by Claudiu Secara

Aristotle said: Amicus Plato, sed magis amicus Veritas est.
“Plato is my friend, but Truth is an even better friend.”

What are we to make of the nonsense of world events these days? Israel is winning the war against the defenseless Hamas, and Netanyahu gets the order from Trump to grab his army in 6 hours and move out of Gaza or else – just like some Western movie, “Get outta Dodge before sundown!” Russia is winning the war in Ukraine, but suddenly the only option it has is to halt its takeover and allow NATO troops to occupy positions in what once were Russian provinces, Odessa, Kharkov, along the Dnieper.

Europe is pushed to start peace negotiations, but at the same time it doubles its military spending, shifting to a war-economy footing. Do we expect peace? Or more war?

In Syria, according to Mr. Putin himself, a band of 350 lightly-armed desert marauders sends panic into the 30,000-strong and seasoned Syrian army, which throws away its weapons and tanks and artillery and disbands into thin air. The fiery Russian defenders of Syrian sovereignty drop bombs on the open desert so as not to inconvenience those 350 guys in pickup trucks. They even turn off their radars, making sure the Israelis can move deep into Syrian territory risk free. Assad calls Putin on the phone for 3 days, while Putin is ‘on break’ and cannot take his call.

But even more interesting, something unheard of in modern times: the chiefs of two of the most powerful countries in the world are on the wanted list, in a newly designated category of “war criminals.”

Is there some way to connect all these dots? Or is it possible these are all just random coincidences?

Why Netanyahu? Why Putin? Do they have something in common? Do they have some common enemy, someone that doesn’t like them both?

Well, let’s think a bit. Who could that be? China? Oh, no, there’s no evidence of that! Canada? I don’t think so. Maybe Mr. Soros? Yes, it’s true that Mr. Soros has been declared persona non grata in both Russia and Israel. And by the way, in Hungary as well. Is that what connects all three countries?

But who is Mr. Soros? And why was he declared persona non grata?

We don’t know what we don’t know: Who is the ultimate decision maker. But we see that country after country is being forced into submission to some higher order. And we see that the the recalcitrants are isolated and under duress. There are very few holdouts and those are Russia, Israel, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela. That’s just about it. Turkey is borderline, flip-flopping as long as it can. The US itself is a complicated mix. Too much of a maverick but at the same time fully belligerent when it comes to attacking the noncompliants.

China is a special case. It doesn’t take an anti-Globalist stand, but by the sheer size and the industriousness of its people it is a globalist power in itself. China can be seen as small and vulnerable only when it is compared to the rest of the world. On its own, it is the winner against any combination of existing groupings and various alignments, whether NATO, EU, British Commonwealth, etc.

Obviously, for the Atlanticits the big headache is how to tackle China. And the only realistic way is to corral every other nation to its agenda. Except that Israel and Russia have been a formidable axis of resistance. That’s what explains Russia’s respect for Israel’s sacrosanct interests in Syria, or against the rest of its neighbors. Russia under Putin has tied its policy of national sovereignty to the Jewish oligarchic elite, which is fully integrated with the Israeli elite. In fact they are almost one and the same. Russia is so much subordinated to the Israeli connection that it would rather send its own nationalists (see Strelkov) to prison, and impose exemplary punishment on any Muslim dissent (see the airport rioters in Dagestan), than leave any appearance of disloyalty to Israel.

So, long story short, where would the Globalists start to unravel the tangled web of dissidents and recalcitrants? It tried with Russia. But Russia managed to thumb its nose militarily and economically. Russia had a good network of support from the Russian Jewish connection in the West. It worked through the mass media and it worked by finding loopholes in the regime of endless sanctions. So many loopholes that Russia managed to grow its economy and its world influence beyond its size and position. On top of that, the war in Ukraine has turned into a total disaster for the Globalists.

A new plan was needed. The insubordinate Israel’s Netanyahu is the problem. But Netanyahu outplayed the weak American president, and Israel’s control over the US Congress guaranteed it full immunity from any “restraining order.” In fact, it looked as if Israel got the best of all the opportunities. Russia was at its feet and the US Congress was subservient to the point of servility. Why not take the opportunity and fulfill the dream of Greater Israel?

