of staying power: while Americans like quick victories, Latin American guerrillas has already proven many times over that they can fight for decades. For all these reasons, while I do think that the USA is capable of intervening in Venezuela and messing it up beyond all recognition, I don’t see the USA as capable of imposing a new regime in power and imposing their control over the country.
Conclusion – Afghanistan 2001-2017
Afghanistan is often called the “graveyard of Empires”. I am not so sure that Afghanistan will ever become the graveyard of the AngloZionist Empire, but I do think that Afghanistan will become the graveyard of the “war on the cheap” doctrine, which is paradoxical since Afghanistan was also the place were this doctrine was first applied with what initially appeared to be a tremendous success. We all remember the US Special Forces, often on horseback, directing B-52 airstrikes against rapidly retreating Afghan government forces. Sixteen years later, the Afghan war has dramatically changed and US forces are constantly fighting a war in which 90% of the casualties come from IEDs, where all the efforts at some kind of political settlement have miserably failed and where both victory and withdrawal appear as completely impossible. The fact that now the US propaganda machines has accused Russia of “arming the Taliban” is a powerful illustration of how desperate the AngloZionists are. Eventually, of course, the Americans will have to leave, totally defeated, but for the time being all they are willing to admit is that they are “not winning” (no kidding!).
The US dilemma is simple: the Cold War is long over, and so is the Post Cold War, and a complete reform of the US armed forces is clear long overdue and yet also politically impossible. Right now the US armed forces are the bizarre result of the Cold War, the “war on the cheap” years and of failed military interventions. In theory, the US should begin by deciding on a new national security strategy, then develop a military strategy in support of this national security strategy, followed by the development of a military doctrine which itself would then produce a force modernization plan which would affect all aspects of military reform from training to force planning to deployment. It took the Russians over a decade to do this, including a lot of false starts and mistakes, and it will take the Americans at least as long, or even more. Right now even the decision to embark on such a far reaching reform seems to be years away. For the time being, garden variety propaganda (“we’re number one, second to none!!”) and deep denial seem to be the order of the day. Just as in Russia, it will probably take a truly catastrophic embarrassment (like the first Russian war in Chechnya) to force the US military establishment to look reality in the eye and to actually act on it. But until that happens, the ability of US forces to impose their domination on those countries which refuse to surrender to various threats and sanctions will continue to degrade.
So is Venezuela next? I hope not. In fact, I think not. But if it is, it will be one hell of a mess with much destroyed and precious little achieved. The AngloZionists have been punching above their real weight for decades now and the world is beginning to realize this. Prevailing against Iran or the DPRK is clearly beyond the actual US military capabilities. As for attacking Russia or China – that would be suicidal. Which leaves the Ukraine. I suppose the US might send some weapons to the junta in Kiev and organize some training camps in the western Ukraine. But that’s about it. None of that will make any real difference anyway (except aggravating the Russians even more, of course).
The era of “wars on the cheap” is over and the world is becoming a very different place than it used to be. The USA will have to adapt to this reality, at least if it wants to retain some level of credibility, but right now it does not appear that anybody in Washington DC – except Ron Paul – is willing to admit this. As a result, the era of major US military interventions might well be coming to an end, even if there will always be some Grenada or Panama size country to “triumphantly” beat up, if needed. This new reality, of course, immediately raises the issue of what/how the US Dollar will be backed by in the future (until now, it was only really “backed” by US military power), but that is a very different topic.
The Saker
I have been around Venezuela, Caracas might look like a typical urban + favela sprawl but it is cut through with steep ravines, an army unit could take fire from 50 yards and not be able to reach the spot in less than 10 minutes in a Bradley or 5 minutes on foot. Mountainous areas with large towns at more than 5000feet elevation, helicopters flying “high and fast” will lose a lot of protection from MANPADs when their attacker is standing at 6000feet
First, I’ve never been to Venezuela. But here’s what fascinates me from afar. I’d love to hear how accurate any of the following is.
Venezuela appears to be a revolutionary society. They’ve had a successful revolution against the powers that once ran the country. So, there is a core of people who have the experience of successfully standing up to power. In this, I feel they are similar to Iran. Both nations have successfully executed a revolution against US backed authoritarian governments.
Sometimes its hard to see this from afar. The Chavinistas left the wealthy elites with their ownership of much of the country’s media. And the corporate mainstream media in the rest of the world is always sympathetic to rich people crying over the fact that they aren’t grabbing all the money. So, in most of the world, what you see from Venezuela is the point of view of the rich elites trying a counter-revolution.
But, to my mind, those people who successfully fought against and defeated the powers that used to rule their country are still there. They might be disappointed in how government has proceeded since, but that doesn’t translate to having a great love for the rich elites and their backers in the USA.
So, while I’d say Venezuela is “divided”, I would not say they are demoralized. And I feel that there is a strong committed majority that most of the world rarely hears from that would resist strongly any US attempt to ‘fight a war on the cheap’. We’ve seen this in the past from times like the response to the coup against Chavez up to the recent vote on a democratic consituent assembly. There’s a lot of people who still show up to support their revolution when needed. Just don’t count on the world’s media ever showing them to you.
If the USA tries to lead from behind and merely support a movement of the rich elites, then that’s a force that’s already been defeated several times in the last 20 years. The US might try to pump even more money into the forces of the elites, but at best that might get it up to a 50-50 chance. If the US sends in troops, then like Iraq they can win the first battles and take control of Caracas and the oil facilities.
But, either way, they’ll still be facing a strong revolutionary resistance, that is only strengthened and unified by the effort the US puts into retaking Venezuela. Either way, the likely outcome of such a fight is only to be a long fight against guerrilla forces. Likely, Venezuela’s oil gets taken off the market. Which would raise the price of oil and make the US oil lobby happy and richer. But it would also have a big impact on the US economy which gets a sizeable chunk of oil from Venezuela. America has long followed Hitler’s doctrine of trying to keep the wars from effecting the home front. But, escalating oil prices and oil shortages in the US would have a big impact on the home front, and would not be popular.
We have 5000 Russian MANPADS according to Mike Pompeo. There have been excercises for guerrilla warfare since 2005 with the population in Venezuela.
Colombia would be use as a the ground forces because they are close and has a lot of experience fighting guerrilas but there are chavistas inside that army too.
The Protest pretty much stopped since Sunday in Caracas, things are super calm now. Opposition supporters felt destroyed once they saw that they are a minority and chavismo is very high in moral right now. There’s a huge counter attack in the economy going on right now but the situation in the streets is pretty normal so far.
Excellent analysis on Venezuela. The people have a taste of power for the first time in their history. The oligarchy has nothing to offer except a return to the past which the Venezuelans know exactly that that means, poverty and policial impotence for the masses. Venezuela’s enemies are the Latin American oligarchies and their masters, United States Imperialism. Venezuela must also prepare for the vast army of narco financed death squads from Colombia financed by drug money and Israeli military contractors.
I would say this summary is as close to the mark as you can get. In fact, I have a vision (and hope) that the “land of the free and the brave” is on the verge of setting off a “LAST STRAW” uprising in all of Latin America and thereby accelerating it’s own doom.
Oh, a Bradley would be great, 50 Yards is roughly the distance the vehicle usually flies when detonating by an IED underneath. There is a great Hollywood-Tube-Vid about the Bradley’s development.
Brilliant, creative, analysis. This is worth paying for. Going right to PayPal. Thank you Saker.
I’m from the so called “third world” and would love to see nothing more than the “hegemon” and their “willing” partners (not the ones who they’ve coopted at gun point) humiliated and defeated before I kick the bucket. I’ve also pledged a small amount every month and encourage all to do the same. Even if you may be from the “third world” like myself, a $ or two a month is not more than a meal at a restaurant and it is worth skipping for a guy like him
right on hermano
Saker,
It is very important that you read this:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-03/russia-sanctions-and-coming-crackdown-americans
Thanks Levi I did.
I very much appreciate your concern
Let’s just say that I hope for the best and carefully prepare for the worst.
Kind regards
The Saker
The campaign against “fake news” by Google and others is already having an effect.
“Google blocked every one of the WSWS’s 45 top search terms (Aug 4)”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/08/04/goog-a04.html
and
“Google’s new search protocol is restricting access to 13 leading socialist, progressive and anti-war web sites (Aug 2)”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/08/02/pers-a02.html
or RT’s interview with the author
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/08/01/inte-a01.html
https://duckduckgo.com/
I have dumped Google and switched over to “DuckDuckGo” to circumvent tracking and search manipulations by Google.
Google is no more the Google we have come to love. It has joined the dark side. “DuckDuckGo distinguishes itself from other search engines by not profiling its users and by deliberately showing all users the same search results for a given search term.[5] DuckDuckGo emphasizes returning the best results, rather than the most results ….Some of DuckDuckGo’s source code is free software hosted at GitHub under the Apache 2.0 License,[10] but the core is proprietary.”
Google was always a part of the dark side ever since it was a priority project of the CIA’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel. Like Nessie they are now breaking water though.
I like Duckduckgo, but I’m a little cautious while being USA based, anf thus falling under the Patriot Act.
I always use this one: https://www.ixquick.com/
Its European, has a privacy reward from the EU and doesn’t registrate your IP address.
Guarantees can’t be given, but I also dumped Google years ago.
I second the use of DUCKDUCKGO. I never use Google.
Would be great, wipe out the last remaining windows into the real and complete your house of mirrors. Then let them set course to a crash with reality, ideally a huge pit filled with boiling sulphur. What more do we need ?
Dangerous, sure ! Any place around an insane Titan is mortally dangerous. It’s like in the greek tragedies the Giant with one eye, blind him and his fall is certain.
The situation is the Ukraine is getting heated up again, I hope their flooding of weapons there does not provide to much blood shed or risk a point of no return.
The US is dithering over Ukraine. Porkyshanko has demanded weapons be supplied but they are not forthcoming. It looks like the US may have written off Ukraine, now that it has been looted of all easily lootable value. The Polish Ultras are stirring things up in Poland. They are whining about the treatment of Poles during WW II demanding Germany pays reparations, totally ignoring the fact that Poles and the Barking Baltic cooperated with the SS, and with great enthusiam. The Ultras also ignore the fact that some of the snipers in the Ukraine Maidan were Poles.
The Ultras in action. The Ultras are the equivalent of the football supporter thugs who were instrumental at least starting in the Odessa pogrom.
Polish SS collaboration
Polish links to the Wehrmacht
This is aimed at stirring up shit with Germany in attempt to block the east-west land route and to block Nord Stream. Poland has ambitions to replace Ukraine as a transit route for oil/gas to Europe – using US LNG of course. Poland itself still largely uses local coal for energy so it doesn’t give a shit if US LNG + Polish transit fees greatly increase energy costs to Germany and the rest of Europe.
A big chunk of ‘modern Poland’ are areas that are traditionally German.
— the whole coastline was once known as “east Prussia”. If you study the campaigns at the start of WW1, it was the Russians trying to attack into this area. The port area then known as “Konigsberg” was a German fortress. And the Gdansk area helped start WW2 as the Germans were always upset that the “Danzig corridor” had been taken from them and given to Poland after WW1 to give the Poles a port.
— after WW2, the borders of Poland were moved west. Areas that had been Poland were ceded to the Soviet Union, a prominent example being the area around Lviv which is now a part of Ukraine. In compensation, land was taken from the Germans and given to Poland and that border is now far to the west of the areas that were the traditional border between the German states and the various entities that were on Polish soil
It all depends which traditon you refer to.
They should have said in the recorded Polish-German history of the last 500 plus years. The map you showed was a bit disingenuous. And would be like showing a map of the Roman Empire to justify modern Italian claims to say,modern French or Spanish territory.
“They are whining about the treatment of Poles during WW II demanding Germany pays reparations /…/ “
I see. The Papists’ howling, moaning, and groaning about Russia/USSR didn’t meet their own financial ‘expectations’. Churchill’s greedy hyenas consequently gone sniffing in other directions.
There is substantial evidence indicating that the Poles had been participating actively in the formation of death squads in Ukraine since September 2013. Also there is substantial evidence that the Right Sector militants were trained by Donald Tusk’s government in Poland two months in advance of what was obviously a pre-planned coup. The Polish press even published the role of Donald Tusk’s government in preparing the coup where the Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski invited 86 members of the Right Sector to the police training center in Legionowo. There, they received four weeks of intensive training in crowd management, person recognition, combat tactics, command skills, behavior in crisis situations, protection against gases used by police, erecting barricades, and shooting, including the handling of sniper rifles.
Donald Tusk, who is now President of the European Council, whose grandfather, Josef Tusk, served in Hitler’s Wehrmacht, has consistently demanded that the Kiev regime imposed by the US and EU deal with the Donbass people brutally, “as with terrorists”.
While the Polish special services were training the future participants of the Maidan operations and the ethnic cleansing of the Donbass, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this official statement (02-02-2014): “We support the hard line taken by the Right Sector… The radical actions of the Right Sector and other militant groups of demonstrators and the use of force by protestors are justified… The Right Sector has taken full responsibility for all the acts of violence during the recent protests. This is an honest position, and we respect it. The politicians have failed at their peacekeeping function. This means that the only acceptable option is the radical actions of the Right Sector. There is no other alternative”.
In this statement by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs we can see that the Polish government (NATO) is using violence (radical actions) as a means of ensuring the Ukrainian politicians fail in their peace keeping functions. Ukraine illustrates the role assigned by NATO to Poland. To overthrow the government of its neighbour state, Donald Tusk resorted to neo Nazi activists in the same way that NATO in Turkey uses Al-Qaeda (Al Nusra Front) to overthrow the Syrian government.
I don’t recall the source now, but I read that in April 2013, some 4,000 Ukrainian men were sent to Poland to be trained for the Maidan riots, and that they finished their training in the fall of 2013.
Everywhere one looks in the Western Empire huge heaps of filth stacked up. How nice and what an adornment for Poland that one of her firsts was in the Wehrmacht, I feel very cozy imaginening it. I’m sure he his also great friend with Soros – the Mummy – another fine specimen and beacon of Western Civilization. I wonder what would happen if all these creeps would gather in one place, Possibly if enough dark matter comes together space-time might warps, possibly even creating a black hole of sorts.
It cannot go much further in that direction without the whole thing imploding in a huge black cloud of insanity. Reality tops Fiction in grotesque proportions now. What really is to be done is to create a Movie Series. That’s one of the BIG tasks the East has to do in order to ban the mad Spirit, a kind of reverse Aladin’s lamp, you put the mad Spirit back into the bottle where it really belongs and from which it only escaped by a sad mishap some thousands of years ago….
So wait, he sez that the Right Sector did terrible things but since they freely admit it and even gloat about it that makes it OK and means they should be in charge. Amazing logic, there.
A good tour of the State of US Military Potential in 2017.
The wrong wars in the wrong places for the wrong reasons is their inevitable fate.
They went to the South China Sea with Japan’s navy to establish hegemony and lost a sailor overboard one the US vessels. Two Chinese vessels are helping in the search for the ill-fated sailor. Perfect representation of the diminishment of US Naval dominance.
The Chinese said the island-building in the SCS region would aid naval and air searches and provide navigational assistance with technology on the islands. They proved it already.
Poor Hegemon, the globe pig and bully.
Can’t find a war to win nor a way to end the seven on-going conflicts without embarrassment.
Trillions wasted. MOA indicated that the CIA has $5 Billion socked into Syria since 2011. Same amount invested in Ukraine, but over 23 years. They waste it faster than ever.
There’s a power struggle (beyond the coup against Trump) within the NSC. McMaster wanted more and bigger troop surges. Trump vetoed that. So the NSC adviser is firing any NSC members who support Trump.
Achieving a coherent military plan with strategic components seems impossible.
But, you can be certain the Pentagon will keep the death machines rolling. Trump already gave away operational control over all the ongoing conflicts.
I expect Ukraine to glow white hot soon. It will fulfill their work to end all hope of detente with Russia. Then Kiev and the EU will abandon Minsk 2. They have to free Kiev of that albatross.
And Venezuela, classic Latin American target for CIA and Southern Command to attempt something. I don’t know how they can resist. Trump will need a dog to wag very soon. And little Marco Rubio has made this his personal campaign. Odds are high the US will attempt something.
All that oil. And Russia holds a lien on 49% of CITGO. That would be unthinkable to not try to prevent that.
The above analysis, as well as the Saker’s, seems to overlook the large presence of China in Venezuela. China will not easily allow its interests to be threatened. Both Russia and China could well be the power that acts to keep America at a distance. The risk is simply too high that with their combined efforts both China and Russia could pull another Syria on the Americans if push comes to shove. American leaders would have to think long and hard about the huge risks involved.
I suggest that you look at China’s holdings and investments in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Ukraine. Huge billions, all not protected by China when the shooting started. And still not involved on the ground with military anywhere.
