Neocon Star Julie Smith is ‘Worthy’ Successor of Warmongering Victoria Nuland
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 06.06.2024
US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith was nominated on June 5 to fill Victoria Nuland’s shoes and become under secretary of state for political affairs. What’s known about Smith?
- From 2009 to 2012, Julie Smith served as the director of European and NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense and then as the deputy national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2012 to 2013.
- In 2016, The Intercept called Smith a “rising star in the Democratic foreign policy establishment” akin to neocon and warmonger Robert Kagan, Victoria Nuland’s husband.
In January 2016, Smith signed Hillary Clinton’s anti-Bernie Sanders letter, bashing his desire to normalize ties with Iran. The letter was part of Clinton’s broad smear campaign against Sanders, then her Democratic presidential rival. - Testifying before the Senate in February 2017, Smith accused Russia of continuously undermining US interests at home and abroad and peddled the “Trump-Russia collusion” hoax.
- Between 2014 and 2018, Smith worked in the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) funded by major US defense contractors.
- She also worked at consultancy firm WestExec Advisors, founded by Antony Blinken and Michele A. Flournoy in 2017, that is suspected of secret lobbying on behalf of US military corporations. Over a dozen WestExec alums joined the Biden administration, triggering concerns “about the potential for groupthink, conflicts of interest, (…) legalized corruption” and “monopolization of foreign policymaking” by corporate interests, per The Intercept. According to the New York Times, some of WestExec’s clients – which the firm keeps on the hush-hush – got hefty contracts from the Pentagon.
- In May 2020, Smith accused China of undermining US leadership by providing aid to Europe to fight the COVID-19 pandemic; in July 2020 she called to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- In March 2022, Smith groundlessly accused Russia of using chemical and biological weapons amid Russia’s revelations with regard to a network of Pentagon-funded secret bio-weapons labs in Ukraine.
- In December 2022, she announced an effort to step up arms production by NATO member states amid the Ukraine conflict and strongly advocated enhancing NATO military presence in Europe “to ensure that Russia can never attack NATO” in December 2023.
- “We do consider the Russian threat to the NATO alliance to be the preeminent threat that we’re grappling with,” Smith told an online briefing on April 4, 2020.
- At the same press briefing she stressed that NATO’s engagements will not be limited to one region, expressing willingness to challenge Russia and China simultaneously and adding that “a lot of the security challenges we face today don’t have any geographic boundaries.”
- In October 2023, Smith asserted to the press that the US and NATO will continue to support Ukraine and Israel amid the latter’s Gaza war.
Being a darling of the military-industrial complex, Smith is likely to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor, Victoria Nuland, and continue stoking tensions in Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
Russia’s Shoigu Accuses NATO of Training for Invasion of CSTO Countries
Sputnik – 06.06.2024
ALMATY – Sergei Shoigu, a former Russian defense minister who now chairs the national security council, accused NATO on Thursday of increasing the number of military drills along the western and northern flank of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in what he said was a preparation for invasion.
“The alliance has been building up military presence and deploying new weapons along the northern and western flanks of the collective security zone. The number of airspace provocations is on the rise, and numerous military exercises are being conducted to train, among other things, for an invasion of CSTO countries’ territories,” Shoigu told fellow secretaries of CSTO member states’ security councils.
He called “NATO’s continuous expansion” a direct threat for CSTO allies. The Russian official said the West was using the conflict in Ukraine as a weapon against Russia in the hope of inflicting as much damage as possible.
“The West is pursuing the obvious goal of using Ukraine as a weapon against Russia in order to inflict as much damage as possible on our country. It has become absolutely clear that the attempt to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia has failed,” Shoigu said.
Turning to the CSTO’s eastern flank, Shoigu said Russia was concerned about new militant training camps cropping up across Afghanistan and jihadists flocking to the Central Asian country from Syria and Iraq. He said the risk of terrorist spillovers was increasing.
Biden could cause nuclear war – Trump
RT | June 6, 2024
US President Joe Biden may end up destroying the world in a nuclear conflict, his election rival Donald Trump has claimed.
Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday, the former president warned that “we have a chance of going into World War III because of our leader.”
