Biden's Foreign Policy Is One Big Mess
Over the last months I have written little about other U.S. foreign policy issues than the war in Ukraine.
A short review shows that there is little that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken or his president could count as a success.
Last month Biden traveled to Asia where he had meetings with the QUAD (Australia, Japan, India and the U.S.) as well as with South Asian leaders.
The QUAD meeting was a failure as India showed no sign of joining the other three in their condemnation of Russia. Instead of sanctioning Russia India is buying more oil from Russia which offers decent rebates. Such disunity does not look good for a U.S. designed anti-China coalition.
Most noted though was that Biden came to Asia with empty hands:
Months after U.S. President Joe Biden first indicated that his administration would launch a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that would signal strengthened U.S. engagement with Asian economies, the president, together with the leaders of a dozen countries from across Asia, announced the launch of the IPEF in Tokyo on May 23.
...
The slow process of determining what will be in the four “pillars” of the IPEF, how negotiations will be handled due to a division of labor between the U.S. trade representative and the commerce secretary, and uncertainty about which governments would sign up have deepened the ambivalence.As a result of this ambivalence, the joint statement launching the framework referred to “collective discussions toward future negotiations,” indicating that there is more work to do to flesh out the initiative.
Asian governments are not wrong to have mixed feelings about the IPEF. U.S. trade officials plan to seek higher labor and environmental performances from negotiating partners, but they have also indicated that they are not prepared to offer access to the U.S. market—let alone pursue a TPP-style free trade agreement.
Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad said that the new US-led trade group IPEF is intended to ‘isolate China’. It will be unsuccessful doing that as it the whole idea is likely to fail.
As a writer for the Lowy Institute in Sydney opined in the New York Times:
Mr. Biden huddled last week with leaders of the four-nation “Quad” group formed to counter Beijing, vowed to defend Taiwan against China and introduced a new economic pact involving a dozen nations to shore up U.S. economic influence in the region.Yet China is already winning throughout much of Asia on both the economic and diplomatic fronts, and nothing the United States is doing seems likely to change that.
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The Biden administration’s answer, unveiled last week in Tokyo, is its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. It falls far short.The plan calls for cooperation on trade, supply chains, infrastructure and fighting corruption. But it does not include better access to the huge U.S. import market, a crucial carrot that normally underpins trade agreements.
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Meanwhile, China has forged ahead. State-owned companies have locked up big projects around the region, often under the umbrella of China’s sprawling Belt and Road Initiative.China also practices persistent diplomacy. Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s travels in Southeast Asia and the Pacific have far outstripped the pace of his U.S. counterpart, Antony Blinken. Despite the fanfare of Mr. Biden’s recent trip to Asia, it was his first to the region since taking office 16 months ago and included visits only to close allies South Korea and Japan.
...
Competing with China in Asia will not be easy. But it starts with recognizing that right now the United States is losing.
Those words, coming from a staunch U.S. ally, are pretty harsh.
Another area where current U.S. foreign policy is failing is in the Americas. Biden is currently hosting the 'summit' of the Organization of American States. The head of states of at least 7 of the 34 OAS member states were not invited or declined to come:
Mr. Biden’s insistence that the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela not attend the summit was seen in many capitals as a sign of U.S. imperialism and an unwillingness to address in an honest way the complex issues in the region.The three Central American nations known as the Northern Triangle — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — which along with Mexico are the source of about 66 percent of the illegal migration at the U.S. border, decided to send their foreign ministers to the summit as a signal of their displeasure.
Biden's (or Blinken's) ideological argument that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are 'dictatorships' does not make much sense when one learns that the unelected acting president of Haiti, Ariel Henry, was invited even though he is under suspicion of having ordered the murder of his predecessor Jovenel Moïse.
Biden again came with empty hands:
Administration officials said that Mr. Biden would propose reforms to the Inter-American Development Bank to encourage more private investment in the region and investments of $300 million by the United States to combat food insecurity. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced pledges of $1.9 billion in investments by private companies over the next several years.But it is not clear that the investments will be robust enough to prevent those countries from turning to China for help, a key goal for Mr. Biden.
The foreign policy establishment is not happy with this:
Richard N. Haass @RichardHaass - 11:44 UTC · Jun 7, 2022The Summit of the Americas looks to be a debacle, a diplomatic own goal. The US has no trade proposal, no immigration policy, & no infrastructure package. Instead, the focus is on who will & will not be there. Unclear is why we pressed for it to happen.
U.S. policy in the Middle East is stuck. The nuclear agreement with Iran is unlikely to be revived under Biden as he has rejected to lift Trump's terror designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His planned visit to Saudi Arabia, to beg for more and cheaper oil, has been moved to some uncertain future date. The leader of Saudi Arabia is still miffed about Biden previously snubbing him. He also wants to continue his OPEC+ agreement with Russia and others oil producer to prevent lower oil prices.
It does not help that the Democratic leaning retired General John R. Allen is under investigation for having lobbied for Qatar, the arch rival of Saudi Arabia. Allen is leading the equally Democratic leaning Brookings Institute which has received major donations from Qatar.
On its anti-China policy the Biden administration had two other setbacks. It had banned solar modules from China over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang where the raw materials for making these modules is coming from. This, and a minor trade dispute, led to supply crisis for solar panels and stopped some major 'green energy' projects. Biden reacted to that by signing an emergency authorization to lift tariffs on solar modules from southeast Asian 'producers' which are in fact reselling Chinese produced ones.
The State Department also seems confused about its own anti-China policy:
The U.S. State Department has updated its fact sheet on Taiwan again, to reinstate a line about not supporting formal independence for the Chinese-claimed, democratically-governed island.
One might argue that Biden's plan to lure Russia into a war in Ukraine has worked well. NATO is at least temporarily united and the EU under strict U.S. control. But the monetary assault on Russia via sanctions has turned out to be a total failure with the ruble gaining new heights. The effects of the sanctions have instead created another supply shock with prices for oil, fertilizer and wheat going through the roof.
The World Bank has downgraded its global growth predictions and is warning of stagflation. The average gasoline price in the U.S. has hit $5 per gallon and is likely to increase further. General inflation has markedly increased thought the causes get misidentified. This while the stock and house markets are more or less in free fall.
It does not look good at all for the Democrats in the upcoming mid-term election or a reelection of Biden in 2024.
Morale in the White House is down:
President Joe Biden and his aides have grown increasingly frustrated by their inability to turn the tide against a cascade of challenges threatening to overwhelm the administration.Soaring global inflation. Rising fuel prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A Supreme Court poised to take away a constitutional right. A potentially resurgent pandemic. A Congress too deadlocked to tackle sweeping gun safety legislation even amid an onslaught of mass shootings.
In crisis after crisis, the White House has found itself either limited or helpless in its efforts to combat the forces pummeling them. Morale inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is plummeting amid growing fears that the parallels to Jimmy Carter, another first-term Democrat plagued by soaring prices and a foreign policy morass, will stick.
Biden could still save his bacon by replacing his ideological minded secretary of state and national security advisor with capable realists. The above list includes enough reasons to do so.
He also needs to shut down the war in Ukraine. He could tell Zelensky to end the senseless fighting and to submit to Russia's demands. Sanctions against Russia could then be lifted and a further oil price increase prevented. (As the war has already moved off the front pages this is likely doable.)
Biden though has never shown the necessary flexibility to do either.
Posted by b on June 8, 2022 at 16:24 UTC | Permalink
next page »There is NO "Biden Administration" unless you refer to his schedule of "Depends" changes, his ice cream and beach breaks and his rounds of appearing at a podium spouting the gibberish fed to him by his insane handlers (Obama, Rice, Jarrett, et. al) combined with his usual and regular outbreaks of "Old Man Yells at a Cloud!"
Posted by: Garry Owen | Jun 8 2022 16:34 utc | 2
this is what happens with an empire in decline... it speeds up towards the end.... it becomes very apparent the emperor has no cloths on.. thanks b..
Posted by: james | Jun 8 2022 16:35 utc | 3
If you don't know what you're doing, neither does your enemy.
- Joe Tzu
Posted by: Ricardo Ramirez | Jun 8 2022 16:35 utc | 4
ah, a breath of fresh air, free from the acrid smell of war, comes the stench of the Biden regime. It is rather hilarious the Dems have morphed into the New Totalitarians.
As far as saving bacon - karma is a bitch.
Cheers!
