by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with The Asia Times by special agreement with the author)
The US move to shelve the Intermediate-range Nuclear-Forces treaty could accelerate the demise of the whole post-WWII Western alliance, and herald a bad remix of the 1930s
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock to only 2 minutes to midnight. It might be tempting to turn this into a mere squabble about arrows and olives if this wasn’t such a terrifying scenario.
US president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, secretary-general of the USSR, signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 1987.
The Arms Control Association was extremely pleased. “The treaty marked the first time the superpowers had agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals, eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons, and utilize extensive on-site inspections for verification.”
Three decades later, the Trump administration wants to unilaterally pull out of the INF Treaty.
Earlier this week President Trump sent his national security adviser John Bolton to officially break the news to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
As they were discussing extremely serious issues such as implications of a dissolving INF Treaty, the perpetuation of anti-Russia sanctions, the risk of not extending a new START Treaty and the deployment, in Putin’s words, of “some elements of the missile shield in outer space”, the Russian President got into, well, arrows and olives:
“As I recall, there is a bald eagle pictured on the US coat of arms: it holds 13 arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other as a symbol of peaceful policy: a branch with 13 olives. My question: has your eagle already eaten all the olives leaving only the arrows?”
Bolton’s response: “I didn’t bring any olives.”
A ‘new strategic reality’?
By now it’s clear the Trump administration’s rationale for pulling out of the INF Treaty is due, in Bolton’s words, to “a new strategic reality”. The INF is being dismissed as a “bilateral treaty in a multipolar ballistic missile world”, which does not take into consideration the missile capabilities of China, Iran and North Korea.
But there is a slight problem. The INF Treaty limits missiles with a range from 500 km to 5,000 km. China, Iran and North Korea simply cannot pose a “threat” to the United States by deploying such missiles. The INF is all about the European theater of war.
So, it’s no wonder the reaction in Brussels and major European capitals has been of barely disguised horror.
EU diplomats have told Asia Times the US decision was a “shock”, and “the last straw for the EU as it jeopardizes our very existence, subjecting us to nuclear destruction by short-range missiles”, which would never be able to reach the US heartland.
The “China” reason – that Russia is selling Beijing advanced missile technology – simply does not cut it in Europe, as the absolute priority is European security. EU diplomats are establishing a parallel to the possibility – which was more than real last year – that Washington could nuclear-bomb North Korea unilaterally. South Korea and Japan, in that case, would be nuclear “collateral damage”. The same might happen to Europe in the event of a US-Russia nuclear shoot-out.
It goes without saying that shelving the INF could even accelerate the demise of the whole post-WWII Western alliance, heralding a remix of the 1930s with a vengeance.
And the clock keeps ticking
Reports that should be critically examined in detail assert that US superiority over China’s military power is rapidly shrinking. Yet China is not much of a military technology powerhouse compared to Russia and its state of the art hypersonic missiles.
NATO may be relatively strong on the missile front – but it still wouldn’t be able to compete with Russia in a potential battle in Europe.
The supreme danger, in Doomsday Clock terms, is the obsession by certain US neocon factions that Washington could prevail in a “limited”, localized, tactical nuclear war against Russia.
That’s the whole rationale behind extending US first-strike capability as close as possible to the Russian western borderlands.
Russian analysts stress that Moscow is already – “unofficially” – perfecting what would be their own first-strike capability in these borderlands. The mere hint of NATO attempting to start a countdown in Poland, the Baltics or the Black Sea may be enough to encourage Russia to strike.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov starkly refuted Trump and Bolton’s claims that Russia was violating the INF Treaty: “As far as we understood, the US side has made a decision, and it will launch formal procedures for withdrawing from this treaty in the near future.”
As for Russia’s resolve, everything one needs to know is part of Putin’s detailed intervention at the Valdai Economic Forum. Essentially, Putin did not offer any breaking news – but a stark reminder that Moscow will strike back at any provocation configured as a threat to the future of Russia.
Russians, in this case, would “die like martyrs” and the response to an attack would be so swift and brutal that the attackers would “die like dogs”.
The harsh language may not be exactly diplomatic. What it does is reflect plenty of exasperation towards the US conservatives who peddle the absurd notion of a “limited” nuclear war.
The harsh language also reflects a certainty that whatever the degree of escalation envisaged by the Trump administration and the Pentagon, that won’t be enough to neutralize Russian hypersonic missiles.
So, it’s no wonder that EU diplomats, trying to ease their discomfort, recognize that this, in the end, is all about the Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine and the necessity of keeping the massive US military-industrial-surveillance complex running.
