A 'Parthogenetic' Conflict - There Is No Russian Invasion Threat To Ukraine
With regards to the completely made up story of the 'imminent Russian invasion' of the Ukraine a commentator remarked to me:
What we are seeing is a 'parthogenetic' conflict/war/crisis. A first - to my recollection.
Indeed - the virgin birth of a conflict in which there is no enemy.
There is no threat of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine now or in the foreseeable future. Despite that today's New York Times has put no less than four 'invasion' stories at the top of its homepage.

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Here is more evidence that there is absolutely no indication of any Russian invasion of the Ukraine:
Mujtaba (Mij) Rahman @Mij_Europe - 14:36 UTC · Jan 24, 2022Senior Elysée source tells me: “There is a kind of alarmism in Washington and London which we cannot understand. We see no immediate likelihood of Russian military action. We simply want our interpretation to be taken into account before a common western approach is agreed.”
Richard Hadley @FranceVotes - 15:50 UTC · Jan 24, 2022Replying to @Mij_Europe
Elysée briefed 'same' to @PhilippRicard (21 Jan @lemondefr): ‘France, like Germany, remain puzzled by USA & UK alarmism'. A source is quoted: 'We see same number of lorries, tanks and people. We observed same manoeuvres, but can't conclude offensive is imminent from all that.'
Yesterday the BBC interviewed the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov:
Some of our partners contribute to panic. This is beneficial to Russia - Danilov (machine translation)
Whether BBC News Ukraine asked the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov whether there is a reason for panic or whether the Russian invasion is so real today and what the Ukrainian authorities are doing.
...
BBC: What is happening near the Ukrainian borders? Is the number of troops increasing, are they maneuvering?
Alexei Danilov: The number of Russian troops is not increasing in the form in which many people paint today. Do they have maneuvers there - yes, but they were in them all the time. This is their territory, they have the right to move left and right there. Is it unpleasant for us? Yes, it's unpleasant, but it's not news to us. If this is news to someone in the West, I apologize.
Likewise Ukraine's Defense Minister via TASS:
Ukrainian defense minister sees no threat of Russian invasion in near future
Alexey Reznikov said that a scenario of a Russian attack in the near future was also unlikely
KIEV, January 25. /TASS/. Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said early on Tuesday he had received no information so far indicating the possibility of Russia’s invasion of his country in the near future."As of today, the armed forces of Russia created no strike groups, indicating they were ready to launch an offensive tomorrow," he told Ukraine’s ICTV television channel, adding that a scenario of a Russian attack in the near future was also unlikely.
When asked about the likelihood of Russia attacking Ukraine on February 20, the final day of the Olympic Games in Beijing, the minister said the probability was "low."
And this military analysis via the Kiev Independent:
Center for Defense Strategies: How likely is large-scale war in Ukraine? (analysis)
Editor’s note: This is an analysis by the Center of Defense Strategies’ experts Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Alina Frolova, Oleksiy Pavliuchyk. It was originally published in Ukrainian by Ukrainska Pravda. The Kyiv Independent has translated it and is republishing it with permission.
How realistic is the scenario of a full-scale offensive into all or most of Ukraine in the near future?
At the moment, there are not enough Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders and no fully formed military groups needed to conduct a strategic offensive against Ukraine.
According to our estimates, supported by many of the indicators below, a large-scale general military operation can’t take place for at least the next two or three weeks.
As of Jan. 23, we do not observe the required formation of several hundred thousand troops, not only on the border with Ukraine, but also on Russian territory behind the front line.
Besides, we do not see the creation of strategic reserve units, nor the mobilization of the necessary connections and units on the basis of the centers for mobilization deployment.
Russian troops move mainly as battalion tactical groups (mechanized, tank and airborne troops) and tactical groups (artillery, multiple launch missile systems).
Russia hasn’t completed the formation of groups of troops in operational areas. It also hasn’t established and tested its wartime administration system.
If Russia was conducting preparations for a large-scale invasion, it would have been much more noticeable.
Therefore, what we currently have is the military threat posed by about 127,000 Russian servicemen along Ukraine’s borders, in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine, and in Crimea. This number has not increased since April, and is not enough for a full-scale offensive.
...
How likely is an invasion in 2022?In general, a large-scale Russian offensive operation against Ukraine in 2022 seems unlikely according to many indicators, even judging by purely military requirements.
...
The story of Russian preparations for an invasion of the Ukraine is made up from whole cloth.
It was peddled in early November with cropped satellite images which pretended that equipment parked next to regular long term Russian barracks was newly moved there in preparation of a war.
Based on such pictures Politico, for example, headlined on November 1:
Satellite images show new Russian military buildup near Ukraine
The deployments come as tension is rising between Moscow and the West.
New commercial satellite photos taken on Monday confirm recent reports that Russia is once again massing troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine after a major buildup this spring.The new images taken by Maxar Technologies and shared with POLITICO show a buildup of armored units, tanks and self-propelled artillery along with ground troops massing near the Russian town of Yelnya close to the border of Belarus. The units, which began moving in late September from other areas of Russia where they are normally based, include the elite 1st Guards Tank Army.
Yelnya is 250 kilometers (150 mi) north of the nearest Ukrainian border, not 'close' to it.
The piece included this picture:

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The picture shows parts of the regular storage area of the 144th Mechanized Division near Yelnya, Smolensk Oblast. The divisions was established in 2016-2017 on the basis of the former 28th Mechanized Brigade (Yekaterinburg).
This is a large formation with hundreds of vehicles. The division's forces include i.a. two mechanized regiments, one tank regiment, one recon battalion, one self-propelled artillery regiment, one anti-tank artillery battalion as well as supplementary forces.
Here is an uncropped picture of the whole area. It shows large size barracks at the top right and parking grounds for each of its subunits. The barracks roads and facilities were not built over night. The above picture was cropped to only show the lower middle part of the picture below.

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Another picture that was circulated widely to demonstrate that Russia is 'bolstering forces along Ukraine border' is this one:

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It shows parts of the 237th Tank Regiment near Soloti, Belgorod Oblast, Russia. The picture is cropped so that it does not show the troop quarters which prove that the tanks are parked next to the unit's barracks where they belong during peacetime. Here is an uncropped image from Google maps:

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Again - those barracks were not built over night. They are long-term facilities. The 237th Tank Regiment is stationed in Valuyki and Soloti. It has 90+ tanks, 40+ infantry fighting vehicles, 18 howitzers, 8 mortars. It consists of three tank battalions, one mechanized battalion, one sniper company, one recon company, one self-propelled howitzer battalion and one air defence battalion.
All such units also have lots of trucks to carry the ammunition, fuel and other supplies they need. All together those vehicles are clearly sufficient to fill that large parking lot.
The pictures that were supposed to show a 'new Russian military buildup' only showed units in their regular barracks were they have been stationed for years.
None of the units seen in them is deployed in a build-up-to-war like manner.
Posted by b on January 25, 2022 at 14:38 UTC | Permalink
next page »Thanks for your posts. I read your website with great pleasure every day.
Nevertheless, looking at the timelapse in google earth, both facilities didn't have the same shape 6 months ago.
Clearly the locations have been upgraded recently.
Posted by: Olgart | Jan 25 2022 14:59 utc | 2
We don't need to spend the whole day negating a known Anglo Zionist lie coming out of London and Washington DC. We need to be discussing, analyzing and exposing the war whores who are occupying London and Washington DC.
Posted by: Ali | Jan 25 2022 15:00 utc | 3
Yes, big foreign policy win for Biden coming up. The Russians were getting ready to invade, but they didn't, because they were frightened of our response.
The saddest thing about it is that most Mercans will accept it without question.
Posted by: Socratic Dog | Jan 25 2022 15:04 utc | 4
An excellent write-up, and important resumé of the current state of affairs. I think this page will need revisiting by many, during the coming weeks.
Posted by: bjd | Jan 25 2022 15:06 utc | 5
The question isn't if Russia will invade. The question is what will Russia do if Ukranazistan, emboldened by Brutish and Amerikastani weapons and desperate to get public support behind Zelensky, invades the Donbass. Does Putin have a plan for that? If so, what is it? A reprise of 2015? That did so well, didn't it?
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jan 25 2022 15:10 utc | 6
I think Grenada better watch out, Biden needs a win bad.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 25 2022 15:15 utc | 7
I agree with b's perception of the conflict: that Zelensky proposes an attack on the Donbass; he likely has covert US support for such action.
As multiple other barflies have commented, RF has no need to invade. RF has sufficient long range fires they can destroy the entirety of any forces massed by Zelensky and achieve this within a matter of hours. RF is making a dirty Harry response: it holds the military equivalent of .45 magnum and is asking "Do you feel lucky punk?"
The likely reason for the massing of RF forces is to forestall the possibility of NATOstan forces seeking to enter the conflict, and or provide material support. NATOstan lacks the force necessary to confront the totality of force available to the RF. Sending 2 F-35 to Lithuania is a militarily meaningless gesture.
If we want an answer to why now? I think we need look to Brandon's declining poll numbers, his administration's response to COVID, the decline in public trust, concern over WOKEism, and the Democrats facing the loss of both the house and senate at the mid-terms. Boris Johnston has recently spoken out about the danger of RF "invasion" and he has similar motive as his own party seeks a vote of non-confidence against him.
By asserting threats to Europe, demonstrating the need for US led NATO, the Brandon administration diverts public attention away from its domestic failings and generates the possibility of uniting the nation against an external threat.
