There’s a mad dog pulling at his chain
A hint of danger in his eye
Alarm bells raging ’round his brain
Roger Waters
So “Ze” aka “Zelia” came to DC and was given a massive welcome by the US Congress. The last time a foreign leader was treated as if he was the US President was Bibi Netanyahu spoke to Congress. The fact that war criminals and crooks Zelia and Bibi got such a treatment tells you everything you need to know about who really runs the US Congress.
Congress, by the way, decided to act like the gang highway robbers it is and declared that it will “confiscate” (which implies a legal authority, if not it is called “steal”) Russian assets, thereby fulfilling Putin’s “prophecy” made in 2013 when he warned the Russian business community that its assets in the West would be stolen and that they would spend years trying to get them back.
It makes me wonder if the imbeciles in Congress understand what fulfilling this prophecy will mean for the USA as a jurisdiction to keep your assets in?
Then there is this: the Hyena of Europe is preparing for a mobilization which further indicates that it is about to try to bite off some piece of the Ukraine under the guise of some kind of (pseudo) “peacekeeping” or even “protection” mission which would not officially be a NATO operation, but which will be run out of Mons just like the entire Ukrainian military has been for a long while now.
Just as I was writing this, Gonzalo Lira just posted a (very good) video about this, check it out:
Now for a small piece of (possibly) good news, Biden has declared that US “partners” are “are not looking for a Third World War”. I would not make too much of this, since Biden is mostly unaware of the reality around him, and he is probably not privy to the decision-making of the real powers, the “collective Biden” which run the USA. Next, Biden, like all US Presidents, is a professional liar, so again, let’s not celebrate quite yet. Finally, this might be a feint (but if so, it won’t impress anybody in Russia).
So what is “the plan”?
Frankly, I don’t believe that there is one.
Since Dubya and Obama the White House has been occupied by weak and frankly clueless leaders, hence the various interests groups which control DC run “their own foreign policy”. So, like vectors, the various goals and means of the key actors add up to create a “sum vector” which can *look* like “a policy” or “a plan”, but it is no such thing. What is true of the US is even MORE true for NATO. Hence the Poles pulling at their chain like rabid dogs to the horror of the comparatively sane(er) Europeans.
I fully agree with Andrei Martyanov – the folks in charge in the West are totally clueless and they have absolutely no idea how to walk away from the mess they created. The Neocons probably would prefer a worldwide nuclear war to a Russian victory, but non-Neocon actors might not want to die for a sick, narcissistic, gang of ignorant yet self-worshiping thugs.
Who will prevail?
I have absolutely no idea. I am not sure anybody else knows either.
What I do know is that Russia has been preparing non-stop for a full-scale continental war since at least 2014 (see here for details). Defense Minister Shoigu has declared that next year Russia will add five new artillery divisions, eight bomber aviation regiments, one fighter regiment, three motor-rifle divisions, two air-assault divisions, and six army aviation brigades to the Russian armed forces! And, by the way, these “artillery divisions” will be what is called “high power” brigade/division in Russia, that is to say that they get the very heavy weapons, like 203mm and 240mm self-propelled mortars. Something which the newly recreated First Guards Tank Army (a “Shock Army” in Russian military terminology) would need to further increase its huge firepower.
And did I mention that Russia has fully modernized her nuclear triad and that key weapons factories in Russia are now working for 6 days a week with 3 shifts working non-stop?
And those of you who follow Andrei Martyanov’s blog also know how ubiquitous (true) hypersonic weapons are becoming part of the Russian armed forces.
Let’s just say that such firepower is total overkill for the Ukraine, so we can safely conclude that the Russian force planners did not have Banderastan but NATO in mind when they decided what type of forces Russia should develop next…
So far NATO has done a lot of tough talking, but it is pretty clear that (besides the rabid Poles) few Europeans have the stomach for a full-scale continental war in Europe which will leave their country in ruins. Yet, they are terrified of the US Neocons and therefore only can try to silently drag their feet while they are being dragged by the Neocons to the precipice.
***
And now, for some week-end music, I want to share with you the beautiful song “Wide River to Cross” (composed by Buddy & Julie Mille) in two versions:
Diana Krall with Jerry Douglas on the dobro:
and a very moving version by Roger Waters and US veterans (to whom, Roger, in his typical kindness, shows compassion and love, as he – correctly – identifies them as victims of the evil US imperialism he so often denounces. Enjoy!