Even as the clock keeps ticking closer to midnight.
There is only two rules to warfare…
#1 Never march on Moscow.
#2 NEVER march on Moscow.
Russia ends wars, it does not start them.
They won’t march on Moscow. That’s outdated technology. They are thinking of carpet-nuking Moscow and the rest of Russia including the far east in a surprise first strike! That is madness, I know. But the US is descending rapidly into madness. May God forbid this i.e. the nuking of Russia!
I love the way terms like ‘carpet-bombing’ stick around long after anyone knows what they mean.
The Americans tried ‘carpet-bombing’ when they were trying to break out of their Normandy beachhead after D-Day. The allies were pinned down in that beachhead. The Brits were stuck trying to fight their way into Caen, and the Americans were stuck in hedgerow country which made excellent defensive terrain. When the Americans attacked at St.Lo, they tried diverting their strategic bombers from bombing the German cities to aid the offensive. Since the bombers weren’t made for this sort of mission, what the Americans did was to mass the bombers and try this technique of ‘carpet-bombing on the battlefield.
The tactic wasn’t very successful. The Americans discovered two things. First was that they lost troops to friendly fire when some of the bombers dropped their bombs too early and hit the troops massed for the attack. The second was the same thing most countries learned in WW1 which was that a massive bombardment destroys the battle field and makes if very hard for troops, especially motorized troops, to move through the area. The Americans did achieve their breakout in this attack, but they didn’t really try ‘carpet-bombing’ again after that. Which says alot about the tactic since boneheaded Generals usually repeat anything that results in a victory. It certainly did not become a staple of American warfare into Korea and Vietnam.
Thus, carpet-bombing quickly became an outdated technology itself.
And may God forbid the nuking of anyone ever again.
Carpet bombing with nukes is considered when trying to eliminate mobile nuclear forces deployed to the field.
That won’t work very well if they have already been launched.
“Limited” nuclear war has a snowball’s chance in hell of remaining limited. Both the US and Russia have close to 1000 launch-ready nuclear warheads and they will be promptly used if nuclear war begins.
The consequences are likely to wipe out most people and animal populations.
http://www.icnnd.org/Documents/Starr_Nuclear_Winter_Oct_09.pdf
The c.nts killed in 6 months more French than the German in 5 years of war.
A sh.thole.
I read that it was Churchill who conceived of the nasty “carpet bombing” of German cities to force Germany to submission or more likely, vengeance to the aerial blitz on London in 1940. But trust the Yanks to try it on open fields with nothing but grass and trees to bomb if they miss the enemy formations! Nixon did try limited carpet bombing of Hanoi but he was constrained by world opinion and China’s possible reaction. At that time, he had just made his historic trip to meet Mao.
The neocons want a war, a world war. They think that such a war is good for the US.
WW2 saved the USA from the great depression – both the use of unemployed manpower and the exploitation of the world after that.
They think that now that the USA is evidently declining – the after effects of the 2008 crash – WW3 will preserve the US as the unchallenged hegemon. Like just after WW2.
If they succeed, they could be right too.
Wasn’t in vengeance. It was a policy to kill. In fact Hitler resisted public pressure to retaliate the firebombing of cities for months (plus the Luftwaffe had no high altitude bombers because they were useless against a military opponent. They knew such bombers could only be effective against civilian populations so never built them.)
This is “insanity”. The neocons, a suspected satanic cult, is in control of the Trumpster. The cancellation of the INF is a big step towards nuclear war. The neocons think they can survive a nuclear exchange with Russia and still have a big enough population intact. And they think that virtually the entire population of Russia would be wiped out.
They may be correct but I think they miscalculated the power of Russia’s missiles to virtually wipe out the population of the US in retaliation.
But I think the end result is aimed at the destruction of mankind. And who would benefit from the total annihilation of mankind?
I think Satan himself would think that he would benefit from the total annihilation of the human race, unlike Noah’s flood which still left Noah and his family alive to rapidly replenish the human population.
This is because, in his twisted mind which I think is reflected by the neocons, he likely thinks that the total 100% destruction of mankind will make the imminent return of Jesus Christ as King of kings irrelevant and therefore prevent His return.
But I don’t think he and the neocons would be allowed to do that although they may be allowed to try. This is because God Almighty is in control and the Devil will not be able to do anything against the will of God.
Besides, even if the human race is wiped out, God can still raise them back to life for judgement!
So who will benefit from the cancellation of the INF and moving towards nuclear war? The neocons and the Devil may think that they will benefit.
But from my view of Biblical theology, I don’t think so!
And so japan, germany, israel, UK, italy and korea would not be spared.