Zelensky has enough cunning to realize he is looking down the barrel of a .45 magnum; he will be unwilling to see the trigger pulled. If he is rash enough to act, this results in the destruction of his own military - I cannot see him last long in power. I think he is also smart enough to realize NATOstan would abandon him to his fate and not risk a confrontation.
The real danger is that of a false flag intended to provoke a RF response. This danger increases the longer Putin demonstrates statemanship and seeks alternate forms of dispute resolution. I believe the members of NATOstan other than US UK have a more realistic appraisal of the situation and are unlikely to put their own futures, or that of their populations, at risk to assist Brandon's or Boris' re-election.
Posted by: Sushi | Jan 25 2022 15:17 utc | 8
"There Is No Russian Invasion Threat To Ukraine"
I guess the constant stream of units from the EMD are just for a spring party they are putting together in Belarus. There is always a threat, implicit, in the background, that is simply the nature of armed forces of nations who are neighbors, but who are on adversarial terms (with a record of recent armed-hostilities no-less). How can one consider that NATO is a threat to Russia, while at the same time entertaining that these Russian forces near Ukraine are not-a-threat? At least be consistent...
The strongest cases I've seen have been those stating that the Ukrainians will be pushed into a confrontation with the Russian-supported forces in the Donbas, and that Russia will respond. The situation will become fluid, and none of us know what will happen as the facts on the ground will determine the steps either side makes as the event unfolds.
So yes, there might not be any "invasion" plans, but that doesn't mean there aren't "liberation" plans, or "counter-attack" plans, or a multitude of other plans that can be invoked, and would only be invoked, if some arbitrarily convenient threshold is crossed to rationalize such an intervention. (in terms that make it more amenable to maintaining an apathetic world audience)
Furthermore, claims that the armed formations of the Russian federation that are near Ukraine (and have increased in number, in absolute terms, though the figures may be disputed) are not a threat because their existing disposition is not conducive to invasion, is an outright refusal to see that they could be mobilized and activated in rather short time to constitute those very formations. So they remain a threat in the current state of a void in mutual security guarantees and assurances. To not acknowledge that, is similar to holding the belief that a nuclear warhead is no longer a threat, because the ICBM it is in hasn't been fuelled yet...
"Well, it can't possibly reach enemy territory in its current state, so it can't possibly be considered a threat by a rational actor..."
Posted by: MapleLeaf | Jan 25 2022 15:23 utc | 9
The following is one scenario.
1. Ukraine tries to control Donbas militarily. They would be justified, as it is their country.
2. Russia would have to respond with at least stand-off weapons to help the rebels.
3. Ukrainian army gets crushed. Russia thinks it won. Militarily that would be true.
4. Media goes crazy about “Russian invasion.”
5. The West has enough reason to kick Russia off SWIFT.
6. Nordstream 2 gets canceled.
7. US LPG exporters make a killing.
8. China gets no goodwill from the Winter Olympics. All the news is buried.
Russia wins militarily. Some Ukrainians get killed. The West wins economically and in the court of public opinion.
Lather, rinse, repeat in the South China Sea.
Posted by: Tiger | Jan 25 2022 15:24 utc | 10
"The picture shows parts of the regular storage area of the 144th Mechanized Division near Yelnya, Smolensk Oblast."
Some Russians updated the image to show what they think of it all
It was either photoshopped or some creative parking by the drivers. I go for photoshop. Either way, epic trolling.
хуй эыю = fsck you
Posted by: Arfur Mo | Jan 25 2022 15:26 utc | 11
...and Zelensky: “no reason to panic”
Ukraine urges calm, saying Russian invasion not imminent
Ukraine’s leaders sought to reassure the nation that a feared invasion from neighboring Russia was not imminent, even as they acknowledged the threat is real and prepared to accept a shipment of American military equipment Tuesday to shore up their defenses.
Russia has denied it is planning an assault, but it has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks, leading the United States and its NATO allies to rush to prepare for a possible war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday that the situation was “under control” and that there is “no reason to panic.”
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that, as of Monday, that Russia’s armed forces had not formed what he called battle groups, “which would have indicated that tomorrow they would launch an offensive.”
“There are risky scenarios. They’re possible and probable in the future,” Reznikov told Ukraine’s ICTV channel on Monday. “But as of today ... such a threat doesn’t exist.”. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 15:28 utc | 12
One reason the West is running the might Wurlitzer - in my view the major reason - is that Asia is integrating and the West is left out. Asia is doing exactly what the West fears most.
While the military actions get front and center due to the public fear factor and our addiction to hysteria here in the West, the major stories are the economic one (in Asia) and the financial one (left out) here in the West.
If I was in charge of the West's disruption campaign, I'd do my best to obstruct further Asian integration. I think that is the major objective of the military / propaganda campaign emanating from the West.
Conversely, if I was in charge of Asia's economic integration, I'd be doing all I could to establish on-the-ground, in-the-hinterland construction and operation of high-labor-input production systems. And I would emphasize projects that use a lot of local labor, and which produced goods the Chinese need (materials, food) and which need light manufactures as inputs, which would be cheap relative to value-add products produced. I would emphasize a lot of little projects strung out all along the land-based BRI corridors.
And I would use the Olympics as a stage to present, trade-show style, these plug-and-play kits which were available for installation, and ready to be packed onto rail cars for nearly immediate distribution. And I'd have financing packages in-place, ready to go. With great terms. China can extend a lot of credit; it's got reserves, cash flow, and prints its own money.
The thing the West wants to prevent is economic integration momentum, and I'd produce momentum.
I would develop, pre-announce and widely disseminate the message that "we're trying to help, and the West is trying to hinder. Here's how you spot the hindrance activity, and here's how you prevent it". That would be a 20-page booklet, translated to all relevant languages, and distributed to all government visitors from the BRI corridors who attend the Olympics.
That'd would be some fairly useful PR. "We're moving ahead, and you can move ahead, too".
So, why am I, an American, advocating for the success of the BRI project? Because:
a. There are two fundamental ways to maintain parity with others: one is to break down / destroy others, and the other is to build oneself up. Those are the two ends of the continuum. Currently the U.S. is choosing to obstruct others, and I believe we should opt for building ourselves.
b. I want to belong to a country that's great. Not just economic-great, but character-great. I want us to address the big problems of our time (every generation has one or two), and we're not doing that now. Resources are being diverted away from what's useful and beneficial, and toward destruction and obstruction. This is really bad policy, and it's obviously bad, and so I object to it publicly.
China and Russia and Iran all have their problems, just like we do. But their navigational heading is, in my opinion, better than ours is currently, and that's why I am encouraging them. I would like to see the U.S. learn from what China especially, and Russia to a much lesser degree (currently) are trying to do: build others up as they build themselves up.
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Jan 25 2022 15:31 utc | 13
@19 Tiger
I think your "scenario" incorrectly assumes that the Germans are willing to allow "US LPG exporters" to "make a killing", given that what would be "killed" would be the German economy.
Posted by: Fnord13 | Jan 25 2022 15:35 utc | 14
@10 Tiger
Drat, my number 14 post above was directed at post 10 by Tiger.
Posted by: Fnord13 | Jan 25 2022 15:38 utc | 15
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 15:42 utc | 16
#FireBlinken
#FireNuland
#FireTwinkBlinken
#FireNudelman-Khagan
Posted by: IronForge | Jan 25 2022 15:52 utc | 18
Well what has changed in 70+ years? Every single US military engagement in most of our lifetimes has been a hoax - all lies. Nothing has changed and the current situation is more of the same: Lies to distract from the last throes of empire. And why not? It works every time as the great silent US majority has the brains of manure.
The mistake to make is just because the USA and all of its wars are based upon lies, doesn't mean there won't be war.
Posted by: gottlieb | Jan 25 2022 15:58 utc | 19
I don't know if the Russian troop movements are a threat or not but they certainly have London and Washington in a tizzy. They may even be prepared to consider Putin's demands about NATO expansion.
Posted by: dh | Jan 25 2022 16:04 utc | 20
The question is why would the US push the narrative of Russia is going to invade, if the Russian's aren't? Could the reason be because the US needs a distraction to keep the domestic public's attention unaware of other things which may be happening? Similar to how a magician uses a sleight of hand to perform magic tricks.
Which brings up the next question, what is the US government trying to hide, behind the smoke screen of a Russian invasion? Maybe the slowing down of the economy which may be leading to a major correction in marketplace. Not to mention a Russian invasion would be an easy thing to blame for the coming market crash, instead of the likely real reason of the systemic failure of the US system to regulated and control the loose monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, and the excesses of the big Wall Street financial institutions. Better to blame Russia then the US's own failings.
Posted by: 10 to 1 | Jan 25 2022 16:04 utc | 21
Give US a break. They need one imaginary war they can brag they scared enemy into submission. All the real ones US lost.
Posted by: Abe | Jan 25 2022 16:06 utc | 22
The immediate threat of invasion is no longer top news in state controlled media in Sweden. The problem probably is that the same story has been run over and over for years — hard to come up with new stuff I guess.
Question for US barflies: this being a propaganda stunt aimed at the US population is suggested. Does anyone really care? I have a hard time believing that…
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Jan 25 2022 16:31 utc | 23
" How can one consider that NATO is a threat to Russia, while at the same time entertaining that these Russian forces near Ukraine are not-a-threat?" Maple Leaf@9
It really is very simple: Russia and its, increasingly numerous, allies want and need peace in order to deal with the pressing problems that afflict their peoples.