The remark came after Hannity suggested that Biden was in a state of mental decline, showing several clips of the president appearing distracted or fumbling his words during public appearances. Hannity and Trump were discussing a report published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, which said the incumbent was showing “signs of slipping” behind closed doors.
Trump suggested that, unlike the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea, Biden is “not at the top of his game” and “was never the brightest bulb” among American politicians – even when he was younger. It is currently the “most dangerous time in the history of our country,” he warned, citing the destructive potential of nuclear weapons.
In the event of a nuclear exchange, “nothing will matter because practically nothing will be here anymore,” he warned. “This is obliteration. Maybe world obliteration. And we have a man that is incapable of even discussing it.”
Trump pointed to the Ukraine conflict as a major source of danger. Russian President Vladimir Putin “is talking about nuclear weapons,” he said.
The Biden administration has recently granted Kiev permission to strike targets outside of what Washington recognizes as Ukrainian territory with US-donated weapons.
When asked on Wednesday how he would react to possible attacks deep inside Russia using Western arms, Putin said Moscow may “supply our weapons of the same class to parts of the world, where strikes would be delivered against sensitive assets of the nations that act like that against Russia.”
The US and its allies are getting “directly involved in the war against us,” he added, and this path of escalation “leads to very serious problems.”
Asked directly whether Moscow would consider using nuclear weapons, Putin said he’d rather stay clear “not only from the use, but even from the threat of use” of such arms. However, he warned people in the West not to delude themselves that such a scenario was impossible.
The West is already at war with Russia but its leaders can’t wake up from a dream
By Martin Jay | Strategic Culture Foundation | June 5, 2024
Is NATO planning something big in Ukraine? Are we on the cusp now of WWIII really breaking out since the U.S. has now backed the idea that Ukraine can fire missiles beyond its borders into Russia?
The news that President Joe Biden has given the go-ahead for long-range missiles to be fired into Russia should be worrying for a number of reasons. The dangerous game of escalation that the West is playing will have a breaking point in the not too distant future. The question is whether the West really understands how Putin thinks as it is presently betting on no retaliation from Russia, which is not only erroneous but very, very dangerous. Recent missile strikes into Russian territory destroyed two radar installations which western press refuse to report. The significance of this strike is important as the more Ukraine loses on the battlefield, the more desperate its tactics, egged on by western leaders who still think that their stake in the war is minimal. Although just recently Germany’s leader Scholz did a U-turn at a conference in Berlin with French President Macron — in backing the missile strikes into Russia plan — the truth is that officially NATO does not support the plan, which is why the UK is doing it independently using Storm Shadows operated by SAS soldiers.
This has been going on for months and so in many respects the news that the U.S. has authorised the practice could be taken lightly. What’s new? Or, more to the point, is Ukraine going to use longer-range U.S. missiles to keep up with such strikes like the radar stations? Does it have enough missiles in stock is also an important question.
With this strategy in play, we are looking in all scenarios at the slow demise of NATO as the more that such strikes occur, the more it is evident that NATO is a defunct organisation and only really a talk shop at best. NATO members are divided on an overall strategy with Ukraine and so member states do their own thing. If we see more of these strikes, the pressure on Putin to react will be overwhelming but when that time comes, he will practice an eye-for-an-eye strategy and strike the equivalent military installations within Europe or at least Ukraine’s drones operating in the Black Sea. This will be a shock for the West. It will take some days for such a strike to be seen for what it is: a warning. The message will be the escalation game has its limits and you’ve gone over a line.
But are the recent reports of a new offensive in the planning from NATO genuine? Probably not. Just like the reports of Putin wanting to negotiate a peace deal now. Both fake news reports are part of a strategy of panic from the Biden administration which really needs some sort of victory in Ukraine to present to the American people. Yet all of the aces are with Putin and he doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of falling into these traps. Putin has been pretty consistent in how he sees any kind of peace deal. Denazification, demilitarisation and no deal on NATO membership. The reasons why peace talks are a mere figment of the imagination of western journalists who sink to new lows is that the West cannot entertain any of these requests and has taken so much control of the media that its leaders are starting to believe their own BS. The fourth requirement also of Putin’s is that he can’t negotiate peace with a leader in the Ukraine who no longer has legitimacy as a president. One wonders how long the West can continue to kick up a fuss about that one.