Lyrics:
There’s a sorrow in the wind
Blowing down the road I’ve been
I can hear it cry while shadows steal the sun
But I cannot look back now
I’ve come too far to turn around
And there’s still a race ahead that I must run
I’m only halfway home, I’ve gotta journey on
To where I’ll find, find the things I have lost
I’ve come a long long road but still I’ve got some miles to go
I’ve got a wide, a wide river to cross
I have stumbled, I have strayed
You can trace the tracks I made
All across the memories my heart recalls
But I’m still a refugee, won’t you say a prayer for me?
‘Cause sometimes even the strongest soldier falls
I’m only halfway home, I’ve gotta journey on
To where I’ll find, I’ll find the things I have lost
I’ve come a long long road but still I’ve got some miles to go
I’ve got a wide, a wide river to cross
I’m only halfway home, I’ve gotta journey on
To where I’ll find, I’ll find the things that I have lost
I’ve come a long long road but still I’ve got some miles to go
I’ve got a wide, a wide river to cross
I’ve got a wide, a wide river to cross
If Poland goes into Ukraine and clashes with Russia, will Poland be able to require NATO to join the battle under the NATO treaty? How does Poland expect to avoid the fate of Ukraine’s military in a fight with Russia?
The U.S./NATO de facto war with Russia is a creation of a very unpopular establishment which does not feel it needs to consult the public about major foreign policy decisions. Despite the success of the propaganda, I don’t think the public wants a war with Russia, which should be an effective veto for an outright war. Without public support, I don’t think the Western side will get very far, although Ukraine may offer a counter example. The neocons/White House would have to concoct a new Causus Beli to mobilize the public for a war, probably. The Republicans are starting to use this issue against the Democrats.
As for Eastern Ukraine, what is actual public opinion there? Given the tyranny of the Nazis, I don’t think we can just assume the public agrees with the government, although it might. I think this will matter for the eventual fate of the East, regardless of who invades that area. If Russia captures this territory, they might hold a referendum there, as they did in Western Ukraine.
Bits and pieces I pick up from such as Col Macgregor, Brian Berletic, indicate that NATO might not have much to come to Polish aid with. The UK has, apparently, an Armed Forces which would fit into a football stadium in it’s entirety, the French are out of weapons, Germany is out of just about everything, the Chihuahua nations never had anything to begin with, and Scandinavia is lukewarm to put it mildly.
I was reminded of the fairy, Tinkerbell, from the childrens classic “Peter Pan” – talking of boys who never grow up, which we werent, but there they are. Tinkerbell got her ability to live from the children who believe in her. Once children no longer believe in her, she dies. Well, I am beginning to think that NATO and even the Empire rulers are spent out of everything, credit; conviction, money, assets, and now people who actually believe the Empire has anything to it left. Perhaps if we all stop believing that NATO and Empire are mighty beasts who must frighten us all, they too will just fade away and die.
Nicely put, Pamela.
Appreciate your comments
Thank you Steve. I hear things are not going so well in my one time place of domicile as it could be put. Hope things are not as bad as reported.
During Zelensky´s visit to Washington DC he thanked the US for its weapons supply, but said:
“It is not enough”.
This expected remark elicited laughter from the conservative lawmakers in Congress, and they were later scolded by the Neo-Lib Media for not standing up in congress and applauding Zelensky.
The visit ended with a press briefing where Joe Biden said:
“Providing Kiev with long-distance missiles would have the prospect of breaking up NATO and the EU.
The European members of NATO are against a third world war devastating the European continent.
But we are staying with Ukraine as long as Ukraine is there.”
Thus the US realizes that Ukraine is in the process of ceasing to exist, and when it does, the US will no longer stand by Ukraine.
Biden has been struggling to maintain an international coalition to support Kiev.
The vast majority of the world does not support Kiev and have joined China and Russia.
Europe is now in a severe energy crisis which only serves Washington’s interests.
The latest $369 billion US subsidy package will hurt EU competition and creates more US – EU tension.
Ukraine and Europe have been paying a heavy price for the policy of provoking Russia.
The problem with the US and UK creating tension on the European continent is that Europeans are getting tired of being harmed, exploited and negated by its supposed allies.