The US doesn't care about the steady decline of its people's health, happiness, prosperity and living standards. It doesn't care because it has no fear of them- it holds them in the deepest contempt, secure in the knowledge that it can manipulate them in any manner it chooses through its control of the culture, media and educational system and its ruthless policing systems.
While other regimes have to take careful account of the effects their policies have on the people, the US feels that it is insulated from democracy by its big lie claims to be democratic. This is why life expectancy on China and Cuba, for example, exceeds that in the, much wealthier, United States. This is why while hundreds of thousands are left to die of Covid and related ailments in the "west", in China and Cuba the most extraordinary efforts are made to save every life and end the pandemic.
In the "west" in order to preserve its hegemony the United States constantly promotes terrorism, war, crime, pollution, disease...in a word, chaos.
And that is why this week, as has been the case since 1945, Washington is promoting the fear of war as an excuse to make war, to promote 'colour' revolutions, to organise salafi terrorist militias, to blow up cities like Beirut, to demolish countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and many others, to spread disease and sabotage, to sanction nations into poverty in the hope of provoking their masses into revolt, to steal the savings of governments which are likely to employ them for the benefit of society, to overthrow popular governments and to shore up sadistic dictatorships.
Future historians will look back in wonder at our society's inability to see what is so obvious- that the United States is run by oligarchs- as is witnessed by the obsessions of Bezos, Musk and Branson with space exploration- who are hell bent on destroying humanity, life and the planet itself.
Posted by: bevin | Jan 25 2022 16:31 utc | 24
I believe MapleLeaf@9 is correct in his interpretation of the situation. The military formations, which are not on the border of Ukraine and, presumably, not being primed for an offensive, are nonetheless battle-ready and a demonstrable threat to Ukraine. In particular, they are a threat to any Ukrainian formations massing on the contact line with Donbas, since a significant detachment are positioned in a way that instantly creates an encirclement or cauldron of those forces in the case of open hostilities. The other major directions are perfectly capable of opening up additional fronts towards Ukraine proper, demonstrating that Russia can make good on the threat of an end to Ukrainian statehood in case its ruling elites decide to resolve the Donbas crisis by use of force. For these two reasons, the Ukrainian military appears to have spread its formations thin across the North-Eastern border available to them, and left the Donbas contact line mostly to poorly equipped reservists, absorbed volunteer battalions and other low-priority forces.
Arguably, it's a matter of semantics, since there's room to argue that Russian troop movements do not constitute a threat to Ukraine as long as the status quo continues to be preserved. In this interpretation, Western powers may be operating on the expectation of an upset to that status quo. Another factor may be a change in calculations derived from the rapid deployment of Russian troops as part of the CSTO mission in Kazakhstan. In the OP, a CDS analyst is quoted on the absence of a Russian strategic reserve, while I believe it's fair to assume that such a reserve may very well exist anywhere within a 12h flight radius.
If anything, my interpretation of these differing perspectives has less to do with actual combat readiness or troop presence, and more in the calculation of intentions. The Ukrainian elites, despite their rhetoric, trust the Kremlin's statements of non-aggressive intentions. The country itself continues to suffer economically from this media-driven hysteria, the Ukrop government is being spoon-fed aging arms whose eventual or immediate price-tag far exceeds their tactical viability and, I assume, the delivery of which is an obligatory aspect of "cooperation" with NATO -- they're getting shafted and they know it. Whether the increasingly-less-collective West is trying to ignite an actual conflict, trying to scare Ukraine straight, trying to scare France and Germany straight, reasserting the important defensive role of NATO or pursuing some other tangential objective, is up for debate. Russia, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, is taking advantage of the drummed up hysteria in dialogue with Europe and potentially even with Ukraine. This is, currently, how I view the situation.
Posted by: Skiffer | Jan 25 2022 16:35 utc | 25
disinformation: false information which is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organization to a rival power or the media.
SecState Blinken knows disinformation when he sees it...quote
Here are five major reoccurring Russian disinformation themes that the Kremlin is currently readjusting in an attempt to fill the information environment with false narratives about its actions in Ukraine.
Theme #1: “Russia is an Innocent Victim”
Theme #2: Historical Revisionism
Theme #3: “The Collapse of Western Civilization is Imminent” . . .etc
but Blinken sometimes forgets to tell the truth....quotes
--it’s mostly making clear, first of all, to the Russians that we know all of the tactics and techniques that they can bring to bear. They’re massing a huge number of forces on Ukraine’s borders.
--There’s been a lot of focus, rightly, on the fact that Russia has concentrated so many forces on Ukraine’s border
-- Blinken spoke by phone today with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the conclusion of his trip to Europe to address Russia’s unprovoked military buildup near Ukraine’s borders.
--the need to prevent further escalation of the security situation near Ukraine’s borders
-- what we were doing is testing whether there is still a path forward for diplomacy, for dialogue, to resolve a crisis that Russia has created by massing 100,000 forces on Ukraine’s border and threatening to renew its aggression against Ukraine.
--Russia has ratcheted up its threats and amassed nearly 100,000 forces on Ukraine’s border, which it could double on relatively short order.
--Today there are some 100,000 Russian soldiers near Ukraine’s borders, and in that sense the threat to Ukraine is unprecedented.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 16:36 utc | 26
Tom Pfotzer @13
I'm not sure I understand what your plan for China is. Sounds like you want the Chinese to let the BRI countries manufacture for them stuff they can manufacture themselves. Aint that what the US has been doing with the de-localization program with the effects that we know? Or maybe you see that as some kinda Chinese Marshall Plan.
Posted by: Robert Macaire | Jan 25 2022 16:36 utc | 27
"Could the reason be because the US needs a distraction to keep the domestic public's attention unaware of other thing"
Might be the 15000 people a week dying of Covid in the US, while federal/state governments have thrown up their hands, stopped even trying to control the situation, and are entirely at the mercy of the natural future evolution of the virus -- which is what most of the world did, except without the vilification of anyone who doubted the CDC's brutally debunked claims of expertise.
Might be the fact the possibility of at last being pushed out of Iraq and forced to make a deal with Iran. Might be facing the subsequent wrath of anti-Iran stakeholders who will then crush the political and personal-career prospects of anyone in the administration even remotely connected with such an action.
Most likely, I think, it's simply because there's nobody really in charge at the moment, and the White House crew is drifting on autopilot. So the sub-groups do what they know how to do, which is promoting the oil/gas industry, selling drugs and covering up their side effects until the next new generation comes out, and starting wars to destabilize any and all competitors.
Posted by: ptb | Jan 25 2022 16:37 utc | 28
RE: Posted by: Socratic Dog | Jan 25 2022 15:04 utc | 4
“Yes, big foreign policy win for Biden coming up “.
"Every time there is a problem the American default mode is ‘double-down’. When that doesn’t work, they think it was just a ‘lack of commitment’ and decide to double-down yet again. Rinse and repeat over and over until it escalates to utterly insane levels hoping the other side will eventually back down and America ‘wins’."
That is a consequence/function of their purpose and facility which includes, but is not limited to a failsafe brake to limit backward movement as a minimum facilitator of sustainability.
However from the late 1960's onwards when parked on some hills the failsafe brake did not work, and the engine started to go backwards at increasing speed, this required the alchemy of turning gold into fiat to dampen the speed for a while, which was subsequently aided by offshoring parts of the economy.
That is a component of why the matter is not restricted to Ukraine and the choice of hopes, which “The United States of America” attempt to misrepresent as "strategies", are limited in an interactive contexts, why "The United States of America" has asked The Russian Federation not to publish details of discussions and agreements, and why the increasing noise/signal ratio of theatrics in respect to Ukraine that the "Ukrainians" are asking to turn down the volume.
"I wonder if the Europeans ever reflect on the cavalier attitude of Washington about starting a war in Europe? They seem too afraid to stand up and say ‘no’ to stop the U.S. from starting a major war in their neighborhood that will set their continental home ablaze."
As Mr. Schrodinger observed phenomena do not require to be seen to exist, whilst a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead as a result of its fate being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.
“The United States of America” understands, as do their interlocutors, that resort to the things-that-go-bang war derivative will place outcomes in the linear spectrum from breaking the failsafe brake to ending sustainability.
As outlined in a separate thread about a month ago, the best hope to achieve the sustainability of “The United States of America” with benefit of failsafe break, is to create a spectacle of potential events/intents that they understand are unlikely to happen, including but not limited to the “invasion” of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, and then seek attribution for the frustration of things that were unlikely to happen when they don't happen, which to assuage the fears encouraged by the theatrics others will likely believe – since it worked for Mr. Orson Welles,via the Mr. Chamberlain routine updated by incorporation of the gold into fiat routine, “The United States of America” made the “Soviet Union” invade Afghanistan in 1979 mantra, “We won the Cold War” since we the people hold these truths to be self-evident, the cold war was cold but ended - all in the hope of facilitating- see like Mr. Tsun Tsu we are exceptional, we won a war without fighting it – you can trust us, it is better to be protected by us routine.
The target focus of "The United States of America" is those immersed in the coercive social relations self-misrepresented as “The United States of America” plus anyone else who may be naïve enough to conflate reality with theatrics by living towards the edges of the bandwith, and require the good guys in the white hats to protect them from falling off the edge.
The lacunae include but are not restricted to the sole agency derivative of exceptionalism, that the benefits of dumbing down accrue solely to the would like to be dumbing down initiators.
Mr. Ritter in the article linked below outlines some components of the above, whilst retaining a notion that The Russian Federation will invade Ukraine, which some in “The United States of America” with better reception don't want and hence Mr. Biden's oscillating statements.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/01/22/ukraine-crisis-us-toolboxes-are-empty/
This is understandable given Mr. Ritter's socialisation and his professional expertise being derived primarily, but not exclusively, from analyses derived through certain methodologies.