Fico: Western-backed political opposition forces triggered assassination attempt
RT | June 5, 2024
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has argued that the assassination attempt that nearly killed him last month emanated from foreign-backed politicians who refuse to accept foreign policies that prioritize Bratislava’s interests over the agendas of major Western powers.
Fico posted a video statement on Wednesday, marking his first public appearance since the May 15 shooting in which he was critically wounded. He credited medical workers with saving his life and said he expects to resume at least some of his work duties by around the end of this month or in early July.
The PM condemned efforts to downplay the assassination attempt and blame it entirely on a deranged gunman. “I forgive him and let him sort out what he did and why he did it, in his own head,” Fico said. “In the end, it is evident that he was only a messenger of evil and political hatred, which the politically unsuccessful and frustrated opposition developed in Slovakia to unmanageable proportions.”
Fico returned to power for a fourth term as prime minister after his Slovak Social Democracy (SMER-SD) party won the country’s parliamentary election last September. He said his wounds from last month’s shooting were so severe that it would be a “minor miracle” for him to resume his work duties within a few weeks. He warned against efforts by political adversaries – including media outlets bankrolled by billionaire political activist George Soros – to shrug off the implications of the attempted assassination.
“I want to ask the anti-government media, especially those co-owned by the financial structure of George Soros, not to go down this path and to respect not only the gravity of reasons for the attempted murder, but also the consequences of this attempt,” Fico said.
The long-time leader added that he had been warning for several months of likely political violence because of the “hatred and aggressiveness” of Slovakia’s opposition parties. He lamented that major Western democracies stood silent as those parties attacked political opponents and stoked hatred.
He warned that more political violence is to be expected if opposition forces continue on their present course. “The horror of May 15th, which you all had the opportunity to see practically live, will continue, and there will be more victims.”
“Violent and hateful excesses against legitimate governmental power are tolerated at the international level without any comment,” Fico added. “The opposition was unable to assess, because no one forced them to do so, where their aggressive and hateful politics had led sections of the society, and it was only a matter of time before a tragedy would occur.”
Fico claimed the parties that ruled Slovakia from 2020 to 2023 did whatever larger Western democracies demanded, including treating Russia and China as “mortal enemies.” The previous Bratislava regime also “looted” Slovak military stockpiles to provide weapons to Ukraine, he added. After returning to power in October, Fico’s government halted such aid, raising the ire of NATO powers.
“It is precisely the conflict in Ukraine that the EU and NATO have elevated even more, literally sanctifying the concept of the single correct opinion – namely that the war in Ukraine must continue at any cost in order to weaken the Russian Federation,” Fico said. “Anyone who does not identify with this single mandatory opinion is immediately labeled as a Russian agent and politically marginalized internationally. It is a cruel observation, but the right to a different opinion has ceased to exist in the EU.”
Putin outlines Russian response to long-range strikes
RT | June 5, 2024
Russia is considering “asymmetric” measures against Kiev’s sponsors due to Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons against its territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
The Russian leader’s remarks came at a meeting with heads of international news agencies on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
“We have no illusions in this regard,” Putin added, repeating his prior comments that Ukrainian troops might be pulling the trigger but the US and its allies are providing the intelligence and targeting information.
Russia will respond by boosting air defenses and destroying these missiles, Putin said.
“Secondly, if someone deems it possible to supply such weapons to the war zone, to strike our territory… why shouldn’t we supply similar weapons to those regions of the world, where they will be used against sensitive sites of these countries?” the Russian president added. “We can respond asymmetrically. We will give it a thought.”
If the West continues to escalate, such actions “will completely destroy international relations and undermine international security,” Putin noted.
“If we see that these countries are being drawn into a war against us, and this is their direct participation in the war against Russia, then we reserve the right to act in a similar way. This is a recipe for very serious problems,” he warned.
The Russian president also brought up the fact that some military instructors and advisers from NATO countries have already been deployed to Ukraine, and that a number of them were killed in Russian strikes.