China has yet to project military anywhere beyond what it calls its borders. They simply have not taken ‘action’.
However, President Xi is now putting China on a war footing because of India, North Korea, Japan and the US. I believe they are ready psychologically to finally take action.
In behalf of Venezuela, they would provide economic support and humanitarian aid. Maybe, they would ship weapons. Maybe.
I suspect Russia would assist. It provides a symmetrical response to the US in Ukraine. And Russia is very interested in the oil investment they hold. Russia has many covert options that China does not possess or chooses to use anywhere. Even the development of Russia’s PMC Wagner might come into play in Venezuela. Most of all, I would expect high tech SigInt assistance and air defenses from AA to MANPADS would be areas Russians could to bolstering. Feeding satellite imagery from Glonass could also help defenses.
Uh, one small correction. GLONASS is a set of navigation satellites similar to GPS. Such satellites consist of an accurate atomic clock and a radio transmitter. I can’t find any hint online that there has ever been any sort of imaging capability included. I’m sure that Russia has some very capable spy sats. Its just unlikely that they are the GLONASS satelites. If someone knows differently, please post some links to good reliable info, as I’m always enthusiastic to learn more.
https://sputniknews.com/military/201607291043764817-russian-satellites-potential-capabilities-analysis/
Thanks for catching the error. I was thinking mil sats and my addled brain went Glonass.
Appreciated your in-depth response to Victor. Yes, it is extremely unlikely that China will even lift a finger in the event of American aggression against Venezuela. Even if China had the will – which is unlikely – it doesn’t have the means to do anything that would be significant militarily. The primary constraint is logistics: how to get military hardware from China over to Venezuela. Aircraft carrying military hardware will be easily shot down, and ships can be blocked or sunk. So, it is a no-go for China. It will have to write-off its Venezuelan investments, a repeat of the Libyan (and other) write-offs.
But the same constraint also applies to Russia – and it is here that I don’t find it easy to agree with you. Russia will face the same logistical challenges in delivering hardware to Venezuela. Accordingly, even if it were to want to prevent US aggression in Venezuela, Russia will have no choice but to just put up with it.
China has thousands of rather heavy super-tankers that can be outfitted for weapon platforms, such as air-defense missiles, ship to land missiles etc. And this can be done in very short order, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t have these systems warehouse somewhere in the eventual need arises.
Just think about it, in relatively short order, China can potentially have the largest and most powerful navy in history, at the drop of a hat. Lots and lots of welders and you can convert your commercial fleets into military naval fleets. That is possible today with the newest missiles.
Xi is rallying the troops. And the language he speaks , tells volumes. Oh, China is gearing up for the inevitable, the Col. ‘s , Maj’s and Generals of the PLA/PLAN are itching to break-out with China militarily on the global scene. Its coming. If I was China, pick a scrap with nationalist Hindu India and swiftly deliver an embarrassment militarily that the whole world will notice. That would suffice .
Interesting points you raised here. It is now the end of October and your insights are more timely than ever. Recently I was reading an article (Navy Times, I believe) about the severe crew demoralization on the US cruiser “Shiloh”–I suspect the Chinese and the Russians know about these situations long before the American public does, and that they are probably far more widespread than anyone would like…….. meanwhile the war drums keep on beating, and more information like this emerges: from the Fellowship of the Minds website “Whistle blower professor exposes West Point military academy as corrupt, dysfunctional, and devoid of standards”……. Be afraid, be very afraid, these are the ones being “prepared” for leadership positions….. One of the very few things I heeded from my army veteran dad was “Do Not Join the Military”.
Thinking of China, the really clever thing for Venezuela to do at this point would be to, at least temporarily, ditch the Bolivar in favour of the Chinese Yuan. Bam! Inflation gone.
When Zimbabwe divvied up all the big white-owned farms and handed them over to blacks, suddenly the Western World realized how terrible and awful Robert Mugabe was. So they decided to “make the economy scream” and suddenly there was hyperinflation and unrest and a strong Western-backed political challenger. Mugabe couldn’t save the currency, so in the end he dollarized; new currency was the US$. Poof! Crisis drastically curtailed. Mugabe is still in power.
For Venezuela to adopt the US$ would be quite the symbolic defeat and have other difficulties, but the Chinese yuan is just as unassailable really and would be a symbolic and actual defeat for the “world’s reserve currency”, the petrodollar.
Note that I am taking no position here as to whether Robert Mugabe’s government is, in fact, good or bad. I’m just taking note of a successful tactic.
A rather ironic article from WaPo (seriously) that poroshenko is a menace to democracy-hard to tell what the implications are but maybe the long knives are out for porky.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/07/31/forget-saakashvilis-political-career-ukrainian-democracy-is-in-danger/?utm_term=.4568fa4f591e
Meanwhile, mccain’s main man, volker, will be attempting to crank up the supply of “defensive” weapons to the “good” nazis in the ATO.
maybe Volker is going to be put in as a “vice regent protectorate of sorts” to protect its democracy and return to develop its economic oppirtunities apart from what remainder is being sold of for scrap…..anything is possible in this topsy turvey situation…eg to prevent Russia to get its 3b back…
In terms of “boots on the…ocean” with respect to Venezuela, I’d keep an eye on the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Did a bunch of searching for links and I couldn’t find any to include, but the RCN is in the Caribbean Sea on an operation targeting drug smuggling and human trafficking. They did some kind of friendship tour of the Americas in the past few months, which included docking in Cuba. Remember that in the Cold War scenario, Canada is off limits to American invasion, unless the US wants to defend itself against Russians.
Somebody wrote that the US needs to devour one country a year to survive. Can’t recall who it was. I agree Venezuela is the next attack if it comes as Wall Street will be eyeing that country’s large oil and gas reserves along with their sovereign wealth funds. Hopefully not but the way things are heating up there, I have my fears.
I think they will try Venezuela. Right now in Latin America (the vassal continent) there are 5 countries that in some way or the other defy the US (Cuba,Nicaragua,Ecuador,Bolivia,and Venezuela). There used to be two others (Brazil and Argentina),but the US has regained control in those two. And its a matter of “street cred” for the US to not let any Latin American “slave” escape for long.Venezuela is the most important of the five. By far more to loot there than the others.Cuba has a strong government in place. With a long tradition of freedom from the US. So while they won’t give up trying. It would be hard to reconquer Cuba. Nicaragua has moved close to China with the canal project. So I’m not sure the US wants to face China over Nicaragua (at present anyway).Ecuador isn’t much of a worry to them,so she can wait. And Bolivia is difficult to get to and also not a problem for the US. So she joins Ecuador at the bottom of the “to do” list.So that leaves the rich,and already destabilized Venezuela.
Venezuela has made mistakes over the last years. First by not purging her pro-US treasonous elite. That should have been a first priority. But instead it was a hit and miss operation. A horrible error. Second with the elite left in control of much of the second tier of the economy. And the huge amount of wealth flowing in from the oil exports. They didn’t spend money on remaking the economy (who thought the oil bonanza would collapse,even Russia and Saudi Arabia didn’t). Now with the bottom out of oil.And their elite and the US sabotaging the economy they are in horrible shape.
The US has millions of Spanish speakers (many in the military) and a million or so of them are Venezuelan immigrants or the children of immigrants. Finding agents or mercenaries wouldn’t be a problem for them. Since we see little of the situation in the Venezuelan government.I can’t say for certain about the loyalty of the military. Until the Chavez days they were the typical pro-US stooge military common throughout the US’s Latin American “colonies”.How many of those were purged and replaced with loyal to Venezuela forces,I can’t say.
The US can also count on Colombian and Brazilian stooges to help them. And the thugs working for the “opposition elite”. So its debatable how hard an invasion would be. Now the aftermath is another story. As the Middle East shows that can go badly for the US. But as we’ve discussed before in articles,the US is in to “chaos”. So destroying and holding on to Venezuela even as a guerrilla war rages around them is still acceptable for them. Its an “object” lesson to the fate of countries opposing them.And the money they can loot from Venezuela. Along with the huge profits for the US MIC is attractive for them.Even if Venezuela turned into a new Libya,they won’t care. They’d still have the “street cred” of “freeing” the country from a “dictator”.
So while I’m not sure they’ll attack Venezuela directly. They may go for the Syrian option. Arming the opposition thugs for a revolt. Or trying to get the military to pull off a coup.Maybe both at the same time.I think the signs are out there that Venezuela could be in the US’s “cross-hairs” for destruction.
It’s not often I find myself in total agreement with an author/article but this is a brilliant analysis of US /Israeli modern day aggressive subversion. I too have used the Borg similarities (Trek fan) when discussing the US’ s NWO tactics to assimilate all countries to the “hive”.
What the American people (imo)don’t seem to understand is that while all military bluster is being focused on world domination the US has been infiltrated from the inside in a bid to take down the constitution established by the founding fathers. The greatest war for the American people lies on home soil, the years of manipulation by dual nationalists ,& now the growing number of Jihadi training camps infection will be their undoing if not addressed now. It’s time the US cleaned house and stopped funding /supporting the puppet masters!
[i]In theory, the US should begin by deciding on a new national security strategy, then develop a military strategy in support of this national security strategy, [/i]
The PNAC, A CLEAN BREAK, THE OBED YINON PLAN, THE WOLFOWITZ DOCTRINE were adopted by default for lack of any alternatives.
You must understand the cabalist thought. In medieval Europe, the converted kazars aka ashkenazi, magically conjured a demon possessed goy to be their champion. The Golem demon’s role is to defend the kazar from persecutions and pogroms. The USA, the UK, SUPERMAN, etc. are embodiments of this mythical Golem. The Golem fights for kazar supremacy. The Golem fights for the interests of the kazar not for the interests of the Golem.
SOD Rumsfeld tried implementing the strategy of fighting anti-insurgent wars in the desert into doctrine and equipment. He gave it the grand name of “Future Combat System”. The result was a lot of money and time wasted, and a bunch of Strykers that will die quickly against any opponent better armed that desert insurgents.
Now it seems that the power in the Pentagon is shifted back to their childhood dreams of fighting a major war against Russia. Better for buying lots of big expensive tanks and stuff. And the Navy and Air Force has counter-attacked with the Pivot to China, which is better for buying expensive ships and planes.
These days, military strategy in the Pentagon consists deciding which project best enriches which big defense contractors
To conjure and trap a demon like that you would need a spell, a yuuuge one, as Trump would say. Traditionally pentagrams are used as sigil. After WWII the US has been the golem.
And if ever the US’ power was to broken , you would have some ritualistic act to release the demon by destroying/damaging the sigil…
Nah, I’m just rambling.
it was already destroyed when the pentagon was hit in the “911” operation . add to it the twin towers and you have two destroyed sigils . forgot to add the cracked Obelisk in Washington : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument
The USA was the golem of the ashkenazi before the Balfour declaration letter was issued by the British war department to the chief kazar shaman Rothschild
More on the Golem.
The book of Revelation discloses and expands on the subject. The Beast from the Sea (Leviathan) is a gentile superpower (the Golem) that works in tandem with the beast from the land ( eretz) the kazar false prophet.
These duo are aka the Great Satan and the Little Satan in muslim parlance
The beast (Behema plural Behemoth) from the land (Eretz aka The Levante or Fertile Crescent).
The first beast is the vatican. Rev. 13 says the beast will be given satans throne which sits in the vatican today. holy see translated from latin means holy chair. The first beast is also the anti christ. The basis for Christianity is that the path to God is through Christ only. But roman catholicism trys to get you to believe the path is through the church supplanting Christ. The pope calls himself the vicor of christ. A vicar (/ˈvɪkər/; Latin: vicarius) is a representative, deputy or substitute; vatican is the anti christ.
The Vatican doesn’t have nukes but the UNSC has five nuclear powers yielding vetoes and ten non permanent members ( ten kings who receive power for an hour to give power to the Leviathan beast). The ten kings rubber stamp the decisions of the golem hegemon Leviathan ( Naval power) brast. That is your anti-christ right there aka Great Satan in muslim parlance. The five nuclear powers in UNSC broke with the Vatican or never ever listened to it like Russia ( Orthodox) and China (Budist). France decapitated the Catholic monarchs, Britain’s Henry divorced his Catholic wife and USA has constitutional separation between Church and State. All are nuclear armed and dangerous. The Pope and Vatican are landlocked and irrelevant.
All references to a ‘beast’ in the bible have to do with a belief system, not an entity the can use force or physical energy and against another. A beast by God’s definition is one that corrupts your mind to turn you away from him and the truth. Dropping a nuke on your head will not keep you out of God’s salvation, but a lie told and one you believe can. The two beasts referenced in Rev. 13 are liars not militaries and the two biggest liars are the vatican being the anti christ and rabbinic judaism or zionism being the false prophet.
This is incorrect. We are told in the book of Daniel what these beasts are. They are empires, Greece of Alexander, Persia, etc. No need to re invent the wheel and reinterpret what the prophet Daniel already told us. Beasts are empires. The Leviathan beast or Naval power Great Satan is the golem hegemon. The little Satan is the ashkenazi Gog of Magog turkik kazar invader that usurped the land of Israel. Both beasts work in tandem through the Balfour declaration to the chief Shaman Rothschild and the Obed Yinon plan plus the Clean Break, Wolfowitz doctrine and PNAC’s.
They are beast due to their false teaching, not of their military might. How can a military threaten God? Empires are built on lies, all of them. It is the false teaching, aka propaganda, that leads men of the military and governmets to do the bidding of the powers that control them. Also, in persuading the populations to go along with all the junk they have to endure. A beast is a lie, not an armada. You can’t form an armada without the lie.
Let me ask you this, who else but the pope has tried to take the place of Christ and in what way have they done this. I know of none.
Rev: 19 speaks of the return of Jesus with a sharp or double edges sword coming out of his mouth. This sword is not a physical weapon but is signifying a divine judgement. A judgement is based on facts or truth in this case. He will use this sword to cut down the nations, or in other words with use the truth to destroy the lie that the nations/empires/beasts rely on therefore they then just die. The beast is gone once the truth is given.
The false teachng is the fake news and George Orwell’s 1984 Big Brother NWO. The armies of the world will aim at Yeshua and the double edged sword coming out of His mouth is a true physical and spiritual weapon. You try to spiritualize everything not discerning that Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome were the superpowers of their time. Go on and believe in the irrelevant Vatican which is certainly a false church but not Great Babylon the mother of harlots. That is the city state London, NYC ( UNSC), Wall Street and the Pentagram in DC
I would say you both are correct, because the book describes both. Original Paul is right regarding how the Catholic Church poisend the Spirit and keeps believers in the dark. It was Saul, the Paul who supplanted himself over Jesus (Jesus merely becoming a Fetish) and totally twisted his doctrine with Pharisian doctrine. Representation of God by a human entity IS THE ULTIMATE BLASPHEMY, it’s the doctrine of self, it poisend the Church and prepared the ground for it’s rabbinical takeover (Called Enlightment and all the wickedness which sprang from it).
From a earthen standpoint SunTzu is spot on without a doubt. The Beast is the Leviathan, the Seapower. The US (and Europe) are the jewish Golem. And as I said – the Golem may be destroyed but not necessarily his Master because he can create itself a new one (and no doubt he is and will try this). So the PRIMARY target in all strategic thinking must ALWAYS as well be the neutralization of the tribe, the MASTER, what this means depends on the circumstances.
There is a famous old Prof Howard Zinn quote about Vietnam, and I’m going to paraphrase it to adapt it to Afghanistan……
“How do we withdraw from Afghanistan? By plane and by boat.”
The problem with a withdraw from Afghanistan is simply one of political will. The American people would do so quickly. The corrupt elite that has subverted democracy and seized power in America still sees an opportunity to trade lives for money.
I love reading your analysis.
However I’d have to slightly disagree – not in any professional sense ofc, that’s way out of my amateur league – but more in terms of balance of powers, potentials and goals.
I’d argue that Americans don’t have to win the wars to win them. That’s a false assumption IMO. It all depends on their actual goals, military or otherwise. They’re not complete lunatics like they seem, I’m thinking they actually know what they’re doing pretty well, or to a point that it matters.
In my view of them their goal(s), tactics, strategy, doctrine not sure really always mix those – is simply the reign of chaos.
They dont’ need to be winning wars, in a sense that we’re used to. They come, they pillage, they create chaos for years to come, and they stay in control of situation like that for decades. Check all those examples one by one, middle east, Iraq even Syria. They’re not winning in a military sense but they did damage, they got oil resources out, they’ve made their military busy for years ands still ahead. They created chaos for others to scratch their heads. They are ruling the stock market and banking based on their moves, they have free and cheap money whenever they want. Ukraine, they’ve spent some money (but they’re getting every cent paid back with dividends – and even if they lose some they print some more, and we’re all paying for it like it or not) and they created an ongoing nightmare for RF and most of Europe. And what’s more that’s not going to go away, they have a potential battlefield for many yrs to come, they can pick choose at any time whether to reactivate Afghanistan, middle East, Balkans, etc. In Balkans, they didn’t win per se, but they actually won big time in many ways. They’ve managed to conquer that part of the world fully. It’s combination of military and economic. And they will sell more LNG to Europe, or they’ll sell more weapons doesn’t matter. Dollar and all that not to go into.