Over-extensions of facilities are always disadvantageous to some degree - the Battle of Moscow 1941/42 refers, whilst analysts and strategists are assigned different names for reasons.
(Break and brake have different spellings by design since some are not playing, some are not playing by a/the copybook or playbook, whilst some are playing jazz).
“The saddest thing about it is that most Mercans will accept it without question. “
Not really, becoming more not really when evaluation horizons are extended.
Posted by: NotEuclid | Jan 25 2022 16:42 utc | 29
no wars can we win
we can't even win retreats
but - good fortune! -
we can sell a no-war as war
and put that on our election caps
we starred down the Russians
"no-wars we can win!"
and we didn't ever blink 'n
retreat from our no-war
Posted by: librul | Jan 25 2022 16:42 utc | 30
thanks b.... an aternative viewpoint without the cropping is helpful...
meanwhile a few new posters need to send there resume to nato... they might get a gig with the pitch for 'semantics' being key to a successful propaganda win...
Posted by: james | Jan 25 2022 16:43 utc | 31
@ librul.... nyt and wapo are leading the charge to war, lol....
Posted by: james | Jan 25 2022 16:48 utc | 33
@6 Has Blinkers ever mentioned NATO expansion anywhere? If he has I missed it.
Posted by: dh | Jan 25 2022 16:49 utc | 34
@ dh 34
Has Blinkers ever mentioned NATO expansion anywhere?
Yes but he always puts it in terms of a nation (Ukraine) asking for NATO, overlooking the fact that every NATO county has to agree to expansion (as I understand it). Some commentators have observed that NATO has over-expanded, now including weak countries which can't contribute anything (which is most of them, like the UK).
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 16:57 utc | 36
@27 Robert Macaire
"Sounds like you want the Chinese to let the BRI countries manufacture for them stuff they can manufacture themselves"
Thx for the question, here's more detail:
Most of BRI-interior countries have low incomes, not much local mfg, raw materials they can't export w/o major cap investment, need to earn cash to buy the infrastructure and value-add mfg components they need to evolve economically.
China is many steps ahead of most of them. China needs markets for what they produce; they already have a lot of over-capacity.
BRI is, for China, about getting materials, and exporting value-added mfg's. BRI, for the less-developed players is to follow in China's footsteps developmentally, and increase local incomes so they can buy what they need.
OK, time for an example. Much of central asia is dry and cold. Not great for food-production. China has greenhouse designs that can thrive in those conditions. China can put a greenhouse kit, low-tech, easy-assemble, into a container and get it delivered for (my guess) around $20-30K. That unit can produce enough food to pay for itself in 2 years. Useful life: 30+ years, with maintenance of $2K annually.
You can see the benefits on both sides of that deal. There are probably dozens such kits could be made, manufacturing fiber/fabric, cut stone, canned meat, and so forth. Products at the bottom of the value-add chain, but useful because they provide income/foreign exchange, and start the local society on the entrepreneurship and trade track.
Sidebar: when the U.S. built out its rail system west of Chicago, the objective was to build towns (demand for manufactures, and supply of materials/food) as much as it was to lay rail. Railroads make money moving freight, not laying track. BRI needs to move freight.
China is coming up the competency ladder so fast that they are already vacating the bottom rungs. Give those rungs to the hinterland, so they can buy the stuff (from China) in the middle- and upper-reaches of the value-add chain.
Hope that helps.
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Jan 25 2022 16:59 utc | 37
The hidden origin of the escalating Ukraine-Russia conflict (Canadian Dimension, Ivan Katchanovski, January 22, 2022)
…
[T]he question of which side carried out the “snipers’ massacre” is central to understanding one of the “bloodiest and most controversial hours of European conflict since the end of the Cold War,” and the main tipping point in the escalating conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. According to testimonies by over 100 wounded protesters, several dozen prosecution witnesses, and forensic ballistic and medical examinations by government experts, the massacre of the absolute majority of protesters and police at the Maidan (central square) in Kyiv on February 20, 2014 was perpetrated principally by members of the Maidan opposition, specifically its far-right elements. This event precipitated the violent removal of the corrupt and oligarchic but democratically elected government in Ukraine, touching off a conflict which has since killed more than 13,000 people. Western governments were at least aware of, or de facto backed, the overthrow.
…
The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: Revelations from Trials and Investigation (Ivan Katchanovski, August 2021 — 75 pages with 8 videos appendices)
AbstractThis study examines evidence revealed by the ongoing trial and government investigations concerning the Maidan massacre in Ukraine. The massacre of the protesters and the police during the “Euromaidan” mass protests in February 2014 contributed to the overthrow of the Ukrainian government and ultimately to a start of the civil war in Donbas, Russian military interventions in Crimea and Donbas, the Russian annexation of Crimea and an international conflict between the West and Russia. The research question is as follows: What does evidence made public by the Maidan massacre trials and Ukrainian government investigations reveal about which of the parties of the conflict was involved in this mass killing? This paper analyzes several hundred hours of video recordings of the Maidan massacre trials and information concerning investigations of this massacre in over 2,500 court decisions from the official court decisions database in Ukraine. It examines trial and investigation testimonies of wounded protesters, relatives of the killed protesters, prosecution and defense witnesses, and top officials of the Yanukovych government. The study also analyzes results of forensic ballistic and medical examinations and investigative experiments, and videos and photos of the Maidan massacre made public during the trial. It includes several online video appendixes. They contain testimonies of wounded protesters and witnesses concerning snipers in Maidan-controlled locations and content analyses of synchronized segments of American, Belgian, Belarusian, British, Finish, French, Dutch, German, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian TV videos, recordings of live online broadcasts, and social media videos of this crucial massacre.
The Maidan massacre trials and investigations have revealed various evidence that four killed and several dozen wounded policemen and at least the absolute majority of 49 killed and 157 wounded Maidan protesters were massacred on February 20, 2014 by snipers in Maidan-controlled buildings and areas. Such evidence includes testimonies of the absolute majority of wounded protesters, several dozens of prosecution witnesses, dozens of defense witnesses, and 14 self-admitted members of Maidan snipers groups. Videos presented at the trial showed that times of shooting of the absolute majority of protesters did not coincide with times of shooting by the Berkut policemen, who were charged with their massacre. Forensic medical examinations determined that the overwhelming majority of the protesters were shot from steep directions from the sides or the back. Initial ballistic examinations did not match bullets extracted from the bodies of killed and wounded protesters to the Berkut Kalashnikovs. Forensic examinations of the bullet holes by the government experts for the Maidan massacre trial suggested that Berkut policemen were shooting in the Hotel Ukraina snipers above the Maidan protesters and in trees and poles. The analysis shows cover-up and stonewalling of the investigations and trials by the Maidan governments and the far right. The prosecution denied that there were any snipers in the Maidan-controlled buildings. Not a single person is convicted or under arrest for the massacre of the protesters and the police almost 8 years after one of the most documented mass killings in history.
Posted by: S | Jan 25 2022 17:00 utc | 38
I wish Russia well in confronting NATO expansion and warmongering but there's a problem: sanctions on electronics.
Supposedly, Russia has no lithographic ability to create major chips and even what it does design ( Elbrus and Baikal) are made in Taiwan - who as vassals will obey whatever the US says. I suppose they could get chips from China but they are far behind being independent of the US ( as with Huawei). Frankly, Taiwan dominance (TSMC) could even be a causus belli but how can China invade without wrecking factories?
I'd enjoy being proven wrong here. It's hard to see how Putin gets past this issue ( without wrecking his economy)
Posted by: Eighthman | Jan 25 2022 17:03 utc | 39
@ Skiffer 25
The military formations, which are not on the border of Ukraine and, presumably, not being primed for an offensive, are nonetheless battle-ready and a demonstrable threat to Ukraine.
The US didn't say that Russia had 100,000 troops in Russian bases scattered around because that would've gotten a big yawn. So the US continually said:
"there are some 100,000 Russian soldiers near Ukraine’s borders. . .a crisis. . we will go on alert. . .transfer more troops to the area . .etc"
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 17:10 utc | 40
RE: Posted by: 10 to 1 | Jan 25 2022 16:04 utc | 21
“why would the US push the narrative of Russia is going to invade, if the Russian's aren't? “
Some reasons can be found in Posted by: NotEuclid | Jan 25 2022 16:42 utc | 29 above
to which you can add
Coup of 2014 where “The United States of America” gained an albatross and the Russian Federation a new member.
Attempted “colour revolution” in Belarus.
Attempted “colour revolution” in Kazakhstan.
And many other reasons the understanding of which will likely be held in reserve to add to your speculations.
There was a conversation in Chechya in 2000 which proceeded roughly as follows.
We need to know where they are, and what they are doing, even if they are in the shit house.
The response was roughly
Since we'll be in the shit house, why don't we take a sample to know what is in their diet.
Posted by: NotEuclid | Jan 25 2022 17:11 utc | 41
@36 Right. So the US does have a veto over who joins NATO. The way Blinkers frames it anyone can apply to join and nothing can be done about it.