Although Biden’s presidency was bankrolled by the Globalists, it was also infiltrated by the Zionists, who hijacked any attempt at restraining Netanyahu and his gang of extremists. A totally dysfunctional family. A totally unmanageable situation. And besides anything else, the West could not rally the suport of the Muslim world in support of its next crusade against the rising China. The Saudis alone could no longer manage the Arab street revolt against the genocide perpetrated on the Palestinians. And the Arab support remains critical as much financially, in support of the Dollar, as politically, in terms of the forces of insurgency throughout Central Asia.

And then there is Trump. His political agenda? A big narcissistic “me”. Yes, a good friend of Netanyahu, well connected with AIPAC, fully in bed with the Israel lobby, etc. But besides anything else, it is all about Me.

So what does a man do, who wants to be bigger than George Washington, or bigger than Jesus Christ, but is faced with imminent jail time and bankruptcy? What would that be? Better sign on with the highest bidder. And get back on top of the world. The Axis of the Rebellious that linked Putin to Netanyahu and Orban, and ultimately to Trump, would be broken in an instant.

And it was broken the moment Trump was reelected.

The Gaza Agreement.
1. Half of Israel is outraged by it.
2. The agreement was prepared by Biden’s team and is not politically advantageous to Israel.
3. Netanyahu wanted to reject any such agreements.
4. However, Trump joined the negotiations and sent his man, who harshly demanded that Netanyahu sign it. Otherwise, it would be worse.
5. Netanyahu turns out to be afraid of Trump. And he signed it.
6. The mystery is why Trump, who is considered to be entirely on Israel’s side, is forcing Israel to sign an agreement that many Israelis consider disadvantageous?
7. So ending the war is more important to Trump than the conditions for ending the war for an ally?

But now that leaves the other three co-conspirators out in the cold. They were counting on the heavy support from Trump overturning the “Deep State,” draining the swamp. But what happens if instead he turns against his friends? Two of whom are wanted by Interpol?

Now, that would clear the path to discipline Israel and remove the last leg from Mr. Putin’s chair. And that brings us to the conclusion that after some chaotic theater, Russia is bound to succumb to the Globalists’ demands. How badly will Russia be punished? That depends on how much it continues to resist. The faster it agrees to the conditions laid out by the Globalists the better terms it gets away with. The more it resists, the more severe the outcome and misery could be.

The Globalists are in a hurry. They need to focus on China before the horse is out of the barn, and China is no longer defeatable.

Available also on Telegram:

Even Israeli media is very clearly attributing achievement of the Gaza ceasefire deal to President-elect Donald Trump and his team. President Biden too at one point in an afternoon press conference hailing the deal acknowledged that he spoke as ‘one team’ with Trump on the Gaza deal. According to The Times of Israel:

A “tense” weekend meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incoming Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff led to a breakthrough in the hostage negotiations, with the top aide to US President-elect Donald Trump doing more to sway the premier in a single sit-down than outgoing President Joe Biden did all year, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
Witkoff has been in Doha for the past week to take part in the hostage negotiations, as mediators try to secure a deal before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. On Saturday, Witkoff flew to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu at the premier’s Jerusalem office.
During the meeting, Witkoff urged Netanyahu to accept key compromises necessary for an agreement, the two Arab officials on Monday told The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. Neither Witkoff nor Netanyahu’s office responded to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the uber genocider Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich said:

‘It seems as if everyone suddenly found out that you cannot defeat terrorist movements by fighting a war or eliminating them.
The only solution to secure Israel is settling in Gaza & expelling the inhabitants to Sinai or Jordan. But now, we have signed our defeat.’

While a High-ranking IDF Official, speaking on the condition of anonymity said:

‘This is an absolute disaster deal. For over a year, we resisted against a deal like this. It renders any progress we made in Gaza as useless and in vain. 
There is no mechanism to remove Hamas from power. According to this deal, the way it is structured now, Hamas will keep ruling the Gaza Strip. They will likely rearm and recruit more fighters than before. 
I tell you one word: Embarassment. We surrendered to the terrorists of Hamas.’ 

Congratulations to the sacrifices by one people, the Palestinians of Gaza, who died horrific deaths to save us all from the Specter of Beast.