So canada, australia and seichelles should pray to almighty God a bit further.
”Innocent” poles and baltics hardly would have time to say a prayer.
Yes we Europeans only warnings would be …..
The internet has gone down ……
blinding flashes ……
and then oblivion !!!!!!
No time to put the kettle on !!!!
No one gets spared. Anywhere. In any nuclear exchange of even a small magnitude, the massive throwing of dust and smoke into the atmosphere creates a nuclear winter. Those who survive the initial nuclear fireballs die more slowly from starvation as agriculture collapses from cold temperatures and short to non-existant growing seasons.
In the famous words of Jim Morrison who wrote during the First Cold War, “No one here gets out alive.”
The USSR’s “Czar Bomb” of 1958 was equal to 2900 Hiroshimas. It was exploded over a test site in Kazakhstan. There was no “nuclear winter” There were also thousands of atmospheric nuclear tests over both land and sea. There was no “nuclear winter”.
The Hydrogen bomb AN602 (known as Царь-бомба/ “Tsar Bomba”) was tested on Novaya Zemlya, not in Kasachstan. The TNT equivalent was about 50 MT, which is >3100 times “Little Boy” (16 kT).
The test height was 4000m above ground level. The initial fireball barely hit the ground which narrowed down dust resuspension into the stratosphere.
Im sorry to correct this. But Jesus second coming is a misunderstanding made by American Church.. there is no “second Jesus coming” described in the Holy Bible, what the original hebrew text mention is the return of YHWH, Yahweh, the Israeli God. This misunderstanding led a lot of people to think Jesus will return. No, and this explain why neocons and Israeli zionist are obsessed to fulfill their prophecies: they desperately hope for the return of their YHWH, wich is not the real GOD but a demon, the false messiah..
Notable antiwar writer Paul Craig Roberts has had his Twitter account cancelled for his criticisms of Neoconservatives in the USA. When they silence and shut down people like Mr. Roberts, no one is safe.
Fake news.
From https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/10/26/my-suspended-twitter-account/
“It is all over the internet and international media that Twitter has suspended my account.
This is not the case.
I do not use social media.
I discovered that a Twitter account was operating in my name.
I requested that the account be taken down.”
Paul Craig Roberts
“Queridos lectores”:
“Twitter ha suspendido mi cuenta en todo Internet y en los medios internacionales.
Este no es el caso. No uso las redes sociales. Descubrí que una cuenta de Twitter estaba operando en mi nombre. Pedí que la cuenta fuera quitada”. https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/10/26/my-suspended-twitter-account/
“The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock to only 2 minutes to midnight.”
Yawn. Mafia’s idiotic Doomsday Clock has been moving ‘to only 2 minutes to midnight’ – or orgasm, I assume – day in, day out since a couple of decades and this particular exciting snippet been re-broadcasted on MafiaTV on an hourly schedule a zillion times and the kids are still loving it. There is no porn like fear porn, after all …
> kids are still loving it
No, the kids say “yawn”.
Accepting risks is a difficult process, some face it, others don’t.
PCR – his ludicrous ‘Putin should nuke Florida NOW!’ meme is his only claim to fame. To up his sagging reputation among disoriented truthers, the Mafia has fake-banned him from Mafia property. The outrage among the toddlers is as shrill as misguided. Yawn.
(PCR has stated he wasn’t banned from twitter – as he isn’t on twitter – and the account banned was fake and he asked for it to be taken down. Mod.)
Here is an interesting look at recent comments from Vladimir Putin about the eventuality of nuclear war:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/10/nuclear-brinkmanship-and-march-toward.html
“In a nuclear war, all men are cremated equal.” Dexter Gordon
For those that might be interested, the full transcript of the discussion at the Valdai Discussion Club is posted on this website. /president-putin-meeting-of-the-valdai-international-discussion-club-2/
What has always been bothering me, was the fact that in the past, the treaties were only between USA and Soviet Union, while all other nuclear parties like GB, France, China, Israel, Pakistan, India and some others were left outside any control. I understand that the two countries in question have an overwhelming majority of the said weapons, but I always wondered don’t the other weapons do any serious damage to the earth’s population, what are they: candies?
Madmen are at the helm. The mutual trust and decency that have somehow held our world together are breaking down. Selfishness and corruption are driving us towards our final extinction. Our Rulers are dangerously insane. We are in a final death spiral made of all our dark history of violations of truth and love. There is no need to fasten your seat belt now, it won’t help….
The US has projected, with bases and carrier task forces, its presence within everyone’s INF reaches. China, North Korea, Iran and Russia have missiles that “threaten” the US global hegemony. Thus, the panic in DC.