It may not be a win for your or me (as we see it) or not even for US people (though that is also open for discussion) but it is for some of them and that’s what matters. It all depends on the end goals and I’d say money and overall power they got in return. And what’s important I think, they have a what I’d call a system for creating chaos and getting something out of it “on cheap” as you’ve called it.
And I don’t think they see it as they’re losing some of those battles, sure makes some of them mad in military but those don’t really matter too much. They might be losing battles but overall they’re still winning in their minds at least (and many things on the ground would concur with that). Or look at the Russia, while it considerably improved its might and position in the world – RF has US on almost all of its borders or more than before. That’s not exactly winning, but more fighting back successfully or more than before but still a long way.
That doesn’t mean that things wont’ turn against them soon, tipping point may not be too far away, but then they might have some other ideas to rain some more chaos on the world.
What I’m saying is we don’t really know what their real agenda is. and they’re not crazy certainly.
You took my exact words! :-) Controlled chaos is all the zionazi empire is after, aka, low-intensity conflicts.
Thanks Saker for the great analysis – with the caveat of having to redefine the term “winning.”
P.S. When you look at the world situation today, it seems that things are getting back to square one (= pre-WWII).
too many parallels to WW2 yes, but the most striking to me is (and somewhat philosophical) how polarized the world has become, there are two highly opposing forces, and people, countries siding with one or the other (and I’m trying hard to avoid using the more religious view of this and terms but it isn’t easy). When the balance and division (between the opposing views) reaches certain point there is really only one way to sort that out. Then at an interim stage you see masks falling off and the hidden agenda being more and more openly discussed, as nobody really cares any more, and that’s when it becomes dangerous.
Interesting points.
But the empire is imploding, from the vacuum created by all of the parasites sucking the juice out of the system, as the top priority.
They’ve over-used all their cards, people, citizens of the host countries, and those who the empire has selected to be ‘enemies’ are wised up to their cheating tactics, and the oppression has created innovation all around that is focused on breaking the oppressor(s).
As the final lines of the article identify, when the dollar falls from its place as the reserve currency, and it necessarily must, probably soon, the entire house of cards will fall: no money to remake the military, fragmented and dried-out economic engine, disillusioned, apathetic citizenry, completely out-of-touch with basic knowledge and wisdom (do you know the one about asking an American to identify America on a map of the world; one doesn’t want to believe it could be true, let alone that it is true).
I don’t write this with enjoyment, the collapse of the U.S.A. will be destructive well outside the borders of ‘official’ U.S. territory, and probably the entire world will be affected, not to mention the many good people who live there.
I believe we are witnessing the death-throws right now!
Coup d’etat, in progress, openly ‘sick’ actors vying for the presidency (now that I’ve seen it, I can’t get Hillary’s reaction to the video of Gadaffi’s gruesome assassination out of my head).
How to expose the majority of the American people, and the citizens of other host countries of the empire, to what is really being done by the empire, this is the question?
Even the Empire imploding is a win for the Satanists in power. Just as they profit off the destruction of other countries, they will profit off the destruction of the United States.
Death, Destruction, Mayhem, Chaos and, ultimately, a loss of faith by the faithful is the goal of satanists. Everyone losing is their ultimate goal because they worship the Ultimate Loser – Satan
Realizing this is the only way to truly know what type of enemy we are facing.
…I don’t think that you can (re: the last question), that comes down to pretty basic human needs and view of the world, and money is what drives most of it (and money is empire’s god), until it all collapses big and hard, at which point it usually is too late.
I don’t think that empire is imploding or even close, I wish you’re right though, just look at how Trump is being played. The empire is “changing” (their MO) and wounded but that may be even worse. There simply isn’t anybody strong enough from the inside (to turn the saker’s arguments against this), no “Boots on the ground”, not enough voices on the ground even.
Anonymous on August 04, 2017 · at 11:09 pm UTC
But there are, so many ‘boots on the ground’!
They’re just sleeping.
With the growing dissonance between what their waking conscious minds have been carpet-bombed into believing, and what many of their sub-conscious minds know full well to be… tosh, a series of mildly infections viral campaigns, all viable to get past them… the censors could wake a critical mass of them, with a start, to say the least.
The energy that is being built up in the growing dissonance is large, and directable (for the right reasons, which the subconscious minds of the sleepers know with certainty!)
There would need to be basic information for the wakers so they could have a reasonable chance to protect themselves from the automatic retributions for… being openly awake.
But all should be manageable.
It’s coming, one way or another, but it could fizzle out, or cause unnecessarily destructive outcomes, both of these possibilities would result in failure. The cleanest, least destructive way is clearly striking the nail on the head with the first swing.
I believe it is possible.
A method of clearing all of the gates in direct communication to individual persons is required; I’m thinking, a benign virus (totally benign) or other easily ‘cured’ agent; in fact, maybe make the ‘cure’ available before the launch of the virus, and play with that interaction a bit.
I would think a media announcement of a ‘fix’ to a imminent viral release would stir up the mainstream media, and then you might have a potential platform to get message components out via them.
Anyhow…
ponder y’all
“minds have been carpet-bombed”
I like that :)
and I agree with your highly philosophical view here,
in my opinion (equally philosophical or even bordering religious) it’s a fight and balance in between two opposing forces, good and evil I guess we could call it.
I’m just less optimistic any of that can happen w/o major upheaval – something like that is needed to awake the people, as long as they’re lulled into the every day existence, working to pay out the loans, cars, houses etc. there’s nothing serious enough to make them consider what the sub-conscious might be telling them. Once / if that that safe existence is endanger then they’ll come to their inner senses, but not before I doubt. This world (mostly western inspired) is just too materialistic.
Yes, the Empire is imploding, but that is of little concern for the parasite (Israel) that has taken over the host body (USA). The infected host has been fighting and bleeding for the benefit of the parasite (e.g. destroying potential rivals of Israel – Iraq, Syria, Libya….)
Good point, which many so-called strategists conveniently ignore in their assessment of whether the United States is successful in its wars.
America does not seek to create “stable democracies,” as their propaganda proclaims.
They don’t even necessarily care about creating stable vassal states.
America can profit and “win” through the creation of chaos.
Indeed, chaos is perhaps the *hidden objective* in America’s wars and geopolitical machinations around the world.
“Controlled Chaos” as an Instrument of Geopolitical Warfare and “Color Revolutions”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/controlled-chaos-as-a-instrument-of-geopolitical-warfare-and-color-revolutions/5516279
https://southfront.org/controlled-chaos-as-a-tool-of-geopolitical-struggle/
Seen in this light, the USA has actually won the various wars that it supposedly is losing in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere.
As Pedro Escobar (who appropriated the term from Samir Amin before him) has stated, America is the Empire of Chaos.
you’re right, I may have picked that up from Pepe Escobar, I like how his mind works (I didn’t read those other two guys till now).
I don’t think they (US) care much about the shape or form, sometimes you can almost read that in between the lines, they’re too reckless, they evolve and adjust and why they seem totally unpredictable, they seemingly have no foreign policy (but that’s too good to be true). I don’t really see them “losing” anything yet, the MSM, media that may be the biggest loss so far and that there is a push against them at least.
The US may like to spread chaos, or threaten to do so, but it will not be allowed. Societies have always acted forcefully against bandits or other agents of chaos, and the U.S. will not be an exception.
The world does have quite a hammer. The American dollar still has value as reserve currency due to its acceptance by the globe. If that acceptance is revoked — and it will, as more and more of the world gets offended by the US’s irresponsibility — there will be serious pain in all America.
Agree. case in point is the Middle East. I propose that while winning there would have been better, but just destroying strong opponents of Israel (Iraq, Libya, Syria) is more than good enough. Israel is the parasite that has taken over the host body (aka USA) and makes the host do all the fighting and the dity work.
To Anonymous 12:40 pm
Your post is food for very serious thought. You may well have nailed it when you posit that the objective of numerous US wars are not to win in the traditional sense but simply to create chaos and trouble for others. If we analyze what it really means to win, we can see that the US has been winning non-stop – all over the world, in every theater, in every war.
so that’s how you reply Anonymous to Anonymous, thx for the pointer
…I just don’t think we should underestimate them. That could be a fatal mistake. We always think Russians play chess, but I’m sure Americans do something similar. Their strategy changed already and may be that’s why we see them as ‘losing’. I’d still like to see a list of things they actually lost, militarily or strategically speaking. They lost some prestige, MSM is their biggest loss IMO (and they are furious about it, vs RT etc.), some allies maybe, Turkey coup was a mistake (but that can all change in a flip. Erdogan is a slippery fellow), Philippines not sure. Even Syria is not lost (they’re not really furious about it?). I just don’t see it. Whole Europe is turned against RF and closer to borders. They’re just more aggressive and blatant and things are polarizing fast, speed is also one thing that may be important (on their agenda). They gotta lose some, question is the balance overall. I still hope their arrogance gets the best of them and that they make more and more mistakes, but too early to say, the chessboard is too big, I’m sure VVP is aware of that.
I think you’re right. One goal of these wars is to use up material and resources to ensure demand for future material and resources. So, as long as the US is firing bullets, missiles, and burning fuel. It’s accomplishing that goal. This obviously benefits the MIC, but it also benefits a lot of Americans. Through the contracts for re-supply and re-armament, the government is basically funding public works projects that employ many Americans directly or provide a need for their employment indirectly (ie you can’t make tanks and rifles without still). Also, by over-paying for virtually everything it allows for a form of QE to go one under the guise of “super-duper yuge” defense projects. Another goal is the maintenance of the petro-dollar, and to fend off a replacement one only need to create enough chaos/uncertainty to make abandoning the status quo a greater risk than the subsequent reward.
yes, when you have a country, military in such a strategic position as the US (military, economy, media till now at least, etc.) the amount of influence on world affairs (and gaining advantage from it) is unlimited. Especially when the world is connected globally as it is (I mean the banks of course) which is probably not by accident. They defend the economic (dis)order more than military one or any territory. And economic success (or dealings) empowers the military one (e.g. Europe) and vice versa. It’s all out war. But I’d say media, trust in west is what’s falling first. Other things not yet.
I agree. The US doesn’t win wars, but it wins by warring.
It seems to me that the Ziocons are planning to make Ukraine the next “war on the (not so) cheap”.
The Ukros are being paid and equipped by the Americans, to bleed the Donbass dry. The slower and longer the process, the better for the Ziocons. Their intent is to put Russia in the position of choosing to watch over the ever intensifying suffering of the “Malorussiyans”, or to directly intervene with overwhelming military force.
Eventually, I believe that the Russians will have to intervene. (I also believe that Putin should have drawn a lesson from Czechoslovakia 1968, and seized all of Ukraine from Kiev south to Odessa in 2014. Then offer to withdraw Russia’s forces only after a democratically-elected government had resumed control over the country. Too late for that now.) The cost of doing so will be significant; but necessary.
There will be no end to the suffering in Donbass until then. Until then, there will be no end to the encroachment of US/NATO into the near abroad of Russia.
I’ve always thought so too. Except I think it would have/would be,better to equip and recruit Donbass,other Ukrainians,and Russian “volunteer” troops to free Ukraine.With Russia only providing air support when needed. And only getting more involved if NATO troops started to act “froggy” and enter Ukraine. And tell NATO “do you feel lucky,punk,do you”. Or something similar in Russian.Like maybe,”this here is a tactical nuke (whatever “size” it would be) the biggest one known. It can take out a division at …..” you get the picture. And once the NATO generals changed their “drawers” tell them how long they had to make it to the border and out of Ukraine.
True. There are plenty of experienced and willing fighters in Donetsk and Lugansk to form the “boots on the ground” part of a “proxy war”…..except that the battle for the Steppes is truly a fight for the motherland. There should be no need to conceal it….no need for proxies.
The Moldovan parliament has declared Dimitry Rogozin “persona non-grata”. The Moldovan parliament and government is led by the Democratic Party which is at odd with the elected president Dodon. The latter, is against NATO and pro-Russian. The former is pro-NATO and EU, willing to get rid of the Russian military presence (as peace-keepers after the war in 90’s) from Transnistria. Dimitry Rogozin is an appointed special envoy by Putin for that matter. The Russian peacekeeping forces are now in a very delicate position – together with the government in Tiraspol – being flanked on every side by enemies, making the flow of provisions almost/or impossible. This pressure is growing and the “catch 22” for the Russian troops in Transnistria is a fact now. The Moldovan government wants to “reunite” this territory with Moldova with growing voices of “whatever it takes”, which means : even by force. This hot-spot is much more burning than Dobass because Transnistria has no physical contact with Russia by far. Just look at the map. Therefore, the potential of having the role of a fuse for a greater war is very much there in Transnistria.
Yes,I see that as a very serious problem. Without a good easy answer. The answer “not” to take is to let the troops starve. So that pretty much leaves “forceful diplomacy” or “outright force” to solve the issue. Telling the pro-EU government that you are going to recognize Transnistria as an independent nation if they don’t stop the blockade. And then supply their troops in that independent state by air.That if the Moldovans try to stop them the Russian air force will prevent that. And show them films of the Russian air strikes in Syria to explain what you mean.That would be the “forceful diplomacy” option. A coup against the pro-EU groups in power in Moldova using Transnistrian troops (and the Russian forces there) would come under the heading of the “outright force” option.I don’t see a third option adequate for the circumstances.Surrendering to the Moldavan demands and abandoning hundreds of thousands of Russian supporters in Transnistria to ethnic cleansing shouldn’t even be considered.
The Anglo-Zionist controlled faction in Lebanon is trying to get rid of Hezbollah. Hezbollah have been very effective in getting rid of the A-Z terrorist footsoldiers, unlike the Lebanese military. Now that most of the work is done, the Lebanese fifth column are trying to get US air support to cover Lebanon. No doubt such US air cover would try yo neutralie Hezbollah and SAA forces. However, RUssia has pre-empted this by placing ~400 Russians (soldiers plus military police) in the Golan area that Israel covets. My guess is that Russia would say any aircraft attacking, or looking like it may attack, RUssian forces will be shot down.
Great analysis. I’d say CIS/SCO/Eurasia has won many battles against the ziocons in a row and gone a great length to consolidate itself. However I don’t think the knock out blow can be achieved in this manner alone. The Ziocons have basically half of the worlds economic, manpower, propaganda etc. resources at their disposal. They can endlessly throw these resources around. They don’t have to “win” in the traditional manner to really win, just to create chaos and confrontation to keep the most potent adversaries weak is enough.
The knock out victory is achieved by prying these resources out of their grip. We can dub them as zombies, that are kept in control with endless streams of propaganda. Less zombie-like resources equal weaker ziocons. Of course, the irony here is that ziocons themselves are weakening their power through devouring the nations and blocs they hold. Europe is being horribly ransacked by robbing them for corporate and banking interests, through demolishing the welfare state and uncontrolled third world immigration. Ziocons themselves increase power within the system, yes, but their power base is diminishing.
Barring a nuclear war, there is nothing the US/Baltics can do against Russia. I think Russia is best served completely ignoring them, if there is something worthwhile in Europe, just focus bilaterally on Germany, France and Italy. Otherwise watch the show of ziocon contributed implosion and hope/wait that the brainwashed EU leaders get replaced with smarter ones. Continue dismantling the US/Israel Syrian project, unite Syria/Iraq and Iran, wait as GCC and Saudis get weaker and try to get to more neutral and sensible terms. This way US looses the Middle East and weakens the dollar hegemony. If Kurds go crazy like the ziocons plan, co-operate with the Turks and squeeze them from all sides. If not, the better. Maintain status quo between NK and SK. Help Philippines with Isis. Arbitrate and build diplomatic power as much as possible in SE Asia.
Barring a war, ziocons lose over time. Time is of the essence, that is why you now see them making quick and radical moves and using up their cards. These are the most dangerous moments. No doubt Donbass is now the most valid card they still hold. Don’t view Ukraine only as a move against Russia, it is as much about retaining their vassals. If Porky regime could be replaced with a more sensible one, it would save everyone (and cause the ziocons) a lot of headache.
A video from the Head of Venezuela’s National Guard on the use of violence by the opposition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4PpOtRcA7Q
The situation is exactly the same as in trhe early days of the Syria regime change program. The oppsotion forces are killing state forces, totally ignored by the western MSM. Media coverage focusses solely on the reactions to the opposition attacks, implying that these are unprovoked attacks.
The US really does use a play book in these things.
Hello!
I will be back active in a month’s time.