Posted by: gottlieb | Jun 8 2022 16:44 utc | 6
Thanks, b. You know Mexico’s Lopez Obrador is an excellent speaker, I think. It’s hard to find English subtitles sometimes but Multipolarista Tweeted a clip of him with them.
https://twitter.com/Multipolarista/status/1534182776022487040
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jun 8 2022 16:50 utc | 8
Clearly an internal Beltway battle between the Empire of Chaos and the Empire of Lies.
Today's MoA post indicates that Team Chaos is winning. Tomorrow, who knows?
The collapse of the British Empire was relatively orderly because the successor was sympathetic toward them. Let's hope a similar smooth transition happens this time.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jun 8 2022 16:51 utc | 9
Another suggestion for Joe Tzu:
"Never interrupt my nap while my State Department is in the middle of making a mistake."
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jun 8 2022 16:57 utc | 10
It is telling that AMLO, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, president of Mexico, decided not to attend the Summit of the Americas because Cuba, Nicarauga and Venezuela (I might have missed a few countries) were not invited.
As much of a royal pain it is going to be for me to survive in this new world that Z Day brought about, I am glad to see the house of cards collapse.
Thanks everyone!
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 8 2022 16:57 utc | 11
The only recent U.S. win is Pakistan. However, it may be temporary, so not a win in the end.
Another place to watch is Ethiopia. Will the U.S. be able to put Tigray supremacists back into power, which could potentially balkanize Ethiopia, or will the current government weather these attacks and realize the dream of Ethiopia–Eritrea–Somalia economic bloc?
Posted by: S | Jun 8 2022 17:00 utc | 12
Does anyone know of another medium- print or internet- with analyses as good as these?
I don't, and largely because almost all of the potential competitors have sold themselves out either to the state/empire or to some faction which insists on all opinion being crammed into narrow ideological boundaries established decades ago, and only rarely adjusted to account for clearly observed changes in reality.
Posted by: bevin | Jun 8 2022 17:08 utc | 13
The Biden Admin is lead by a brain-trust of Nudelman Nuland, The Kagans, Soros, Blinken and other associates of Epstein/Maxwell.
All they know are Strong Arm tactics and bullying bluster.
Its ineffective and wearing thin.
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Jun 8 2022 17:11 utc | 14
[email protected]: Nothing wrong eith what b said. Read the whole sentence ....
"Instead of sanctioning Russia it is buying more oil from Russia which offers decent rebates."
"It" being India.
Posted by: Woogs | Jun 8 2022 17:13 utc | 15
@13 bevin - I like Covert Action. I'm sure you are familiar with them.
But nothing beats MoA!
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 8 2022 17:13 utc | 16
“Never underestimate the stridency of fools…” Squeaky Fred
Posted by: FredF | Jun 8 2022 17:16 utc | 17
Except Biden chose his national security advisor, Secretary of State and other foreign policy people because of their ideology. He shares it with them. That’s the problem. And he’s not a puppet. This has always been Joe Biden’s ideology, he just never had the power to implement it at this scale. He’s not a smart man. He’s not a thoughtful man. His foreign policy will fail no matter who he appoints because they serve the president. I guarantee that if Joe Biden had his way, US Troops would be fighting in Ukraine now.
Posted by: Lex | Jun 8 2022 17:19 utc | 18
Before the war Russia claimed it wanted a neutral, disarmed Ukraine in which Donbass oblasts would have autonomy, plus recognition of Russian Crimea.
It was rejected.
At the start of the war this stance had evolved to include Donbass independences.
Now Russia is integrating conquered parts of oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and Donbass independences could instead be Russian integration too.
Meanwhile, any notion of real negociation, and thus concessions to Putin, is deemed unacceptable in the West (with few exceptions).
So, unless Ukraine and the West can defeat and repel the Russian army, the longer the conflict, the more Russia will conquer the smaller Ukraine will remain with a far bitter pill to swallow.
For Biden the political cost of accepting any defeat in Ukraine before November's mid term is likely too expensive. So his most likely course is either a slow escalation until then. Or gamble on a renewed Ukrainian army vast offensive, if mobilisation and NATO training allows to field a large batch of fresh troops.
Posted by: Saracen's head | Jun 8 2022 17:25 utc | 19
@ b.
I like the idea of Biden being Carter.
One lost terribly in Iran and its hostage rescue situation there, where US Army forgot to install anti-sand filters on their helicopters, and they crashed in the middle of the desert.
It was an absolute fail.
It is a bit about the same analogy with Biden and Ukraine, China, Russia and others, however only in this case they forgot to take off their total dominance glasses.
About changing the current Administration 'winning' team, those ideologically minded Secretary of State and National Security advisor; Well, I think they run the show.
As to find a few capable realists, perhaps, those can be found in Pentagon.
But I think $7-$8 a gallon would be substituted for more realism in the USA.
Posted by: whirlX | Jun 8 2022 17:28 utc | 20
“Z , Pat.”
“There is a Z.”
“I’d like to buy a vowel, Pat.”
“I.”
“There are two Is.”
“I’d like to solve the puzzle…”
Posted by: FredF | Jun 8 2022 17:29 utc | 21
Mr. Biden’s insistence that the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela not attend the summit...
Nicaragua Authorizes Entry of Russian Troops for Humanitarian Purposes
Posted by: AndrVU | Jun 8 2022 17:31 utc | 22
Thing is, Carter is a far better man than Biden could ever be.
Posted by: David, by the lake | Jun 8 2022 17:35 utc | 23
Biden's Foreign Policy Is One Big Mess
If you don't like today's foreign policy just may be you like tomorrows;-)
As pointed the Amerikan govt. going down and sadly take us on Main Street along for the very bumpy ride.
Posted by: jo6pac | Jun 8 2022 17:41 utc | 24
At this point things seem to have passed in to the realm of the absurd, slowly at first and now all at once. For decades the rest of the world has been backing away slowly and arming up, and now the USA is running out of people to shout at. Watching Biden fail even at getting the talking points laid out for him is sad and slightly embarrassing. Karmella’s word salad on camera is almost up to Dubya levels of ridiculous. The only thing the current US admin seems to have in its grasp are the EU poodles, and by that I mean the corrupt politicians who ride roughshod over the general populace.
The midterm elections are going to be a bloodbath for any contest that cannot be easily rigged. While not being “gang affiliated’ I can certainly see why people will vote red simply out of disgust for blue. And while all this local drama is being stoke, played and and broke the rest of the world will make its own plans…..
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 8 2022 17:44 utc | 25
I think Biden is a dolt, in my opinion he's not calling the shots on US policy, he's another Reagan who was a finger puppet of Merill Lynch.
The last hundred days has shown that Russia can hack it even when Nato and the EU are opposing it, this reflects badly on the USA, revealing that its not the top gun that other nations once thought it was, and of course the US cannot be trusted to stick to deals, also blocs are forming in other parts of the world to protect their interests such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest trade bloc in history with about thirty percent oft he world's population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Comprehensive_Economic_Partnership
This article by John Helmer points out that how aged ill US presidents are just the facade whilst the shot callers lurk just out of the camera's view.
http://johnhelmer.net/matt-taibbis-ukraine-war-bubble-just-snapped-crackled-and-popped/#more-68778
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jun 8 2022 17:48 utc | 26
@ 24 Chevrus - San Francisco California just had a recall election on Chesa Boudin, Soros backed district attorney. For SF to have gotten rid of him must be a rather sobering event for our puppet masters. I'm not sure what is going on with the Los Angeles local elections. I'm too busy reading MoA!
What a flustercuck disaster.
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 8 2022 17:53 utc | 27
Scotland 25:
I fully agree, and there is very little evidence that the executive branch does much of anything other than do as they are told.
The trade blocs emerging from the Breton Woods era (long past its shelf life) may very well be able to stay afloat during this period of “controlled demolition”. The big moment, if it comes will be when the US military gets swatted.
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 8 2022 17:56 utc | 28
Lex-26:
Yeah I caught that one….I lived there for ten years and it was always a contest between the left and the far left. Apparently things have really gotten outta hand now to the point where people just keep their cars unlocked to avoid having to replace windows. I seem to recall LA country having already booted their Soros sponsored DA…. You know its funny, when you look at the color revolution formulas that often get used you can see what appears to be a lighter version unrolling in the USA…
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 8 2022 18:00 utc | 29
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework doesn't have much of a ring to it. I suggest Greater Southeast Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere for increased marketability.
Posted by: Donnie | Jun 8 2022 18:00 utc | 30
Carter was the only decent President that I could remember. Biden electing his own staff is not a reflection of his personal views.