This began with the Chinese test in 2006 of its carrier-killer missile DF-21D. A dozen years later, hypersonic missiles are being tested openly in China and Russia. The US has no defense for any of these.
The forward basing of Aegis Ashore in Romania and South Korea and Japan are violations of INF. These are not merely defense systems. They convert to Tomahawk nuclear missile strike systems, based very close to China and Russia. They also have radars that can help nullify second strike response from China and Russia.
The US has presented in no uncertain moves an intention to decapitate both China and Russia. The development of hypersonic missiles by China and Russia is an attempt to create a new MAD reality to control the Hegemon.
However, it appears that the US is ignoring the reality that they will be destroyed if they ‘strike first’.
Russia and China will have to ‘demonstrate’ their willingness to destroy the Hegemon in a cataclysm before rational people in the US wake up to the new reality.
What that demonstration will be or could be is unknown. But it is the coming imperative.
Bullies tend to stop only when their nose is broken or skull is cracked.
Schoolyard bully analogies involving fist fights have limited applicability in the international disputes we are considering here. This is more like a Mexican standoff between operatives who are far from the field of battle wielding nuclear weapons. Also these opponents are psychopathic and delusional and possibly suicidal as well. A bloody nose for one of these combatants might easily trigger WWIII.
It is a natural wish fulfilling desire to expect some level of rational and predictable behavior from those we are interacting with. But this can be a dangerous delusion when dealing with unstable and deluded types like Donald Trump or John Bolton.
Indeed, when the costs of a bad decision involving a 12 year old and a school yard bully are a bloody nose, which is usually followed by your mother taking you for an ice cream to make you feel better, then that makes a very poor analogy to a situation where the cost of a bad decision is the end of human civilization.
Online poker sites used to allow play for free with toy money to allow customers/marks to try out the system. But the play in such a no-risk game is very different from playing poker with all the money you have and your house and much more in IOU’s to the mob are the stakes.
There was something more which Bolton said of far greater import and no one has yet mentioned it..
He implied that Russia was not the true inheritor state of the USSR…
That the republics cut from the same USSR cloth were robbed of their voice on the UNSC when Russia inherited the seat…
The “covenant of the many” is to form around this notion…
Bolton implied the US sees Russia as a false inheritor which has usurped the collective control of the former satellites of the UN seat formerly held by the entry known as the USSR.
The US means to remove Russia from the Security Council.
Then perhaps the UK, having lost control of its former satellites, should also be removed?
And replace it with Eretz Yisrael, no doubt.
‘Rational’ people do not exist in Thanatopolis DC. Only ‘Exceptional’ psychopaths, ‘Christian Zionist’ religious lunatics cum Sabbat Goyim who actually lust for thermo-nuclear war with ‘Gog and Magog’ (Russia and China) in order to bring on the End Times, and sundry other monsters. The USA was always going to put their own version of the Zionazis’ ‘Samson Option’ into action and destroy the world if they could not continue to rule it with ‘Full Spectrum Dominance’.
I think recently Russia has been signaling to the U.S. that its top interest is to discuss arms control treaties. So what does the Trump administration do? It pulls out of the IMF treaty. It reminds me of the way, during the talks with Kim, that Bolton cited the “Libya model” for North Korea on U.S. news shows.
Trump seems to have a negotiating strategy of doing something harsh and then pouring on honey. If that is what he is trying to do I think it is misguided.
The close calls during the cold war, where several times the actions of one person prevented the accidental start of a nuclear war, should have motivated the U.S. should to reduce the deployment of nuclear weapons. Instead the opposite is happening; everybody is developing a first strike capability.
In both the Russia and North Korean situations, the US will have to cede its hegemonic position.
North Korea is going to come in from the cold and surrender to development along with South Korea. The Peninsula will have to be cleared of US troops and nukes. The US loses its NE Asia Pacific position. Okinawa will follow, pushing the US all the way out to Guam.
Russia will out pace the US in weapons and missiles defenses for the next decade. The US can spend its way to parity but it will then have only accomplished the desperate need for another Treaty to freeze all weapons development. And this time, it has to include China in the competition it intends to run. The US has to outclass both Russia and China in nuclear and hypersonic weapons. A very difficult task to outsmart and out-design both militaries who have different defense and counter-strike objectives. The tables have turned against the Hegemon.
Even looking at Space as the final realm for warfare, the Chinese and Russians present different potential threats from Space and in Space. The US may be creating a Space Force Command, but how will it operate under the realities of competition from China and Russia?
The economics of what the US must do and wants to do are unsupportable given the state of US economy.