I have a general question, does anyone know the approx cost of the US military contribution in Afghanistan, compared to the Soviet one?
Surely the US is sinking more and more financially due to these outrageous adventures.
Yours aye
LeDahu
Short answer,no. But since the US military today is far more expensive than the Soviet one. And since they have been there years longer than the Soviets were. It must be a lot more expensive for the US. The only thing might be on the relation to GDP between the two. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard about that.
Over One Trillion for the US. (announced expenditures–https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/war-in-afghanistan/)
Over 80 Billion for the USSR. (supposedly spending 8x what US spent on their effort supporting Mujahadeen. Reagan authorized one billion a year, ten years.)
Another great article, thank you. The “very different topic” of the US dollar perhaps ties in very nicely to the story. Gold has been going east for decades now and Alisdair Macleod has a idea on how the east might use that gold: https://www.goldmoney.com/research/goldmoney-insights/time-for-a-new-gold-standard-for-asia
thank you the revolutionwas! Alisdair Macleod is a true gold and money expert, one of the few who actually understands what is going on financially.
Here is an interesting sentence from that article: “The time when they [Russia and China] could just rely on America to make the strategic mistakes is probably over, and more positive action is required.” (This may explain why Russia and China have appeared slow to react.)
“The most effective way for them to win this currency war is to expose the inherent weaknesses of the dollar by resorting to a sound money arrangement, backed by gold. The objective is for China and Russia to banish all foreign control of money in their trade arrangements and spheres of economic influence, and to create ubiquity in money within the enlarged SCO”.
Yes! And the actions of western governments, led by the US, are accelerating Russia’s and China’s desire to dump the dollar.
Nothing is too expensive for the USA- for the USA spends everyone else’s money through the dollar borrowing system. The dollar is the world’s currency and the USA is allowed to control dollar debt rules.
When Blair invaded Iraq, for instance, the issue of controlling ‘hearts and minds’ on the ground was solved with the US treasury printing hundreds of ***billions*** of dollars and shipping that paper money into Iraq in the largest bundles of cash witnessed in Human History (google it).
Of course printing money isn’t without a downside, so the US will calculate the ‘value’ of a war in various ways- of which cost in one, but far from the most important factor. After all once you have an army, using it isn’t really any more expensive (ask Russia about Syria). The real cost only comes if you have to raise a larger army than you really want/have (ask any King throughout European history).
What matters is understanding why the Deep State goes to war in the first place- and this is something people on our side get wrong ***all*** the time.
The Deep State has ***zero*** interest in wars with N Korea or Venezuela or China – and how anyone on our side can claim otherwise bemuses and scares me. Each of these three nations functions perfectly for the Deep State, and serves current American needs perfectly.
The Ukraine thing is to wrong-foot Putin, stick needles into Russia’s side, and help demonise Russia. Otherwise it is relatively insignificant to the West- who cannot understand why Putin hasn’t simply rolled in and forced the peaceful partition of Ukarine.
Syria is supposed to be a gift to Israel, a gift to Saudi Arabia, and the general ripping up of the ‘rules’ in the Middle East to pave a road for war with Iran.
Iran and Russia are the ***only*** true targets- and America never ever considered these ‘wars on the cheap’, nor ever needed to either.
The ‘problem’ with war on Iran (apart from moral and regional stability concerns) is that Iran can defend itself against anything short of nukes, and the USA finds it difficult to start a war that allows for nuke use from the very beginning. So when the US Deep State proposes war with Iran, the key US generals and sheeple say “how the hell can that possibly go well?” and decline.
Google is currently designing and building drone tanks for the US army to use in a ground invasion of Iran. This is not well known, but isn’t a ‘secret’ either. Google aquired all the most advanced military robot companies many years ago (go Google). Google’s so-called ‘AI’ initiatives like self-driving cars and vision systems are what we call ‘dual use’ technology. Seemingly harmless in Google’s public propaganda, but actually crafting and perfecting the essential systems for the semi-autonomous human-free drone tanks.
Google wants to ensure the Deep State has a convincing argument for the doubters who nay-say a ‘nuke free’ war with Iran. And then once the USA declares war- starts bombing Iran and sending in the drones- the US failure with conventional weapons and robot drones, combined with the consequences of Iran striking back with ground-to-ground medium range missile systems, will allow the US government to neatly escalate to the use of ‘precision’ nukes.
And with Persian civilisation wiped out, and the iranians left alive dependent on the outside world for everything now, the stage is set for the ultimate project- a massive pre-emptive nuclear strike on Russia.
The Iran will with have groomed the planet to accept the use of nukes. The resistance against Blair and Clinton’s desire to nuke Russia will crumble (where it matters). The pretence of a ‘missile shield’ will be sold to the dumbos. And the leading argument will be that Russian actions makes it inevitable that the West will have to nuke it, so better today than tomorrow.
What about our side. Well most of us are supposed to waste their time arguing about the carefully raised ***talking points*** in the ‘serious’ newspapers far too many of us are still depending on for their understanding of world events. So lots of dribble about N Korea and Venezuela- just like the Deep State propaganda masters want. Lot’s of encouragement to take our eye of the ball.
Lots of nonsense about how sanctions can’t hurt Russia. Lots of nonsense about why America can do what it likes free of sanctions, whereas of course Russia must never flex its muscles in a moral cause for fear of ‘escalating’ the situation. Lots of nonsense about how Russia is always better off being ‘fainthearted’ even tho the West is never fainthearted.
The Deep State still needs to buy time. The Human Race has a powerful instinct against global suicide.
Don’t think ‘wars on the cheap’ but ‘cheap’ (ie mostly pointless) wars. Thinkers in the US Deep State are now claiming actions like Syria end up being a distraction- a cheap-n-nasty US tactic only done cos it was so ‘cheap-n-easy’. Not because in the greater scheme of things it was really valuable. “If we are going to war, let’s do it right” they now proclaim- so this isn’t a fear of more ‘expensive’ wars but a positive desire to do the more ‘expensive’ wars if they are the ones that matter.
I recall the first Gulf War when people on our side said it could never happen cos it would be way too expensive. And they were simply repeating the talking points planted in the zionist press of the time. But America acted as if ‘cost’ of any form had no significance, raised the most astonishing armed forces, and crushed Iraq. The second gulf war- Blair’s invasion of Iraq, was massively more expensive again, and that was never a factor. I remember at the time talking to people who said America would never invade, but bomb forever from the air- cos America couldn’t accept the ‘expense’ of invading.
I explained they were wrong (the build up of the invasion force couldn’t be hidden in our modern age- even tho the BBC etc lied about the facts pre-invasion). When i was proven correct, these same people were amazed that anyone knew the truth of a matter every mainstream media outlet had lied about prior.
Same again here. America is going to war with Iran. America is going to launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Russia. Both events need Putin to continue on his current course of faintheartedness. The support for the Iran war is still hard to arrange- so when is anyone’s guess. The strike on Russia is much later. But the recent US Congress bloc vote against Russia, Iran and N Korea the process is well under way and is now pushing against open doors.
The future is not set in stone, no matter how much the demons would like to think so. If Putin can yet still rally the hearts and minds of Greater Humanity, the demons will fail. But if Putin continues to cover his head with his arms, and allow the West to beat upon him as they may, and when they stop hold out his hand again, the demons are going to win.
“If Putin can yet still rally the hearts and minds of Greater Humanity, the demons will fail.”
As Zion controls the world’s money supply, so it does the global information flow.
How then should Putin ‘rally the hearts and minds of Greater Humanity’? His mike is turned off. Besides, he wouldn’t do so anyway. He is no raving lunatic. Putin will continue what he has done so far – continue working step by step to the best of his ability with the interest of Russia and the whole of humanity in mind. What Putin has achieved so far, exceeds anything we could have hoped for.
Putin should stop to invest in American bonds above all. It is hilarious that after first sanctions ( after Crimea rejoin Russia) millions were pour into US banks. Where is the logic. Now that money might be frozen for good.
“Nothing is too expensive for the USA- for the USA spends everyone else’s money through the dollar borrowing system.” I agree with that thats why the importance for the world to get away from the dollar system. China, Russia and Iran are trying their survival and maybe the world s? depends on that. From your comments you seem to suggest that Russia is just passive waiting for the US just to decide when is the right time to nuke. I do not think so. Common sense tells that when or if the US decides to do that their own survival (probably the planet s) is at stake. Are the lunatics ready to put their on lifes in danger? I am not sure.
If Iran is attacked in some overwhelming air power form, jets, bombers, drones, Hezbollah will launch some of their 100,000 rockets at Israel. Haifa will be gone. And much of other major cities and bases will be torched.
So, Iran is in possession of a major tripwire. Launch a war against Iran, and Israel is heavily destroyed. And logically, Iraqi and Syrian Shiite forces will attack US positions. Also, it can be assumed that many US soft targets in the ME, NA and other areas will come under attack.
You can be assured that Saudi Arabia will see a massive internal uprising, connecting the Yemen war with a Shiite uprising in the KSA.
These are all predictable, logical results of “the easy war of robotic tanks” some loons are proposing.
The reality of Iran is that it has many armies. They are marked by Israel for destruction. Problem is for Tel Aviv and DC is that these armies can’t be engaged with and defeated as easily as the loons think.
Hegemony, large or small, has its limits.
And if chaos is all the goal may be, one missile into a carrier will be payback. Explain the loss of 5000 men and 100 aircraft in that exchange.
What the warmongers don’t understand, but the military at the operational level do comprehend, is the US and Israel are sitting ducks and their publics won’t accept massive retaliatory losses.
Chest-pounding is for apes.
There may be an event some apes construct, but certainly, the four great “threats” the Hegemon would like to destroy (Iran, Russia, China, North Korea) can inflict unacceptable losses in return.
It looks like the Trump version of war will be mostly “sanctions” and skewed trade, investments, and market disruption. Economic warfare. He is about to disrupt the EU market and the Asian market. While pounding chests distract us, the global reset on trade and finance will be in process. He thinks he can cripple China and Russia and box in Iran using those tools. Pay attention.
Trump might not be done yet. But it will take some political skill to proceed. Whether Trump has such skill is very much in doubt. But, it is the sort of thing that a President can acquire if he becomes convinced he needs it.
Trump recently went to WV and had a loud, capacity crowd for a rally. One of FoxNews nutcases, Krauthammer, points out in a recent column that this shows that Trump has not lost the support of his base.
WV is interesting, because its a state that has tilted strongly towards the Republican in recent times. Nationwide, the Democrats have abandoned FDR’s old working class base in favor or rich businesspeople and elites. West Virginia has a lot more working class people than rich elites. Thus, WV has shifted Republican.
WV has one Democratic Senator. A former governor who’s always played the role of ‘conservative’ Democrat to a Republican majority state. Two things about him. One is that he’s been out in the lead in attacking Trump Jr’s meeting with the Russian lawyers. Saying some silly things about how no politician should ever have taken such a meeting, when of course he knows any politician would have send someone to a meeting promising dirt on an opponent in a closely contested election.
The second interesting thing is that Manchin (D-WV) is up for re-election in 2018. So, this is a chance to flip a Democratic Senator to the Republican side. The part that requires some political skill is that Trump needs to manuever such that he gets a Trump loyalist into the Republican nomination to run against him. It wouldn’t do Trump any good to get a pro-Deep State Republican to replace him. But if he gets a sure Trump loyalist who will support him in the Senate after 2018, then that helps Trump.
But the bigger picture is that Trump still has his base behind him. Trump has the advantage that his base has bought into the knowledge that the media lies and can not be trusted. Thus, even though the ‘news’ looks awful, its not having much effect on the people who voted for Trump. It can peel a few percentage points off the edges, but it can’t touch his base. And even those edges voted for Trump when they saw the alternative last time, and likely might still support a pro-Trump candidate against whatever alternative the pro-war, pro-banker forces put up to run in places like WV the next time around.
The question is whether Trump has the political skill to handle this situation. He needs to think longer term than what to say in his next tweet. But, such skill can be hired. All that would take is Trump deciding that he needs it, then finding someone and sticking by them. And, rather naturally, the cycles of American politics is that soon people will be thinking about the next election and then that won’t seem like ‘long-term’ thinking at all, but just becomes the driving force behind everything. That will happen everywhere next winter, as primary campaigns heat up. Trump needs to get there now, and start lining up his supporters to challenge both Democrats and disloyal Republicans to try to put in place a more strongly pro-Trump Congress.
Me, I’d remake the old Goldwater “Daisy” ad for my candidates. Pictures of a mushroom cloud and a message to elect people to support Trump because its just too important not to do so.
Wars on the cheap became very attractive, in fact irresistible, once the the US abandonned the Bretton Woods System and the dollar was declared a fiat currency attached to nothing but faith. As sole owner of this magical money-making machine, it would be totally impossible for the US not to engage in the recruiting of “rebels”, “contras”, militants or whatever you prefer to call them. Mercenaries. They are easy to find, and it costs the owners of the money making magical machine exactly nothing to fun them.
There is no end in sight to wars on the cheap for the US as long as the dollar retains its status. The supply of devils willing to kill anyone for a small wad of greenbacks is literally inexhaustible. So is the supply of politicians avid to be bought. All these people are surely much more abundant today than they were when this system started in the 1970.
I wouldn’t count on wars on the cheap ending any time soon. Not for the US anyway. Of course wars are not cheap for any other country, it goes without saying.
In addition to the above, the world system is set in such a way that the money flows back to the US anyway. Not just by foreigners lending it back by purchasing Treasuries, but every credit card transaction, PayPal, Amazon, Google.. every thing brings money back to its creators, not to speak of the phenomenal control of information.
It is simply not true that the world is becoming “multipolar”. It is becoming more and more unipolar by the minute. The next logical next step is to start imposing de facto jurisdiction over more and more places, something they are already doing quite openly with the sanctions system.
The fact that there are only handful of countries left that try to resist being swallowed into this kind of full spectrum submission, does not mean that the unipolar system is not strengthening itself and in fact expanding. It only means that this resistance to it, being by now so residual, can easily be the focus of all manner of calumny and abuse. There is more noise, sure, and more agitation and more flailing about by everyone, but this may just as well be seen as the last convulsions of a dying specimen: the world of sovereign states. Once the transformation is completed, and it may take a few decades, the ruling dark core will do as it pleases with the discontent, especially with the masses of humanity who will be subject to all manner of farming (like larvae) and experimentation. It is highly likely that in the not too distant future, humans will split into de facto separate species. The great masses carefully maintained in a state of profound chemically induced stupor will be looked upon by the few in a manner similar to how we look at apes.
The future is of course truly horrible, a genuine monstrosity. But don’t forget that the present is already a monstrosity and only our capacity for denial makes us forget it for long enough stretches to be able to function.
Do not pass judgement on the desire for evasion, no matter how stupefying it is.
I agree. Even the fact that we obsess and discuss daily – endlessly – the machinations of the Unipole suggests its utter dominance. No other geopolitical subject can compete with the question of how the Multipole can best resist being oppressed and destroyed.
I am not optimistic. Peacemongers believe control and management of the threat will suffice, which it will not. It is a case of threat elimination vs. living and dying in dystopia. Think of our children.
Excellent analysis, thanks. I look forward to your doing some work on what will prop up the petrodollar once the military might evaporates. Russia and China are both stacking gold and not dealing in USD. This is the real menace and the reason for the almost maniacal actions of the AngloZionists. Once their money is worthless, the whole house of cards comes down.
Saker:
While, I realize that for the writing of this article, you necessarily need to ‘cut down on the variables’, thus the working assumption that “…all modern theories of deterrence always imply a “rational actor” and not a crazy lunatic on an suicidal amok run. …”, you yourself have already in this very article, and in many articles before it, convincingly suggest that the actors of the 0.1% factions, (my label for them), are, in effect, insane.
And I agree with you.
In fact, we can postulate that there is a positive correlation of inclusion in the higher stratus of the 1% (including the real control within the 0.1%), and sociopathic tendencies; also, a negative correlation of inclusion in the higher stratus of the 1%, and empathic response.
We need new theories of deterrence that is not reliant on key actors NOT being genocidally insane, since we clearly have demonstrative outcomes that are genocidal.
“Conclusion – Afghanistan 2001-2017”
One could only hope that Afghanistan “… become the graveyard of the…” Empire, and why not, it’s like a fixed lobster trap that the empire has inserted one of its slimy tentacles into, and is therefore rooted in place, much as the Soviet Empire became ensnared.
What ever the role that Afghanistan may or may not play in the downfall of this current oppressive empire, I should like, once again to draw out the ‘gaming theory’ angle of the “American war on the cheap”; if everyone else plays by the rules, the cheating party, may gain extra-normal returns on employing their little dirty-war-approach. But having it be used so successfully, only for destructive purposes, it should be noted, two things have happened:
1. The door has been open for every Tom, Dick, or Wahabi, to use components of the same approach, AGAINST you, with initially similar, though declining, probability of outcome (destructive outcomes only),
2. “declining probability of outcome”, because now everybody knows this dirty little cheat, and, as the Russians figured out, how to undermine it with comparatively little risk/exposure.
