US hypocrisy …
Ed. Note: This article confirms what we also believe. The war in Ukraine is far from over; this was just the warm-up phase. As usual, the Western strategy is to move towards the big conflagration in fits and starts. War, no war? Hot and cold. Hopes for peace only to be replaced by more escalation. This is the phase when the Western war machine is testing the enemy, probing it weak spots, wearing down its population, setting in the psychology of the inevitability of war, and, of course, setting up its own war economy.
For the West, the alternative to war, at this point, is an economic wipe out. By starting a new war, they postpone the inevitable while theoretically maintaining a chance of winning.
We haven’t seen anything yet.
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The Iran-Israel clash has served as a catalyst for renewed escalation by Western leaders, and World War III cannot be ruled out
By Timur Fomenko, political analyst, via RT
The events of recent weeks have produced a sudden jolt in Western politics. From a lethargy that was starting to creep into US and western discourse over the Ukraine war, Iran’s attack on Israel suddenly seemed to have had the effect of awakening Ronald Reagan from his grave and leading to a surge of neo-conservativism on steroids, on both sides of the Atlantic.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson did a complete 180-degree U-turn and proclaimed himself a “Reagan Republican” passing a series of aid bills for astronomical overseas spending that he had otherwise blocked for months, as he denounced an “axis of evil.” Along with that, a proposed TikTok ban bill came out of nowhere too and was quickly signed into law.
Then the UK decided to devote its largest ever aid package to Ukraine, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning of an “axis of authoritarian states” and amplifying ideologically combative rhetoric. At the same time, it was then revealed Biden had sent 300km long range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine despite having pledged not to do so for years, fearing escalation. Finally, EU President Ursula von der Leyen has suddenly dramatically increased economic warfare on China, pushing the European Commission to open probes on scores of Chinese exports. Where exactly did all this come from?
It’s almost as if the US and its allies seized upon the tensions between Iran and Israel in order to “whitewash” their slate and double down on a series of objectives they are otherwise losing public support for, including the war in Ukraine, but also Israel’s invasion of Gaza. One has to wonder if the Israeli attack on the Iranian compound in Damascus, which provoked Tehran’s response, was deliberately staged, coordinated and planned for this purpose. It served the mutually convenient goal of letting both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Western governments off the hook for whatever opposition they had otherwise faced.
It should be abundantly clear now that the current powers that be, in London and Washington, have absolutely no intent of letting up on the wars they have provoked, while also pushing for a potential third one with China, and seem indifferent to the consequences, even if for example, the Israel-Gaza war is shattering the West’s claims of moral superiority. In each case, the stakes are very high, Western foreign policy at large has taken on a very zero-sum and ideological character which bemoans the loss of hegemony, and seeks to uphold it at all costs. It is reactionary to the extent it does not have a vision for improving the world, but wants to take backthe world to the way it was. It is a sense of entitlement and privilege that wants to suppress an emerging multipolarity.
Because of this, it has become impossible for Western leaders to ever consider the concept of compromise in these respective theaters, and they refuse under any circumstances to make concessions which could be deemed strategic. This has produced a position where the only outcome they are willing to accept in Ukraine is what they deem “the defeat of Putin,” and have been subtly escalating ever since, edging ever closer to the point where a “proxy war” becomes a direct one for all intents and purposes. NATO military advisors are already on the ground, and Ukrainian attacks are being guided by NATO intelligence or even coordinated by British admirals.
The media in the West, especially in Britain (there is more dissent in the US) are effectively in war mode. The BBC amplifies non-stop Ukraine propaganda, pushing any claim that will help Kiev irrespective of its empirical worth or evidence, and all voices of dissent have been shut down. It seems evident that the decision may have been made to risk a full-on war with Russia, rather than to consider any negotiation scenario. Thus, the shockwaves from the Iran-Israel saga have been used to pursue a new and sudden round of escalation on every front, which can have only been bolstered by the prospective elections looming in both the US and UK.