Since 1999, the Plan for the US Empire has been to get into war with Russia.
The US, UK and EU Neo Cons+Libs wants another war on the European continent to capture more Tax slaves, for the sole purpose to fight off the total crash of the dollar and preserve US hegemony.
However, the western European population will not fight for NAZIs or Fascists.
For the European population, one thing is to be plundered by Central Bankers and Wall Street.
Another is a 3rd devastating war on the European continent.
I believe that when the first missile strikes a Western European Nation, Europeans will rise up and end the Fascism hijacking their Nations. This could end both NATO and the EU.
As the Empire have been stealing private and public funds, both via direct theft and inflation, all investors are now fleeing from Wall Street to safety. This process has kept Western stock markets in decline for 2 years straight, and this process that will accelerate in the New Year, into a severe 10 year Depression.
In the New Year, young republican voices will arise from the US House of Representatives.
That is why it was important for the Neo-Libs to make the Zelensky PR stunt before Congress went on Holiday. The glory demanded by Pelosi for Zelensky was to thank him for being a whore for the Empire.
I doubt that Ukraine will receive the fund and weapons propagandized via western Media.
I don’t believe Z has returned to Ukraine. I believe he is hiding in his mansion in Florida.
Poland has historically selected the wrong team to be on before any major war.
This time they are on Team NAZI, to secure the Empire a last excuse to have its war with Russia.
The “invasion” of Poland (Movement of US and UK troops into Poland) was tested back in 2018.
I wish the outlook for the New Year were better.
It doesn’t matter if Western citizens don’t want a war; we have no say in the matter. It doesn’t matter what the “Nazi’s” think, now does it matter what the UKranian population things. None of them, nor all the rest of us have no say in the matter. Neither do the retired military personnel have a say in this matter. None. They have no power.
Some of us still don’t recognize this fact. Instead, the US Financial Hegemon has been taken over for the last 30+ years by the US Financial System. Period.
Meaning: its the multi-billionaires, the financial sharks, The FED, the hedge fund CEO, like Larry Fink of Black Rock, Gates, etc. —-the entire system is IN full command of AlL things to do with Russia and Ukraine.
You can forget Biden & all the other UK/EU politicians and what they say. They are NOT in control. It’s the US/EU/UK Financiers who are in complete control of the system.
Let’s also include a bunch of crazy US Neo-cons that are in the Market and the State Department, too.
Agreed with just one quibble. I’d say it is important to listen to what Biden/McConnell/Schumer/Pelosi/Graham say because they’re repeating what the financiers have told them to say. This gives us a clue as to plans of the Multinational Corporations. At this point, Fink/Gates/Soros/Raytheon/Lockhead Martin etc etc probably realize they’re not going to be able to defeat and then plunder Russia. But they’ve already won by making the EU even more dependent on the US particularly for energy and defense. I’d wager that they’ll let this drag on to see if an opportunity presents itself to mortally wound Russia but if things keep going poorly they’ll probably pull out and look for an easier opportunity to exploit which means destroying some other nation and however many people that live there. The politicians are just figureheads who say what they’re told and are just kept around to fool the US public into thinking they still live in a democracy although that mirage is starting to fall apart too. If the war ended tomorrow, no one in the US would give a shit regardless of who won or lost. The only ones invested in this war are the ones who expect to make a fortune in kickbacks from Ukraine or from raping Russia or both. No one else matters to them.
Those financeers need a big destruction in order to get rid of the debt blackhole. Their maniac doubling down could actually intend to trigger a nuclear war. At some point of the capitalist cycles, capital needs to destroy everything in order to set the foundations of new capital accumulation from zero. Just like somebody pointed out, Graham, Pelosi and co are the voice of their masters. But their masters are the voice of what abstract capital need to reproduce itself. That voice is not human, but the expression of materialist conditions above the human will.
Good points,Botched_Lobotomy.
In referring to the Kings Of $$:
“but if things keep going poorly they’ll probably pull out and look for an easier opportunity to exploit which means destroying some other nation and however many people that live there.”
The UK and EU is their best target. These US predators, including New York’s Big Banks, already have a built-in system there. Just as in the US, these predators are going after those nations to privatize everything. Throw out millions of people’s jobs, buy up public health care, public institutions, transportation, etc. They’re going to destroy those citizens, by impoverishing them: forced to use credit cards, loans; just as they’ve done in the US for the last 30 years.