“how to undermine it with comparatively little risk/exposure”, is well-illustrated in your account of the Russian involvement in Syria.
But Syria is far from being settled down, despite it turning the corner, there is a long, long way to go, and we know the malevolent hatred of Iran is added to the strategic plan of breaking up every Muslim country in the Middle East/North Africa.
They “… have been punching above their real weight for decades now and the world is beginning to realize this.”
I’m not sure how true this is. I think it has been a long term declining capability.
I think of my favourite ongoing agricultural endeavours, and how an infestation in a closed system can get progressively worse, until despite all the fertilizers and light, the energy just can’t seem to get the 99% of the plant, which gets weaker, and progressively less able in and of itself, to fight off the parasite, which prospers and progressively sucks more and more out of the plant, until it dies, and most of the parasite colony dies with it.
All of the power conduits in the U.S.A. are clogged with the parasites ‘taking their cut, off the top’, no investment on the actual productive capacity of the ongoing viable enterprise is reaching where it needs to get; so many ‘professional parasites’ get their cut up front, regardless of whether or not the objectives of the power spend is ever initiated, let alone completed.
“As for attacking Russia or China – that would be suicidal.“
This, unfortunately, draws us back to my opening point, on the sanity of the decision-making components of the 0.1% factions, NOT!
The build-up in the encirclement of Russia/China with THAAD defensive systems, which could be adjusted for nuclear (necessarily destructive offensive) capability continues to role along with the flimsiest of excuses; in this context, recent events of the DPRK turned out to be quite an opportunity with the growing resentment of aggressive imperialist activities in South Korea.
But it wasn’t until your final point that I really got a ghoulish freak on about the 0.1% sociopaths, “…This new reality, of course, immediately raises the issue of what/how the US Dollar will be backed by in the future (until now, it was only really “backed” by US military power), ……”, because when it comes to this obsession, anyone really paying attention must know… that these types would rather Armageddon than losing the power of their (precious) dollars!
So, again the question the remaining ‘sane’ people, who see the patterns and trends, is what can be done?
We have an emergency situation, so all the smart freaks who spend time here on your nice site for geo-politically-aware smart freaks, should be creating and floating alternative avenues of solutions.
I know that it may not be opportune to ‘give them away’ necessarily on this public site, nonetheless…
Methods of raising the awareness of the majority is probably a useful action point. (besides, of course, camouflaged attack from the minions controlled by the 0.1% factions, by all means the decision-makers consider appropriate).
Saker
Definitely one of your best efforts.
Petras recently wrote an analysis that ties into your essay here very closely, describing the regions israel-america is attacking and describing how these have managed to resist so far.
Washington and Brussels: Running in Reverse
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=2151
Well, that was an quite interesting read, it sums a lot up. Thank you for that link.
What however miss, is the dark role of the UK in the shades. Often they think something out, and let the USA do the execution.
Secretely they are earning lots of money from the Yemen scandal: http://yournewswire.com/yemen-war-benefits-us-uk-arms-dealers/
Don’t count out the French as well. They were the instigators to destroy Lybia. For money reasons (who would have thought that): http://www.globalresearch.ca/hillary-emails-reveal-nato-killed-gaddafi-to-stop-libyan-creation-of-gold-backed-currency/5594742
The links to Hillary e-mails are dead (who would have thought that).
Lybia’s gold suddenly ‘disappeared’ (who would have thought that). The same happened in the Ukraine.
One of the reasons given for the French stabbing Qadaffi in the back is that Sarkozy was (criminally) aided by Qadaffi in the form of illegal campaign contributions. Also, the water in Libya’s underground sea is an huge attraction for Suez & Nestle (I’m sure the Swiss were tangentially involved).
Actually I would say that this war on the cheap was originally “invented” by Israel in Southern Lebanon pre-2000, before it was used in Afghanistan. They had the local insurgent Southern Lebanon Army that would do most of the hard work, and when in trouble Israel would provide artillery and air support. It did not work well (since Hezbollah was not exactly demoralized) and Israel had to retreat leaving their insurgent allies behind. Next time they came back – no one would want to be the next sucker “ally”, and hence the Second Lebanon war was so short.
I agree completely with your analysis of the way in which US warfare tactics have degenerated into something quite worthless against a significant foe, and is inordinately reliant on local cannon fodder and total air superiority. In fact, perhaps you need an asterisk or (minus) qualifier for your table above, because as you mentioned while air superiority is expected in North Korea and Iran, it will come at a much greater cost and continuing risk, which the spoiled empire may or may not be willing to endure–at the very least it takes much of the fun out of the idea of massive, overt intervention.
As for other potential targets, query whether you might add the Philippines. The injection of troublemakers has already occurred, and although right now I suspect the US hopes that it will manage to have Duarte killed before he does irreversible damage to their control there, if he hangs on and continues to build ties with China and Russia, that calculus might change. Also, I’m sure the US would love an excuse for a major intervention in central Asia, to disrupt the OBOR, but there again I believe they are still in the “subversion” stage rather than outright invasion.
I agree with others that the Ukraine is looking increasingly likely to erupt, although the US will likely not dare to “invade” directly, I am hesitant to put much past the irrational neocons. And I think Venezuela is at the top of the list for the reasons others mentioned.
This is a seriously excellent analysis. It highlights things that I haven’t seen anywhere else, even though it’s obvious after you read it.
My guess is that Venezuela is next on the list of victims. I have to agree with Larchmonter that China has never risen to the challenge of defending its considerable economic and political investments in other nations. Nowhere was China’s failure more outstanding than in Libya. Unfortunately, Libya was the key to American dominance of Africa, and now Venezuela is key to American regaining dominance of South America. China had been investing in African infrastructure (railroads, mainly) for 20 years, and also had some $6 billion invested in Libyan oil facilities. There was also the ultra-strategic issue that the $70 billion in Libya’s sovereign wealth fund would be used by Ghadaffi’s African development bank, with the side-effect of making Chin’s African investments more profitable. Finally that sovereign wealth fund might have created a minor alternative to the petrodollar. So China had a lot to lose in Libya, but they failed to protect themselves. If Beijing decides to protect Venezuela, it would mean that their leadership has had a massive change of heart, but that would take a miracle.
I believe military action in the Ukraine is less likely than in Venezuela, but the Russia calculation of action/inaction may have changed for two reasons.
1. Russia was waiting for Ukrainians themselves to get sick and tired of their kleptocrats. That became a failed strategy because 2.4 million Ukrainians went to Russia in search of jobs, and perhaps 3 to 6 million went to Poland. So Ukraine is looking like a Latvia or Mexico, where most of the able-bodied men with initiative left the country, leaving the US puppets with weak domestic opposition. In February, Zakarchenko said Kiev would collapse within 60 days, and perhaps the Kremlin had similar hopes. Those hopes were proven false.
2. Russia is very concerned with how the Ukraine is seen in Western Europe. But now that Merkel will be re-elected by a strong margin in September, and with Macron des Rothschilds in France ruling for the next 5 years, Russia might decide Western European opinion isn’t so valuable. The Kremlin’s decision could be based on whether the Europeans respond to the new US sanctions, sanctions which actually target European “allies”. If the EU remains in shameless thrall to Washington, then Moscow may decide it has little to lose by offending these spineless puppets, and a lot to gain by helping Ukraine regain its footing with a sharp end to the conflict. Finally, no one can rule out that the insane and desperate UkroNazis might stage terrorist actions within Russia, which would hasten their own demise, much like their blockade of the railroads and the carloads of coal from Novorossia.
Today, August 9, The Duran published a hard data analysis of the Ukraine becoming depopulated and unable to support even the people who are still there. This validates my thesis that waiting for the Ukraine to drop like a rotten apple is a false theory, and only fools would cling to that hope. Depopulating the Ukraine is a victory for the Empire.
What’s more shocking is that this data has been rather freely available in recent years. You can read a lot into both the data and into what seems to be the failure of respected leaders (e.g. VVP and AZ), to change strategies.
http://theduran.com/ukraine-hollows-out/
Shaker,
I wrote to you about Afghanistan a few months ago and you seemed to agree.
Taliban offered Bin Laden to the US and the US declined.
Weeks later, a few hundred soldiers, with the help of the Northern Alliance, achieved a total success over all the combatants in a matter of weeks. They then escorted them over the border into Pakistan or let them slip into the populace. All of that happened in October and November under the spotlight of the global media.
The US could have declared total victory “on the cheap” and declared to the world “Don’t mess with the US.” Bush and Cheney showed no interest in defeating the enemy.
Do you not think it is time to revisit a few of the conspiracy theories? If they are true, they become facts and all the debates over these past 50 years were a distraction from some deeper truths.
For example, we can read, “Project for the 21st Century”, and we can see the authors enter the Bush administration in 2000. If the 9/11 conspiracy theories are true, then a lot of things take on a different meaning. We can reflect and see the importance of the global “Echo Chamber” or propaganda machine.
I suspect your discussions with Catherine Austin Fitts, with her financial conspiracy theories, are touching on those deeper truths, which have little to do with Syria or Trump.
I suspect Russia and China know full well what is happening and the global elites are not very happy about it.
Personally, I have no clue what to make out of any of this.
Mike Scanlan
PS.
Check out Catherine’s 2-hour interview with Cynthia McKinney. There is a 19 minute summary overlaid with graphics, which makes it much more powerful.
https://vimeo.com/224212327
Again an excellent analysis Saker, thank you for that.
My thoughts are however, that the next military intervention (or should we better say: messing up and looting?) will be Saudi Arabia.
I want to share with all of you a very interesting article about Saudi Arabia, and the hidden huge mess that they are in: http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/china-has-leverage-kill-petrodollar/ri20552
While I have my doubts whether it will really unfold like the author states, the foregoing scenario is very interesting indeed (big financial problems, low on oil, a disastrous war, an ‘inverse Midas’ clown prince, and calculating Chinese).
That so-called analysis by Jim Willie from “Russia” Insider is premised on his future speculation (i.e. somewhat hysterical fears) that China may invest in a supposedly overpriced Aramco or may purchase Saudi oil in RMB rather than the Almighty Dollar–and not on what has actually transpired.
Moreover, Willie fundamentally does not question the parasitic nature of America’s jealously guarded Petro Dollar system, which scholars like Michael Hudson have called the greatest economic “free lunch” in history.
America: Host or Parasite?
https://soundcloud.com/guns-and-butter-1/2051-20070314-guns-and-butter
Dollar War in Detail
http://michael-hudson.com/2010/11/dollar-war-in-detail/
Michael Hudson’s “Super Imperialism:
The Economic Strategy Of Imperial America”
http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman010709.htm
Indeed, even a certain leader much admired by people here has called out America and its Dollar System:
Putin says U.S. is “Parasite” on Global Economy
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28718.htm
Like most Americans, including its controlled opposition/fake dissent, Mr. Willie does not oppose America’s financial bloodsucking of the world through the US Dollar. But rather he fears its demise, much like a vampire fears the light of day.
Even much of the “alternative” media simply cannot bring themselves to admit that American Dollar capitalism and profligate standard of living are illegitimate–and deserve to be killed.
It’s almost comical watching the Americans, as they are possessed by paranoid insecurities about the end of the US Dollar system and predictably wrap themselves in victimhood, whereby they deceitfully portray themselves as virtuous victims threatened by other nations!
The United States of America is a pathological mix of Orwellian deception and Pity Party politics that has reached the point of unintended self-parody.
For all the violent insanity, hatred, and disgust the neocons feel for the overwhelming global majority — neatly explaining more pleasurable spectacles such as 911, mind you — the neocons are, in fact, quite predictable. There is a minuscule fragment of the world’s population these folks worship passionately. The chosen people are next in line for everything. So while Venezuela will be suffering and Russia/the DPRK forever slandered, it’s the Muslim world that will be their “top priority”: Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq.
Interesting piece, Saker. I would be very interested to read your analysis of what an attack on North Korea might entail and its consequences. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is very tense.
In a week Putin could complete a pincer movement around eastern Ukraine, seizing all land east of the Dineper river. I would love to see the Kiev regime wake up every morning with artillery pointed at them from across the river. Europe and the US couldn’t do a thing but prop up the worthless western Ukraine.
I think the answer to the question of who will be next is: All of them
The core of the “war on the cheap” is mercenaries. A profession that has existed for thousands of years and was only diminished in recent history. The U.S. put the use of mercenary armies back into mainstream use in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Syria, there would never have been a sufficient force of local “rebel” fighters to train and equip enough to fight a successful campaign against government forces. Even with special ops forces embedded in them. Only a mercenary force could accomplish this with massive funding and support from rich nations.
Now that we have returned to the dark ages of mercenary armies funded in the shadows by anonymous PTB a pandora’s box has been opened. Those with the most money truly control the world. Under the current rules of the game, there is no winning against this. They have enough money to send mercenaries to Ukraine, Syria, Iran, Venezuela all at once and then some. There has never been a shortage of people willing to pick up a gun and kill for money, never.
It should be apparent in the paragraph above what the solution is to win.
I agree there. I don’t see it as a “which one” either (though if it was,I’d say Venezuela). But the US can and seems to be,doing all at the same time. Its the many headed Medusa,or many armed Octopus effect. All those actions need to be combated at the same time.
Last time I checked color revolutions were the new strategy of war on the cheap… and the Russian’s have finally realized its value. Or at least put metal in place of the strategy in Syria to avoid a snowball effect of jihadist proxy on the periphery that was brewing…
Who needs staying power when you can wreck havoc on your enemy’s investments and energy sources? Heck, how can you defend your global interests when you’re stuck in a defensive posture? Hope for a change in the status quo via US allies finally calling it quits? Quite the strategy to hang your hat on…
“Prevailing against Iran or the DPRK is clearly beyond the actual US military capabilities.”
The problem is that the US military-industrial complex and the neocons don’t care about that. It’s only US soldiers and foreign country civilians who die, and it doesn’t cost the MIC and the neocons one red cent in consequences. Neither does it cost them any political or social costs. So why not attack Iran? Plus it’s the one thing the Israelis want most in the world, which is another plus.
Which is why Iran is the next target, despite it not being possible to defeat it.
North Korea at least holds out the likelihood of so many horrific US casualties in the first ninety days that the US public probably would revolt somewhat if it was started. Whereas Iran will be primarily an air war for the first couple months, like Iraq and Afghanistan. So the US public will tolerate it – especially because one poll said 70% of the ignorant US public believe Iran already HAS nuclear weapons.
It is only when Iran manages to control the Straits of Hormuz that the US will be forced to send 30,000 or more Marines onto Iran’s soil to attempt to prevent this. That’s when the body-bags start coming home on a daily basis.
By then it will be too late for the US public to stop the war. It will go on for a decade or two because Iran will never surrender. And the MIC and the neocons will profit accordingly.
Venezuela is not the next target. Iran is and has been for the last 15 years. It’s just that the US hasn’t been able to attack Iran because Israel doesn’t want the war to start until both Hizballah and Syria are taken out – which is why we have the Syria crisis in the first place.
Which is also why the US game in Syria isn’t over yet. Somehow, despite the presence of Russia, the US has to try to take out Syria’s military before the Iran war can start. It’s likely that once the Syrian Arab Army, Russia, Iran and Hizballah have contained ISIS and Al Qaeda that the US military inside Syria (with outside help) will attempt to turn on the Syrian military and lay the groundwork for a US air campaign. The only remaining question is what Russia will do about that.
There was some speculation recently that some kind of false flag is set to happen in Estonia or Finland.
First the US senate set new sanctions. Immediately after that Pence was in Estonia and promised Patriot missiles. Russian fleet was moved to St. Petersburg to cover the Finnish gulf. Also Chinese ships present to message Nato of mutual defensive pact, so they could be in a hurry now. Then two Spanish Nato fighters from the Estonian base flew to the Finnish airspace (violation) to supposedly identify some non existing Russian plane. Also rumored they might shoot down a passenger plane like MH17, most Finnish officials have been bribed by the CIA and the prez offered asylum in London before the show begins (well wouldn’t really be a surprise). Nato generals are really hell bent to integrate Finland to the empire ASAP due to longest border with Russia.
Don’t know how much is speculation and rumors but can’t disagree that these things have been going unusually quick in recent weeks. Shall see if things continue in the same way in coming weeks as well.
This is nonsense. I´m from Finland and I can tell you that things are definitely not going to the direction you wrote about. Where did you get this information?
I believe “wars on the cheap” evolved from the desire to keep money flowing at ever greater velocity toward the MIC… permanent conflict is the name of the game and each lobby mentioned in the previous article plays its part to varying degrees.