Trump picked Bolton, pompeo, Navarro all more haters and warmongers, Bush has his neocon gang. The list is endless, a revolving door of paid puppets and all the exact same history of war and enriching a very few.
Yes Biden did have much financial invested in Ukraine, but so did many others. America has always been controlled by kleptocrats, who all are directly guilty of the chaos we see today, getting worse.
Eisenhower or Roosevelt told you beware of the MIC, but it is financial greed and the us petrodollar and the corporations. The small union lobby against the lifting of Chinese tariffs, should include "and bring back manufacturing".
Consumerism: Buffet said that he could buy 10 thousand Nike shoes, but we need the millions to be able to buy one each. That is the dilemma.
Abusive behavior often goes hand in hand with a failure to grasp objective realities.
I have already said it before: Supremacism leads inevitably to stupidity - and eventual grand failure.
Supremacism makes you overestimate yourself and underestimate others.
At some point this lead to mistakes founded on an unadequate appraisal of circumstances.
Since you believe yourself superior, the appraisal is not corrected, and instead scapegoated onto unrelated factors.
This means that your grasp on reality is further compromised, setting the stage for further and bigger errors.
If the cycle is not broken it becomes a self-destructive spiral.
Although in a certain sense it is hilarious to watch the US leadership degenerate further and further, hopefully straight into oblivion.
Off-Topic: We have a - new? Nazist worm onboard, say hello to Curmudgeon the Nazi.
So far stale talking points: Smear by association - equating RF & PRC with the 3rd Reich; pseudo-leftist posturing - nazis were against banksters; insistence on not calling Nazis well, Nazis; "Schutzstaffel symbols are not Nazi symbols"; and a little bit of judeophobic scapegoating sprinkled on top.
Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 8 2022 18:06 utc | 32
Yesterday, I posted a comment aimed at proving the Outlaw US Empire misgoverns because it lives within a fantasy land of its own creation that ignores reality. Today's article by b serves to prove and reinforce that contention. What's happening isn't just a result of Biden's misgovernance as it's been ongoing for decades. The first manifestation of Fantasy Land was the creeping falsification of everything that began with WW2 censorship followed by the creation of an agency--CIA--whose activities had to be lied about as well as the actual thrust of US foreign--Imperial--policy. And the federal government and the two major political parties were able to get away with their lies. Indeed, the 1948 lie of a War Scare was needed to keep Wallace from ousting Truman as president with Wallace splitting the D-Party vote. That's how long the crap's been ongoing. The lies were then escalated massively with the falsification of economic figures that really took-off at the behest of CIA-VEEP GHW Bush in 1981--Something had to be done to show "Voodoo Economics" was viable. Then Greenspan was brought in to further accelerate Neoliberal economic policies and the regulatory agencies were turned over to Wall Street for it to run and thus further ruin the USA's real economy.
Real economic growth within the Outlaw US Empire ceased in the late 1990s with the bursting of the Dot.com bubble. Prior to that it was recognized that the Rentier Empire needed to increase the value of the collateral backing the dollar while a certain clique wanted to use that need as cover for executing the Zionist dream of expansion within Southwest Asia, but to do that a powerful justification needed to be supplied. Enter 911 and by 2003 the theft of Iraq's resource base. And the fantasy domestic economy seemed to boom, until 2007-8 when it went bust. There was a joke during Clinton's reign about the surge in the number of jobs, the quip being: Yeah, I have three of them. A long-term indicator of all that at the real economy level is displayed in this employment chart, the blue line being the real line that measures real unemployment prior to its falsification. From 2000 onward, that chart shows you why elections needed to be manipulated and the Duopoly solidified. The aberration, or perhaps better would be the hubristic overconfidence of Neoliberal Ds, was Trump's upset victory which in many respected threw off the Neoliberal timetable it planned to pursue. Trump's overt pointing out of the huge damage incurred by the real economy was excellent politics that attracted many voters, particularly many voters who usually don't vote, and that reality had to be quashed. Thus Russiagate, which provided proof of the great depth of corruption within the US Federal government.
With H. Clinton damaged beyond repair, the Ds were left with Biden as their only malleable figurehead. It could be argued the pandemic was unleashed to discredit Trump and to provide the needed cover for the required 2020 election manipulations since Trump's mishandling of the pandemic couldn't be counted on to overcome his still very strong real economy popularity, although his policies there were just as bad as Biden's have proven. Currently, the politicos misgoverning are all ancient and beyond retirement. But who is out there that can replace them that isn't already a Deep State tool? The answer to that question requires new commentary.
@28 - Hi Chevrus. I lived in SF for too long. I used to leave the car unlocked, glove compartment open. And that was back in the 80s.
Regarding LA, Jackie Lacey lost her position as DA due to concerted Soros funds to install his tool, George Gascon a few years back.
I live in what was a gang affiliated area in LA. Venice Shore Line Crips. They're blue, but I think November will turn it all red. (bloods)
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 8 2022 18:09 utc | 34
@ whirlX | Jun 8 2022 17:28 utc | 20
"One lost terribly in Iran and its hostage rescue situation there, where US Army 'forgot' to install anti-sand filters on their helicopters, and they crashed in the middle of the desert.
It was an absolute success" (they got Reagan elected)
There FIFY.
Posted by: MarkU | Jun 8 2022 18:13 utc | 35
Yesterday, I saw an interview with Jesse Ventura and how he was forced out of a 3 year contract with MSNBC for opposing the Iraq war, but they had to pay him. However, he could not open his mouth for 3 years anywhere else.
Remember, he is a decorated USA veteran.
Many in the green party wanted him with his country wide appeal, a man who represents middle folks, not the east or west coast. The greens stuck with Jewish Bernie instead and the likes.
Jesse needs a party that has seats in all the 50 states. They're must be one decent billionaire in USA to fund maybe the only hope.
He might go the way of JFK, but it really is worth a try.
“Behave irrationally. It will confuse your enemy.”
- Joe Tzu
Posted by: Cadence calls | Jun 8 2022 18:20 utc | 37
No Post-WW2 US President is innocent of crimes against humanity--they are all guilty! Yes, some were more heinous than others, but not one was a humanitarian; they were all Imperialists. IMO, the last decent US President was Taft. There was a time when I'd say FDR, but I cannot any longer. Henry Wallace IMO was the best President we never had. The humanitarian New Dealers were also the best administration staffers we've ever had. The Congressional insurgents during the Great Depression were also the best Congresscritters we've ever had. Their history and ideals are busily being swept under the rug as few study the Depression Era anymore.
"By doing almost everything, nothing is achieved" - Joe Tzu
Posted by: Jezabeel | Jun 8 2022 18:22 utc | 39
We should keep the Joe Tzu stuff going:
"If you have two friends, better to make them both your enemies. Then, in the future, you will be able to control your own people better by saying, "There are mean people over there. That is why we need your guns."
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 8 2022 18:24 utc | 40
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jun 8 2022 16:50 utc | 8
I feel so proud listening to AMLO as ashamed of the servant and colonized spirit of Spanish politicians. AMLO talks about integrating spaces and what a reserve in the Spanish speaking world, so rich in human, spiritual and physical resources, ready to occupy its just place in the new multi polar order. Instead of looking at that huge reserve, half a billion speakers and growing, instead of siding with them, being the bridge with Eurasia, Spain plays the bus boy in the restaurant, picking up the dirty dishes and deeds of the master, with a lost conscience of who we are and what our possibilities are in this new world.
To patch the failure of the shameful meeting Spain is invited and the Cuban president asks himself a very profound question "I did not know Spain was in America", what a slap in the face to these fake socialists, so Spain sends our FM Albares who freshly received during the Bilderberg reunion instructions, a new apron and a tray to go and clean that old dotard’s ass . Shame Spain, AMLO you are the leader of the Spanish world, yes a world just like Putin and Lavrov talk about the Russian world "Русский мир". To top it all off I read somewhere that Brandon is coming to Europe and visit Germany and Spain. When they come they do not leave with empty hands, we “enjoyed” a fascist for forty years in exchange for bases, for occupation, that's what they get when they come around so those vain fools can have a picture with the US president. México, mi esperanza, el Río Rojo y el Arkansas, hasta Dodge, algún día volverán a ser México, así como el Donbass a vuelto a ser Rusia.
Posted by: Paco | Jun 8 2022 18:26 utc | 41
When climbing stairs, better to fall repeatedly and make yourself look weak. That way, people will never be able to tell how weak you actually are."