Ed Note: If this piece of news proves to be accurate, this a very significant telltale about the real state of affairs as far as Russia’s standing up to the West. Every hopeful pundit in support of Russia is focused on counting the Ukrainian villages taken by the Russians, and already predicting the winner, but why would Serbia give in and throw in the towel after so many decades of sacrifice since the late 1980s? Is it because, in the grand bargain foreseen between Trump and Putin, the latter may have secured a win in Ukraine as a face-saving token, while retreating in all other spheres?

by Andrew Korybko via Korybko Substack

This could easily lead to a more profound pivot that undoes decades of strategic ties with Russia in just a few years.

Chief of the Serbian General Staff General Milan Mojsilovic explained his country’s military calculations in light of last summer’s multibillion-dollar Rafale warplane deal and Western sanctions against Russia in a recent interview with local media. According to him, the first was “primarily based on a tactical study” that allegedly concluded that this was the best option for ensuring his nation’s security needs, which entails “complex preparations” with France that informally amount to a pro-Western military pivot.

After answering the question about that deal, he was then asked about the effect that Western sanctions have had on military-technical cooperation with Moscow, to which he responded by revealing that “We terminated some contracts and postponed some” since “the delivery of weapons” from Russia “is practically impossible at the moment.” Paired with his previous answer, it becomes clear that Serbia’s pro-Western military pivot is being carried out under sanctions duress, not purely anti-Russian reasons.

To be sure, Serbia had already been leaning towards the West even before last summer’s multibillion-dollar deal as evidenced by it voting against Russia on Ukraine at the UNGA and reportedly even arming Kiev through indirect means, but Mojsilovic’s revelation of terminated and postponed military deals takes this to an altogether different level. Before discussing the potential consequences, the reader should review these background briefings about Serbia’s clumsy “balancing act”:

Read more here

via Financial Times

Excerpt
Russian President Vladimir Putin conveys that he believes he has time to compel Ukraine’s western allies to accommodate his demands. However, the reality of Russia’s war economy is precarious, with concerns voiced by prominent figures like Sergei Chemezov of Rostec and central bank head Elvira Nabiullina regarding the impact of expensive credit on their operations. 

Russia is utilizing a mix of borrowing, inflation, and expropriation to fund the war, but this strategy is revealing inherent flaws as corporate debt surges and public finances remain concealed. A recent report indicates that corporate debt has increased by 71% since 2022, with state-controlled banks providing credit at below-market rates, essentially resulting in hidden money printing.

Putin is avoiding a significant budget deficit while managing high inflation through controlled interest rates. Yet, this approach risks creating a credit crisis as borrowing costs soar. The Kremlin must maintain stability to prevent a loss of legitimacy, which could occur if banks collapse or deposits lose value.

Ultimately, Putin does not have time on his side, as he faces a financial crisis. The West’s sanctions, which block access to $300 billion in reserves and disrupt oil trade, are crucial in limiting Russia’s resources. Intensifying these sanctions and transferring reserves to Ukraine would further strain Russia’s economy. The West must ensure that Putin understands that any relief from sanctions is not forthcoming, forcing him to choose between continuing the war and maintaining his power domestically.

Read more  Financial Times

By John Helmer, Moscow  via Helmer

Excerpt

In a single line expressed through a reporter, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov explained the defeat in Syria as a tactical withdrawal in preparation for a “military conflict with NATO in the next 10 years.” He emphasized that Russia currently needs solutions to ensure at least a long-term balance in the global confrontation. This statement appeared in the Kremlin-funded security analysis platform Vzglyad on January 3, with no mention of Syria. To highlight its significance, Vzglyad added an editorial note in italics: “In a prolonged confrontation with the West, it is essential to skillfully combine economic and military strategies. Judging by the initial results of economist Belousov’s activities as Minister of Defense, this is precisely what we observe.”

A political source in Moscow concurs: “Russia has to confront all of NATO head-on within the next ten years. If a deal can be made now to buy some time for rearmament, that’s a strategic choice that will have to be made.”

However, not all military sources in Moscow agree. Some believe that during discussions in October and November, when President Vladimir Putin listened to arguments from the General Staff and the Foreign Ministry against the Turkish plan to break out of Idlib and capture Damascus, the Kremlin underestimated the message that Russia’s acquiescence would send to the US and NATO allies. “Anyone now thinking Russia can be counted on as an ally,” comments one source, “is mistaken.”

These sources believe that the pressure on Putin to make fresh concessions in Ukraine will intensify. “The US and NATO used the time we conceded in Minsk to prepare for a war we weren’t as prepared to fight as they were in February 2022. Delay was our mistake. They want time now to rearm the Kiev regime for the next round. Our aim should be capitulation in Kiev and no future for the enemy. For us, that’s the strategy.”