Posted by: dh | Jan 25 2022 17:12 utc | 42
As for the Minsk package of measures, I believe that its bad rep in online comment sections and on Russian patriotic talk-shows is unjustified. The agreement preserves the current status quo of an autonomous Donbas, with the addition of giving the population there a mandate in the political course of Ukraine -- emotions aside, this is the only path that has a chance of producing a sane and pragmatic Ukraine as part of political self-correction. Absorbing Donbas into Russia, while saving lives in the short-term, leaves the rest of Ukraine to fester in the grip of ethno-nationalist delusion. Same way a military intervention in 2014 would have made martyrs out of characters like Sashko Bilyi, who was instead liquidated as part of the post-Maidan night of the long knives -- it would simply have postponed an inevitable conflict into the future, while its short-term stabilizing effect would be uncertain.
As it is now, the Minsk agreement is in force whether or not Ukraine wants to fulfill its obligations. It can ignore its obligations for as long as its decline can be offset by Western powers, with a great cost and decreasingly little benefit to them, while the Donbas continues to develop -- which is a net-positive. It can reject the Minsk agreement outright, gambling on Western support for its decision -- which is, frankly, suicidal, since it's equivalent to a formal declaration of war. Thus it is inevitable that Kiev at some point finds the political will to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreement if it is to survive in one form or another, and it will be a decision taken by its own political elites, with majority support by the public. It has to be made a question of national reconciliation resolved internally, rather than an enforced peace from external actors -- like they say in Russian, something done "over the knee."
Posted by: Skiffer | Jan 25 2022 17:13 utc | 43
I'm not sure I understand what your plan for China is. Sounds like you want the Chinese to let the BRI countries manufacture for them stuff they can manufacture themselves. Aint that what the US has been doing with the de-localization program with the effects that we know? Or maybe you see that as some kinda Chinese Marshall Plan.
My sources tell me.... the ASEAN === BRI starts with raw materials & food stuffs going to China,
in exchange for Manufactures....
With the intent...
That China will move up the value added chain via automation... while the ASEAN --- BRI countries also move up the value added chain...
This to occur in a Complimentary fashion...
INDY
Posted by: George W Oprisko | Jan 25 2022 17:16 utc | 44
In response to Don Bacon@40,
Sure, it's a catchy sound-byte that isn't strictly accurate. At the same time, Russian forces are well within operational distance of the Ukrainian border to participate in combat if it comes down to it, so it's a matter of semantics. How far away would Russian forces actually need to be in order to be completely useless in the Ukrainian theater? I'm pretty sure they could be stationed on the East-coast of the country and still a large enough contingent could be made available within 48h. Both extremes are essentially nonsensical -- the Ukrainian border doesn't start 250km into Russia, but Russian formations 250km away from Ukraine could still march into Kiev before Western powers have a chance of expressing concern.
Posted by: Skiffer | Jan 25 2022 17:24 utc | 45
We simply want our interpretation to be taken into account before a common western approach is agreed.
And that is part of the problem,
France, Germany and Europe at large need to go their own way until the barking mad Anglo-Bloc either come to their senses or destroy themselves.
Posted by: Bilejones | Jan 25 2022 17:26 utc | 46
re: why would the US push the narrative of Russia is going to invade
Orwell created a new reality in his novel 1984 with three infamous slogans intended to shape and discipline the minds of Oceania’s citizens: War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength. Orwell’s inversions of the meaning of words are precisely intended to render language, and indeed truth and reality, entirely malleable, subject to the arbitrariness of those who happen to be in power. They play an essential role in what Noam Chomsky has called the “manufacture of consent.”
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 17:27 utc | 47
Eighthman | Jan 25 2022 17:03 utc | 39
As Russia has shown since 2014, it has the will and resources to invest in import substitution. It is likely that hi tech sanctions would just spur the Russians and their Chinese partners to invest more heavily. Not really to the US's long term benefit.
Posted by: JohninMK | Jan 25 2022 17:34 utc | 48
I know UK troops are in Ukraine just now training Ukrainian forces, it could be the Western media are pushing the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces trope because the West intents to ignite some sort of internal conflict in the Eastern regions that were once Ukrainian.
The West would spin it as some sort of attack by Russia, which could lead to even more sanctions put in place against Russia.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jan 25 2022 17:44 utc | 49
Posted by: MapleLeaf | Jan 25 2022 15:23 utc | 9
Are you the best "counter-intelligence" bot that the Canadian Govmnt has assigned for you to pollute this forum? CSIS or DoD?
Stay on the CBC - that is your intellectual level.
Posted by: Mann Friedmann | Jan 25 2022 17:45 utc | 50
The manufactured crisis is mainly for internal US consumption, with the idea of giving Biden a foreign policy "win"? Yes, that is plausible, particularly because its manufactures are still mired in past imperialist thinking. The US public has no brains, etc.? Yes, the rulers have worked assiduously to keep them ignorant of and indifferent about the outside world. But the public is now much more worried about other issues, especially their own immediate fate, so they have even less time and energy to be concerned about foreign adventures. As a result, they don't care about the Ukraine, and they don't care about what the MSM says either very much anymore. So if the Democrats claim a "win" in the Ukraine because of the lack of a Russian invasion, I don't think that will help them any. On the other hand, the public didn't care about the "defeat" in Afghanistan either, and that was not what has undermined Biden's "popularity," not that he had much popularity in the first place. I think the warmongers are really in a fit of hysteria because they can't whip the public up into caring about war anymore.
The real problem is the coming demotion of the American public. Most every country has been demoted by humiliating defeats, massacres, foreign rule or occupation, economic ruin, mass impoverishment, etc. I could detail these demotions, often the result of the world wars, in the cases of China, Japan, India, Russia, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Turkey, etc., not to mention many smaller states. But hitherto the US and its miniature clones, Canada and Australia, have never faced such demotion, which is a major cause of their belief in their own sterling exceptionalism. I won't speak for Canada or Australia, but the demotion of the American public is already in the works, as the 0.0001% seek to impose serfdom and enslavement on all. This is similar to the demotion of Italy in the Roman Empire, which already had started in the late Roman Republic. After the spread of empire, the metropole must go down. Because the American public is getting this in their faces on a daily basis, they aren't supporting that system so much anymore, and the system is freaking out, thereby hastening its own downfall. On foreign issues, the American people remain ignorant, and many, though by now a minority, are willing to support military violence abroad, but it doesn't move them like in the past, because their immediate financial, medical, and other daily life concerns are too overwhelming.
Posted by: Cabe | Jan 25 2022 17:53 utc | 51
@50 He made one interesting point in #9....
"So they remain a threat in the current state of a void in mutual security guarantees and assurances."
Isn't that exactly what Russia is asking for? Some kind of assurance that Ukraine (and Georgia) will not be allowed to join NATO.
Posted by: dh | Jan 25 2022 17:56 utc | 52
Tom Pfotzer @13--
Thanks for providing your very astute comment!!
While the military actions get front and center due to the public fear factor and our addiction to hysteria here in the West, the major stories are the economic one (in Asia) and the financial one (left out) here in the West.
As psychohistorian and I both pointed out, what's most likely the biggest ever financial crime in history was revealed by the Martens in a series of articles at Wall Street on Parade. The one I linked was used by Dr. Hudson in his expose interview with Ben Norton about that while touting the 3rd edition of his opus Super Imperialism, which is an excellent upgrade from his first edition that adds much greater and essential details.
As for your thoughts on BRI and the example of people centered development being modeled by China and Russia, take a look at the last slide on this page highlighting Xi's video summit speech to the five Central Asian nations China established diplomatic relations with 30 years ago, in particular the phrase "self-generated development." I'd also direct you to the CSTO Summit just after the Kazakh situation stabilized where the need to look at internal causes for the turmoil was stated and reiterated. Why is it so hard to foment turmoil within Russia and China? Both enjoy what's considered full rates of employment--no idle hands for the Devil to enlist--and their citizenry have great confidence in governance.
You're 100% correct that the Neoliberal Parasites driving the USA into the ground need to obscure their activities as much as possible. Why doesn't/didn't Biden declare war on Manchin and others who destroyed his domestic policy? Perhaps because he's employed by those Parasites and not at all in the service of the people. And the same could be said for the vast majority of Congress--the partisan feud is just theatre to obscure the close-knit alliance between the Duopoly and the Neoliberal Parasites behind the curtain. Russia's security demands were an unanticipated spanner inserted into their gearwork for which they have no positive solution--it'll be a Zero-sum Own Goal outcome that most US citizens would applaud if they understood what's happening and the history involved--both of which they're being denied unless they go out and search.
B. And others...
So if this is distraction, which I agree, what dastardly deed is being done while the world looks the other way??
I suggested they needed a crisis to back out of the covid mess..
Is it to cover the slow moving economic crash currently unfolding?
Ideas?
Posted by: Les7 | Jan 25 2022 18:09 utc | 54
Regardless of your views on Putin and Russia, Putin is no fool, he has been in power for a long time and must now be looking at his place in history. He has repeatedly told his people, who really don’t want to get involved in Ukraine and who are the ones that really matter to him, that Russia will only go into Ukraine if Donbas is attacked.
It seems to me that it is likely that the current Russian moves are to make it totally clear to US/NATO that there will be a very hard response in the event of Kiev doing something stupid. Those moves extend beyond Ukraine and, in their attempt to try to keep the US honest, they:-
- have ramped up their forces near Donbas, as they did in a similar situation last Spring, to show Kiev that military destruction is a given.
- are moving unusually large numbers of extra troops into Belarus from 1000’s of miles away in Siberia and the Far East. Strategically important enough for someone to shoot the bolt and sabotage the Belarus Railway computer system.
- are getting ready to start major exercises in strategic locations around the World with 140 ships, including a very unusual live fire exercise off Ireland.
These actions put war ready troops on the west and east flanks of NATO. I would lay money that, unseen by us but visible to those who matter, other deployments are underway off the USA.