~ Joe Tzu
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 8 2022 18:27 utc | 42
Trump picked Bolton, pompeo, Navarro all more haters and warmongers, Bush has his neocon gang. The list is endless, a revolving door of paid puppets and all the exact same history of war and enriching a very few.Posted by: Karl luck | Jun 8 2022 18:04 utc | 30
Trump did make some decent "out of the box" appointments early on, like Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Who better to understand the true business of geopolitics than Tillerson. Unfortunately someone let slip Tillerson's voiced opinion of Trump (a moron) and he was gone as soon as his Exxon stock sale, capital gains exemption was vested.
After that, the rest were old timers or grifters who understood they were engaging in career ending "service" of their country.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jun 8 2022 18:29 utc | 43
Today the European Union banned the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars after 2035. I don't know if there still will be an European Union by 2035.
Posted by: Passerby | Jun 8 2022 18:34 utc | 45
OT FYI--
With so much happening, this announcement during Zakharova's weekly briefing I felt important enough to pass along:
"On June 9-10, 2022, the XX International Likhachev Scientific Readings will be held in St. Petersburg. They are held in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin "On Perpetuating the Memory of D.S. Likhachev" No. 587 of May 23, 2001. The readings are held with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
"From year to year, this authoritative forum gathers in the city on the Neva River representatives of the scientific and creative intelligentsia, prominent public figures, politicians and experts from different countries for a constructive exchange of views on a wide range of issues. For two decades, the International Likhachev Readings have established themselves as an authoritative discussion platform. In the current situation, such a format is more than in demand, a non-politicized discussion of trends in modern international relations and the development of world processes in various fields are more relevant than ever.
"This year's Readings will be devoted to the important theme for the entire world community "Global conflict and the contours of the new world order"."
Also there's this important announcement:
"As we reported at the last briefing, the XXV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) will be held on June 15-18.
"Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to take part in the Forum's events. The relevant formats and bilateral talks between the Russian Foreign Minister are currently being worked out.
"On June 16, as part of the business program, a panel discussion on the topic "The dictatorship of neoliberalism through the eyes of Russian compatriots abroad" will be organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry together with the Rossiya Segodnya International News Agency.
"It is planned to discuss the devaluation of the values of the Western model of liberal democracy on specific examples, in order to talk not only about theory, but also based on practice. We will talk about gross violations of human rights, Russian citizens and our compatriots, but also in principle in the breakdown of all that the West takes credit for itself and what is the basis of the democratic development of the state. There will be interesting participants, experts. I invite everyone."
What exactly is meant by this statement?
The plan calls for cooperation on trade, supply chains, infrastructure and fighting corruption. But it does not include better access to the huge U.S. import market, a crucial carrot that normally underpins trade agreements.
Would access to the U.S. import market imply something like a new TPP?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 8 2022 18:44 utc | 49
Following in Ukraine’s footsteps: the West is aiming for the Nazification of Belarus (EurAsia Daily, Pyotr Makedontsev, June 4, 2022 — in Russian)
While the attention of a significant part of the world is fixated on the confrontation between Russia and the West, the Belarussian opposition, led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, continues its activities aimed at destroying the Union State of Russia and Belarus.The speech of the self-proclaimed “national leader of Belarus” at the summit of the European People’s Party, held in Rotterdam on May 31, 2022, was no exception. We must thank Tikhanovskaya for naming some of her allies:
“For many years, the EPP has been a driving force supporting Belarussian democracy in the European Parliament and beyond.
Let me also express my admiration and respect for the Belarusian members of the EPP family—the United Civic Party, the Belarussian Christian Democracy [Party] and the For Freedom movement.”
Calling the 2020 protests a “democratic uprising”, the impostor lashed out at a third country:
“I would like to repeat one obvious but sometimes forgotten fact: Belarus is Europe. Belarus is not Russia.
This became obvious when Lukashenko tried to drag our country into the war. Belarussians have made every effort to help the Ukraine. 1,500 people were detained for anti-war protests in February and March. On the territory of Belarus, partisans committed more than 80 acts of sabotage, more than 1.5 thousand volunteers joined the Belarussian battalions of the Ukrainian army.”
When reading this fragment, one may experience déjà vu. We’ve heard something like that before. The title of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma’s book Ukraine Is Not Russia, published in 2003, comes to mind. At that time, the process of Uniate–Banderite nation-building accelerated in the Ukraine, based on severing of all ties between the Ukraine and Russia. The effects of this can be observed since 2014. It turns out that Tikhanovskaya’s patrons in the West decided not to bother and are following Ukrainian template, trying to turn Belarus into anti-Russia 2.0. It is no coincidence that since 2019 some European countries have changed the words denoting Belarus in their languages so that they do not sound consonant with the words denoting Russia. Sweden, Denmark and Norway have already done this, and Finland and probably Lithuania are discussing it. That is, the Europeans are not even hiding their intention to destroy the Union State of Russia and Belarus. It must also be emphasized that Tikhanovskaya is lying in her speech, since in 2020, in addition to the zmagars,¹ the protests were initially attended by people who were not ideological Russophobes, but were simply dissatisfied with Lukashenko.
It is noticeable that the “pacifist” Tikhanovskaya advocates the participation of zmagars in hostilities on the side of the Ukraine, that is, she supports the ethnocide and genocide of the pro-Russian population of the DNR and the LNR and other regions of the former southeast Ukraine.
She further urged Europeans to open doors for Belarussian students, support “free” (read: zmagar) media, accept Belarussian business, help zmagar militants, consider introducing a unilateral visa-free regime for citizens of Belarus, and release political prisoners.
However, then the impostor again went off track:
“In 2020, we have won the right to determine our own future as a nation. We have shown that Belarus is not Russia. We have begun our journey to freedom and democracy. We are a European nation with our own language,² identity and history. This path leads Belarus to where it historically belongs—to Europe. It also raises the question of European future for our nation. We are looking for a form of partnership that will strengthen our position in the European family. I am sure that the path to peace in Europe lies through freedom in Belarus. The path to peace in Europe lies through the victory of the Ukraine. I know it’s the hard way, but it’s the only right one. Let’s walk this path together. Because only when we walk together are we Europe.”
What does Tikhanovskaya mean by “own history”? Was it not the leader of the Polish uprising of 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko, whom she adores, who dreamed of Polonizing and Catholicizing Belarusians and Malorussians (read “Russia’s Special Operation in the Ukraine will save Belarus from the zmagars”), who told his supporters:
“Some dozens of your ancestors could conquer the whole state of Muscovy, bring its tsars in fetters, appoint rulers to the Muscovites—and you, the descendants of the same Poles, are doubting the success of the struggle for the fatherland, freedom and your homes, for blood and friends and consider these predatory gangs invincible, who only get the better of you when you are cowardly!”
If the “national leader of Belarus” means this historical character, then Tikhanovskaya and the zmagars look like a laughing stock, since Kościuszko, speaking about the events of 1610 related to the events of the Time of Troubles in Russia, clearly said that Rzeczpospolita³ was a Polish state. Accordingly, the “winged” hussars,⁴ Lisowczyks⁵ and the atrocities of the Polish gentry in Russia have nothing to do with Belarussians who were subjected to social, national and religious oppression in Rzeczpospolita.
But maybe Tikhanovskaya is going to defend native Belarussian [history and culture], after all? Judging by her speech before the representatives of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna at the Hofburg Palace, where she was invited by the delegations of the United States and the European Union, the “national leader of Belarus” is going to defend the interests of anyone except Belarussians. For example, the impostor drew attention to the situation of the Polish community and the closure of Polish and Lithuanian schools in Belarus, as well as to the fact that journalist Andrzej Poczobut is in prison. The latter is especially noteworthy. Pochobut, a member of the opposition Union of Poles in Belarus, was arrested in 2021 for participating in organizing an event at the Polish School in Brest in honor of the “cursed soldiers”—members of the Polish anti-communist armed underground of the 1940s, who engaged in the killing of peaceful Poles and Orthodox Belarussians (read “Belarus: the enemy is in the house, it’s time to wake up!”). That is, Tikhanovskaya and the zmagars are actively supporting the anti-Belarussian policy of Poland and its agents of influence.
In other words, the West has decided to turn Belarus into anti-Russia 2.0. The only difference from the Ukraine is that the anti–Russian Federation and anti-Russian activities of the zmagars are combined with an aggressive propaganda of Polonophilia.