Not sure about this comment from Croatia. TR
I would like to add another “sweet spot” to your list: Transnistria with Russian peacekeepers that can be trapped there anytime…
Plus don’t forget FIFA 2018, do you really think that Anglos will allows such a beautiful showcase for the Russian federation? ;-)
my vote on next target is saudi arabi… don’t laugh.
saudi has been demonized from day one in the 9 eleven event.
saudi rights violation has wide spread coverage in the media.
saudi terrorism has wide spread coverage in the media.
us has now openly backed qatar in the spat with saud.
pnac’s plan/map of the new middle east had saudi split up.
all saud’s weaponry comes from the west so then know how to make it ineffective.
they suckered saud into yemen and drained it finances.(just like iraq)
saud is starting to sell oil in non-dollars.
saudi is now officially in a civil war against armed militias in the east.
another excuse to send massive armaments to Iran’s neighborhood.
this would be an easy sell politically/socially worldwide.
For the USA, deficits don’t matter. As long as the world accepts the counterfeit US dollar, nothing will change.
Before the Outlaw US Empire can reconfigure its military it needs to come up with a completely different Foreign Policy, while publicly scrapping its attempt at Full Spectrum Domination. Of course, that won’t happen anytime soon with the Neocons back in charge, but it must if the USA is to regain the credibility it had long ago–19th century long ago.
Here’s a link to the very important book written by J. Fletcher Prouty, The Secret Team, which has run those wars on the cheap since its demonic inception, https://ratical.org/ratville/JFK/ST/ST.html
The home site, ratical.org, has many more very “juicy” readings to educate people. There’s also a J. Fletcher Prouty site that collates many of his writings and interviews, http://www.prouty.org/index.html
Both sites ought to be bookmarked and read often.
This analysis is flawed in two ways.
First, you can not take nuclear weapons “out of the picture.” Tactical nuclear weapons have been used by the US surrogates, and Russian surrogates, and Israel and China. This has been documented at Veterans Today and is one of the differences I have voiced with the Saker. We are already in a nuclear war.
Secondly, the Russians are ahead of the US in electronic warfare. This has been admitted publically some time ago by the US military. We are in a new era as far as electronic warfare is concerned where electronics, including cruise missiles, advanced fighters, or air craft carriers, may or may not work. This is the biggest advance in military technology and it renders much of the US of our huge defense department expenditures useless. The Russians could not stand against the Americans if it were not for this technology, which also renders the petro-dollar obsolete. Zero point generation of energy has been confirmed not only by Dr. Keshe, but also Veterans Today, US patents, “Searching for Zero Point,” Podesta’s emails, and the decline in Western hegemony. We are in a new era where Neo-colonialism is obsolete.
Very sorry to say that Veterans Today has no credibility on the question of whether nuclear weapons have been used in Yemen. The only evidence seems to be the size and shape of the could of smoke from explosions, and one particular video which shows a ring of speckled white pixels, with the assertion that this unusual ring was evidence of a nuclear explosion. I suppose they thought that the cloud of dust would obscure neutrons or something. Having seen far too many photos of conventional explosions in Syria, I can say, as can anyone, that the size of the cloud is impossible to judge the size of the blast if – as in VT’s pictures from Yemen – you can’t estimate the distance to the blast. And of course most large explosions have mushroom-shaped clouds. Kevin Barrett, a VT editor, told me that Gordon Duff was the source of the claim. Based on Duff’s over-the-edge claims for years now, I consider Duff unreliable.
If the Iranian media, for example, were making the claim, I’d sit up and take notes. But they have not.
“This new reality, of course, immediately raises the issue of what/how the US Dollar will be backed by in the future (until now, it was only really “backed” by US military power), but that is a very different topic.”
I thought you had missed the most obvious but your last sentence bailed you out. I look forward to that analysis!
This is ALL about the reserve currency wars. The US dollar was at 72% and is now at 66% of international trade. They are slowly but surely losing the reserve currency war.
Russia, China and Iran have realized that as long as they use the US dollar for trade they are funding the empire that oppresses them. They are not playing along and have become targets.
They are land based and in geographical proximity to each other. To attack one without the cooperation of at least one of the others won’t work.
As long as the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency the USA is the only country that doesn’t have to use someone else’s currency to do trade. They just print the money. They will not give that printing press up without a major fight.
Trump’s actions in allowing the neocons to dictate some of the foreign policy is due to his having this explained to him. Lose the reserver currency and the empire is OVER.
The demise of the dollar is part of the plan. They want the world to hate the current system so much that we will take anything in it’s place. Trouble is the next system will be much worse. This is the plan and I have known of it for 30 yrs. Everything I learned of back then has come to pass. It is not going to be fun here very shortly. The fix is in and we have less than 10 yrs before they have total domination of how u make AND spend your stored labor.
TRM, do you have a link for the percentages that you quote? “The US dollar was at 72% and is now at 66% of international trade.”
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/03/prasad.htm
The Special Drawing Rights (SDR) that the IMF has is “theory only” as nobody follows it. According to it USD=42%, Euro=30%, Yen=10%, UKP=10%, Yuan=8% but as you can see from the IMF link reality is totally different. The USA likes the SDR because it makes people think that they are willing to share but truth is they are not.
Loved the chart! I would count South Korean troops boots on the ground in the Korean Peninsula. Hell, I could conceive Chinese and/or Russian boots on the ground there.
Dear Saker,
Thanks for omitting my country ****** from the list. All 3 criteria (demoralized enemy, air superiority, boots on the ground) are present there, or at least, around there.
A very important UN vote is to take place on Saturday (its been reported). The US is going to try and push through draconian sanctions on North Korea. I will see that as a “litmus test” for Russia and China. If they allow those sanctions to go through then I will assume (correctly) that they have sold out to the US on North Korea. If they veto the sanctions then they haven’t. Its as simple as that. They of course would have “excuses” for their actions. But they will be totally laughable and not believed. Both countries have a horrible record in the UN of allowing the US to get its way there. And they “always” regret that afterwards,sanctions on Iraq,Iran, and Libya,come quickly to mind.Where they allowed the US to have its way,and disasters quickly followed. So we are about to see clearly if they learned anything from those errors. Or will only continue to appease the US when it matters the most.I won’t be holding my breathe.One would hope that with Russia complaining (rightly) over the US just now sanctioning them.They wouldn’t aid the US to sanction another state.But with their track record,its an open question.
China and Russia have steadfastly worked to limit nuclear proliferation.
These sanctions are like the Iranian UNSC sanctions. Pressure to get to negotiations.
It worked with Iran. They are far better off now than in 2012-2013.
The two big neighbors hope to get a similar ending with Pyongyang.
You realize that South Korea wants the US out of their nation.
A denuclearized North Korea ends the reason for US bases in South Korea and also, by extension, Okinawa. The US will have to pack up and move it all to Guam.
The question is can the US turn it into Libya’s No Fly regime.
The early description indicates naval embargo.
Notice, in the Yellow Sea, the Chinese naval exercises are closing off most the Yellow Sea.
I expect that the Far East fleet of Russia will be heard from shortly.
No pampering of Kim will be allowed. He has to begin negotiations.
Where that ends, well, it is unpredictable.
His safety as a regime is problematic. He is not economically viable as a sovereign nation.
He relies on the good will of China and Russia.
Until he positions himself in their defense system against the Hegemon, he is doomed.
He brings great danger to China and Russia in his strategy. They cannot allow him that leverage.
Americans are being evacuated from South Korea. September is the deadline.
The American military may have found a hole in his defenses and a plan to neutralize his military leverage over Seoul.
Kim has played a zero sum game with the US, South Korea, Japan and now China and Russia.
Too clever for his own good.
Can one man control all the North Korean stakeholders in his Party and Military?
The UNSC resolution might be a lifeline for Kim, ironically.
The intention is to make his economy scream in pain, starving it for cash. It also puts his merchant fleet at the mercy of the UN sanctions. This will be a lesson for him that his power is limited to 12 miles of green water around his shoreline.
His options become one of three:
He can start a war and commit regime suicide. His regime will not survive day one.
He can continue his weapons program and begin the self-destruction of the economy and be overthrown by an uprising of his military.
He can negotiate.
China and Russia want him to negotiate.
But on what basis would Russia, having already declared the US “not-agreement-capable”, urge North Korea or anyone else to negotiate any kind of agreement with them? Even when the US concedes that Iran, for example, is in conformity with its part of a previous agreement, they’re still pushing for more sanctions on that country. Unilateral abrogation has become a US trademark.
That is just the “excuses” I talked about. That frankly is only what they “hope”. Reality shows it doesn’t work that way. The US never keeps agreements,certainly never keeps verbal agreements. As Russia and China should be fully aware of.The Russian and Chinese statements about how there should be “talks”,etc,etc,were just “hot air” and they know that just like I do.Yes,Iran is better off today. But they never would have been in a “better or worse” situation to start with if Russia and China hadn’t betrayed them at the UN over the sanctions when the US pushed to sanction them. The level of those two’s ability harm their own interests at the UN is breathtaking. And has been for decades. Let alone their quickness to betray their only friends time after time again at the UN. They knelt to the US and gave the “Judas kiss” to North Korea. Without the Hegemon even needing to give them the traditional 30 pieces of silver. They just ended their influence to solve the situation without war. So they will bare a huge amount of the responsibly when war breaks out.
You say KIm’s North Korea isn’t viable as a nation? Sure,as long as they keep getting attacked they aren’t. No nation of that size would be either. You say Russia and China want non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. OK,they can start with Israel. Do you see them sanctioning Israel for their nuclear weapons. No,me either. So its only “some ” nuclear weapons they don’t like. Strange how its only countries friendly with “themselves” too. The US had troops in South Korea and Japan for decades before North Korea started to build nuclear weapons. There “excuse” back then was “Red China”. China is still there with nuclear weapons. So unless that changes the US still has an excuse for their bases and they aren’t going away.And you say “Kim” must negotiate. The problem has never been Kim not willing to negotiate. Its the US that won’t talk to North Korea,there lays the problem. And Russia and China just threw away their ability to get the US to talk with North Korea. You say North Korea should position themselves in Russia and China;’s defense system. You are right there. But it isn’t North Korea that objects to that. Nether Russia nor China has offered that to them.There wouldn’t have been a nuclear weapons program to start with if they had. Even now,they don’t offer that. Even though they know that would solve the whole problem. You are wrong about the results of the war. It seems you believe the US propaganda about the greatness of their military. I’m actually surprised at that. North Korea has been preparing for a war with the US for decades. And while I too believe the US in the end would win. The cost for the US in lives will be enormous. And the cost to the Korean peoples and economies devastating. The North Koreans will “go for broke” to takeout as many Americans as they can before defeat. So when this is over and US battle troops are eyeball to eyeball with the Chinese and Russians on their own borders. They will only have themselves to blame for that.
Uncle Bob – very well said and couldn’t agree more. I hope the US doesn’t interpret Russia and China’s support for ever tighter strangulation of North Korea as a green light to attack the little country which they could do if NK tests another missile saying that obviously sanctions have failed and the only route left is war.
Larchmonter445 on August 05, 2017 · at 2:58 pm UTC
“A denuclearized North Korea ends the reason for US bases in South Korea and also, by extension, Okinawa. The US will have to pack up and move it all to Guam.”
———————–
There is a lot of nonsense in this post of yours, but these two sentences I quoted in particular are really an insult to everybody’s intelligence. Please play a better game.
I fail to see your logic in this.
How does starving the people of NK get the US to negotiate especially as nothing the US says is reliable?
It is not North Korea which refuses to negotiate – it is the US.
North Korea – as is easily verifiable – has been seeking a reliable peace deal in return for freezing weapons tests for a long time.
Quote below from: http://www.zoominkorea.org/as-tensions-explode-on-korean-peninsula-us-peace-delegation-calls-for-immediate-response-to-north-koreas-offer-to-freeze-its-nuclear-program/
“North Korea has repeatedly offered to suspend its nuclear weapons development in exchange for a freeze in US-South Korean joint war exercises. It’s time for the US and South Korea to respond to this offer as a jumping off point for definitive negotiations towards a peaceful, sovereign, nuclear-free Korean peninsula, free from the conflicts of competing global powers that have been so harmful to the region.”
I am amazed that you cannot see that 100% of the aggression comes from the USA. Furthermore the US has had nuclear weapons in SK for decades. NK got theirs in 2006 after seeing Iraq destroyed and having been placed on the hit list for targeting.
It is ludicrous then to claim that the US presence in SK is due to the North having nuclear weapons when the South has been under US occupation since the 1950’s.
I don’t know why you seem to hate North Korea so much. I would have thought someone committed to a multi-polar world and sovereign independent states would applaud North Koreas’ grit and applaud it’s right to defend itself. That is all it is doing.
This whole issue would go away if the US got it’s massive military out of the region altogether
I am surprised you don’t see that the North Korean “crisis” is a completely US maunufactured smokescreen designed to disguise increased weaponisation of South Korea and aimed at the real target – China.
Lastly, you have got things totally back to front with Iran. It was the US which was dragged kicking and screaming into negotiations when all it wanted was a pretext for war. Given that Iran never had nuclear weapons programmes in the first place the whole sanctions racket placed on Iran was another hoax which the negotiations revealed and destroyed.
Today the US is livid that they were done out of their war chance and Iran is flourishing.
North Korea has been seeking talks for years and this is well documented and it has every right to deter wold be aggressors by testing it’s weapons – activities routinely undertaken by the big powers.
“North Korea has repeatedly offered to suspend its nuclear weapons development in exchange for a freeze in US-South Korean joint war exercises. It’s time for the US and South Korea to respond to this offer as a jumping off point for definitive negotiations towards a peaceful, sovereign, nuclear-free Korean peninsula, free from the conflicts of competing global powers that have been so harmful to the region”.
From: “Zoom in Korea”
They apparently just did (8/5)
Don’t worry about Russia & China. Just remember, the US is playing checkers and they are playing chess!
Their actions are part of a broader plan and if that means selling out Serbia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, North Korea etc then clearly you are not aware of their broader plan!
The US is blundering around and a young and stupid civilisation that can’t possibly stand against the civilisational heft and experience of China & Russia.
Nice article mate. Hats off. Don’t like each of your articles the same but I have to accept that, when you got inspired, is very interesting and refreshing to read your points.
Good
Dodon Intends to Block All Bills That Could Worsen Moldova-Russia Relations
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201708051056209418-moldova-russia-relations-dodon-bills/
“Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Saturday that he was planning to exert all possible efforts to block potential bills that could undermine ties between Moscow and Chisinau.
CHISINAU (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the Moldovan leader held a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
“As a Moldovan president and on the ground of a legitimate mandate given to me by the nation of our country, I will defend the interests of the Moldovan people and I intend to block the efforts of the ruling Democratic Party to undermine and to hinder our bilateral relations with Russia by all possible legal means, even via boycotting the draft laws adopted by the parliament,” Dodon said on his Facebook account after the meeting.”
I believe Dodon is genuine about this and not another trump, who I think is not.
Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly Removes Attorney General From Office
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201708051056215272-venezuela-attorney-general-constituent/
“Venezuela’s Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz was removed from office by the decision of the country’s Constituent Assembly on Saturday.
The decision was taken unanimously by the members of the assembly during the authority’s first session after the election of the delegates to the assembly on July 30, the Venezuelan state-run TV broadcast showed.
The Constituent Assembly replaced Ortega Diaz, known for her disagreement with the actions of the country’s executive, with Venezuela’s Human Rights Ombudsman Tarek William Saab.”
The counter “maidan” is getting geared up. Good news.
The Americans aren’t in Afghanistan to win the war against Taliban or whomever per se. That’s just for public mainstream consumption for the ignoramuses.
Who wins or who loses is inconsequential. A long as they maintain partial control of the territory, they’ve already achieved their objectives. First as a strategic base of operation vs Russia/China/Iran and second, it serves as an endless money printer via control of the world’s largest opium & cannabis producer.
Slightly offtrack bonus, you can thank the Americans directly for the explosion in worldwide drug abuse after post 2000. The Philippines went on the radar with Duterte and his draconian war against drugs … lo and behold, no surprises as ISIS attacks Marawi in Mindanao (this sort of geopolitical trick is getting old). More surreptiously, the various movements to legalize cannabis in many western countries smells like an underhanded marketing pitch to expand the drug market into the mainstream.
Summarily, Afghanistan demonstrated something that they really wanted … BAD. That theory on American staying power pretty much goes out of the window when you look at almost two decades of American annexation (on a false pretext), despite their ongoing losses.
Set aside the neocons craze for a minute. Instead, watch the transnational puppet-masters which from history, follows where the wind blows. The rise of America post WW2 is no coincidence, its power transferred from the waning British Empire. Whether the next power transfer will happen i.e. from American hegemony to Russia/China OBOR just watch where they set up shop or have buttered up.
e.g. the recent news on IMF headquarters moving to Beijing is rather interesting.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-imf-china-lagarde-idUSKBN1A922L
I tend to agree with you – although what that means is that US will never leave Afghanistan – not until they go completely bankrupt. They are there to disrupt China and Russia.