You might be asking yourself ‘Why now, why different to last Spring?’ What past events coincided with both US involvement aimed at Russia and when Putin was otherwise occupied?
How about the attacks in Georgia, Olympics 2008, and the revolution in Ukraine, Olympics 2014? So what do we have next month on the 8 year pattern? Yup, the Olympics in Beijing with Putin busy signing major deals with US enemy Xi.
Do you think that, with the remarkable timing co-incidence of Ukraine going hot, they are going to be caught like that again? Not a bat in hell’s chance. This time they have made it clear to anyone with eyes, that they this time they are primed to respond should the US, NATO or Kiev do anything stupid like a False Flag or actual attack.
Posted by: JohninMK | Jan 25 2022 18:14 utc | 56
b quoted a commentator:
What we are seeing is a 'parthogenetic' conflict/war/crisis. A first - to my recollection.
A first??? That commentator must be very young. Western MSM has been doing this kind of stuff for ages. There was no slaughter in Tibet in the 50's. There were no 30 million starvation deaths in China in the early 60's. There were no thousands dead at Tiananmen Square in 1989. There was no genocide in Xinjiang, not under PRC reign anyway. These non-events did not stop western MSM from lying about them, perpetually at that.
This is just to cite a few of western MSM's parthenogenetic lies. I'm sure barflies here can attest to numerous others. The first of such lie, in my recollection, is about a guy named Moses splitting the Red Sea.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 25 2022 18:22 utc | 57
Distraction with this level of PR is deliberate
There is of course the reality that there are multiple power blocs that fight each other in the US.
Is this the MIC trying to guard its turf by hyping threat and preventing agreements?
But this level of PR is clearly CIA, what's in it for them?
Posted by: Les7 | Jan 25 2022 18:22 utc | 58
Cabe @51--
[T]he warmongers are really in a fit of hysteria because they can't whip the public up into caring about war anymore.... because their immediate financial, medical, and other daily life concerns are too overwhelming.
Your excellent observation is made explicit with every new poll announcing Biden and Congress's ever sinking ratings. The reason for that is the "Donor Oligarchy" as Hudson calls it--the Neoliberal Parasites running the show behind the curtain--won't allow anything to be done for the real economy while they're empowered and protected as they escalate their crime spree. IMO, there's an ever-growing number of citizens who have concluded the enemy resides within but have yet to comprehend that Trump is part of that cabal and that they need to promote a wise tradesman or woman without any connections to the Establishment--or better yet, they all need to rise and become leaders of a new grassroots populism. For it's going to take a very large majority of citizens acting in concert to evict the evil Neoliberals and the equally evil Neocons from their government and quasi-government positions.
This is just to cite a few of western MSM's parthenogenetic lies. I'm sure barflies here can attest to numerous others. The first of such lie, in my recollection, is about a guy named Moses splitting the Red Sea.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 25 2022 18:22 utc | 57
Agreed, they've always been propagandists, as far back as you go. This whole notion of journalism as some sort of public service profession like medicine or the law (ha!) is a very recent invention.
Posted by: Bemilded | Jan 25 2022 18:29 utc | 60
I have long and with curiosity observed the transformation of the propaganda of the 'collective West'. What methods do they use, what new ideas do they come up with. If there were a Goebbels Prize for propaganda, the 'collective West' would steadily occupy the entire podium. Bravo.
A few years ago, the trend was to say that "Russia must comply with the Minsk agreements." Western politicians said it on every corner. You know, The sanctions will be extended until Russia complies with the Minsk agreements." Then "Russian hackers" and "Russian cyberattacks" became a hit. Allegedly, the Russians carried out a cyber attack on companies in the United States, on the German government, and so on. "Russian hackers" (naturally receiving instructions directly from V.Putin) were all over the headlines. A couple of months ago, a new trend began to emerge - Western propaganda is actively and purposefully using the word "aggression" (exactly this word) in relation to Russia. The Russians are preparing to attack, they will invade Ukraine... Attack, assault, invasion... Aggression. Russian aggressor. Aggressor. Aggressor. Aggressor.
In the daily turbo mode, the word aggression is deliberately articulated in relation to Russia - a country that has been defending and repelling external aggression, including the aggression of Western countries, for almost its entire history (probably with rare exceptions that only confirm the rule). In other words, they try to create an image of an aggressor/attacker for the victim/defender. Mean, as usual - call white black, swapping everything. They are trying to impose on Russia the image of an aggressor, against which the "peace-loving" and "truly democratic" West will look innocent, even "defending"(!) from aggressive Russia.
This is a curious change in the propaganda of the 'collective West'.
Let's see what else they come up with.
Posted by: Tiger | Jan 25 2022 15:24 utc | 10:
8. China gets no goodwill from the Winter Olympics. All the news is buried.
Huh? Reporting Winter Olympic events is a show of 'good will' to China by the west?
I'd think it's okay to China that Winter Olympic news is blacked out in the west. It will be enthusiastically reported and celebrated in China and many other regions elsewhere all the same. It would be the western readership/audiences that suffer the deprivation of a joyous and high caliber world event. But then again, it would be captured on films and digital memories. Western audiences can enjoy watching the marvels years later and eat their heart out.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 25 2022 18:37 utc | 62
A must hear - Tom Luongo podcast with Alex Krainer: (https://tomluongo.me/2022/01/25/podcast-episode-93-alex-krainer-and-the-new-rules-of-the-geopolitical-game/)
Some gems from it:
1. Who are the Global Elites? (a question that is often asked at the bar)
From about the 20m:40s mark: Vestiges of the British Empire 'a group of families clustered around the international banking cartels'.
2. The pandemic was originally scheduled for 2050, and was designed to create the conditions to undertake the Great Reset. However the ongoing collapse of the Western financial system, with the latest eruption being the Repo Crisis of August 2019, forced them to act early. That this was vastly premature is evidenced by the fact that the development of a central bank digital currency, central to the Great Reset, hadn't even been started yet.
3. Alex Krainer thinks that the 'military - technical' response of Russia will be centered around working with Iran to push the U.S. out of the Middle-East. Why? Because losing access to the Middle East will greatly shrink Western Banks' access to collateral, upon which the banking system is built, and thus substantially weaken the dollar as a reserve currency, which today is the U.S.' principle source of geo-political power.
Regarding point 3, I have for some time suspected that attacking the dollar was central to Russia's strategy to defend itself, going back to the dispute that Russia had with KSA over oil prices in the spring of 2020.
It might also help to explain the Global Elites' rush to war in Ukraine. Perhaps they feel that if they can isolate Russia from the international financial system, they will be able to better defend the dollar's reserve currency status against attacks from Russia and China, an isolation that they need a war in Ukraine to justify.
Posted by: dh-mtl | Jan 25 2022 18:44 utc | 63
Oriental Voice @57--
Yes, the "Fire" Billy Joel references in one of his major tunes began well before there was any Moses, for within what's called Mosaic Law is the Jubilee Year--the forgiveness of all debt. That informs us that something extremely significant was already underway--The Class War between Creditors and Debtors was already well advanced to the point of destabilizing Southwest Asian societies/polities. It's that very Class War--its continuity being obfuscated as much as possible--that's at the bottom of current Geopolitics and its twin Geoeconomics.
Joe Biden gave the game away in his trainwreck presser. In passing, about Putin, Biden said,"...he has to do something".
That exposed the linchpin to the US strategy. Which we know anyway: lure Russia by hook or crook to make the first move.
So now Putin can be sure that all he has to do is NOTHING! Hahaha
Biden is such a demented tool.
Posted by: Dee Udderday | Jan 25 2022 18:48 utc | 65
"The military formations, which are not on the border of Ukraine and, presumably, not being primed for an offensive, are nonetheless battle-ready and a demonstrable threat to Ukraine."
What? The Nerve of a country having a well trained military on their own soil!!
"Russia wins militarily. Some Ukrainians get killed. The West wins economically and in the court of public opinion."
The West would lose spectacularly if they attempt at war! I prepared for the "Neu Weimar Republic" in Canada, if war is a reality...
Posted by: Mann Friedmann | Jan 25 2022 18:51 utc | 66
i just think the us should stage a fake invasion of grenada every year, shooting blanks, and the new york times can celebrate the great victory, the grenadan economy can pick up a few bucks from the soldiers, then everybody goes home happy.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jan 25 2022 18:51 utc | 67
Posted by: Bemilded | Jan 25 2022 18:29 utc | 60:
This whole notion of journalism as some sort of public service profession like medicine or the law (ha!) is a very recent invention.
Thank you for your comment. I particularly concur with your opinion on the falsehood of medicine and law being promulgated as public services in our nick of the wood :-). I recall c1ue called them parasites, aptly so :-).
But journalism should be a public service type of endeavor. Theoretically it is the 4th pillar of societal good governance, serving the checks and balances of power centers. There was a time, perhaps, that it did serve such purposes, somewhere. And, strangely enough, these days I kind of consider Chinese and Russian media are making sincerely efforts to fit that mold. They still have ways to go, but in my book they are the ones I go to for geopolitical truth.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 25 2022 18:52 utc | 68
But journalism should be a public service type of endeavor. Theoretically it is the 4th pillar of societal good governance, serving the checks and balances of power centers. There was a time, perhaps, that it did serve such purposes, somewhere. And, strangely enough, these days I kind of consider Chinese and Russian media are making sincerely efforts to fit that mold. They still have ways to go, but in my book they are the ones I go to for geopolitical truth.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 25 2022 18:52 utc | 68
A deep subject, I think, but yeah, I agree, it should. It is the product of value that they really have to sell to the public. The problem is their market here is the advertisers, so that's who they please. It's free to us, and worth about that, to us.