In support of the Kremlin’s refusal to defend Syria and the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Kremlin’s supporters among Anglo-American podcasters have become experts on Arab, Syrian, and Iranian politics; one of them has even relocated to Beirut.

An independent timeline of events produced by French analyst Thierry Meyssan omits analysis of Russian actions but confirms that President Assad flew to Moscow on November 29. This was a secret kept by the Kremlin and the Russian press. “On November 30, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad went to Russia—not to attend his son Hafez’s exam at Moscow University, where he is continuing his studies, but to call for help. The Russian forces in Syria could only bomb the jihadists’ convoys because their capabilities were limited to aerial operations. Therefore, they tried to block the roads to HTS [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] and Turkey but could not intervene on the ground against them. Aleppo was truly lost.”

An eyewitness, Kamel Saqr, provided a detailed account of what happened, in what sequence, and with what implications. Saqr is exceptional because he was present as a senior member of Assad’s staff at the secret meeting between Assad and Putin in Moscow on November 29. He listened to Putin’s telephone call with General Valery Gerasimov during the meeting and continued negotiating with Putin’s subordinates through the evening of November 29 and the morning of November 30, before Assad and his staff left Moscow at 4 p.m. that day.

Nothing comparable to this account has appeared in public from any other credible source. Saqr’s interpretation of what he calls “the state of disavowal” is disputable; the facts, however, are less so. Saqr states that Assad directly told him that when he was at his Moscow residence in the Four Seasons Hotel, Putin had sent him a message to keep the visit a secret, canceling Saqr’s negotiations with the Kremlin press office on a joint communiqué for public release.

Furthermore, according to Saqr, Putin’s message to Assad was that “the [Russian] military was not in a position to wage war, either psychologically or logistically.” In retrospect, Saqr interprets Putin as having decided, before the fall of Aleppo to the Turkish-led forces of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 2, not to prevent their southward advance toward Damascus and to reject accepting Iranian reinforcements through the Khmeimim airbase. From Saqr’s record of the last meetings in Damascus between Assad and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi on December 5-6, he admits he does not know how coordinated the Russian and Iranian decision-making had been, or for how long. During that week, Saqr reports that Assad tried to contact Putin on December 3, 4, and 5, and on each occasion, Putin reportedly refused to answer. Assad then reached out to the French, asking them to inform Putin that he was trying to make contact. The French replied after several hours, stating that Putin was visiting Belarus “and therefore cannot talk to you.”

This was false. The Kremlin record shows that Putin was in Moscow on all three days.

On the evening of December 3, after Saqr claims Assad’s call had been rejected, Putin spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had initiated the call. In their discussion, according to the Kremlin release, Putin asked Erdogan to “stop the radical groups’ terrorist aggression against the Syrian state and provide comprehensive assistance to the legitimate authorities’ efforts to restore stability and constitutional order across the country, including using Ankara’s capabilities in the region.” Erdogan reportedly agreed on “strengthening cooperation both bilaterally and within the framework of the Astana process, emphasizing the key importance of further close coordination between Russia, Turkey, and Iran to normalize the situation in Syria.”

Erdogan’s claims were misleading. According to Saqr’s account of what Assad had been told by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Sudani, Erdogan had declared that the time for mediation was over.

Putin remained in Moscow to meet with the Security Council on December 5, without any acknowledgment in the communiqué that the situation in Syria was discussed. Putin then flew to Minsk on the afternoon of December 6 and continued meetings there the following day. The Kremlin record of his movements and meetings is then silent until December 9 when Putin returned to Moscow. So did Assad.

Saqr adds that the Russian military attaché in Damascus, Rear Admiral Oleg Kornienko, met with Assad at his residence “in the last hours of his rule,” on December 7-8. They appear to have discussed arrangements for Assad’s evacuation from Khmeimim and the terms of his asylum in Russia. Saqr’s publication is politically significant because his interpretation of Russian actions, particularly Putin’s decision-making, was broadcast on January 7 by the Saudi Arabian state-owned media platform, Al Arabiya.