The US and its allies have insisted that providing weapons and equipment to Ukraine does not make them party to the conflict with Russia, and maintained certain restrictions on their use to preserve that perception. Last month, however, as Russian troops began advancing towards Kharkov, Ukraine began to demand the relaxation of those rules. A British-led pressure campaign eventually resulted in Washington complying with Kiev’s wishes.
Building comprehensive, high-level China-Turkey ties in fundamental interests of both countries: Wang Yi
Global Times | June 5, 2024
Building a comprehensive, deep and high-level China-Turkey relationship is in the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said while meeting with the visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday.
During the meeting with Fidan, Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that China and Turkey are both ancient civilizations and important members of the G20, and are facing profound challenges in the changing international situation, so the two countries should strengthen communication and coordination to make positive contributions to promoting regional peace and global development.
Wang pointed out that building a comprehensive, deep and high-level China-Turkey relationship is in the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples. China firmly supports Turkey in continuing to explore an independent and self-reliant development path. It also supports Turkey’s efforts to safeguard sovereignty, security, and development interests, and appreciates Turkey’s understanding and support for China’s just position on core interests related to sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.
China is willing to maintain multi-level exchanges with Turkey, play a good role in mechanisms such as the China-Turkey Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee, promote effective connection between the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and Turkey’s Middle Corridor Initiative, expand cooperation areas, and explore cooperation potential.
China is willing to expand imports of high-quality agricultural products from Turkey, support the continuous improvement of cooperation levels and technological content of enterprises in both countries, and strengthen cooperation in culture, education, tourism, aviation, and other fields, Wang said.
Wang noted that both sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation within the framework of the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral frameworks, support the UN in playing a core role in the global governance system, oppose hegemonism and power politics, oppose a few countries monopolizing international affairs, oppose building walls and barriers, “decoupling” and “cutting off supply chains,” maintain the stable operation of the global supply chain and industrial chain, and promote the establishment of a fair and reasonable global governance system.
Fidan said that Turkey and China have important influence in their regions and globally. The Turkish government attaches great importance to its relations with China, adheres to the one-China principle, and supports China in safeguarding its core interests and major concerns.
China’s development is crucial to world peace and prosperity. Turkey opposes bloc confrontation, does not agree with or support erroneous actions that suppress China’s development, and does not allow any force to engage in activities on Turkish territory that harm China’s sovereignty and security, said Fidan.
The Middle Corridor Initiative is highly compatible with the Belt and Road Initiative, and Turkey is willing to cooperate closely with China to achieve more substantive results in trade, investment, finance, agriculture, tourism, education, and other fields through mechanisms such as the China-Turkey Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee.
Turkey and China are both emerging market powers and members of the G20, with broad common interests in upholding international fairness and justice. Turkey highly appreciates China’s fair and just position on issues concerning Ukraine and the Middle East, and looks forward to working constructively with China to make greater contributions to the prosperity and stability of the region and the world, said Fidan.
The two sides also exchanged views and coordinated positions on international and regional issues of common concern such as Ukraine crisis and Palestinian issue.
During the Tuesday meeting, both sides also agree that it is necessary to promote a ceasefire in Gaza and maintain peace and stability in the Middle East. The Palestinian issue is at the core of Middle Eastern issues. The Gaza conflict is currently the focus, and the priority is to achieve an immediate, comprehensive, and permanent ceasefire, improve humanitarian conditions, and release all detained individuals.
The two-State solution is the fundamental way to solve the Palestinian issue. Both China and Turkey support Palestine becoming a full member of the UN and support internal reconciliation in Palestine. China and Turkey will strengthen cooperation to jointly promote the early and comprehensive, fair, and lasting resolution of the Palestinian issue.
On the Ukraine issue, Wang said that China’s position is firm and consistent, and the aim is to promote peace and dialogue. Although the conditions for negotiations are not yet in place, China is committed to peace and will not stop its efforts. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, every effort must be made to strive for it.
Switzerland is hosting a “Summit on Peace in Ukraine” on June 15 and 16. China confirmed on May 31 that it will not attend the conference, as the meeting falls short of China’s requests, according to Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning.