Same problem on the internets, now I think of it ...
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 25 2022 19:00 utc | 69
dh-mtl @63--
IMO, more than enough evidence exists showing that cutting Russia off from SWIFT will create massive Blowback and cause more harm to the Neoliberals than Russia. Europe has realized that reality and recently said as much. As Hudson writes in his updated Super Imperialism, de-dollarizing is going to be very difficult because it's enmeshed like a finely woven matrix into the international financial system. That will become easier over time as the Eurasian trading Bloc grows stronger and conducts trade with their own currencies and as energy gets traded with ever fewer dollars. The coup will come when the Outlaw US Empire must use other currencies to purchase energy, and that day is coming sooner than many imagine. One of the Empire's biggest failures was to establish the proper infrastructure for the exploitation of its Arctic energy resources after it built the Trans-Alaskan pipe. It only has one ancient ice breaker!! The Fracking Ponzi Scheme fooled far too many people, and the curtailing of nuclear energy research in the late 1970s was a grave error.
Indeed, perhaps the biggest area of concern for Imperial planners is the deepening dependance on Russian hydrocarbons. The Outlaw US Empire's military runs on hydrocarbons, a weakness that once helped to defeat its adversaries is coming home to roost.
The military analysis presented in the Kyiv Independent is quite insightful.
One of its key conclusions is that "...according to our estimates supported by many of those indicated below, a large-scale general military operation can't take place for at least the next two or three weeks."
I think this is a highly plausible. Michael Kofman has also recently written that "... the current force is largely within the self-deployment range, which means that they can move to the border in a matter of days once personnel arrive. Russia retains considerable force-generation and can surge units to the area on relatively short notice. Publicly available estimates suggest Moscow might gather a force of 90 to 100 battalion tactical groups, together with reserves and auxiliary forces for a total of 150,000 to 175,000 troops. The Russian military is not yet in position for such a large scale operation, but it could have the requisite forces and elements placed in the coming weeks."
Posted by: Gulag | Jan 25 2022 19:12 utc | 71
One other brief note--If Ukraine attacks Donbass, Putin could invoke the Genocide Card he raised during the first week of December. An important detail that seems to have been forgotten here at the bar.
Someone please explain to me why the West continues to whitewash the Nazi problem in Ukraine. It is literally no surprise to me that Germany does not want to send weapons to Ukraine when people in Ukraine are allowed to wave around stuff from dead Nazi goons.
Posted by: why | Jan 25 2022 19:19 utc | 73
ptb #28 "there's nobody really in charge at the moment, and the White House crew is drifting on autopilot. So the sub-groups do what they know..."
les7 #54 "I suggested they needed a crisis to back out of the covid mess.."
i posit this is the same agenda the last time dems were in office(when clinton was sec of state and Nuland/biden in charge of ukraine), it a continuation of their agenda to expand NATO. russia saw this and called them on it and they won't answer. they don't want to respond to russia's list in writing. they refuse to have a written agreement/treaty. russia is so far ahead of them and undoubtedly already has multiple plans in place.
so, what's the US to do? make up this lie about a russian invasion. plus, ukraine is itching to squash Donbas and this is the pretext to do it (and thereby pull another press switcheroo like they did with georgia).
Posted by: annie | Jan 25 2022 19:22 utc | 74
Posted by: Eighthman | Jan 25 2022 17:03 utc | 39
In 1988 the Soviet shuttle Buran did its first and last flight in automatic mode, that is without a crew, and it did it with a computer and 64K of memory. Now billions of us roam around with gigabytes of memory in our pockets, but not much more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)
Posted by: Paco | Jan 25 2022 19:23 utc | 75
All media is at it like the NYT. But Ukraine is a NATO platform already and it can provoke a war, just like Georgia ’08, and everybody will "know" for sure that it was a Russian invasion. Cassad published an interesting article with a possible timeline to provoke it, with the sad conclusion that Ukraine and Ukrainians are spendable, just a tool.
So there is no Russian invasion threat, but there is the threat of war.
If machine translation does not bother you too much here is the link:
Posted by: Paco | Jan 25 2022 19:38 utc | 76
Yes, Verdant, "parthenogenetic" is correct. No biggie, but it's too beautiful a metaphor to leave it misspelled.
Posted by: Compound F | Jan 25 2022 19:42 utc | 77
I'm just viewing Alexander Mercouris for today.
He's made a point that I find interesting. The meeting with Blinken was with the EU foreign ministers.
NOT NATO.
That means that the British were excluded!
Food for thought.
Posted by: John Cleary | Jan 25 2022 19:42 utc | 78
I had though the Russian invasion hype was cover for a renewed Ukraine attack on Donbass - which would be called a Russian invasion by the west.
On top of Ukrainian officials b has cited..
"Zelensky: Taking away part of diplomats by some countries from Ukraine is complex diplomatic game, not escalation" https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2022/01/25/us-military-presence-europe-has-been-declining-30-years-current-crisis-ukraine-may-reverse-trend.html
In the headlines today, Canada is also taking people out. According to TASS it is US,UK,Australia, Canada and Germany that have been pulling people out of their Ukraine Embassies. Japan is considering pulling people out. https://tass.com/world/1393021
Anther couple of relevant headlines...
" The US Military Presence in Europe Has Been Declining for 30 Years – The Current Crisis in Ukraine May Reverse That Trend" https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2022/01/25/us-military-presence-europe-has-been-declining-30-years-current-crisis-ukraine-may-reverse-trend.html
"Ukraine crisis is reminding Nato why it was formed in the first place" https://menafn.com/1103592712/Ukraine-crisis-is-reminding-Nato-why-it-was-formed-in-the-first-place&source=24
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 25 2022 19:58 utc | 79
bevin | 24
« And that is why this week, as has been the case since 1945, Washington is promoting the fear of war as an excuse to ... blow up cities like Beirut, »
Beirut blown up, a US deed ? I'd welcome a proof of that.
Washington's responsibility in the other instances of controlled chaos is better known.
Posted by: chb | Jan 25 2022 20:00 utc | 80
Posted by: Tiger | Jan 25 2022 15:24 utc | 10:
8. China gets no goodwill from the Winter Olympics. All the news is buried.
the biggest reason for many actions of western governments is fear of their serfs realising China is now the first world country
fuckers are going to pull every dirty trick they can think of to mess with the olympics and the associated roll-out of digital yuan - can’t risk someone like my mum stop believing 80 years of racist propaganda!
Posted by: Rae | Jan 25 2022 20:30 utc | 81
@why | Jan 25 2022 19:19 utc | 73
Someone please explain to me why the West continues to whitewash the Nazi problem in Ukraine. It is literally no surprise to me that Germany does not want to send weapons to Ukraine when people in Ukraine are allowed to wave around stuff from dead Nazi goons.Because the "west" have always liked the Nazis in Ukraine. As is evident for almost 2 years now, the mask is falling also on the home front. Earlier, they supported Nazi policies abroad, now it is also implemented at home.
Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 25 2022 20:30 utc | 82
Posted by: Verdant | Jan 25 2022 18:11 utc | 55
Absolutely right. Parthenos means unmarried girl (Mary is so designated in the NT but it means unwed rather than strictly what contemporary English means by 'virgin'). For example, the Parthenon on the acropolis means 'house of the unwed girl' because it was the temple of Athena Parthenos, Athena as the virginal protector of the high citadel.
The expression parthenogenesis refers to any process by which something is born or emerges sui generis, or 'from itself'.
The misspelling 'parthogenetic' would suggest to a Greek "born from a Parthian" and that means something quite different to what b is referring to.
Posted by: Patroklos | Jan 25 2022 20:33 utc | 83
@Jörgen Hassler #23
No, Americans don't care about Ukraine.
The polls are very consistent: Economy #1, Covid #2. Foreign policy very low.
But then again, why should anyone be surprised that Brandon is focusing on shit that nobody cares about? I posted, not long ago, a Breaking Points link where they showed that literally 2/3rds of Americans feel Biden is focusing on issues they either don't care about at all or care very little about.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 25 2022 20:36 utc | 84
Well, b and the barflies, it looks like you got this one wrong, sorry to say. There is a ‘significant’ chance Russia will invade Ukraine, says former ambassador of the UK to Canada, Leigh Turner. He can explain it all to us. Why is Russia doing this now?
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1996129347767/
Although Boris Johnson is quoted by Tass as saying, "I believe that all of Russia’s fears could yet be allayed, and we could find a path to mutual security through patient and principled diplomacy," and he is willing to meet with President Putin.
https://tass.com/world/1392961
What I’m wondering is if the UK and France are being naughty in this Ukraine affair, how is it that Germany is not? Don’t the three major European powers usually all get involved in the same skirmishes?
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jan 25 2022 20:36 utc | 85
@Oriental Voice #57
Indeed.
In fact, I would disagree with "parthenogenic".
There are parents to these fake conflicts: The US' State department, US intel agencies and US funded NGOs.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 25 2022 20:37 utc | 86
The statements by various anti Russia Ukraine officials...
The US west has made it clear they will not use military means to help Ukraine in the event of war in the east. The way they are debunking the US/UK propaganda indicates it has finally sunk through their thick heads that they are nothing more than tools to be used. They may well have intended an attack on Donbass at the start but realizing US would not be sending troops to help have gone cold on the idea.
Right sector and the Azov nazi's? US/UK working with them and Ukraine government out of the loop?