The power of realism will force the US to new Treaties eventually. And the longer it takes to get to that decision, the weaker the US bargaining position will be.
“Israeli ‘Spy’ Firm Reportedly Went After Obama Team on Hunt for Iranian Assets”
– “…Besides Tess, the report alleged Black Cube also wanted to obtain intelligence from Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, who served as an adviser to Obama on the Iran nuclear deal, and Colin Kahl, the National Security….”
https://sputniknews.com/us/201810261069242003-israeli-spy-firm-obama-iran-assets/
Dont worry, despite the fact that what Black Cube engaged in was essentially designed to undermine a policy initiative of the US government, you wont hear much about it from the MSM.
Because this is something no MSM practioner or US politician will dare to speak about or address in a serious manner.
Why wont they?
Because any journalist, pundit, or political analyst who try to discuss this with the alarm and seriousness that it requires would have their contract terminated immediately.
Also, dont expect any enquiry by Congress or look to see any US politician on either side of the aisle say this this is tantamount to Israel “meddling” in the affairs of the US government.
Not one member out of the 435 members in Congress or out of the 100 members in the Senate will dare to open his or her mouth and point to Israel’s devious motive and harmful behaviour that is obvious in this matter.
Any US politician who speaks out of turn or questions anything in regards to Israel, know full well that AIPAC would ensure their departure, if not immediately, well certainly at the next election.
And so these 535 members of the US Congress and Senate, and the president in the White House all keep quiet about Israel’s many high crimes and misdemeanors, while yapping and yelling about those that they can yap and yell about.
Like; Russia, and China and Iran, and Venezuela etc.
Even in the case of Saudia Arabia, look for these cowards and clowns to start toning down the rhetoric concerning Koshoggi’s dismemberment and disapperance.
Why will they start toning down the rhetoric?
Because pretty soon, it will be made clear to them that Israel wants the head-choppers to remain onside.
And they – US politicians – , know more than anyone else, that what Israel wants, Israel gets.
Israel needs the Saudis in their confrontation with Iran.
As such, the fact that MBS had Koshoggi carved up, is of no importance to Tel-a-Viv.
What is important is that Saudi Arabia not be weakned, and be allowed to continue in its anti-Iran alliance with Israel.
If the Saudis are pressured over this little matter concerning Koshoggi, it might compromise the anti-Iran alliance and this will not be tolerated by Israel.
So look to see folks like Lindsey Graham start to back-off calling for MBS’s head, as soon as they receive their AIPAC briefing.
And look to see the MSM follow suit.
After all, they know that what their respective owners want is what they must comply with.
And we all know who own the MSM, dont we??
Selah
Who benefits?
The American merchants of death who are eagerly awaiting new appropriations and contracts to build the new fleet of intermediate range missiles.
In an insance, uber-capitalist society as America, its always about money and who is going to get big piles of money from a decision.
I love Pepe. His verve is that of a Sun Tzu. Your site is measured as superior, in having Pepe cross post.
The totalatarian insane west “Money” are not other than totally insane.
Humanity in earth is on a fast track to extinct.
Families that chose Globalization decided. Their decision was that every human in earth pay them to breathe. Obama got laughed out of the Netherlands with the CO2 tax.
Fast forward to China and Russia, Et Al not agreeing to be vassals to the “Globalists”.
Growing gardens, food storage, and practicing energy disciplines can ease the mind, body, chi, as the time changes into the changing time.
Thanks as always, Saker, preparedness is accepting the Pepe’s understanding about how the nuclear clock ticks tocs.
Earlier this week President Trump sent his national security adviser John Bolton to officially break the news to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
As they were discussing extremely serious issues such as implications of a dissolving INF Treaty, the perpetuation of anti-Russia sanctions, the risk of not extending a new START Treaty and the deployment, in Putin’s words, of “some elements of the missile shield in outer space”, the Russian President got into, well, arrows and olives:
“As I recall, there is a bald eagle pictured on the US coat of arms: it holds 13 arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other as a symbol of peaceful policy: a branch with 13 olives. My question: has your eagle already eaten all the olives leaving only the arrows?”
Bolton’s response: “I didn’t bring any olives.”
No, Bolton, you bring the threat of Armageddon, dressed up behind lies about advancing American “national security” interests (i.e., American world domination delusions).
For this crime, you–along with anyone else who supports this agenda–will answer.
The thing I dont understand is – how they dont seem to think or factor in they could lose
They actually think they are winning (when they are clearly losing control)
Is this ignorance or arrogance? Or willful blindness?
I mean, in any war, aren’t a good general suppose to project both winning and the cost/price of losing?