However, China encourages and supports all initiatives and efforts around the world that contribute to easing tensions and achieving peace, Wang said, noting that China values Switzerland’s work in preparing for the peace conference and has provided constructive suggestions to the Swiss side, which have been positively evaluated and appreciated.
Wang said China believes that the world needs to hear more objective, balanced, positive, and constructive voices on the Ukraine crisis. China and Brazil jointly issued a six-point consensus recently on promoting a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, emphasizing adherence to the three principles of cooling the situation: no spillover from the battlefield, no escalation of the conflict, and no provocation by any party.
The consensus also calls for all parties to adhere to dialogue and negotiations, increase humanitarian assistance, oppose the use of nuclear weapons, oppose attacks on nuclear power plants, and maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chains.
Wang said that he had exchanged views with Fidan, who also welcomed and appreciated the six-point consensus.
Within just one week, 45 countries from five continents have responded positively to the six-point consensus in different ways, with 26 countries already confirming their participation or seriously studying how to join, Wang said, noting that Russia and Ukraine, the two main parties involved, have also affirmed most of the contents of the consensus.
This once again shows that the consensus meets the common expectations of most countries. China believes that the more people participate in the joint appeal, the greater the hope for cooling the situation and the smaller the risk of escalation of conflict, said Wang.
The more countries that support the six-point consensus, the brighter will be the prospects for peace. China sincerely welcomes more countries to support and join the consensus, said Wang.
The Kremlin may rest easy: Europe is a paper tiger
By Gilbert Doctorow | June 4, 2024
Having committed to an outlay of 60 euros for a social club luncheon which was to be addressed by the Belgian minister of defense, Admiral Michel Hofman, speaking on how the ministry is preparing for what it calls ‘geopolitical evolution,’ meaning World War III, I was more than a little disappointed to learn, as we were standing by our seats awaiting our ‘at ease’ orders, that our speaker would be a no-show. Apparently he was called away to confer with colleagues in the government, and since this government has only one week to enjoy its perquisites before it is swept away by the June 9th parliamentary elections, the minister’s priorities are understandable if unforgivable from our perspective as paying guests.
Happily, however, at the initiative of the club’s president and of some attendees who have military standing, a chap from the ministry who is responsible for human resources was rushed in, had a quick bite to eat now that we all had advanced to the main course while awaiting his arrival, and then provided us all with what I am about to present below.
For obvious reasons, HR is in the spotlight now that the number one question facing this and other member states of NATO and of the EU is whether they can and will rise to the challenge of a Russian ‘imperialist menace’ and do the right thing, namely impose mandatory military service on the young and swell the ranks of their military forces. At my table, there was already a lively discussion of the socializing benefits of national service for the young, as if this issue were entirely separate from its context of a coming war that will utterly destroy the Continent.
If I may telegraph my punches, the key learning from the talk of our stand-in speaker is that there is no money to pay for masses of conscripts. Indeed, the Ministry is already struggling to cope with personnel costs that eat up between 80 and 85% of the defense budget. Belgium may have just 18,000 men in the services, but it would appear that keeping them in clothes, food and pensions is already a great burden. Moreover, given the professionalization of the armed forces in recent decades, it is estimated that it takes 18 months to bring a new recruit up to speed on the equipment he is supposed to be using on the missions of his units. Six months or even a year in uniform will not do much to make the recruits net contributors to the nation’s defense.
Yes, the Belgian military is tiny. Our admiral has under him a total of 5 mine sweepers, 2 frigates and 2 patrol boats (source: Wikipedia). For that reason the principal concern is the first from among what our speaker called the three ‘coups’ of war making – solidarity with fellow NATO members, self-defense, and facilitating the ‘arrival of the cavalry’ which means giving logistical support through the port of Antwerp to arriving forces and equipment from North America.
After all, in Belgium the second ‘coup,’ defending itself, comes down to air defense, for which it is today utterly unprepared, like all other EU member states, as we know not just from the hints of today’s speaker but from full-blown articles these past several days in The Financial Times. And as for the ‘cavalry,’ it seems that this ministry does not count on the reliability of Washington any longer.