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 25 2022 20:40 utc | 87
o/t:
Feasibility study completed/approved for the Soyoz Vostok pipeline (Mongolian part of Power of Siberia II)
https://www.gazprom.com/press/news/2022/january/article546748/
https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/73694/
Posted by: ptb | Jan 25 2022 20:40 utc | 88
@Norwegian #82
Not just in Ukraine.
Even disregarding the Freelands, Blinkis and Nudelmans, John Helmer pointed out that there were entire top level cabinet departments in West Germany that were 60% or greater Nazi. And he noted these weren't just regular Germans who were in the Nazi party, these were SS Nazi - the most fervent and the enforcers.
The US loves groups that oppose Communism and doesn't really care about what those group espouse, so long as they fight the Commies. Our bastards, in other words.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 25 2022 20:40 utc | 89
Posted by: bevin | Jan 25 2022 16:31 utc | 24
thank you bevin. the crisis is not in Russia, it's inside the West, above all that world vampire, the US.
as others have noted, it is so easy to win a conflict that never existed. but, as with the indifference to death and suffering being cultivated in the covid-infected populace, the ruling class getting away with these threats and blusters only creates greater problems for the future.
btw, Athena is born from 'parthenogenesis', from Zeus. War & wisdom.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jan 25 2022 20:46 utc | 90
@ 75 Paco - Sad that this was done to the Buran in Baikonur.
I like street art, but this was pointless. I often wonder why street artists in Russian speaking lands don't use Cyrillic. It is such a cooler looking alphabet than English. Fascinating discussion as always here. Much love to b and all the MoA community!
Maybe the world isn't going to blow up.
There is a bunch of silly stuff going on though.
I am trying to laugh at it all. Such a distraction when I should be working. And I think my boss reads MoA. Uh oh.
Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 25 2022 20:58 utc | 91
Ok, so a knowledgeable analyst will see no threat of invasion, attack or war. The other question though is, is there intent to convey a threat? With the hysterical western attitudes you need less effort to convey a threat, and possibly can do so unintentionally. But not here.
Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Jan 25 2022 20:59 utc | 92
Why @ 73:
The West is pushing Ukraine to get Crimea back. The real prize is the Crimean peninsula, the naval base there at Sevastopol, and the maritime territory around the peninsula (plus any undersea resources like natural gas and mineral deposits under the seabed). Whoever has possession of Crimea has good control of a major part of Black Sea territory and can potentially exert control over European nations bordering the Black Sea plus others in central Europe relying on the Danube River for access to that sea. The Black Sea is not far from the Caspian Sea either and energy links from the Caspian Sea to Europe would either have to go through the Black Sea or through Turkey where they would be at the mercy of Erdogan's whims or possible earthquake.
Of course the West does not want to commit too much to Ukraine in the way of monies or arms - the country's politics have been a corrupt mess for a long time so throwing money at Kiev is no good, and any arms or equipment would just as likely be sold on in black markets - so if Ukraine is to retrieve Crimea, it does so with whatever local forces it has.
Plus many Western govts are being lobbied by Ukrainian diasporas in their own countries, some of whose members have historical links to Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with Nazis in the past. The diasporas may even have direct or indirect political conections. Classic case is Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland whose grandfather Myhailo Chomiak was editor of a nationalist paper in Nazi-occupied Krakow in the 1940s, using printing equioment and assets the Nazis seized from a Polish Jewish printer. Chomiak and his family were evacuated by the Nazis to Bavaria and after 1945 the family emigrated to Canada.
Posted by: Jen | Jan 25 2022 21:00 utc | 93
why are Americans supposed to care? how could Russia possibly screw up Ukraine worse than NATO/EU have? hell, give 'em a few more weeks and Ukraine will greet Russia as its liberator.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jan 25 2022 21:01 utc | 94
@ Les 7 54
So if this is distraction, which I agree, what dastardly deed is being done while the world looks the other way??
It's not a distraction, it's an essential part of a big picture which is key to US exceptionalism
The US is a bonafide 'security state' as a part of its world hegemony. That means not 'playing nice' with others, rather the security state requires enemies in order to sustain its 'needed leadership' for the 'rules-based international order' meme it proclaims to be the basis of all relationships. In other words, it's my way or the highway.
A large part of US world hegemony is maintaining Russia as an enemy. That has many benefits: (1) continued US bases in, and control of, Europe via NATO. (2) the continued 'need' of a half-million person ground force, with all the attendant profits and US military bases (good for the local economies), with a maximum budget and (3) the 'support the troops who secure our freedom', which pays off in so many ways in terms of political support.
As Randolph Bourne wrote, War is the health of the state. As Smedley Butler wrote, War is a racket. George Orwell's Ministry of Truth will explain it all to us. . .Those about sum it up.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 25 2022 21:01 utc | 95
Future historians will look back in wonder at our society's inability to see what is so obvious- that the United States is run by oligarchs- as is witnessed by the obsessions of Bezos, Musk and Branson with space exploration- who are hell bent on destroying humanity, life and the planet itself.bevin | Jan 25 2022 16:31 utc | 24:
Maybe Bezos but Musk and Branson? I'd rather have oligarchs obsessed with space exploration than promoting war.
I suppose they [Russia] could get chips from China but they are far behind being independent of the US ( as with Huawei). Frankly, Taiwan dominance (TSMC) could even be a causus belli but how can China invade without wrecking factories?
Eighthman | Jan 25 2022 17:03 utc | 39:
IIRC, the SMIC (PRC) is already underway in replacing TSMC (Taiwan). I believe in a few years they'll be ready. So any sanctions would be limited to Russia.
karlof1 | Jan 25 2022 19:15 utc | 72: No one here have forgotten about the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine.
Posted by: Ian2 | Jan 25 2022 21:04 utc | 96
the idea that the fake Ukraine invasion stories are there to distract Americans from domestic ills seems to me to attribute much orderly design to the US administration. instead I see institutional inertia that has become dysfunctional. the job of the intelligence agencies and the MSM in collusion is to lie, the 'diplomats' job is to not do diplomacy and just double down. no one can put their response to Russia in paper because thats outside their job description. what, actual governance and international diplomacy? wtf is that?
and more importantly,what the US is doing now is primarily reactive instead of proactive. it is russia that is dictating the tempo and determining the tactical landscape and the Americans just don't know what to do except what they always do. they can but stall, lie to others and lie to themselves. there is no master plan. it's just shit hitting the fan and chickens running around while the institutions churn out their regular drivel.
yes, there is some special scheduling to disrupt the Beijing Olympics but that has been planned far in advance, far before Brandon even entered office. they'd be doing that no matter who was president. institutional inertia.
Posted by: mastameta | Jan 25 2022 21:05 utc | 97
why @73--
I put this together a few weeks ago, "Is It Fascist, or Does the Outlaw US Empire Only Promote Fascism?". Given the classical definition of Fascism--Industrial Capitalism intertwined with government--the Outlaw US Empire ceased that version in the 1970s but then adopted a new form that's even more abusive--Neoliberalism/Financial Capitalism intertwined with government--which was present before but didn't hold all the cards as it does now.
It was President Coolidge who coined the phrase, "The business of America is business," which is one way of describing Classical Fascism as it grew during the 1920s, although it lacked the visceral Nationalism that was growing in Japan at that time then infected Germany, Italy and other western nations to some degree. The USA is an unusual case in that it's the elite--the Industrial and Financial Capitalists--who became Fascistic, whereas the general population was and remains too mixed for an all-encompassing Fascist Movement to arise, although there is a small percentage that upholds the fascism that's embodied within White Supremacy.
One thing about this propaganda exercise is that the US west have made it abundantly clear it will not come to Ukraine's aid in the event the Ukies get into a shooting war with Russia. If it has finally dawned on the Ukraine comedian government that they are merely tools to be used, then US/UK have kicked a serious own goal.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 25 2022 21:16 utc | 99
Les7 #54
I suggested they needed a crisis to back out of the covid mess..Is it to cover the slow moving economic crash currently unfolding?
Ideas?
My contribution is that the ruling USA elite need a continuing crisis in the mass mind to avoid the gaze being focused on them.
The 'covid mess' was the US elite's doing. It was riddled with contradiction, outright lies, incongruities. The people were left to fend for themselves in a truly impoverishing circumstance while the congress promised, dithered, then failed to deliver.
Just go to https://wallstreetonparade.com/
I have been reading that site for the past decade or more and it is the litany, the foundation library of the failed USA economic system.
That is what the elite and its congress and senate and president don't want the public to understand or they might revolt. Not that they will get far as they will mostly wind up dead.
See Palestine for a reference point when considering trapped masses and violent policing.
Then there are the wars, the invasions, the 'peacekeeping', the Right To Protect theory which is a masquerade for dominance, sabotage, and theft. The rumours of war, the decades old dead threats of yesteryear, dug out of their graves for one more wretched parade in the hope they will generate voodoo fear in the masses.
It is incessant nonsense and mendacious tripe.
Yes, you are correct, it is a cover for the impoverishing crash of the USA people and their economy. Not so much of a crash for the elite. They don't give a sh!t for us.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 25 2022 21:19 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
The American withdrawal from Afghanistan was an internationally recognised humiliation, the sight of which will live long in the memory of US voters, unless the mind is distracted with such hysteria as we are witnessing at the moment with Ukraine.
If the American Government and their war whores in the media have managed to create the impression of a military stand-off that in fact does not exist, they will just as easily be able to create the impression of a Russian climb down and a much needed foreign policy win for Biden.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Jan 25 2022 14:56 utc | 1