When old china lost the war the entire land was under foreign and bloody occupation for decades
Its people, if they are not killed and mudered, was reduced to ‘animals’ status by their new masters
When USSR lost the war its reduced to Russia and its ppl suffered greatly
When ‘merica lost the war – ???
They (or the general ppl there) actually think they still keep the land and everything that is in it.
Dont anyone there study history at all?!
What if ‘Merica lost? What will be left behind? What will the Surrender Treaty be written up?!
When your belly is full you forget hunger.
When youve been building your economy on war horros and murder you forget whats like on the losing side.
Even pharoah forgot that he wasnt the almighty ruler of the universe when he got buried in the Nile.
Tyrants never see it coming.
Occidentosis, you are right. That is happening in latin america everytime. Lula, Correa, Cristina, etc. took out of the extreme poverty many people during their governments and after, them voted for their enemies. That happen in every level of the society and all the time.
Incidentally, the number 13 is called “the Devil’s dozen” in Russian.
Is the EU really looking into its own SWIFT alternative (cf Russia, China) to get out pof the strangle hold of US control of the world economy? If so, it is about fskin’ time.
Lavrov: We’re On the Clock; Russia Has Only 6 Months to Get Nuke-Ready
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ6wYarERdM
From an interview on Viesti News published on Oct 26, 2018. This situation is indeed far more serious than the Cuba crisis back in the day. As someone pointed out nuclear armageddon was only avoided in the past because individuals on several occasions had time to calculate that the information they received of what appeared to be an incoming attack was erroneous, and so were able to stop retaliatory strikes. In today’s situation there will be no time to make such calculations as the flight times are measured in less than 5 minutes… In other words, you shoot now or not at all. Also the US has created tensions in as many places along Russia’s and China’s borders as possible. Complete insanity.
Hopefully the EU now finds it’s spine and break off from NATO. Poland, and the Baltics, seem lost to reason though.
Unlike the headline on that Interview with Lavrov he did not say one single word that implied “Russia Has Only 6 Months to Get Nuke-Ready”.
There’s always a constant noise in media to keep the attention of the audience high. Others sell fish.
I would not put it past the mad dogs in the USA….
and yes Putin would give the order … and Europe no.1 would be dead. USA no 2 would be fatally or mortally hit… ie on the receiving end… which they have not been for the last at least 100 years… All of Europe where ever its hot will be gone… not a very pleasant scenario… but maybe this is what Europe needs ie the threat to wake up that USA does NOT care on hoot about Europe…. only about our money… and that is going to be in very short supply after a nuclear war… would there not be just a few military people in the USA who know all this ? And would they refuse to play along ?
The US is trying to win ColdWar II, the same way they won ColdWar I, via bankrupting Russia through military spending because they recognize Russia’s conventional (especially missile tech) forces are superior. This is why they’re pulling out of the INF treaty and “blame” Russia for violating it. Same old $#!+, just another day.
What the neo dumbasses like Bolton don’t recognize, is that they’re going to lose ColdWar II by bankrupting themselves and that they’re soooooo predictable.
So the USA wants nuclear weapons that can only be effective if they are fired from European soil?
The underlying assumption is obvious: if that nuke strike is launched from Europe then the Russian retaliatory strike will only target Europe, and the USA mainland would be spared. Result: Russia is destroyed. Europe is destroyed. The US mainland is untouched.
Madness. Utter madness.
The two entities marked for destruction have obvious – indeed, inevitable – counter moves.
Russia: If nukes are launched from Europe then we will retaliate against the US mainland.
Europe: We refuse to allow US missiles to be stationed on our soil.
Putin has already laid down his marker, and good for him.
Over to you, Merkel. Time to give a speech, Macron.
If the USA does indeed withdraw from the INF then I predict that the western European countries such as France, Germany, Italy will refuse to allow those missiles to be based on their soil. Turkey will likewise refuse.
That will mark the death-knell of NATO. Bolton will cheer, and then Trump attempt to base those missiles in Poland and the Ukraine under bilateral agreements. At which point there will be a replay of the Cuban Missile Crisis, only this time the roles will be reversed.
Madness. Utter madness. No wonder Bolton is working overtime to have Matthis removed from his job as SecDef.
PE
“So, it’s no wonder that EU diplomats, trying to ease their discomfort, recognize that this, in the end, is all about the Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine and the necessity of keeping the massive US military-industrial-surveillance complex running.”
No, it is about zpc/nwo unipolarity. Control. The banksters are the ones calling the shots in the zionazi/nazi west, the mic critters are either subsidiaries or aligned oligarchs.