Footnotes:
¹ “Zmagar” is Belarussian for “fighter”, “adherent”, “zealot”; it is used as a derogatory term for Belarussian “Nationalists” (who really are Russophobes and proponents of Belarus being a slave of the West/Poland).² Most Belarussians, including most zmagars, speak Russian in daily life.
³ The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
⁴ Heavy cavalry of the PLC.
⁵ Irregular light cavalry of the PLC.
Posted by: S | Jun 8 2022 18:46 utc | 50
Paco @ 39, thank you for the comments. Appreciate your perspective! To be fair, solidarity across the Atlantic, among those sharing history and language, can be tricky. I’m reminded of that time when France tried to legally designate the language spoken in Quebec as Québécois and not French so that they could kick them out of La Francophonie. Not to mention Anglo struggles between Canada and the UK (some involving an area that also starts with A, of which, there is enough robust media coverage that my two cents are not needed.) Geography creates its own realities.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jun 8 2022 18:46 utc | 51
Posted by: whirlX | Jun 8 2022 17:28 utc | 20
Knowing what I do about the "October Surprise" and Ronnie Raygun's team sabotaging Carter at every turn w/r/t the Iran hostage crisis, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the helicopter debacle was also planned.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 8 2022 18:47 utc | 52
Zakharova's Briefing on Ukraine:
In Ukraine, a special military operation continues to demilitarize and denazify the country, liberate the Donbass and eliminate threats to Russia that came from Ukrainian territory. More and more cities and towns reconquered from Ukrainian neo-Nazis and foreign mercenaries are returning to peaceful life.Every day of the operation brings new evidence of war crimes of ukrainian armed formations. Over the past few days, more than ten civilians have been killed by shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass, several dozen people have been injured. In Donetsk, a kindergarten and a gymnasium were damaged, in Horlivka - a sports school, a kindergarten and a temple, blows were inflicted on Makiivka and Yasynuvata. During the retreat, the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine set fire to the wooden hermitage of All Saints, shelling of the area was carried out precisely so that the monks could not extinguish it.
Ukrainian nationalists continue to equip firing positions in residential buildings. This has become their "calling card". This is also done in educational institutions, music schools and kindergartens in cities and other settlements, using the population as a "human shield". All these war crimes are recorded by the investigative bodies of Russia and the republics of Donbass. They will be thoroughly investigated, and the perpetrators will be punished deservedly.
To replenish the thinning ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Kiev regime continues to recruit foreign mercenaries. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 6,500 "soldiers of fortune" from the United States, Great Britain, Israel, Poland, Canada and the Czech Republic have already been recruited abroad. There are even citizens of Brazil and South Korea. By early June, the number of foreign mercenaries had almost halved. Someone died, someone came to his senses and returned home, someone was captured.
Despite this, the recruitment of mercenaries and "volunteers" does not stop. The most actively recruit Afghan refugees (which is also symptomatic), unfinished in Syria ISIS. Apparently, they found a new testing ground for their misanthropic ideology. Now it's Ukraine. All the radical elements of Western countries are now being gathered there, if only to prevent peace from reigning on Ukrainian soil. For their selection and sending to Ukraine, private military companies from the United States and Great Britain are involved. There is no question of any sanctions, restrictions or discontent, statements about the inconsistency of their activities with international law. The OSCE, the Council of Europe and all kinds of parliamentary assemblies of European structures are silent. NATO is happily silent. Still going according to plan. From their point of view, the war in Ukraine must continue. When it comes to crimes against humanity, humanitarian law – this in no way extends to the actions of the West itself. It's not. Of course, such actions will receive their legitimate assessment from the point of view of international law. They are trying to solve a twofold task – to help the regime of Vladimir Zelensky and get rid of their own extremists and radicals. This logic is flawed. The militants will return to their homes, but only with solid experience in warfare. This will contribute to the growth of the level of radicalization in Western countries. They've been through something like this before. Apparently, no lessons have been learned. They want to enter the same "river" again. It's a strange idea, but apparently they like it that way.
Interestingly, westerners adhere to the same logic in the issue of arms supplies. They believe that this is a "one-way ticket". Oh no. They are getting rid of obsolete weapons, sending them either to Ukraine or to third countries, which Western states are forcing to give the Kiev regime their even older equipment.
They forget that military supplies to Ukraine lead to the development of a "black market" of weapons, including in Western Europe. The authorities of the supplier countries have so far remained silent on this issue, but independent experts and relevant structures, such as Interpol, are already beginning to sound the alarm. They understand where all this will lead. According to information appearing in the media, international criminal groups have already developed schemes for the export of weapons, including heavy weapons, from Ukraine. Some of the weapons are already in Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo. Let me remind you that now the West and the United States and NATO as a whole show unprecedented concern for the future of the Balkans. Let's imagine what kind of "future" the Balkans will have under the "wing" of NATO, so from such "renewed" "black market" weapons. Those who supply Kiev with weapons today will be responsible for the safety of their own citizens because of the fall of these weapons into the hands of criminals and terrorists. Responsible not even from the point of view of bringing to justice, but what in the historical context will be written in the "merits" of NATO-centric countries. They're not going anywhere from that. Evidence of this will "surface" here and there in the course of investigations of ordered murders, robberies and raids.
Meanwhile, the Kiev authorities and their Western patrons continue to invent and replicate false information about a special military operation about the allegedly impending strikes by the Russian armed forces on chemical facilities in Ukraine. They had already told everyone about this in advance (three months ago). But the situation suggests otherwise. The Russian military constantly exposes new provocations and fakes.
Let's take a look at what's really being prepared. Another provocation of Ukrainian nationalists is planned – the mining of containers with toxic chemicals at the Azot plant in Severodonetsk on the territory of the LPR and the retention of more than a thousand plant workers and local residents in its underground facilities. According to Kiev's plan, the explosion of tanks with more than a hundred tons of saltpeter and nitric acid should delay the advance of the armed forces of Russia and the republics of Donbass. And russia is supposed to be blamed for the man-made disaster with human casualties. As always. It is sad that the Kiev regime fabricates such fakes at the cost of the lives of its own civilians. We saw what they did in Bucha and Kramatorsk. We are waiting for specific data from the "report" of the "collective West", which directly and indirectly indulged in all this and became an accomplice to the crimes of the Kiev regime.
We received with great concern the statement of the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Dmitry Malyuska about the creation of a special camp in western Ukraine for Russian prisoners of war, the exchange of which for Ukrainian prisoners is considered "unlikely".
I don't really understand how the opposite theses "fit" in the same heads. On the one hand, they claim that there are no neo-Nazis there and they are not subject to any human-phenomenon logic. On the other hand, they talk about creating special camps for people who are not going to be replaced by anyone. Where in history has this been seen? We know where. That's exactly what we've been talking about for years. The Kiev regime and those who stand behind it draw their ideas and inspirations from the world history of the first third of the twentieth century. Europe, Nazism, fascism. It's some kind of additional new word in understanding how to divide and segregate people.
We saw a lot on the territory of Ukraine. Now, it turns out, such a division into "good" and "bad", "worthy" and "unworthy" will be carried out among military personnel. What's it? Where are all the humanitarians and all those who monitor the compliance with humanitarian law of all these statements? Or can they still not move away from Buchi?
Despite the kiev authorities' claims that the conditions of their detention are in conformity with international standards, there is no evidence of this. The International Committee of the Red Cross has not yet responded to our request for assistance in organizing visits to Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine. At the same time, representatives of the ICRC and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine were allowed to visit the Ukrainian prisoners of war held in the pre-trial detention center in Yelenivka on the territory of the DPR. I would like to count on reciprocity and constructive cooperation with the ICRC.
War crimes and atrocities of Ukrainian national radicals, unrestrained militarization of the Kiev regime and other facts that have to be faced during a special military operation increasingly confirm the relevance of the goals and objectives set for the protection of the DPR and LPR, demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.
Everything that was denied by the Kiev regime and the international community two months ago is now becoming a reality that everyone sees: division of people, segregation, bullying, mockery, torture. All this is under nationalist banners and is done by the hands of people who are not only wearing blood, but also tattoos, a swastika.
The tasks that have been defined by the Russian leadership, as has been repeatedly stated, will be fulfilled. This will ultimately contribute to the establishment of long-term and just peace and stability in the region and in the pan-European space.
I think that the countries of Europe, which, due to a number of factors, have taken the wrong side of history, begin a weak (not everywhere and not all) insight into what they contributed to on their continent.
@ Woogs | Jun 8 2022 17:13 utc | 15
thanks woogs.. you're right! i read that too quickly... another one of my many faults!