I think as an individual, I have very little say in the matter. However, if a people is fed up and decides that enough is enough, it could tore The City to pieces in a day or two, for example. “We have no say in the matter” only applies to elections and legal actions within the corrupted institutions. It is irrelevant if direct force against the perpetrators of misconduct and state terror is applied to hold them to account on the basis of international law.
Let this serve as a reminder the next time somebody asserts that the Western citizens, especially in Europe, deserve what’s coming to them, etc.. The last bit probably explains it.
We do have a say in these matters I believe Rubicon. We just dont realise it and are afraid to use it. It’s the Power of No. It’s the power of One. we are many many more than they, we just dont know how to stand together, and say, with one voice, NO. what could they do against that??
Good comment! (Which has been really rare among first comments here.) I think you got eastern and western backwards, unless I have again. But yes I understand what your meaning is.
I think that if Poland wants to grab Ukrainian land, there are two options:
(1) Full NATO/EU/US backing for Poland’s action–this would be an open declaration of war by NATO (and by extension the EU, and by extension the US, the hand yanking the strings behind the curtain), and when all rockets have been fired, there wouldn’t be much left for any country to be triumphant over.
(2) NATO/EU/US tell Poland that she’s on her own (“don’t count on NATO backing”)–in this case, Russia would be free to retaliate against Poland without automatically starting WW3 proper. Russian retaliation would then have the same goals as in Ukraine: drain and neutralize the military and the infrastructure Poland, Proxy #2.
Option 1 implies total insanity by the neocons (I don’t put it past them, but shooting your mouth is one thing and pulling the trigger is another, with precious yourself physically in the enemy’s crosshair).
With Option 2, the US/etc. would be much worse off than they have ever been. It would also mean the end of NATO and the EU.
I think Option 2 is more probable, with a protracted conventional war that would militarily, economically and politically drain the West more (much more) than Russia.
All the “members” of NATO muster all of their most gifted doubletalkers and most devious legal minds to do whatever, WHATEVER, is necessary to ignore Article 5 of the NATO charter, which is already pretty weak and worded in such a way as to compel no one to actually do anything specific. As pointed out above, they hardly have anything with which join any battle, except maybe a drag show dance-off.
I think you are switching East and West. West is left on the map and East is right. Maybe Russia will hold a referendum in the West of Ukraine once the “nazis” are dead or gone.
the ukraine comes to the dc circus and every one loves a clown. Amerikas govt. has plenty cash ukraine war but none for us on Main Street Amerika.
Thank you very much. This is my type of article, it makes one think of different strategies between forces in the Ukraine fighting. Gonzalo Lira Is very well up to putting out different ideas that could possibly take place, and he explains the depth of ideas , leaving it to the reader to evaluate and respond as to other possibilities that he himself have not raised.
Many times people don’t think of the obvious, especially if it doesn’t look obvious.
Like there has been talk of organ harvesting during the war so as to keep a certain segment of people needed organs alive to fight their battle to the end.
And you cant even see this enemy.
Most Christian Americans (the older generation, like myself) celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25. Our Orthodox brothers will do the same on January 7 of the new year.
For the sake of all the innocent children throughout the world, let us hear their young voices sing praise to what is most holy,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7C2MKoBL7Q
Thank you “He is risen! Alleluia!”.
Hi Saker – its a beautiful video – Roger Waters and the Soldier – so tearful really –
Russians are master planners! One only has to visit St. Petersburg and marvel how that city has developed from absolutely nothing starting in 1703. The West had better not tangle with Russia.
I think until the hapless inner city Dems figure out they are the ones cooked when the lights, heat, food and water go here, and those “without” have guns we are going to have to listen to this dribble. We are our own enemy in this war seemly trying to de-populate ourselves while the oligarchs hide in bunkers and underground cities.
Where are our fall-out shelters, or has it come down to protect our own individual survival? A thought rolls through my head, “Better get a gun.” I watch the idea pass and realize, “Boy, the Dems are sure making the world a safer place for Democracy.”
And most importantly, NO MONEY!
Poland is reckless enough to want to openly enter the conflict with the hope that NATO would come to its aid. I’m sorry for the young Poles that would be sacrificed for nothing.