Good analysis, Saker, but I think you may be overlooking one thing in your matrix: i.e., the neighbourhood in which each country is located. For example, while N. Korea may seem weak, it is surrounded by strong neighbours (S. Korea does not want to sustain the inevitable damage, and China certainly won’t allow a conflict on its borders). With that in mind, only Venezuela seems like a plausible target. For more on that, this is an interesting ‘on-the-ground’ reporting:
https://off-guardian.org/2017/08/04/abby-martin-meets-the-venezuelan-opposition/
As always a very informative article.
I would like to point out that having the press inside, spreading disinformation and false news also helps to get the support of public opinion. This happens not just in the USA but all around the world. The Zionist, Rupert Murdoch, onetime my fellow Australian, still does a great job in spreading misinformation here with his 60% ownership of our media. He is also on the advisory board of Genie Energy ( Google this name) who has the rights granted to them by the Israeli government to take oil and gas out of the Golan Heights. Other members of this board include Dick Cheney, Larry Summers, Jacob Rothchild and James Woolsey. Hardly surprising that when Assad wouldn’t allow a pipeline through Syria to export the oil and gas, civil unrest and then war broke out aided by the CIA and the western press.
Murdoch is currently spreading fear in Australia with the possibility of a nuclear attack from North Korea and stressing the need to build a missile defense shield. No doubt provided by the U.S. military industrial complex at vast expense to our country with the sole purpose of protecting the U.S. missile guidance systems based here.
Hard to explain, given the strong position that China and Russia supposedly are in vs the Hegemon, why China and Russia chose to throw North Korea under the bus at the UN. One can understand China and Russia not wanting to confront the US too openly, but they also have to stand behind what they say. They say they want an end to US lawlessness and a multipolar world that respects sovereignty. They have stated, very correctly, that resolving the Korean conflict requires acknowledgement for security concerns on both sides. By agreeing to new UN sanctions in NK, they seem to be agreeing with the US that NK is at fault. This contradicts their earlier message about the way towards resolution and peace in Korea. Possibly a fatal mistake.
Perhaps China and Russia may not like the idea of an unpredictable North Korea regime armed with nuclear weapons and missiles that can strike both countries, especially China. Perhaps they’ve been trying to have their own talks with North Korea, and have been getting rebuffed. Certainly North Korea launched their latest missile into the sea after Russia and China had called for a halt in both such operations and the drills where the US practices the invasion of the North. They might have been asking the North Koreans to hold off on such tests, and then may have thought that it was time to let the North know that the North doesn’t hold a blank check on their support and that it might be wiser for the North to follow their lead.
Just a thought. Not everything is dependent on relations with the US. Perhaps they had their own reasons for doing that, and it also helps them a bit to sometimes back the US when they have common cause with the US. If nothing else to keep shallow thinkers in DC off balance. I’d expect the US government to be irrational enough to turn down good deals and help from countries like Russia just out of blind hatred. But Russia and China seem to have more sense than that, so they wouldn’t likely just oppose the US on something like this resolution because of an irrational hatred. That’s crazy neocon behavior, but not the behavoir that Putin and the Chinese leadership have ever seem to have shown.
They might have had their own reasons for not vetoing the Iran and Libyan sanctions too I guess. But like these sanctions, I’d say,no they didn’t. They appeased the US. Their historical record of opposing Western sanctions at the UN is far from adequate.
The Big Bad Wolf has developed emphysema and is no longer what he used to be. He can huff and puff and put on quite a show, but not too many house will be blown down.
The one factor missing from the analysis is the surprise factor.
Gaddafi would never have allowed the uprising to get this much out of hand if he had known how it would be used as an excuse for a foreign invasion. Nowadays few countries will make the same mistake.
The same applies to neighboring countries. For a regime change operation in Venezuela the US would like to use Colombian territory. But both America’s history of overthrowing governments in Latin America and the mess it has created in Iraq and Afghanistan will give the government there some second thoughts.
I am glad that the Saker did bring up the subject of the US dollar in his final sentence, because it is the failure of the dollar which will destroy the current US military far more thoroughly than any weapon or military strategy by its opponents. The Empire is based on credit expansion, i.e. the full faith and credit of the Dept. of the Treasury and the Fed, to print ten of trillions of dollars. Of all the analyst of the “disappearance” of the US dollar, perhaps the seemingly outrageous (at least in terms of his style of audio presentation if not content) is Jim Willie. Willie maintains that the final leg down to irrelevancy of the dollar is coming soon as the Saudi’s will be forced by fiscal reasons to sell crude to China in RMB. This would soon be spread to the rest of the OPEC Gulf on the vendor side and east Asia ( South Korea for example) on the consumer side. Soon countries around the world who actually make or extract real stuff for export will refuse to sell it to the USA in return for treasury bills. The USA will be forced to initiate a treasury printed (as opposed to Fed) domestic only dollar which Willie colorfully refers to as the scheiss dollar. The rest of the planet will take control of what used to be called the external eurodollars in transition as they are wound down. Trade will then be based on fractionally reserved gold trade notes. As insiders know, the probable gold contents of Fort Knox consists of two 55 gallon drums filled with gold coins and a lot of nerve gas (the 8000+ mt having been stolen by the Clintons, Bushes and Ruben), the USA will have very little to purchase imports with. The implications for the military dominance of the Empire is obvious. The USA will accelerate its decline into a third world standard of living with a near complete collapse of the middle class. The implications for the neocon elites of this situation in the most heavily armed population on the planet are obvious. The Empire is based on the acceptance of dollar based electrons for real stuff and this is rapidly coming to an end. The implication of the population of North America and the EU would be to get out of paper credit and into real stuff of which precious metals are the most obvious, what preppers refer to a “phyz” with no counterparty risk.
This article addresses (confirms) some of Saker’s points regarding the next war: http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/08/the-forgotten-game-why-is-russia-enemy.html
Additionally, there is an interesting point that should not be forgotten: “The late President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, openly said not long before his death that “Russia saved the world from recolonization.”
Certainly, after WWII – “In that period, the Soviets, guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology, supported mostly all countries who wanted to be independent from their colonial tutors.” Ironically, Iraq, Libya, and Syria would likely not have had an opportunity to develop as far as they did had it not been for the backing by the USSR.
“This new reality, of course, immediately raises the issue of what/how the US Dollar will be backed by in the future.”
This is the crux of the matter. One QE4, coming up, then a dollar crisis. Then, no more empire.
OT: News regarding the Odessa pogrom in 2014.
The chief forensic expert in Odessa produced a report shortly after the program. He was approached by the Ukraine General Prosecutors Office who asked him to change the conclusions. He declined to do so. Some time later, he was approached in the street by a couple of Pravy Sektor goons. Following that, he decided to leave the country. It seems he has done so and may have the original forensic reports with him. He has produced a video as a canary.
https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/https/mediarepost.ru/blogs/119426-ekspert-kriminalist-ukrainskoy-policii-kotoryy-provodil-eksertizy-po-domu-profsoyuza-v-odesse-sdelal-zayavlenie.html
He really should pass the material on to WikiLeaks to ensure it doesn’t ‘get lost’ should something happen to him.
Adjust the equation a bit
As many here are noting, the Empire is near it’s limits on expansion and is actually contracting. This fact changes the equation for targets for the empire.
During expansion, they are looking to expand markets. There are very few countries left to expand into their fold. Iran and Syria being primary. Russia to some extent but, they already have a central bank so they are partially in the fold already and the Empire is just looking to maximize that.
Look at North Korea in an entirely different equation from the point of view of an Empire at near max expansion or even contraction. There are always 2 sides to a trade in this world and you can always find ways to profit from either side which we could simplify into calling the long trade and the short trade.
North Korea Long trade:
This is the position where you want to get into NK and profit off it’s resources. Of which they have what that is attractive? Technologically, they are in the dark ages for industrial production. They have limited natural resources and a population which has been brainwashed for decades. You install a central bank after a devastating war and gain what?
North Korea Short Trade:
I suggest there is more to gain for the corrupt Empire with the destruction of South Korea in a devastating war with the North. Who wins with the destruction of South Korea’s manufacturing? Everyone that competes against them. U.S., Japan, Taiwan, and yes, China as well. I submit that China has little incentive to prevent a war on the Korean peninsula. If Japan can ensure war does not reach their territory, they would not shed any tears over the destruction of South Korea either.
Russia has little interest in NK and little interest in preventing war there. They gain nothing from the preservation of NK, gain nothing from the preservation of SK and gain little with the destruction of SK. Russia is not an interested party in the Korea situation and it is reflected by them not blocking the latest NK sanctions.
To that point, China did not block the latest round of NK sanctions either and that should confirm the above. They will profit from escalation of tensions and resulting war by having their competition in SK destroyed.
Always remember to factor in what is to be gained from others losses.
Your analysis obscures that there is one nation that, by far, stands to profit from a second Korean War: the United States of America.
Americans know damn well that the effects of this war will not be limited to the Korean peninsula but will spill over into China and Russia, as they share a physical border with North Korea.
The flow of Korean refugees alone into those nations conveniently would become a destabilizing factor for them–curiously, bearing a striking resemblance to what is happening in Europe and the influx of refugees there thanks to American-led wars in the greater Middle East and North Africa.
Moreover, the USA would gain a pretext for advancing its troops into North Korea and further tightening its military encirclement of China and Russia.
Economically, a Korean war would have much greater negative effects for China, Japan, the Koreas, and Russia than it would for America, as it would–surprise, surprise–disrupt plans for the development of Eurasian transport and trade corridors from Eurasia into the Korean peninsula.
Most importantly, the entire premise for America’s threats against North Korea are deceptions–just like its lies about Iraqi WMDs, Syrian “human rights” concerns, or the War on Terrorism in general.
America’s ambitions are driven by the destabilization of Eurasian integration with Russia and China the two primary targets. North Korea is merely a useful stalking horse for the Americans to do what they do best: sow chaos.
In fact, this is demonic game that America is playing around the world in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq), North Africa (Libya), Central Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan), SE Asia (Philippines), Latin America (Venezuela, Brazil, etc), and Eastern Europe (Ukraine).
The Americans are so possessed with the desire to maintain their global dominance that they resort to fomenting chaos without compunction.
America turned Iraq–a secular Arab state–into a sectarian nightmare.
America turned Libya, the nation with the highest development index in Africa–into a failed state.
America turned Syria–a multiethnic secular state–into a jihadist paradise.
To update a famous quote from Tacitus about the Roman Empire, the Americans create a wasteland and call it freedom and democracy.
My analysis does not obscure that fact whatsoever. I placed the U.S. first in the list of beneficiaries of a war on the Korean peninsula.
What you are wrong on is stating that there would more negative than positive for China should a war occur. It would decimate S Korea who is a major competitor of China. Also, it could potentially devastate Japan who is another major competitor. Also, what makes you think China will allow a rampant refugee influx into their country to go unchecked. They are not open armed/liberal Europe. They very much have the capability and willpower to shut that down at their border and let the refugees starve to death. They would force those that brought the war pay for the refugee crisis they create.
While everything you list above is true about America, they could not, and did not, do any of that without support of other nations. That is because other nations profited from that destruction and chaos the same as the U.S. did.
Regards to Russia:
Are you really going to state that the destruction of N Korea matters to Russia because they share a border?? A whole 11 miles of border across of sliver of Russia that doesn’t have anything there. I think Russia could maintain control of that and refugees would starve/freeze/die before they ever reached a major population center in Russia without any Russian intervention required.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93Russia_border
Silk Road:
Silk road pretty well avoids the Korean peninsula, again, not the negative issue you portray it as.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road#/media/File:Silk_route.jpg
Tightening Military Encirclement:
U.S. gains no strategic advantage advancing into N Korea. They already have assets in SK and Japan. Advancing north does not really put them any closer to Beijing than they already are. Nothing on that side of Russia that is worth bothering getting closer to than they already are.
I think you are blinded by emotion and overlooking the point. There are nations which you would consider opponents to the U.S. that would stand to gain from U.S. military action in N Korea. They would gain by the destruction of S Korea though. More people gain from the destruction of S Korea than the destruction of N Korea. S Korea would be the prize, N Korea the means to that end.
I understand your point, but I’d like to add something to that.
The Silk Road is planned to go through NK to SK. It will be a train connection, and a gas pipeline to SK. NK will profit from this as well.
I think that the only function of NK to China is to be a buffer state. China will never allow that American soldiers are at their border.
The last time the US military fought in a nation divided in north and south, of which the north state bordered China, was in Vietnam. That ended up well, did it?
They will be fighting with Asians, not Arabs. That is quite a difference.
Furthermore, the USA uses the ‘NK threat’ to justify their THAAD unit in SK, that is actually pointed at China and Russia. THAAD is absolutely useless against the ca. 15000 pieces of NK artillery that can flatten Seoul with conventional shells in just a few hours. There are 25 million people living there. The losses would be comparable to the complete losses of the Soviet Union in WW2.
All important installations of NK are far underground. How far, nobody knows. I have read some assumptions of mr. McMattis to do a ‘surgical strike’. I do hope that it will be more surgical than that US destroyer that completely failed to see a large Philippine cargo ship.
I also think that NK can hurt the USA badly. Their submarines can launch rockets. Well, should these subs be able to sail to the US coast and deliver some nasty things? I think so.
The NK has also 2 mysterious satellites orbiting the US mainland. There are rumours,that they can drop a nuclear bomb. But, as said, those are rumours.
The NK needs only one nuclear bomb, exploding about a mile above Kansas. That will deliver such an EMP that the complete powergrid is grilled. The USA is then dropped back in the 19th century, also experiencing several Fukushimas (cooling pumps can be running on diesel, but for that you need a refinery that needs electricity).
I think besdides some preppers only the Amish will survive this.
So I think attacking NK is madness. Unfortunataly, there are still madmen around. And they are irritated that NK is giving them the finger. NK just wants to be left alone, they don’t want to end up like Lybia, and the Kim family just wants to survive.
Rob,
Interesting points.
I did not know there was a proposed silk road route through NK to SK and a pipeline. As a practical matter, I don’t see how that could be a reliable route. What I could see is NK pilfering anything they needed that came through.
THAAD, yes this exposes how little the U.S. cares about the actual defense needs of SK. Part of the reason I think SK is viewed as very disposable by the U.S.
I’m on the same page on doubting the effectiveness of surgical strikes. NK has been tunneling and bunker building for over a half century. While Americans casually say “Nuke em”, that is still not a reliable option and would create severe nuclear fallout over Japan and 7-8 days later, the West Coast of the U.S. While I don’t think U.S. cares that much about Japan getting nuclear fallout since we nuked them in the past and they currently are still nuking themselves, I do think that we would want to avoid self-inflicted fallout on the west coast.
Notice how I said self-inflicted fallout…
I honestly believe our leadership would accept nuclear fallout on the west coast if it is inflicted by NK. They would justify it by saying it was inevitable anyway. My theory would be a conventional large scale attack on NK and NK likely nukes SK because, for all their talk, they are still not capable of striking U.S. mainland. Seoul destroyed, Japan heavy nuke fallout out and U.S. west coast light fallout. NK and SK people and armed forces bear 99% of the casualties. I think Neocon war-planners find that very much statistically acceptable.
What prevents war in Korea:
If NK actually has capability to strike U.S. mainland in a meaningful way
– – I find this doubtful despite recent reports saying NK has successful miniaturized a nuke.
China stating an attack on NK will be met with military response from China
– – I am starting to doubt this. I think China would welcome the unavoidable destruction of SK and possibly Japan
Japan mounting strong opposition to a U.S. strike
– – Doubtful. Honestly, I think the Japanese are too greedy to stop the war. More then once they tried to take Korea as their own and failed. Japan cannot expand itself without acquiring territory. War is the only way.
Reasons war could be more likely:
Russia has little interest in outcome either way
– – They do not gain much in the current status quo. They would gain little no matter which way this issue goes so I think it is safe to say Russia would be on the sidelines.
Most justifiable threat to the U.S.
– – I am hearing the war drums increase their beat and, unlike Syria, there is little opposition to this since everyone takes U.S. at their word that NK is a direct threat. Kim’s words and actions reinforce this. Probably the only war that could be justified to the American people right now. And the MIC would love this one.
China would benefit from the inevitable destruction of SK
– – SK is a major competitor of China and would be effectively wiped out. No foreign forces but Chinese could ever occupy NK. Possible territorial expansion by China which they do not even have to be the ones that initiate military action. They can rebuild the country which is what they do on a large scale better than anyone.