There you have it in a nutshell: Belgium cannot and will not increase its armed forces; and Belgium is wholly committed to solidarity with its NATO confrères for the simple reason that it has no independent military capabilities. Indeed, as our speaker noted, one of the most positive consequences of the Ukraine-Russia war has been to drive solidarity among NATO members to new heights. This can only be to Belgium’s benefit.
Or can it?
Usually in luncheons like this, we have a fairly generous time allotted to Q&A, but today we were running late by the time we reached desert and the microphone was given to only one person. By the luck of being seated close to the dais and of being quickest to raise my hand, that person was me.
And so I posed my question: is solidarity really so fine when the policy of NATO is to issue ever more provocations to the Russians, to pose what they consider to be existential threats, including the shipment of F16s to Ukraine and the latest decision to ‘free the hands of Kiev’ to use the long range missiles being provided to it by the US, by the UK, by France to strike deep into the Russian heartland. If NATO member states are not prepared today physically and morally to enter into a direct, frontal war with Russia then why are we doing this?
Dear readers, you will not be surprised to hear that I got no answer to my question worth repeating.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2024
Belgium wants to silence Hungary’s anti-war voice, Hungarian FM Szijjártó claims
BY DÉNES ALBERT | REMIX NEWS | JUNE 4, 2024
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib is taking the initiative to exclude Hungary from EU decision-making processes, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has claimed.
Speaking in Budapest on Monday, the senior Hungarian government minister accused Eurocrats of wanting to suppress the pro-peace forces and remove the last obstacle to war by silencing and excluding Hungary from strategic talks.
The minister was reacting to a recent statement by his Belgian counterpart who called for the Article 7 rule of law procedure against Hungary to be stepped up, thus depriving Hungary of its voting rights in the Council of the European Union.
He said that those who may have doubted the importance of this week’s European Parliament elections may now be convinced that such a decision has perhaps never been before the Hungarian people, as the war frenzy in Brussels has taken hold and those who are for peace are being silenced.
“There is a lockdown panic, six days to go until the European elections, six days to go before people pull the emergency brake on the pro-war train, which is currently hurtling towards its final destination, a third world war, in a seemingly unstoppable way,” Szijjártó warned.
“On June 9, the European people can pull the emergency brake, but it is clear that in the remaining days, Brussels will continue to do everything in its power to silence all those who speak for peace and against war,” he said.
“The Belgian Foreign Minister is taking the initiative to exclude Hungary so that we Hungarians should not be able to represent our position, that we Hungarians should not be able to express our opinion on what we think about the consequences of our common decisions, that we Hungarians should not be able to say that we do not want to go to war, but that we want peace, that we Hungarians should not be able to say what kind of war madness is going on in Europe today, and that we Hungarians should not be able to say that the threat of a third world war is getting closer,” he said.
“So the importance of June 9 has also increased. We need very strong support, a big victory, to be able to resist the pressure in the weeks and months to come, to be able to speak out strongly for peace, to be able to stand up against the preparations for a third world war here in Europe,” he added.
The move comes just weeks before Hungary is scheduled to take over the rolling EU presidency on July 1 for six months.
Zelensky Says US Hegemony Will End If He Loses, But That Already Happened
By Ian DeMartino – Sputnik – 03.06.2024
In an interview with UK media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the claim that if former US President Trump gets reelected and cuts off aid to his country, he will become a “loser president” responsible for the US losing its spot as the World’s leader, but that has already happened and it was the US support of Ukraine that hastened it.
Since Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the United States and NATO bet hundreds of billions of dollars that they could propel the Kiev regime to victory by outfitting it with some of the best weapons in NATO’s arsenal.
Despite Russia’s larger economy, population size and military, Ukraine could win, the thinking went, by using the vastly superior NATO weaponry and training. Of course, the US and NATO didn’t hand over their very best weapons right away, but it would surely be enough to defeat the Russian army that was portrayed as ill-equipped and untrained in Western media outlets.
When that didn’t work, NATO and the US upped the stakes, giving newer and ostensibly even more invincible weapons to Ukraine, they too failed.
Now, armed with the best weapons NATO could afford to give away, and full permission to strike inside Russia despite the risk of escalation, Ukraine is still being defeated on the battlefield. The whole world has seen for itself that NATO weapons are not equipped with force fields; they can be destroyed and are being destroyed at an alarming rate.