Because of this, it is fair to say that the world faces a more dangerous and uncertain outlook than at any point since the end of World War II. This current crop of Western leaders are not pursuing a more restrained and calculated mindset, as seen for most of the Cold War, but an aggressive and evangelistic one that does not prefer stability but affirms hegemony as an absolute right, thus more resembling a pre-1914 world. Because of this, we should draw the conclusion that Western leaders are not truly seeking to avoid war, but are prepared to embrace it if necessary. The British military establishment and the media have long been making noises about conscription. In the US, if Joe Biden wins re-election, we can assume that he will unapologetically escalate on every single front. World War III is no longer a dramatized specter of farfetched panic, but an actual possibility that should not be ruled out.
Ed. Note: It is pretty clear by now that the globalists are not kidding. They want nothing to do with Trump, they want Netanyahu out (because they want to rally the Arabs to their cause), and they want Biden for a second term and most significantly, they are going for WWIII: War by NATO against Russia and war by the collective West against China. Full speed ahead.
Will they succeed?
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by Stephen Bryen via https://weapons.substack.com
Dutch Minister of Defense Kasja Ollongren on April 17, 2024, tries out the cockpit of a Dutch F-16s, three of which were delivered to the European F-16 training center in Romania. Training of Ukrainian pilots reportedly is going slowly, suggesting that experienced non-Ukrainian pilots may be needed to fly the sophisticated planes against the Russians in the Ukraine War. Photo: X
NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine. Soldiers from Poland, France, the UK, Finland and other NATO members are arriving in larger numbers.
Although Russia says there are over 3,100 mercenaries in Ukraine, these newly arriving troops are not mercenaries. They are in uniform, home country proclaimed via insignia. They mostly are concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east.
NATO is putting out the word these are not combat soldiers but are in Ukraine to operate sophisticated western hardware. But if they are firing at the Russians the only proper way to interpret their presence is that they are playing an active part in the shooting war.
More or less this is the same pattern that the US used when it sent “advisors” to Vietnam. In fact, they were US Special Forces who engaged in combat.
The Biden administration, at least for public consumption, says it opposes sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine. But Biden in truth may be waiting for his reelection before he gives the order for US soldiers to fight in Ukraine. After Biden is reelected, he will have a free hand. The recent passage of the $60 billion air bill for Ukraine signals that Congress will go along with whatever the Biden administration wants to do “fighting the Russians.”
The national security establishment fears a Russian victory in Ukraine. It would constitute a major setback in America’s security strategy and would be a blow, even a fatal one, to NATO.
Reportedly the Russian army is now 15% bigger than it was before the Ukraine war. It is also far more experienced, and the Russians have found ways to deal with US high tech systems, such as jamming and spoofing.
Meanwhile NATO is far behind Russia in weapons, manpower and industrial might. Furthermore, stockpiles of weapons are very low and equipment supposedly for national defense has been sent to Ukraine, leaving defenses wanting.
The consensus opinion in the US National Security establishment is that Ukraine is losing its war with the Russians and could potentially face the collapse of its army.
There already are reports that some brigades in the Ukrainian armed forces refused orders from their commanders. Those include the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade; the 115th Brigade; the 67th Mechanized Brigade (which abandoned positions in Chasiv Yar) and the 47th Mechanized (which demanded rotation after more than a year on the front lines). These are top Army brigades and not territorial defense units.
The Russians know what is going on and they are targeting foreign forces while also grinding down Ukrainian fighting units, inflicting heavy casualties. The Russians say Ukraine has already lost almost 500,000 troops in the war, and the numbers destroyed in combat grow on a daily basis.
Ukraine is desperate to find new recruits, and it is getting some help from countries where Ukrainian draft-age refugees are hiding out. Lithuania is planning to send Ukrainian draft-age men home. So is Poland.