Neocon-Deep State-Soros and noveau rich group of people pull the strings of US policy, and the only aim they have is staying in power at any price. Why?
A whole chain, a crescendo of crimes in terms of the national and international law that they had already done, makes them see themselves on the gallows if they step down. And they are dead right.
The nuclear war Ideas they play with are the sign of desperation, and the desperate are the most dangerous of all people.
Could you imagine the bolshewiks the neocons admire, or any other regime that stepped over dead bodies step down from the power peacefully?
David Rosenberg @EconguyRosie
” Go ahead, blame Powell. Don’t tell anyone that foreign buying of Treasury debt has been cut in half this year and keep it a secret that the dollar share of world FX reserves has shrunk to a 5-year low of 62.5%. The USD role as the reserve currency is on its last legs. ”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-26/bloodbath
And from our prophecies:
” There will be a state abnormality,the capital will imediately pull back,the global capital,the international and Jewish one. Every employee will be laid off,the state will get bankrupt ….”
I think the elites will generate a huge economic crisis by pulling back the capital,to slow down the global economy,to decrease the demand for oil and cut the Russian revenues. The same for weapons market through CAATSA. Anaconda Strategy not only military but financially too.
Yes, Russia is preparing for war, while the US is preparing a war.!
https://www.rt.com/news/442407-russia-war-preparation-inf/
Russia 1 Live
Sunday Evening witth Vladimir Solovyov
Kedmi – Ex-Israeli Intelligence: Trump Scrapped Nuclear Deal Because US Wants Nukes in Ukraine!
Yakov Kedmi, Israeli statesman: “First of all, the treaty signed in 1987 apart from the fact that it’s criminal on its own gave an undeniable advantage to the United States and completely disarmed the USSR.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psg58NuIna8
If true, this is a very desperate–and dangerous–provocation for America to place nukes in Ukraine.
I wonder what would be the American reaction if the USA got a taste of its own medicine and Russia place its nukes near the USA in say … Cuba!
Re: Escobar /who-profits-from-the-end-of-the-mid-range-nuclear-treaty/
I originally thought I would toss in a comment at Asia Times, but they have a blackmail trick built in: you need a Facebook account, which is a no-go for me.
Anyway, instead of playing on the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’’ “fear, horror, Angst” harp or fiddle, it might be worthwhile to take a “divine comedy” view on this INF stuff, the choice being between Homer (him who the gods would destroy, they first drive mad) or Dante. My choice is Homer.
Pepe Escobar is a good writer, which means he is a careful writer. This article is written from the perspective of “EU diplomats.” That means several things. First, this perspective is a muddled mixture of transatlanticist PR / fiction and painful (for “the Europeans”) geopolitical and military reality.
“It goes without saying that shelving the INF could even accelerate the demise of the whole post-WWII Western alliance, heralding a remix of the 1930s with a vengeance.” – Shelving the INF treaty not only *could* accelerate the demise “of the whole post-WWII Western alliance,” we ought to expect that that is the intent from the US side. On the other hand, who would want to salvage “the whole post-WWII Western alliance “? – Only a deluded EU diplomat.
But the reality is that Putin on March 1st 2018 obliterated the foundation of “the whole post-WWII Western alliance”. That foundation is/was the PR fiction of Article V: the PR fiction is the notion that all of NATO and each member country is obligated to *defend* any member country that is the victim of an attack. At the top of the escalation ladder that would mean, in PR fictitious theory, that the US extends its “nuclear umbrella” over Europe. It is easy to surmise, and it was always easy to surmise, that the reality was “escalate to deescalate” = limited nuclear war in Europe (the so-called “Schlesinger doctrine”), because, even back in the legacy “post WWII” order, the US was not going to risk its own obliteration for the sake of Europe. And for the Germans in particular, it was easy to surmise, and some who knew the top-secret US nuclear targeting planning, knew that the first step was not a tactical nuclear counter attack against the USSR (at that time), but a tactical nuclear attack against Germany: deny the USSR the booty of an invasion and then start the fictitious de-escalation chit-chat. On March 1st, Putin nullified this de-escalation chit-chat: any use of nuclear weapons at the “tactical” level against Russia, an ally or a friend, will be answered with a full strategic counter-strike against the US. “Europe”, and Germany in particular, are a “friend” of Russia under the condition that no attack on Russia is launched from Europe or Germany, for purely geographical reasons.