Last year, Trump claimed that he would end the conflict in Ukraine “within 24 hours” though he did not specify how he intended to accomplish that. When asked who he wants to win, Trump would only say that he wants “everyone to stop dying.”
In his interview with the Guardian, Zelensky admitted that he had not developed a strategy to deal with Trump should he become elected, and seemingly admitted that his country would collapse without US support.
“Ukraine, barehanded, without weapons, will not be able to fight a multimillion army,” he said.
“Does he [Trump] want to become a loser President? Do you understand what can happen?” he added, then saying that if Ukraine loses, it means the US will lose its power in the world as well.
“This is not about him as a person, but about the institutions of the United States. They will become very weak. The US will not be the leader of the world anymore. Yes, it will be powerful, first of all, in the domestic economy because it has a powerful economy without a doubt. But in terms of international influence it will be equal to zero,” the Ukrainian President who has utilized Martial Law to stay in office past his term said.
Of course, the opposite is true. The longer NATO and the US remain involved in Ukraine, the more thoroughly the veneer of NATO invincibility will be shattered. If they continue to increase their involvement and escalate things against Russia, it will only expedite the fall of Western hegemony.
“This is a decisive defeat of NATO, the European Union and the United States” former UN weapon inspector Scott Ritter told Sputnik’s Fault Lines last month. “It’s as decisive as you can get without them being directly involved, and they can’t become directly involved because that is a suicide pill.”
Over the last few weeks, NATO nations started giving the Kiev regime permission to strike inside Russia, culminating in the United States agreeing to it last week, but that too has failed to result in any meaningful change of the battle lines.
“But [Kremlin spokesman Dmitry] Peskov pointed out, you start using long-range missiles against Russia, we’re just going to have to take more of Ukraine [to build a bufferzone]. That’s what he said and he specifically mentioned Kiev,” international relations and security expert Mark Sleboda told Fault Lines.
Peskov also told reporters that the United States is already involved in targeting and aiming their weapons at Russia. “[The weapons] are directly controlled by military personnel of NATO countries,” adding that constituted not just military assistance but “participation in a war against us.”
While Ukraine is not the only factor eating away at Western hegemony, it has played a large role, along with the US support of Israel and general economic trends.
“The world is changing indeed, not only because of the war on Russia in Ukraine but also the war in Gaza… the development of BRICS countries [and] the increase of the Shanghai Cooperation,” explained war correspondent Elijah Magnier on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour. “All these indicators lead to one reality, the beginning of the end of US hegemony.”
While Russia has shown that NATO’s weapons are not superior, it’s the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, who proved they are ill-equipped for modern war.
“The US and UK are failing in front of non-state actors in the Red Sea… So how can we understand that the Americans are ready to start a war against Russia and then against China?” Magnier added.
Still, with no other hopes or lifelines, Zelensky wants the US to embarrass themselves further by continuing to fund his government, saying that the US losing will encourage other countries to act aggressively. However, Russia and Ukraine were close to signing a peace deal in Istanbul at the start of the conflict. According to Ukrainian officials close to the negotiations, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was sent to Ukraine to sabotage the deal at the behest of the United States.
Ironically, Zelensky says he recently asked Johnson to speak to Trump on his behalf.
Zelensky said he wanted to bring Trump to Ukraine to “see the results of what he brought to Ukraine.” Although Zelensky was referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin “he”, it would have been more accurate if he were referring to US President Joe Biden and/or Johnson, who really brought that destruction to Ukraine and Western hegemony.
“Fifty nations gathered to defeat Russia and they failed… Ukraine has been defeated and Europe is defeated,” Magnier concluded.
Strategic developments in Ukraine – a new Cuban missile crisis?
By Patrick Poppel | June 3, 2024
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in 2014, there has been repeated talk of NATO’s expansion to the east and the advance of Western strategic missile systems.
At that time, the head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Research, General Leonid Reshetnikov, also mentioned this when he gave an interview for Austrian media.He spoke of the possibility that one day there could be American missiles in Kharkov. He also mentioned Ukraine’s possible accession to NATO.