A report on training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots also is revealing. According to some of the western officers working with the Ukrainians, progress even after a year teaching pilots to operate F-16s has been less than a success. Language barriers and unfamiliarity with western systems and combat tactics, has proven to slow the learning process. Rumors have it that when the F-16s finally begin arriving in Ukraine this summer, the planes are likely to be handled by “retired” pilots from European air forces.
NATO’s plan to try and ward off disaster seems to be to fill in gaps in Ukraine’s forces by importing “advisers,” waiting for the US to commit its army to the battle after the election in November. The Russians know this and are in a race to try and collapse Ukraine’s army before Biden returns to office, if in fact he does. If the Russians are successful, a bigger war in Europe will be avoided. If not, with the introduction of US forces, Europe will be plunged into World War III.
Stephen Bryen served as staff director of the Near East Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
This article was first published on his Weapons and Strategy Substack and is republished with permission.
Xi Jinping: When will he [Blinken] leave?
Assistant: He’s leaving this evening.
Blinken was very unhappy in China
Footage is circulating on social networks in which Xi Jinping, before a meeting with the US Secretary of State, asks an assistant:
“When will he leave?”
The conversation did not help improve the relationship. After that no one from the Chinese authorities went to accompany Blinken to the airport. Only US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said goodbye to him.
Blinken appeared offended and told reporters after the trip that the US was ready to increase pressure on China.
That’s the next day: A deadly China tornado rips into power line. Coincidence? Direct Energy? Magnetic Pulse?
A tornado has ripped through China’s Guangdong province, killing five people and injuring 33.
According to local authorities, 141 factory buildings were damaged and hail stones the size of golf balls were seen hitting the ground in the city of Guangzhou.
Elon Musk, the CEO of American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, met with China’s Premier Li Qiang at the State Council in Beijing as the Tesla chief arrives in China for a surprise visit after canceling his visit to India.
Musk dashes to China begging for help with self-drive tech
The Tesla CEO has made a surprise visit to China to try and get permission to transfer data collected in the Asian country abroad to help improve the algorithms for his company’s autonomous driving systems, a source close to the trip said Sunday.
Chinese competitor Xpeng is currently looking to roll similar software to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving tech, which has still not been made available to Chinese customers.
Last week Musk ditched plans to meet PM Narendra Modi because he had “very heavy Tesla obligations”.
Is Musk all of a sudden desperate for losing his Tesla business in case of China retaliation?
“Men in uniform protect our freedoms to think what we want and say what we’re thinking”
Over 700 protesters angered by the Israeli war on Gaza have been arrested during rallies on college campuses across the United States since mid-April, US media estimated.
A growing number of US students have been frustrated by Washington’s support of Israel’s actions in Gaza as a humanitarian disaster continues unfolding in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
A fresh wave of student activism was triggered by the arrest of at least 108 protesters at Columbia University in New York last week, The New York Times said. Police officers and university administrations have clashed with student activists in several states across the country in recent days.
Since April 17, 44 students have been arrested on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut; 93 people were held at University of Southern California in Los Angeles; 118 at Emerson College in Boston; 102 at Northeastern University in Boston; and 69 at Arizona State University in Tempe, among others.
ICYMI (In case you missed it): Police assaulted, arrested Emory University economics professor
Footage shows Caroline Fohlin being violently assaulted by state police at the university campus whilst joining students protesting in support of Gaza.
Protestors were reportedly targeted with tear gas and rubber bullets after having accused the university of being “complicit in genocide and police militarization” – referring to the police training center being constructed outside Atlanta.
Georgia state trooper brings away a Pro Palestine protestor … like a bag of potatoes.
Professor and Philosophy Chair Noelle McAfee, seen in handcuffs in the video.
Pro-Palestine protesters arrested on campus — as more college demonstrations in the US are broken up.
Detentions of journalists who dared to film protests of students and teachers in one of the US universities.
The United States sets an example for democratic treatment of members of the press. Now you know how to democratically deal with journalists who film something you don’t like.
Freedom of speech, US university style
Footage from Ohio State University shows the rapidly escalating violence students are facing for expressing their opinions, with at least 41 arrested in last night’s wave of clashes with cops.