Dmitry Orlov, as part of a piece written a couple of years back now, I think, said “there is a Russian curse for those who have truly infuriated you, and deserve a hard and harsh kickback “Go to hell, and take Galicia with you”.
It was indicative of the feeling perhaps general among Russians of the Polish bit of modern artificial Ukraine. It seems they may be about to get their wish :-)
This to day on INfoRuss, I’ve copied the entire, as it’s not long and I realise many may not have access to a computer translator.
But it does seem to show one way forward, if the writer hasinterpreted Putin correctly, as I think he has. That the area once called “Galicia”, will not be incorporated into Russia, and Russia doesnt want it.
Here it is- I’m afraid it encourages reading someone with no link, and claims to add a video link not there, but the body of the message is solid, and resounding. Enjoy.
“In the question of the fate of Galicia, it seems that a clarification has dawned: it is not going to be integrated into the New Russia
Alexey Galkin: As you know, Putin is very scrupulous in terms of words.
It doesn’t throw them to the wind.
And even when he seems to speak casually, in passing, like “accidentally escaped”, this should be treated as seriously as his official words and statements.
Therefore, I was also very impressed by his words about Galicia.
Very direct.
I personally remember very well the well-known part of Peter Durnovo’s memo to Nicholas II on the inadmissibility of joining Galicia to Russia.
The real story so clearly demonstrated his correctness that there were many versions that this part of his report was a later insert.
In any case, this note has been widely known to historians for a long time. I learned about it as a student of the history department.
And finally, the fate of Galicia seems to have been clarified: it is not going to be integrated into the New Russia.
Personally, I took this phrase of Putin’s with great inner relief and joy.
Accordingly, I hasten to share Vajra’s long-standing material, where he exhaustively covered the issue of Galicia and Galicians.
Anyone who is not familiar with the topic and believes that Galicians are the same Ukrainians (who, in turn, are the same as Russians), I highly recommend reading it!☝????
Andrey Vajra: I noticed one funny psychological feature: the more ignorant a person is, the more stupid they are, the more categorical their statements are on an issue that they don’t understand at all.
I mean, when I have to voice my opinion about the future of Eastern Galicia, individuals who consider themselves ardent patriots of Russia appear in the comments and begin to convulse with dementia. “Aaaaaaaa,” they shout. “Vajra is throwing our lands away! He wants to give the “RUSSIAN” Carpathian region to someone! It’s ours! AAAAAA!”
The problem is that often patriotism borders on idiocy. And the first from the second is very difficult to separate. Fools think that patriotism is analogous to stupid greed and the desire to grab everything you can reach. This is something infantile. A small child also pulls into his mouth everything that gets into his hands. And if the parents do not show vigilance, then often the child has to be urgently taken to the surgeon to save his life.
For those who are “on the handbrake” and at the same time “in the tank” I repeat once again: not everything that can be taken, you need to take. And Eastern Galicia is just one of them. Do not engage in coprophagy!
These Polish-Austrian backyards, inhabited, to put it mildly, by a strange people, with a very strange mental organization, are an anthropological toxin for any other people. We are now seeing this firsthand on the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR. (The population of Galicia is the social base of Ukrainian Nazism and Russophobia.) And at the beginning of the last century, something similar could be observed on the example of the Poles, whose blood was drenched in Galicia and Volhynia. Galician / Galicians, as a kind of spiritual and psychological community, have the most disgusting moral, moral and mental qualities. It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!
This people-function, was created by the Austrians from several archaic tribes of the Carpathian region as a kind of tool designed to destroy Russia, as a kind of spiritual and psychological toxin, specially synthesized on the basis of animal hatred to poison all Russian. After the Austrians, this folk function was used against the USSR by Nazi Germany. Now the United States is using it against Russia.
There is no other meaning in the existence of Galicians as a social community. When they are not needed by the enemies of Russia, these individuals, like nomads, scatter around the world to earn something for themselves, performing the most primitive, dirty and hard work. They’ve always lived like this! And they can’t live any other way!
So you’d have to be an idiot to push this spiritual and psychological abomination back into Russia. Yes, we need to go to Galicia. Yes, this territory needs to be rolled back (through demilitarization and denazification) to the state of 1939. But after that, the Galician abomination just needs to be exchanged for something useful.