We are currently seeing how Ukraine is successfully attacking several targets in Russia, which are located far behind the front, using Western weapon systems. This increases the radius of the zone that can be assessed as a conflict area. More and more new weapons with longer ranges are now being used. This development is very dangerous because Russia must respond to this situation. Russia cannot possibly accept this.
The deployment of long-range weapons in Ukraine reminds us of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in the Cold War. At that time, the USA also could not accept the stationing of soviet nuclear weapons on Cuba. There are red lines in matters of national security interests and these must be observed by all participants in a conflict.
At that time, the crisis was resolved through the clear and deliberate actions of statesmen from the United States and the Soviet Union. Today, with the Biden administration, we have a completely different prerequisite. Since Obama and the Maidan coup, the flag has been pointing to escalation and President Biden is continuing this course.
It can be assumed that the West will supply all weapons to Ukraine that are requested. Now it is clear to everyone that Ukraine is being used as a battering ram against Russia. The attacks of the last few weeks have clearly shown that it is also about destroying strategic targets in Russia. The attack on the early warning system is the best example of this. Such an attack is unacceptable in the age of nuclear weapons.
Of course, the legitimate question arises as to whether this specific attack was carried out on Ukraine’s own initiative or on the orders of someone else. And if it was really Ukraine’s initiative, there should be clear consequences from the West, as this created a very dangerous situation.
It is always important to monitor the Western media, as political wishes and ideas are always discussed there. There has been repeated talk of the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, especially since 2022. The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin also called for the delivery of nuclear weapons to Ukraine. This was, of course, an absurd request, but it was discussed for a long time in the media. So you can say that the smell of nuclear war has been in the air for at least 2 years. Since then, many reports on the topic of nuclear conflict have been produced in the German media. This is how Western societies are preparing for the possible use of these weapons.
The situation is really dangerous and, at the latest after the attack on the Russian early warning system, one should really consider ending this conflict as quickly as possible. Let’s think about what the next level of escalation is. If things continue to develop like this, we will be very quick to use tactical nuclear weapons. This point gets closer and closer with each passing week.
By continuing to support Ukraine and, above all, by supplying weapons with a longer range, it cannot be ruled out in the long term that the conflict could also affect other states in Europe.
There is currently discussion as to whether Russian military targets in Belarus should be attacked. This would of course also clearly drag Belarus into this conflict.
Particularly due to the threat to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, an extension of the conflict to the Baltics can no longer be ruled out. But then there would be a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
The greatest danger at the moment is that there is less and less inhibition to use larger and more far-reaching weapons. This spiral of escalation must be stopped by the West, otherwise the nuclear component of this conflict will become increasingly likely.
This development and the fact that we have already reached such a point also shows the inability of European politicians, who have not been able to freeze this conflict or find another solution since 2014.
It started with an uprising in Kiev and now we are on the brink of nuclear war.
Patrick Poppel, Center for Geostrategic Studies, Belgrade.
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Who Runs Our World?
Netanyahu addresses US Congress
By Richard Hugus | January 4, 2019
Our world is run by oligarchs, the holders of vast wealth from monopolies in banking, resource extraction, manufacturing, and technology. Oligarchs have such power that most of the world doesn’t even know of their influence over our lives. Their overall agenda is global power — a world government, run by them — to be achieved through planned steps of social engineering. The oligarchs remain in the background and have heads of state and entire governments acting in their service. Presidents and prime ministers are their puppets. Bureaucrats and politicians are their factotums.
Who are politicians? Politicians are people who work for the powerful while pretending to represent the people who voted for them. This double-dealing involves a lot of lying, so successful politicians must be good at it. It’s not an easy job to make the insane agenda of the powerful seem reasonable. Politicians can’t reveal this agenda because it almost always goes against the interests of their constituents, so they become adept at sophistry, mystification, and the appearance of authority. For example, wars for Israel have been part of the agenda of the powerful for years. Since 2001, wars for Israel have been sold as “the war on terror” and lots of lies had to be made up as to why the war on terror was a real thing. The visible faces promoting the war on terror were neoconservatives in the US, almost all of whom were advocates for Israel, or Zionists. Zionists are not the only members of the oligarchy, but they seem to be its lead actors. ... continue
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