Washington loves to brag about its glorious constitution… When it suits them.
And in . . . Germany: Freedom of expression, German style. Watch the hatred, hands over the mouth.
The US tried to convince China to stop helping Russia and FAILED.
“Beijing will not be able to achieve improved relations with Europe by supporting the greatest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War”
— Blinken said after talks with Xi Jinping
*US puts troops in Taiwan and increase weapons deliveries.*
… 5 minutes later …
“China can’t have good relations with the west if they support a security threat to the west.”
Blinken threatens China while in China! Wait to hear the anti-China barking at home.
None of the Chinese authorities saw off US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Beijing airport. Only American Ambassador Burns kept his boss company
Ed. Note: Yes, we all know, it is all about the mighty Dollar and the people behind the Dollar. That’s why they killed Saddam, that’s why they killed Gaddafi, that’s why they attack Russia today, that’s why Biden goes to China to tell them to use only the Dollar.
by Saleha Mohsin, Jennifer Jacobs and Nancy Cook, via Bloomberg News
U.S. dollar bills are arranged for a photograph in New York, U.S. ,
(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump’s economic advisers are considering ways to actively stop nations from shifting away from using the dollar — an effort to counter budding moves among key emerging markets to reduce exposure to the US currency, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussions include penalties for allies or adversaries who seek active ways to engage in bilateral trade in currencies other than the dollar — with options including export controls, currency manipulation charges and tariffs, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
A verbal backlash against the dollar’s dominance in the global financial system gained traction in 2022, when the US led efforts to impose harsh economic sanctions on Russia, a Group of 20 nation. Russia’s central bank, government officials and some 2,500 other targets have had their access to the dollar restricted.
President Joe Biden this week signed into law a measure granting him new powers to seize Russian dollar assets to aid Ukraine’s reconstruction. The so-called REPO provision was added to a national security package to assist Kyiv and other US allies. The measure has sparked concern from many Republican lawmakers, who worry it will undermine the role of the US dollar in the global financial system.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, together known as the BRICS nations, discussed de-dollarization at a summit last August. That group is gaining global heft after inviting key oil-producing nations Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with others in an expansion move this year. Saudi Arabia and the UAE currently peg their currencies to the dollar.
Economic advisers to Trump and his campaign have talked about targeting that particular BRICS effort in a potential second term. For his part, both publicly and privately, Trump has said that he wants the dollar to remain the world’s reserve currency.
Exchange Rate
“I hate when countries go off the dollar,” Trump said in a March 11 interview on CNBC. “I would not allow countries to go off the dollar because when we lose that standard, that will be like losing a revolutionary war,” he said. “That will be a hit to our country.”
As president, Trump weighed forcibly weakening the dollar to support the domestic manufacturing sector. But now, so far he has privately said he doesn’t currently see the merits of dollar intervention, according to one person familiar with the matter. The Trump campaign referred to the former president’s latest remarks on the dollar Thursday morning.
“With Biden, you’re going to lose the dollar as the standard. That’ll be like losing the biggest war we’ve ever lost,” he said, blaming Biden’s policies for damaging views toward the dollar.
Trump has favored a stable dollar, and for other countries to match that policy by refraining from interventions seeking to devalue their currencies. With the Federal Reserve holding off on lowering interest rates, the dollar lately has been on the rise, spurring authorities overseas to consider interventions to prop up — not devalue — their currencies.
Intervention Issue
Japanese and South Korean authorities have been among those to warn against excessive moves in their exchange rates, with officials in Tokyo cautioning that they reserve the right to intervene.
The yen on Thursday hit the weakest level against the dollar since 1990. Chinese authorities have also taken steps to stem the yuan’s decline.
Ed. Note: We are posting this in order to present the insanity that has spread among the European elites. While denying the legitimacy of Russian elections, despite the overwhelming popular support for President Putin, the brutal Western police crack down across the board on any peaceful voices denouncing the genocide by Israel is hailed as an exercise in “democracy”.
via Intellinews
In a sting blow for the Kremlin, the European Parliament ruled that Russia’s presidential election was illegitimate and blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin personally for the “murder” of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who died in jail in February.