United States few boots on the ground
– – All heavy lifting would be done by SK forces. SK gets stuck with all urban combat and grunt work here. U.S. forces could be mostly stand-off forces and target identification.
Hello ActivePatriot,
Still I do not fullly agree with your point.
I understand that you see, that the ‘outfall’ of SK would be beneficial for their competitors.
But, in the present world you have to think in the line of supply chain. It is not present anymore that a manufacturer produces a direct end product anymore as a whole.
SK is strong in e.g. semi-conductant materials. Outfall of SK would give the whole electronic industries a drawback in years.
Saker, This is the same strategy that Muhammad Ali used so effectively against George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 – “Rope a Dope”.
Good analysis. Only puzzel peice missing, imo, is the Philipines.
When ‘pox’ is the disease, then expect the symptoms to erupt in the strongest criminal links — and since that ex-US colony has signalled interest in China and Russia relations the temperature ‘politic’ (aka drug wars) has escalated. Now the ‘ISIS’ virus appears to have established itself in the US ‘assistance’ could be worse than the problem. Strong Malaysian-Saudi links make the connections feasible.
Saker, I think there is another category of war that the US can use and that is proxy war as in Saudi v Yemenis and now the forthcoming India v China confrontation in the Himalayas. The US can supply arms, and in the case of India v China logistical support including satellite intelligence of Chinese troop movements and concentrations to the Indians. There are many other possible proxy wars that the US can inflame.
Here’s a little something on the roots of the strategy of defeating superior forces:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Xvxop_cFc
And here’s a system which applies this strategy brilliantly, hence I fully expect to be deployed in Venezuela and elsewhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_c_PeIIeMw
The Sun Tsu url may be solid…but the url our Comrade rararoaduneer mooted for the second example, (the 3M-54 Club-K is the topic) suggests, implies, that violence is a viable or effective strategy feeds into a moral trap that seems to be ideological. This ideology proffers violence as a primary method. Surely our Comrade Father Sun Tsu would (and did) propose that non-violent methods, particularly against superior force, must be the primary… In point of objective fact violence is sometimes unavoidable…but effective only when this is a coordinated part of a logical strategy that is essentially “non-violent”.
“Non-violent” is a euphemism, a lie, if you wish. The actual reality is that in non-violence one uses one’s opponent as a source of violence…non-violence uses violence, but in a moral and logical way to achieve not victory, but peace and some modicum of justice.
Just now, Comrade VVP is using violence of Empire to build the opposition to Empire…sucking away their power in dissipation of violence at wild cost…violence that hardens the enemies of Empire…and his hands stay clean…
Violence from 3M-54 Club-K included, winning a battle is not necessary. In fact it can be a mistake… Look at what Empire has done with their “victories”…they have conquered the flypaper and upset the natives, made fools of themselves, and wasted their wealth and moral quality… That’s where violence as primary goes…to waste.
That said, the 3M-54 Club-K gizmo stands as a “weapon” simply because it exists, and it’s nifty gizmo. It means that no navy captain can know his ship is safe, ever. Of course there are submarines…but there are few submarines, many containers…and doubt – doubt – is preventative.
—————–
I see, in another line, that Empire now proposes to destroy “drones” (model airplanes) if they see them over US bases…. This is understandable. (I feel the same way – well I do not shoot at things or people, but I don’t like people flying over my digs either).
Now, I suppose, some kids will tie tin foil to He balloons and let them go upwind of “targets”…then the regulation of toy ballonns as “drones” will make Empire look every stupider and weaker, and even more afraid…and thus strengthen Ivan and China…
Like I have said many times, they’re delusional. This is very dangerous.
Pax
LZ
Can a violent primary be moral? I doubt this very much…and if the violent primary works? It does not last…victory can be achieved by direct primary violence, the victory of a wasteland…it don’t last. You want peace? Victory cannot be part of that…rather, opponents must find peace in mutual advantages. This, often-times, means that one or all parties to conflict have to change their character. The present-day situation belongs to the latter category…and VVP and etc are working toward this re-arranged mind. Takes time…meantime the moral application of violence is used to create the necessary delay, so far as possible, to give Empire a chance to change. So far this is working very slowly, but it is working…that’s one reason Google has become a propaganda engine…the change they see terrifies them. That means it works.
It could well be Yemen you know. With the Saudi’s, Emirates and Jordanians and little insurgent groups, as the boots on the ground.
The Houthis and Yemenis army chant on video after every successful attack. The videos are all over YouTube.
‘Death to America’,
‘Death to Israel’,
‘Curse be upon the Jews’,
‘Victory to Islam’,
The Anglo Zionists don’t like that. Inherently, Talmudic Jews are the most vengeful species ever created. I’m sure their itching for a scrap in Yemen. Through airpower and special force support. I mean, somebody has to bail out the House of Saud, who seem mired in ‘quicksand’.
Its all part of a broader seismic shifting that is taking place in the Middle East that will affect the whole world, for at least a few centuries.
You see, I firmly believe that Jared Kushner, representing Jews ( international variety, Zionists etc) and crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ( representing Egypt, Jordan, Morocco etc ; essentially all the Arabs, including and hopefully Sunni Muslims states) are about to unveil a ‘coming to an understanding’ and détente that will in their eyes and calculations , and hopefully ‘break-off’ a vast proportion of the Arab/Sunni world against the Shia, Syria , Yemen, southern Lebanon, large part of Iraq and of course Iran. And to broaden the view, and expand that, put in Russia and China into the Shia camp.
While the Arabs and Sunni’s, who the House of Saud mistakenly believes it speaks for, make peace with Israel, and the body of international Jews(especially the American variety).
Their is a old Arab saying that goes like this’ An enemy of my enemy is my friend’. That’s what the Zionist Jews and the House of Saud are playing here.
This is a big card up the Anglo-Zionist’s sleeve, if they manage to pull it off. That’s the reason Jews played the ‘Jerusalem is our Capital’ card so well. They brought the stakes up as leverage for a final settlement so that all parties can agree, get along and move on at confrontation with Iran, its allies, Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah, the whole Shia crescent) and essentially Russia and China that these forces wish to isolate and in a broader scope blunt the OROB Silk Road routes in the key section of the world for energy and commerce and trade. The Middle East.
We’ll see what happens. The big important question is, will the Arab/Sunni ‘street’ buy this ? Or does the House of Saud have that much authority and influence over the Arabs and world body of Sunni’s? I think not.
Aside from Arabs getting more exposure and ‘friendly’ roles in Hollywood, Media and commerce from the west, the Anglo Zionist empire as you refer to it; there is not much the Arabs and Sunni world (btw, i’m referring to Sunni/Shia here because I believe we are inherently different, but as an view of how the evil ones view it, you see; I’m Sunni, but believe there is no Shia/Sunni divide at all, and they are my brotherly co-religionists) benefit from such a ‘ coming together and buring the hatchet between ArabsMuslims and Jews( AngloZionist West) .
Even if ‘they’ agreed to spit up Jerusalem, full right of return for displaced Palestinians, and go back to the 67′ border ( probably, most likely they will agree no none of such), how about restitution, which the world body of Jews are more than equipt to handle? How about the simple notion of justice?
Muslims can get a much better ‘deal’ by going the Eurasian route. The Russian and Chinese alternative models are very promising and exciting too. Iran, for the worlds Muslims, offers the most lucrative, and sophisticated civilizational model. Chechen Muslims should be known fore their very pure, and clean version of practice of Islam. Malaysia is promising, but I’m afraid too much Wahabi money going on over there.
Anyways, battle lines are being drawn, a new ‘iron wall’ is decending in the Middle East.
Another thing, the U.S. military, aside from air force and naval projection, here and there, the U.S. is in no position for at least until 2022, to get into a medium or large scale war/conflict. The military / industrial complex is in the process of ‘re-tooling’ hardware, human-ware and doctrine that will take time. Its a monumental task.
Also, about 2006 rout of the Israeli IDF by Hezbollah, the interesting thing to note is that at the Lebanese border regions with Israel, Hezbollah had only ‘regulars’ posted there at the time the conflict broke out. Hezbollah’s ‘meat and potatoes’, the special commandos and elite units were stationed north of the Litani river. Now one can imagine what could have happened had Hezbollah had its very best at the border. The fight would have spilled over deep into Israel itself with huge losses and a deeply scared Israel, emotionally and otherwise.
They did discontinue production of the Merkava MBT ( Chariot of God) after the 2006 scrap. Another thing that drives the Anglo-Zionists crazy is that the amazingly successful, heroic and well heeled SAA is commonly referred to everywhere as the Syrian ‘ Arab ‘ Army. This kills them, because they have been raised, and have raised themselves into believing that Arabs are inherently lousy soldiers, a useless barbaric type ‘untermechen’ . Arabs are supposed to run from battle, yet how could they be ‘kicking major ass’ in Syria? What are they to tell their kids, especially the Israeli’s?
The whole sophisticated propaganda façade that the Jews/Israeli’s made up for Arabs is entirely blown away now. Hezbollah and the Syrian ‘Arab’ Army will one day be ready for Israel and thus probably, most likely NATO, because Israel stands absolutely no chance against the pair, or as seperates.
Its time to call the Anglo-Zionsist, Talmudic Jews , Israeli’s, bluff.
Salem aleikum.
Now, that’s a very interesting post of you. Yemen, I hadn’t thought about that yet.
I understand your line of thought, still I have some doubts about it. Saudi Arabia is in a quagmire and on the brink of civil war: http://disobedientmedia.com/2017/06/saudi-arabias-march-towards-civil-war/
My guess still is, that the survival of the House of Saud is primary more important to the USA than grabbing the oil reserves of Yemen. Reason: petrodollar.
Also, Yemen is a hornet nest. It’s a tribal country. It will be just as successfull as the American ‘mission’ in Afghanistan, already for 16 years.
(Though I know that their main reason is looting: they are in heroin trafficking, and grabbing the rich amounts of REE’s (rare earth elements like lithium)).
Well, the coming months in Saudi Arabia will be….. interesting.
Yup, but also, Yemen conflict is heavily ideological, not really about oil or such. You see, if one were to study, find out or grasp the Wahhabi school of thought’s total hatred of Shi’ism ( whom they believe are invalids to be killed and massacred outright, as they see them as an abomination) you would understand that the Houthis and Yemeni army, whom are closely tied to Iran; are simply too close for comfort to the throne and heart of Wahhabi’ism in Saudi Arabia.
Yemen will only heat up. Its a proxy war between Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Israel vs. Yemen, Iran.
Book it, trust me. Plus, the Jews and Zionists would love nothing more than to see more Muslims killing each other, and the divide and growing conflict between Sunni’s and Shiia gets more steam.
You can also place your bets that sometime soon, Saudi Arabia, Israel will be at the White House with Trump announcing a ‘great coming together’ and ‘peace’ between the Arabs/Sunni’s Muslim world and the worlds Jews and Anglo-west. Its an attempt to break off a big chunk of the worlds Muslim population, est. 1.3 billion souls, into the Jewish, Anglo-western orbit, and away from Iran, Russia and China.
Mark my words. I just feel it.
Interesting points.
If true, I still hesitate what to think about it.
Present, the situation in Yemen is an outright shame. Millions of people are starving and being exposed to a cholera outbreak, while the Saudis threaten to attack ships coming with humaitarian aid. It’s close to genocide and a humanitarian shame. Western MSM are completely silent about it, and my guess is that the few main press agencies are simply bought off by the Saudis.
If this ‘great coming together’ would take place, many people wouldn’t buy it. Yes, I know that many are ignorant and believe anything that is said to them on their television, but the western press atmosphere towards Trump is so toxic that maybe they wouldn’t buy it either.
When the US forces would engage in Yemen, at least it would draw media attention and that is good.
On the other hand, any engagement of US troops ends in chaos. And there is more. US forces love to bomb (‘bombing brown people’, like the late and great George Carlin used to say). Have you ever realised why so many children in Fallujah, Iraq have cancer? Have you ever wondered why the birth rate in Serbia dropped so dramatically since the nineties?
That is because US bombs are radioactive. They don’t even do secretive about it. US bombs contain depleted uranium. They do not only bomb people, they bomb the next generations as well.
My bets are still on some ‘developments’ within the House of Saud the coming months.
Yemen has been overlooked here. US troops are already on the ground in Yemen, and that’s a recent development.
Main motive is Yemen’s large oil reserves, which could replace the Saudi’s depleted reserves. That’s clear enough. Wahabbi heretics vs. Shia minority is a second motive, and the third is that the uncultured rich Saudis look down their noses at the highly cultured but poor Yemenis. Patrick Cockburn wrote about this last point years ago.
With respect to wars and money the details can sometimes be revealing of real policy…
In the example of Korea one interesting eye witness claim goes to I F Stone, who reported that the South invaded the North in 1950. Two days later the North counter-attacked… a stooge dictator invaded another State? I am shocked! Shocked! (But it’s the same old story)
The war that began then is, in fact, continuing…some 67 years. Of course there is an armistice agreement…http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/korea/kwarmagr072753.html
That agreement makes great reading… (this is a hint)
The simple objecting fact is that by modernizing their military equipment both sides are in violation….but left alone NK probably would have not built so many weapons. or the rockets or the damned gadgets.
If the agreement were observed pretty much all the military equipment in Korea would be 1950’s era equipment…mustang fighters, F-86 jets, M1 rifles, Harley 45 motorcycles…and MiG 15’s and AK and SKS rifles…
But stepping back and asking what’s it about…
It’s a knife blade into the Asiatic region of the Heartland…one of many.
The knife will be withdrawn one way or another…this is obviously the curve or arc of our history.
And, though no one can say when that will happen, everyone knows that the Empire is going to need the knife at home and it’s too expensive to hold it at the Korean wound.
Read the agreement…
Pax
LZ
“…even if there will always be some Grenada or Panama size country to “triumphantly” beat up, if needed”
And operation “Urgent Fury” (Grenada) was a close shave, reportedly requiring a credit card and a commercial phone call to Fort Bragg for AC-130 gunship close air support.
“The list of Urgent Fury mistakes is a long one, but one snafu was so huge it became legend. The basic story is that a unit on the island was pinned down by Communist forces. Interoperability and communications were so bad, they were unable to call for support from anywhere. A member of the unit pulled out his credit card and made a long-distance call by commercial phone lines to their home base, which patched it through to the Urgent Fury command, who passed the order down to the requested support”
http://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/that-time-a-soldier-used-a-payphone-to-call-back-to-the-us-to-get-artillery-support-in-grenada
Normal working people from Europe liked America. Today she hates her. This is the result of the famous American “democracy”!
Revolution, (read civil war), anarchy and chaos will be the final scene for the “land of the free and the brave”. The show can end in no other way.
You suggested that the “Lilliputians” of the world are getting wise to the fact that “The Empire” has become a drunken schoolyard bully who is living on borrowed time. I agree. And I also see a military intervention in Venezuela possibly generating a “last straw” effect on ALL the people of Latin America….. and beyond. However, SYB has developed a serious case of the “Roman Syndrome” and might well go down in his own mess before he can do more damage to mankind.
I’d be interested in reading a follow up to this article, looking at the two possibilities outlined, upping the ante in Ukraine, or kicking off a new region of conflict in Venezuela, and how those who support the target of Anglozionist aggression might respond.
There’s another dimension to the Emipre’s thinking that would be interesting to touch on. Every conflict has a strategical asset or assets the Empire is aiming to acquire. In Afghanistan, it places the Empire smack bang between its two largest geopolitical rivals: Russia and China. Although, having heard from people who served in Afghanistan, the real objective may have been Opium, since that’s a tens of billions a year trade, and can be used to inflict socioeconomic war on rivals by flooding their countries with cheap opiates. This is a huge problem in Russia right now.
Ukraine has the gas transit, and black soil. The likes of Monsantos are iching to get into Ukraine, but can’t due to the conflict zone being smack bang on top of the black soil region. Russia and Europe are looking to bypass the unpredictable Ukraine for gas transit, and the US has taken exceptional (even illegal) steps to block this happening.
Venezula is also attractive because it has one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves. But could the Empire realistically maintain control of these resources against a determined resistance happy to blow up any infrastructure the Empire erects?
Russia is keenly interested in not seeing Ukraine become a Anglozionist playground, and content at this point, I think, to watch the Ukraine project fail. Ukraine hasn’t collapsed yet, but it could be considered a failed state by many measures. Depending on how the situation develops, a balkanization of Ukraine seems possible. For this reason, time seems on Russia’s side. The longer a frozen conflict can be maintained, the the higher the cost becomes for the Empire to prop up their corrupt oligarch regime, and the more likely the situation will resolve itself. Russia seems interested in the future prospect of rehabilitating what it can of Ukraine, and to this end a frozen conflict preserves as much infrastructure and human life as possible.
But if the Empire’s gaze turns in one of these directions, what strategies could the allies of these regions deploy to opposite such ambitions?