Posted by: james | Jun 8 2022 18:56 utc | 54
The quad-squad is just a periodic chat session for Washington plus two puppets and weakling India. They haven't accomplished anything; their only project was for India-produced vaccines which failed.
from the web
"Although the Quad arrangement was intended to counter advances made by China, the four Quad leaders issued a joint statement on May 24 that did not mention China’s name*. Russia’s name was also excluded from the statement issued by the Quad countries of Japan, the United States, Australia and India."
*China's name has never been mentioned in any Quad report.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 8 2022 18:58 utc | 55
I know this is a bit off topic but remember those HIMARS that the US has sent to Ukraine? The US wasn't going to send the long range ammo so they couldn't be used for terror bombing of Russian cities. Some of us have been cynical enough to suggest that the long range ammo would get there anyhow (in a plausibly deniable way of course) now look....
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/06/07/poland-himars-us/
Posted by: MarkU | Jun 8 2022 19:01 utc | 56
@ karlof1 | Jun 8 2022 18:51 utc | 51
Thanks for the 'paste'. Scary to read, as she is usually quite brilliant too, of course to a certain point funny. But this?
The tasks that have been defined by the Russian leadership, as has been repeatedly stated, will be fulfilled. This will ultimately contribute to the establishment of long-term and just peace and stability in the region and in the pan-European space.
Does this mean that they will not really stop at Donbas?
I think that the countries of Europe, which, due to a number of factors, have taken the wrong side of history, begin a weak (not everywhere and not all) insight into what they contributed to on their continent.
I am perplexed to know which countries is she aiming at?
Please, would someone explain this to me.
Posted by: whirlX | Jun 8 2022 19:04 utc | 57
Posted by: S | Jun 8 2022 18:46 utc | 48
Thanks a lot for this share. Bookmarked that website.
I have no idea if Tikhanovskaya means anything, but it'd be better if she became Tishinavskaya.
Belarusian Guiado. But with tits for "diversity" points and titillation of a greater number of ultraliberals.
This is the result of trying to cooperate with the western establishment: it doesn't understand cooperation, only domination, cooperation will be seen as weakness and cue an attack.
It's hard not to feel like a lot of trouble would be saved by calibrating a few institutional building and then offering cooperation.
Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 8 2022 19:06 utc | 58
@ Karl luck | Jun 8 2022 18:16 utc | 35
Jesse needs a party that has seats in all the 50 states. . .He might go the way of JFK
The US political scene has been stuck with two similar political parties and that will never change. It smacks of potential democracy, after all. Ralph Nader wrote a book about it: Crashing The Party. Nader called the two parties "tweedledum and tweedledee."
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 8 2022 19:09 utc | 59
Paco @ 39:
"Mexico, mi esperanza, el Rio Rojo and Arkansas, hasta Dodge, algun dia volveran a ser Mexico..."
In your dreams, taco bender.
Posted by: Donnie | Jun 8 2022 19:10 utc | 60
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 8 2022 19:09 utc | 57
"The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them."
- Julius Nyerere
Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 8 2022 19:12 utc | 61
I thought Biden would have a handful as President with larger impeding issues from climate to the house-of-cards economy as the populace continues to slip behind as it has been for decades. But he has managed to oversee or foster a host of new and more immediate problems on top.
Posted by: GS | Jun 8 2022 19:13 utc | 62
"Biden's Foreign Policy Is One Big Mess" and one reason is Blinken the liar.
Blinken on disinformation
"The first challenge – this will not be news to anyone – is disinformation. Many speakers today have highlighted how governments and non-state actors are seizing on vulnerabilities in our media ecosystem to create, to disseminate, to amplify false or misleading information. We’ve seen how these falsehoods can polarize communities, poison the public square, undermine people’s trust in health systems, government institutions, in democracy itself." . .here
Blinken-the-liar for sure knows "disinformation" -- he's seen how these falsehoods can polarize communities 'cuz that's what he does.
reminds me. . .
"We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we kmow they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 8 2022 19:14 utc | 63
@ Paco | Jun 8 2022 18:26 utc | 39
its happening differently, but it is happening.. cheers..
@ c1ue - OT - european debt crisis explained
this is relevant to our previous conversations..
Posted by: james | Jun 8 2022 19:22 utc | 64
Karlofi1 I want to thank you for posting that Crooke essay a couple of days ago. It took me until today to cruise over to the Saker and read it, but it was very good.
A thought that really struck me as true and soon-to-be extremely relevant to our situation.
"The Anglo-American approach assumes that the ultimate measure of a society is its level of consumption. In the long run, List argued, a society’s well-being and its overall wealth are determined not by what the society can buy, but by what it can make (i.e. value coming from the real, self-sufficient economy). The German school argued that emphasizing consumption would eventually be self-defeating."
Posted by: wagelaborer | Jun 8 2022 19:22 utc | 65
@chevrus @ex talionis
As for people chatting about San Francisco. I think you are pretty far afield. I live here now and have off and on since 1989. Boudin was removed by the establishment. The mayor, who backed the recall, is rejoicing being able to hand pick his replacement. Car thefts were an issue back in the 80s and 90s. Not sure who wasn’t locking their car. But it was stragglers and vagrants breaking in for blankets. Now - starting about 7-8 years ago - it became organized crime. It hardly started two years ago with Boudin. It’s been off the charts for nearly a decade. Not liking Boudin’s approach to justice is one thing but blaming him for that crime wave...please...the recall effort started the day he was elected.
Posted by: GS | Jun 8 2022 19:22 utc | 66
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 8 2022 18:08 utc | 32
"But who is out there that can replace them that isn't already a Deep State tool? The answer to that question requires new commentary."
The answer to that isn't a 'who' but a 'what' (as in new system, new movement, new republic etc.)
And there ain't no new what out there, y'all, no way no how no anyways not now!!
if you dont know where you are - nobody should know that
- Joe Tzu
Posted by: Macpott | Jun 8 2022 19:28 utc | 68
There is more to Zakharova's briefing tha's has not yet been transcribed.
https://tass.com/politics/1462397
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called not to take US experts’ statements regarding potential partition of Ukraine into two states via "Korean scenario" seriously."Is this a some kind of humor column? What kind of analysis is this? Maybe, it’s a some kind of sketch, reflection after watching White House briefings? Honestly, I believe that there is no point in taking such things serious," she said during a briefing Wednesday, answering a question about the probability of such scenario.
According to the diplomat, such speculations are very characteristic for the American school of thought, which promotes the "divide and conquer" principle. Zakharova pointed out that, in the modern history, this concept has always been accompanying Washington’s foreign policy course.
The spokeswoman also pointed out that Washington prefers "forceful solutions exclusively" in matters that require research and analysis.
"Therefore, I’m not surprised that American analysts cannot come up with anything other than such schemes," she concluded.
How long will it take the Biden admin to crash the US economy? Now even official sources are talking hyperinflation. Where will the European economies be twelve months from now?
Chinese ambassador to Moscow has said US hegemony must be ended. US now buying near double the oil from Russia compared to what it was buying prior to banning Russian oil... I suspect it would take very little to send US economy into a very fast death spiral.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 8 2022 19:31 utc | 69
Posted by: Paco | Jun 8 2022 18:26 utc | 39
Posted by: Donnie | Jun 8 2022 19:10 utc | 58
Huy huy gáhta kudiao Paco, ke zofenden loh gringo...
Ke zelolvía a uno ke repartí casho dotroh paice na má ke lo puen hacé ello... 😂😂😂
Mah güeno tavía nun artículo ke dise, ntrotrah coha, "loh gringo ce crén ke la pier de toro tá lotro lao der sharco..."
Hala, y ara se lo metei ar trauhtó, zo guiri! 👍🏽
A be hi rebemtara er trauhtó, bohotro y to güehtro muerto! 🎉
cortemanga
Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 8 2022 19:33 utc | 70
@ Paco 39
Ah Paco, ya está aquí. Dame huevos rancheros con tortillas de maize y cerveza tecate . .esta cielo lindo.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 8 2022 19:33 utc | 71
Blinken is Sam Pisar's stepson. He was raised with his half sister, Leah Pisar. Leah was a babysitter for Bill Clinton.
Blinken's wife (uses her maiden name) is Biden's babysitter.
Sam Pisar was Robert Maxwell's attorney and good friend. Robert peddled "PROMIS" software with Sen John Tower. Tower was killed in a plane crash. Maxwell fell off his yacht "Lady Ghislaine" and drowned.