Syria’s former media chief and top aide to Bashar al-Assad claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have “tricked” the ousted Syrian president in his final days as leader. Speaking to Mazeej Studios, a podcast produced by the Saudi channel Al Arabiya, Kamel Saqr stated that Assad was in Moscow in late November, just over a week before Syrian rebels captured Damascus. By that time, the rebels had already captured much of Aleppo.

There, Saqr said, Assad asked for Putin’s support in helping Iran transport equipment and support to strengthen his government’s positions against the opposition. “Bashar al-Assad’s request to Putin was for him to personally handle securing the aerial transportation necessary to deliver military aid to support or stop the advance of the Syrian opposition,” Saqr stated. This request came as Iran reduced its forces and militias’ presence in Syria, and Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in its battles against Israel in Lebanon. Saqr believes neither Russia nor Iran wanted to intervene heavily in this battle, but Assad informed him that Putin had instructed his chief of staff [General Valery Gerasimov] to prepare to support any transport needed for Iran at Russia’s Khmeimim base in Latakia.

“But what happened was that the Iranians told Bashar al-Assad, ‘We did not receive any signals to proceed with moving Iranian aircraft to the Khmeimim base [or to] fly through Iraqi airspace to land there,’” Saqr told Mazeej. “The question was relayed to Moscow, but no answer came.” When asked whether this was a “trick by Putin,” Saqr remarked that there was “no other explanation.”

Regardless, Saqr said the Iranians informed Assad that they had sent a plane through Iraq but were warned by the US that the aircraft would be shot down if it continued. Saqr claims Putin did not answer any of Assad’s calls between December 3-5, before his fall, and that despite having planned a 400-word speech addressing the situation, the former Syrian president ultimately decided against speaking to the public.

As rebel forces neared Damascus, Assad spoke to his media office for the last time on December 7, discussing a military meeting at the Khmeimim base between him and the Russians. Saqr believes Assad left “from Damascus airport via a private plane, taking the southern bypass road and then the airport road to reach the airport.”

Saqr added, “My information suggests that he stayed at the base for several hours until the plane was secured, prepared, and its takeoff and flight to Moscow were ensured.”

What were the Iranians thinking and doing in parallel? An audio recording, purportedly of a speech given by Brigadier General Behrouz Esbati of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at a Tehran mosque on December 31, surfaced in Iranian media a week later. Excerpts of the speech, though not a full authenticated recording or transcript, have been highlighted in interpretations by the New York Times and the Israeli press, alongside anti-Russian commentaries from Kiev to Washington.

In the brief excerpt reported by Abdi Media, Esbati criticized Russian policy in Syria: “Russia was one of the factors that led to the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria. Russia turned off all radar systems so that Israel could strike the intelligence headquarters of Shahid Sadiq. The Russians were bombing the deserts instead of targeting the headquarters of Tahrir al-Sham [HTS].”

Longer excerpts of Esbati’s speech have been covered by the New York Times. In that report, “tensions surrounding these competing views on Syria preoccupied officials enough that they embarked on a campaign of damage control with the public last week. Senior military commanders and pundits close to the government held speeches and question-and-answer sessions with audiences in mosques and community centers in several cities…[Esbati] is a top commander of Iran’s Armed Forces, which includes the military and the Revolutionary Guards Corps, and has held prominent roles including commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces’ cyber division. In Syria, he supervised Iran’s military operations and coordinated closely with Syrian ministers and defense officials, outranking even the commander-in-chief of the Quds Forces, Gen. Ismail Ghaani, who oversees the network of regional militias backed by Iran.”

The following is a verbatim excerpt from the Times report.

General Esbati’s speech, on December 31 at the Valiasr mosque in central Tehran, addressed the rank and file of the military and constituents of the mosque, according to a public notice of the event titled “Answering Questions about Syria’s Collapse.” The session began with General Esbati telling the crowd that he left Syria on the last military plane to Tehran the night before Damascus fell to rebels. It concluded with him responding to questions from audience members. He offered a sobering assessment of Iran’s military capability in fighting Israel and the United States.

For the time being, Moscow analysts with military and intelligence sources who will not have overlooked Saqr’s and Esbati’s testimonies are not acknowledging them. Instead, Vzglyad has published a disclaimer regarding the Russian Army’s readiness under former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the time and priority tasks required by his successor, Andrei Belousov. The following text is a verbatim translation into English, with added illustrations and captions to assist English readers in understanding the Russian references.

For the full article click here.