Today I am re-publishing my old (deleted by YouTube) video, adding to it a recent statement by the Russian president. It seems that our opinions about where Eastern Galicia should be located, with its specifically repressed population, completely coincide.”
Alexey Galkin
Polen war schon einmal sehr mutig (!939) und hat sich auf seine Bündnispartner (Großbritannien und Frankreich) verlassen. Der Rest ist bekannt. Durch die Sowjetunion wurde es vom Faschismus befreit.
Undank ist der Weltenlohn.
Ich glaube (Wissen wäre besser), dass die USA nicht bereit sind für Polen den 3. Weltkrieg aus zu lösen.
Dear Saker,
May the Lord grant you personal strength, good health as you recover from an eventful year and a big thank you to the moderators and community for keeping this esteemed blog active in you absence and stronger than ever!
The world is at a cross-roads so take a moment to cherish those that you love and say a prayer for the dearly departed as well as those brave souls battling the forces of evil in Ukraine and wherever the “Collective West” has its proxy forces and influence…
To those of you who celebrate I wish you a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year!
God Bless and Slava Bogu!
It this turns into another “forever war”, and the US has a history of doing that, Russia will have to deal with the production of weapons in the western world.
In any war, you start on the weak players on the periphery, like the Taliban did in Afghanistan. That is SOP.
The most likely target I see for that is S. Korea. S Korea is pretty much an island. S. Korea has actual industrial capacity and is currently building mobile missile launchers for Poland.
Long range mobile missile launchers seem to be the cause of the most problems for Russia.
Saker makes a great point that Russia has been preparing for a continental war since at least 2014. Therefore, its’ important to remember that Russia’s SMO is only a small part of it’s preparations for a continental war and it explains why Russia has chosen not destroy Ukraine, at least not yet.
Is there one public figure in the West worthy of respect?
We seem to be in tge aristocratic decay timeline where the heirs have become weak and degenerate and the state starts to fail.
Some factors for those differential equations inside the question, who is going to win?
1- The USA is an island power, not a continental power. She can project power beyond her borders but cannot sustain it. Russia is a continental power, as are all Eurasian nations.
2- Nations overseas who want to rely on US wealth and power projection do not appreciate the many incapacities imposed on her ipso facto from being an island power rather than a continental one.
3- With her military TOEs deplete — especially skilled personnel — and not net-centric to Russian standards, with her engineering-industrial base sent off the island and consumer-oriented, with her intelligence services unwilling to foster her sovereign freedom, with her professors, business managers, and financiers replacing American patriots with at least temporarily manageable foreigners, and with her clergy having let atheists widely destroy her sense of The Holy, The USA have not means even just to project power in any sense foreigners can trust, even if they wanted to. Cf. MBS of KSA.
4- NATO-EU are flat out of skill, engineering, manners of cooperation, spirit, training, equipment, and strategic sense sufficient to conduct continental warfare.
5- Neocons are indeed headed for the precipice, as were their ancestors, Sicarii, and for the same reason: zealous, implacable inhumanity. Sicarii jumped. It behooves those who may to not follow Sicarii descendants off the cliff and instead to plan now for life after they are gone to self-destruction. After all, Sicarii know their own countrymen are their enemies.
I say, let God take care of Neocons-Sicarii. He knows them better than we do and is better place to hand them what they deserve. We have work to do, creative work, in our own and our nation’s sovereign freedom.
I note two items which may offer clues to Western intent for Ukraine:
1) The serious emptying-out of east/central Ukraine by progressive-conscription of males of almost any age, with them being sent to slaughter against Russian artillery (not quite genocide, but close).
2) Much of the aid to Ukraine is being sent under lend-lease terms, not as grants. This means any remnant of Ukraine will be ‘on the hook’ for repayment, which will render them automatically semi-bankrupt. It is likely that they will be falling under IMF/World Bank rules, which often force sell-off of a country’s ‘crown jewels’ to private investors (see Greece).
Putting these two factors together, their long-range Plan seems to be that western Ukraine will subsume any remaining lands not taken by Russia. No pesky Russian-leaners left. Following that, Western interests will snap-up anything of value at fire-sale prices. Ukrainians will be serfs in their own land.