Ghislaine Maxwell is in jail. Her narrowly focused charges vis a vis child trafficking has not yet resulted in a sentence. None of the Johns were exposed.
Ghislaine Maxwell's sister, Christine sold Chiliad software to the US Gov. The FBI gave Chiliad software rave reviews for quick and easy data compiliation.
Ghislaine's husband, Scott Borgerson, who fell off the map, is also a software guy. He "developed" tracking software for International shipping.
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Jun 8 2022 19:33 utc | 72
"He could tell Zelensky to end the senseless fighting and to submit to Russia's demands. Sanctions against Russia could then be lifted and a further oil price increase prevented."
Sure, Biden could tell Zelensky, but will he listen after all this publicity he got for last few months? He is a showman, after all. Biden is a a man with one leg in the grave.
Sure, sanctions against Russia could then be lifted, but would Russia forgive the US and the collective west? I don't think so.
Russia can break some of those sanctions even now, for example, the blocked airspace over few countries with fighter planes. Maybe, someone might whisper in the ears of few owners of tankers, and cargo ships of the danger of sailing in high seas, you know...even, if the ships are insured...
Posted by: ostro | Jun 8 2022 19:35 utc | 73
"Unclear is why we pressed for it to happen."
Everything in America, everything, is done for show. Its done for theater. It was done for the CNN coverage. It was done for the pundits who could call President Brain-Dead to be 'Presidential'.
Its done because some political types in the White House were running around yelling into cell phones shouting that 'We need a bleeping win'. From that, they decided that this could be a 'win'. But, then, as usual with people who have no competence at 'doing things' but are only skilled at creating 'the show' because this is what they've done their entire political career, they made it FUBAR. The old, original GI version of FUBAR, which begins with a four-letter word that it is not polite to type where children might read it.
It was done only for show. There never was a plan. Plans make lousy shows, if that wasn't true, the Elizabeth Warren would be President. She was the one who got laughed out of the race for presenting plans.
Its either that, or they just had it because Jill wanted to go down the hill, Beverly Hills that is, for a shopping spree.
Posted by: Eugene Debs | Jun 8 2022 19:36 utc | 74
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 8 2022 18:51 utc | 51
The translation program you're using is compromised, following the State Dept. instructions just like all western journos, toponyms are all translated as Ukrainian while the originals are in Russian. Weird to start reading and "listening" to Zakharova saying Gorlivka when it is Gorlovka, Yasinovataya, Makeevka. They're separating linguistically speaking, just like the Hamburger Queen that S pointed to, but that poor soul is as lost as Guaidó, that is why she's called Guaydikha, the Cutlet Queen.
Posted by: Paco | Jun 8 2022 19:36 utc | 75
Knowing what I do about the "October Surprise" and Ronnie Raygun's team sabotaging Carter at every turn w/r/t the Iran hostage crisis, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the helicopter debacle was also planned.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 8 2022 18:47 utc | 50
excellent point. I remember how the NYT went after Carter the way they later did Trump, I think that's when the intel "community" really took over the US.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jun 8 2022 19:36 utc | 76
RFK Jr and Colonel Douglas Macgregor running a Restore the Republic Party might do the trick. But if they start to win, their family members will be threatened and they would have to bow out like Perot. So...
Let's face it: the US is a rogue criminal state. The best we can hope for is societal collapse and mass poverty, starvation, riots and mayhem followed by a popular uprising that, miraculously, creates a new and excellent political order out of the ashes.
1% probability.
Most likely there will be a collapse followed by a new plutocracy no longer restrained by the original Constitution which will have been scrapped. Nation states go the way of the Dodo. AMLO gets to be the first President of the Americas (complimenting the only other bloc in the world, Eurasia) and ushers in Spanish as the new majority language.
And so it goes....
Posted by: Karl luck | Jun 8 2022 18:16 utc | 35
He might go the way of JFK, but it really is worth a try.
Sorry, #75 was a reply to the above #35.
Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 8 2022 19:38 utc | 78
Posted by: Donnie | Jun 8 2022 19:10 utc | 58
El taco no lo doblo, lo meto.
And watch for Alaska, Palin can see Russia from her window she said, maybe she'll see Her right on the street.
Posted by: Paco | Jun 8 2022 19:38 utc | 79
@Arganthonios #56:
Bookmarked that website.
EurAsia Daily is indeed very good.
TASS is too formal; RIA Novosti publishes multiple news stories about same topic—for example, they would publish each tidbit from Lavrov’s interview as a separate story—so trying to read their news is like drinking from a fire hose.
EurAsia Daily is better curated (since it’s not a news agency), focuses on geopolitical news, and most of their stories are short and on point. Simply reading their news headlines for the day is sometimes enough to stay on top of the issues. The analysis pieces in the middle column are sometimes pretty good, too.
Posted by: S | Jun 8 2022 19:43 utc | 80
"Leah was a babysitter for Bill Clinton."
Does Leah have a child of about the 'right' age? If yes, then that's a potential claimant to the throne some day. In that case, I hope the child has good security, as in the English tradition, which America now adopts across the board, children who are future claimants to the throne tend to die in towers.
Hmmm, if the child is a daughter, and if she is named after her mother, then someday America might be ruled by Princess Leah.
Posted by: Eugene Debs | Jun 8 2022 19:43 utc | 81
I remember Megyn Kelly, Modi, and Putin at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2017. I have no idea how Megyn Kelly was picked to ask questions but it was truly bizarre. Megyn Kelly is going after Putin thinking she is tough or going to embarrass him or something. The entire audience is snickering at her. Putin and Modi are openly mocking her. She is completely oblivious to all of this. Doesn't even know what is happening. The news reports in the USA the next day are also oblivious talking about how tough she is (lol). It is a past example of how out of touch the West is with reality. They just have no clue about the world. India has 50 to 60 years of good relations with Russia. Putin and Modi have always had a good relationship. I do believe India played along a bit with the US to get what they could out of the relationship but there is zero chance India is going to dump Russia for the USA. They know better than that. They still feel the scars from the British Raj. They will pretend and pull the wool over the eyes of the moaobservers of the world in order to get favors or technology but they will never submit to any form of colonialism again.
Posted by: goldhoarder | Jun 8 2022 19:47 utc | 82
I am perplexed to know which countries is she aiming at?
Please, would someone explain this to me.
Posted by: whirlX | Jun 8 2022 19:04 utc | 55
What is Europe without US hegemony and its sheepdog organisation Nato. The only way for Russia to gain long term security is destruction of US hegemony. I think that is the way Russia is headed. With that done, Ukraine is nothing more than a shitty little shithole.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 8 2022 19:47 utc | 83
Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 8 2022 19:33 utc | 68
ke zofenden loh gringo...
Si le pica que se rasque..
Posted by: Paco | Jun 8 2022 19:50 utc | 84
EurAsia Daily
Can you provide a link. A quick search returned a plethora of links, not sure which one you're recommending.
Posted by: David F | Jun 8 2022 19:50 utc | 85
...Honestly, I believe that there is no point in taking such things serious," she (Zakharova) said during a briefing Wednesday.
This TASS report was not translated by a Russian, because Russians know the difference between adjectives and adverbs. The only people who seem not to know the difference are mostly Americans.
Posted by: Pagan | Jun 8 2022 19:52 utc | 87
@Posted by: pretzelattack | Jun 8 2022 19:36 utc | 74
"I remember how the NYT went after Carter the way they later did Trump, I think that's when the intel "community" really took over the US. "
Well, actually that was just the 'intelligence community' repelling a final assault upon their stronghold of power. The NYT, and the CIA of course, hated Carter for putting Adm. Stansfield Turner in charge of the CIA in an attempt by democracy to correct the abuses that had already been revealed by the Church Committee in the Senate and soon to come in the House Assasination Committee. There was a brief period of what in the Soviet Union were known as 'glasnost' and 'peristroika' in America in the 1970's, then Raygun got power, with the help of the CIA and the Ayatollah, and with Mourning in America, darkness fell for good.
If you want the date the 'deep state' at least publicly took power, I suggest Nov 23, 1963, with the location being Daley Plaza in Dallas Texas. I'd imagine they held power behind the scenes back into World War II. But their public assumption of power occurred in Daley Plaza.
I happened to go look for the last US President with large public approval. The answer was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who averaged an 'approval rating' of 70% in polls during his shortened term. Can anyone imagine a President with 70% approval these days? In a democracy, should it be possible to even have Presidents with low approval?