The European Parliament passed a resolution urging EU member states and the international community to disregard the legitimacy of recent Russian elections and concluded that the presidential elections held on March 15 -17, including the poll in occupied Ukrainian territories, were neither free nor fair. Of the 522 members of parliament, 493 voted for the motion to condemn Russia.
“…the so-called presidential election held by Russia from 15 to 17 March 2024 was conducted without any political competition, in a severely restricted environment of systemic and grave repression and during the Russian Federation’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” the resolution reads. “Russia’s authoritarian regime has used such increasingly fraudulent and farcical so-called elections for decades to provide a semblance of democracy in order to continue to concentrate all power in the hands of Vladimir Putin.”
The resolution also “deplores the fact that the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, chose to break ranks with the EU and congratulate Vladimir Putin on his sham re-election.”
The resolution held Putin personally responsible for Navalny’s death in questionable circumstances on February 16 in the Polar Wolf prison camp on Russia’s Far North coast.
“…Alexei Navalny, the most powerful figure in the democratic opposition and the 2021 laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, was murdered in a Siberian penal colony on 16 February 2024, just weeks before the so-called presidential election,” the resolution says.
Navalny had been serving what the European Parliament called “an unfounded, politically motivated prison sentence” and went on to explicitly say, “the full responsibility for his murder lies with the Russian state and with its president Vladimir Putin in particular.”
The resolution also urged EU states to support Russian civil society organisations, and issue humanitarian visas to Russians who face persecution for their opposition to Putin.
While the European Parliament’s resolution carries no legal weight or effects, it is a blow for the Kremlin and undermines Putin’s legitimacy as president.
Russian oligarch turned dissident, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, called the decision a “turning point” in Europe’s relation with Russia.
“While he may hate to admit it, Putin needs foreign approval, particularly from the West, because despite all of his best efforts, Russians still place a lot of stock in Western recognition,” Khodorkovsky said in a post on social media.
The European Parliament has called for sanctions against individuals involved in orchestrating the elections in the four regions annexed by Russia last year and recommended that EU countries severely limit their relations with the Russian government, including negotiations related to prisoner exchanges, the repatriation of deported children to Ukraine, and the release of political prisoners.
One of the theories accounting for Navalny’s death is that the US proposed the opposition leader be included in a prisoner swap deal for the US citizens Evan Gerkovich and Paul Whelan for FSB-linked hit man Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence for murder in Germany. Navalny was murdered to remove his name from the table in any potential prisoner swap, according to some commentators.
In parallel to the European Parliament’s resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also declared Putin and his government illegitimate on April 17. PACE urged the Council of Europe and EU member states to cease all contact with Putin’s “criminal regime,” echoing the European Parliament’s call for isolation and sanctions.
The European Commission (EC) is currently debating a fourteenth sanctions package that intends to tighten the extreme sanctions regime imposed on Russia that is expected to be adopted in the coming months.
A recent poll in Ukraine found that 85% of Ukrainians view Putin as illegitimate, highlighting the widespread condemnation of the Russian invasion just over two years ago. However, in Russia, while the decision to invade Ukraine is widely condemned, the overwhelming majority of Russians have backed the war now it has started. A recent poll found that patriotism is at an all-time high and 84% of Russians trust Putin, according to the independent pollster, the Levada Center.
A wave of pro-Palestine / anti-Israel protests is sweeping the US’s college and university campuses.
In several instances, police have been dispatched to the campus grounds, making hundreds of arrests, despite the protests being completely peaceful.
When the young intellectuals start protesting, that’s a sign that your regime has utterly failed. Almost every major revolution in history started in the universities.
On some U.S. university campuses, the government has deployed snipers on the roofs. Snipers taking aim at pro-Palestine protestors on U.S. university campuses.