“EU diplomats have told Asia Times the US decision was a “shock”, and “the last straw for the EU as it jeopardizes our very existence, subjecting us to nuclear destruction by short-range missiles”, which would never be able to reach the US heartland.” – Well, if all of that is true, i.e., if it is the “last straw”, that is good news. Putin met Angela Merkel about a week before the World Cup in Sochi: nothing was reported from that meeting, which is in itself quite newsworthy… that no “news” came out. On the eve of the World Cup, Putin met up with Macron and they held that weird joint press conference, where Macron said they had talked about how Europe “has a problem,” i.e., its “dependency on the US for security” (a very vapid formulation, but curiously accurate if we understand that it is reality that Europe “has a problem” with its dependency on the US, because that “problem” tears the PR fiction off of Article V.). And Putin smiled his fatherly smile, and said he saw no problem, and “we will help you with that.”
Putin was spelling out what his March 1st speech means: Europe is no longer the bargaining chip for a US limited nuclear war in Europe, Russia extends its own “umbrella” over Europe. So Macron was prepared for the US’ INF gambit, he was prepared because he and Putin discussed the reality off the dependency on the US, and we can surmise that Merkel was likewise prepared, but for the EU it was a “shock.” That only shows how stupid they are. The INF gambit also tears the PR fictions off Article V. The fictions were always fictions, the EU diplomats are not “shocked” by the prospect of being “subjected to nuclear destruction by short range missiles”, they are shocked at losing their charade, their fig-leaf alliance solidarity no longer hides their shame.
And Putin? What does he do? It is all a matter of professionalism and objectivity, as Lavrov emphasized. Putin and Bolton talked, they chatted, they played it all through. Bolton did not need to visit Putin for this. Putin: If the Europeans go along with this, they make themselves targets, “that’s obvious.” Lo and behold: it even seems to be obvious to the dullards at the EU. From the frying pan into the fire… as they say? For the Europeans, the frying pan (the offer of the Russian umbrella) is just as hot as the American fire. So what are they going to do? – that is divine comedy. – What is to be done, spake Zeus, the gods are all drunk. — Oh, and by the way: NATO *is* obsolete. Those who would save it, kill it.
The one thing everyone seems to agree about is that leadership in the west has descended into evil and madness. I agree. Is there any way to negotiate with people like this? To bring some common sense and humanity to these people? I don’t know of a way.
This madness is also evident in the people at large. Not just in what I call the loony left, but also with the other side who consider themselves patriots and freedom loving people. This demonization of Russia, launched by the loony left has filtered into and been accepted by the so called freedom lovers. They have their hero in Donald Trump. They seem not to have noticed that their 4D chess player has one great love, which is the military/security complex. That is the same complex Eisenhower warned about. How does a peace and freedom loving president appoint to his government the same banking cabal, CFR members and neocon war hawks if he is really seeking peace? I think the answer is obvious.
Let’s see about that carpet bombing idea when Seattle, Los Angeles, S.A. Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, NYC, Boston and D.C. go up in a nuclear vapor and all the neocons on both sides are cheering the end of Russia. They would sacrifice those cities on the altar of neoconservatism. They are far worse than mad. They’re just plain no good. No good to anyone. May they all rot.
A number of op-eds appeared in the American press this past week, supporting withdrawal from the INF Treaty. Written by the usual amalgamation of think-tank employees tied to the arms industry, these writings make clear the operative strategic thinking behind this move is based on developing a renewed offensive capability. This is not about defending the territory of the US – it is about overcoming Russia’s air defence system and ensuring a second-strike capability directed towards China. The blind spot in their analysis is the unquestioned assumption that the leadership and populations of allied countries such as Japan, Australia, Germany, and Italy (for example) would willingly allow their territory and population centres become nuclear targets to support the USA’s hegemonic ambitions.
The driving force behind the US’ withdrawal from the INF Treaty appears to be exactly what a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti over the weekend, namely that “The main motive is the dream about a unipolar world. Will it come true? No.”
INF Treaty Withdrawal: Trump Restarts the Arms Race
https://sputniknews.com/radio_trendstorm/201810271069244135-inf-treaty-withdrawal-trump-restarts-the-arms-race/
Business is war. Ted Turner. War is business.
https://southfront.org/us-leaving-inf-to-jump-start-fielding-of-new-artillery-launched-intermediate-range-capable-systems/
Because MIC and usa military with talking believe they have discovered new opportunities that INF would have held them back….arms fair report in link(worth a separate post)…..usa is desparate to get any leverage or war or both over Russia….China today announces is going on military alert and is “preparing for military conflict…….
The Anglo-American Evil Empire has a nuclear death wish.
Are the Europeans craven (or suicidal) enough to go along with the Anglo Americans’ imperial insanity?
America’s Nuclear Death Wish – Europe Must Rebel
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/10/29/america-nuclear-death-wish-europe-must-rebel.html