Posted by: Eugene Debs | Jun 8 2022 19:54 utc | 89
I forgot what I was going to tell you five minutes from now.
Joe Tzu
Posted by: albagen | Jun 8 2022 19:55 utc | 90
When we say NATO, we think, what a massive organisation with so many countries. But, actually only a few countries matter in it, not Norway, from where Stoltenberg is from, not Poland, which shouts a lot, but has very weak leaders, but only the US and, maybe the UK, Germany and France. All the other countries are small, quite weak economically and militarily.
The UK is not a united country with a failing prime minister and a failing economy – lot of shouting as a military power — without James Bond(s) — quite happy to have coolies fight their war(s). France won’t fight a war with its feminine Macron. German government would fall at the first sound of war, where it’d have to fight as NATO. What’s left is the US, but it has a president with one leg in the grave, with fast dying brain cells. So, Kamal might be the next president. Well, can anyone imagine Kamala as the Potus?!
The chances are quite high for Kamala to become the Potus. Can you imagine Kamala against Putin, or Medvedev?
Now, where will the Ukraine be in a few months, with slow but sure grinding of the Russian forces against US/NATO proxy war?
Posted by: ostro | Jun 8 2022 19:57 utc | 91
Posted by: Paco | Jun 8 2022 19:50 utc | 82
O ke ceshe kremita 🤷♂️
Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 8 2022 19:58 utc | 92
I don't shake hands with the air, the air shakes my hands.
Joe Tzu
Posted by: albagen | Jun 8 2022 19:59 utc | 93
goldhoarder | Jun 8 2022 19:47 utc | 80
India were fully aboard a US takedown of China. That seems to have changed and India China relations look to be improving.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 8 2022 20:01 utc | 94
Yes, a cabinet scapegoating ritual sacrifice and sincere, international, public mea culpa could possibly buy the Biden administration a pause on its global, multi-faceted implosion. But that requires awareness and humility, on multiple people's parts from him on down... and up. So in other words this implosion risks being more apocalyptic by the month. :)~ Bring popcorn.
Posted by: JR whenDallasdreamt | Jun 8 2022 20:01 utc | 95
Paco @73--
Thanks for the FYI. I wonder when an update altered Edge's translator. I'll soon be installing the Yandex browser, and it will become my translation tool.
whirlX @55--
Yes, Donbass is only the opening round as I've stated numerous times. Zakharova's aiming at the entire EU, with the exception of Hungary; and Serbia, since it's not EU.
wagelaborer @63--
Thanks for your reply. Yes, List's citation was omitted, unfortunately. Its importance is self-evident as you note.
S--Thanks for your excellent contributions yet again. Yet more evidence suggesting Europe must be completely denazified and liberated from Neoliberalism.
"When we say NATO"
We say 'NATO' because it sounds a lot more impressive than "America and a pack of poodles."
Posted by: Eugene Debs | Jun 8 2022 20:10 utc | 98
Immediately following Zakharova's report on Ukraine:
U.S. Department of State Report on the State of Religious Freedom in the World
Surprisingly, year after year, with some completely strange tenacity, the United States allows itself to teach everyone else life in all directions. Not differing (to put it mildly) in ideality and standards in many (if not most) spheres of public, civil life, the economy, finance, security, for some reason In Washington they consider themselves responsible for shaping the approaches of countries and peoples to a number of issues. Then, based on the "set" standards, they look at who corresponded to them, and who "not so much". Naturally, they do not bring themselves into such a dimension all the time.The regular report of the State Department is neither original nor impartial and does not bring anything new in terms of assessments of the situation with respect to human rights in the sphere of religion in our country. Many countries have already commented on their "parts". They more or less coincide. Everyone is surprised and amazed at how unceremoniously and boorishly Washington is handing out labels to everyone. The lack of fresh thoughts is more than compensated by an opportunistic approach, criticism, and absolutely groundless, to which Russia and China, pursuing a policy independent of Washington, are subjected. Praise is addressed to US satellites, despite the developing situation there. In principle, we are witnessing the continuation by the Americans of the policy of deliberately distorting the policy of our state in the religious sphere in order to "push" their own foreign policy interests and interfere in internal affairs with their purely conjectural, self-serving goals.
The United States is increasingly aggressively constructing such reports, strengthening its rhetoric, emphasizing that the state of affairs in the field of religious freedom in our country during the reporting period (they believe that we have periods when we should "report") allegedly "worsened". Let me remind you that neither we are accountable to them, nor can they conduct "reviews" of us or what is happening in our country, because no one has given them such functions. Such functions are assigned to a number of international organizations. But as a rule, the United States does not turn there, because the first thing they will hear is: "Look in the mirror. What's going on with you? When are you going to solve your own problems in Washington?" It would be possible to consider the materials submitted by them and discuss, but the facts cited in the State Department report are not only the same, but in many respects they are well-worn, based on research, organizations recognized in our country as foreign agents, including Memorial and the like. I wonder: do they consider Memorial as a religious organization or as involved in religious activities in our country? Maybe now it's a sect? In the conditions of a tough confrontation with the United States in connection with the military special operation in Ukraine, it is not necessary to expect objectivity from Washington (no one is waiting for it). But there are some norms of decency. You can't lie like that. But it turns out that it is possible.
A scrupulous study of Russian legislation in the field of protecting the rights of believers is given, but only in order to again reproach Russia for using "draconian legislation" to oppress "small" denominations. Let's leave this hyperbolization on the conscience of the authors, but, for example, the pseudo-religious or non-religious organizations mentioned by them in the report – Hizb Ut-Tahrir (should they be given "religious freedom" on the territory of our country?), Jamaat Tablik, and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People. What does religion have to do with it? The most interesting thing is that these same organizations are mentioned in other non-religious contexts. They write that these organizations (we are talking about a report on religious freedoms) are persecuted in Russia.
In fact, they are radical structures whose activities are prohibited by law and pose a threat to the Russian state and its citizens. Doesn't extremist activity deserve prosecution and punishment? This is the first time I've heard of this. In the United States itself, any such activity is punished in the most severe way. They are persecuted precisely for extremist, and as the Americans are trying to prove to us, non-religious activities and beliefs. Let's also mention the Falun Gong religious sect, against which there are serious claims not only from us, but also from the Chinese authorities for extremist activities.
Another example is Ukraine. In relation to its main "ward" from Washington, only praise was heard. Everything is fine there with religious freedoms, the rights of believers, nothing is violated. The main "prize" goes to Ukraine. Small comments on the text, but overall a model country. For some reason, not a single word is said about the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, about the seizure of churches, about the persecution of priests, up to physical reprisals against them. And what they hear in their address from both the authorities and the national battalions, I think you all know. These materials and videos are enough on the Internet. Nothing is said about it. Apparently, Russia is also responsible for all this, and not the Ukrainian authorities and the "people from Washington" standing behind them, who are the main culprits of the church schism in Ukraine. But the question is not only in the schism, but also in the physical persecution of people who correlate themselves with this structure, the direction of the spiritual and religious plan.
When you read studies by independent NGOs on religious issues about Russia, there are practically no examples of clashes on religious grounds in our country, the presence of confessional contradictions in our country. Yes, it really is. This is our achievement. Although the Americans do not want to notice this and even more so to "record" it as a credit to us, but we will always defend and defend it.
We would like to draw your attention to one more point. The United States has assumed the right to lecture other states on how to conduct business in the religious sphere. At the same time, they do not notice the problems of which they accuse others. For example, the public recently learned that leaders of the United States Southern Baptist Convention published a special report on sexual violence in their own faith in as many as 205 pages. These crimes have been committed for more than 20 years. The factor of such a plan of recognition, repentance by the religious organization itself deserves respect. Where was the State Department that performs these annual "rituals" regarding the review of religious freedoms and what is happening there? Where was the American Themis? Where is the "flow" of analytics and specific solutions? Why has nothing been done in twenty years?
Russia strongly opposes Washington's purposeful use of religious issues to discredit Russian domestic and foreign policy, to exert pressure on "undesirable" states.
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 8 2022 17:44 utc | 24:
The midterm elections are going to be a bloodbath for any contest that cannot be easily rigged.
So, a bloodbath to flip the coin and turn up the other side? Dems and Reps are just two sides of the same coin. How are any barflies here to rejoice in any bbloodbath you're talking aout?
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jun 8 2022 20:14 utc | 100
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thanks b... typo - "Russia it is buying more oil from Russia " you mean - india..
Posted by: james | Jun 8 2022 16:30 utc | 1