The only possible fly-in-the-ointment is if Russia takes the entirety of Ukraine and promptly repudiates any of the above debt…
(As in previous comments, I recommend finding-out the true decision-makers, finding-out what they hold dear, and placing that at risk. Only then will they back-off. As it is, they have no consequences for bad behavior…)
You are assuming that Nato will have a say in Ukraine post SMO, if that is the case why is Russia continuing the operation?
Most likely scenario will be self regime change which might even change the name if the state and also cancel all properties sold to foreigners. Cancel all loans. What is going to happen? It’s not as if they are going to give Whatever land left a AAA rating. It’s going to be a basket case for decades and canceling all debt under exploitative foreigner influenced regime will be the dictate. And nationalisation of all such properties to be then farmed out to those who can invest and restart the economy ie China. What is Nato going to do in response? War? Negative sovereign rating? If you don’t intend to deal with the ratings are useless. Whatever economic activity happens will happen with/through Russia and China.
Ukraine as an independent nation does not exist at this time. All ‘decisions’ are made by UKUS. That includes whether to fight to the last east/central Ukrainian…
There are two basic scenarios: Either Russia pushes to the western border of Ukraine, or Russia decides to stop at some intermediate line.
Under scenario one, NATO (the UKUS) and the banksters lose. Plus the agri-corps. Ukraine is ‘sealed off’ from any further interference, and any debts to the West are repudiated. Then, Russia decides how it wants to reconstruct Ukraine. (Russia may or may not want to keep China out of Ukraine.)
Under scenario two, NATO (the UKUS) and the banksters win. The agri-corps may win or lose, depending on the final line. The rest of Ukraine will be heavily militarized by NATO, right up to the ceasefire line. This includes long-range rockets. The rump-Ukraine is also beholden to the banksters (IMF/World Bank/etc.), and the rape of rump-Ukraine will commence.
(All of the above assumes that the entire Ukrainian conflict is not simply a way to distract the public while the Great Reset is rolled-in…)
The political class of Poland are worse than hyenas, they are jackals totally alienated from the USA; it’s crazy Along with Hungary, Poland is one of the black beasts of the European Union for its defense of Christianity against the satanism of Brussels and instead of joining Russia in sharing the defense of Christianity, it attacks Russia.
I truly believe that Poland either needs an exorcist or needs a psychiatrist. If John Paul II were alive he would kick them out, all the cow dung of the political class of such a sad country.
Zelensky now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eYQDdAZD5g&t=3s
Ike Welcomes Vietnam Chief (1957)
Zelensky likely future:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13476480@N07/44523509542
Ngo Dinh Diem (1901 – 1963), former president of South Vietnam, and his kid brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, in an armored personnel carrier after his assassination in a CIA-backed coup led by General Duong Van Minh, Vietnam, 2nd November 1963. (Photo by Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
So what is “the plan”?
It’s obvious, at least in the short term. The Molotov-Ribbentrop solution. They will do the one thing they not talking about — negotiate and rearm and plan to betray their treaty partner in The Last Battle.
Why obvious? Because the West knows it will lose a conventional war vs. Russia and it has only the MAD option if full-blown war started today.
Just because they are insane sociopaths doesn’t mean they are stupid. This little war will be classified in history the same way the Spanish Civil War relates to WWII. Europe will rearm (this time for sure!) and put its economy on a war footing. Get back to me in a couple/three years for the big show.
Regarding ‘the plan’, the Neocons believe it is the 1980’s and that they will use Ukraine as the newest Afghanistan to bleed Russia to death. They actually do believe that over 100,000 Russian soldiers are dead and Russia is completely ineffective in Ukraine, just stating what they believe.
If the Russophiles are correct then it is NATO and Ukraine that is bleeding. So how will it end? One side or the other will bleed to death. If Russia is doing the bleeding then why bother with a winter offensive, in fact, Russia would be better off waiting for the Patriot missile systems to arrive because then they would be able to destroy high end (aka expensive) U.S. systems that only the U.S. can provide. I’d prefer a quick end to this war but at this point I think it’s personal. One side will have to lose a lot of of blood before they give in.
The fact that this “man” can meet with a “world leader” and the “free world’s” congress shows perfectly how much of a joke the US has become.
We have weekend at Bernie’s at the helm. And have a judo master at the other. Hmmmm who will win?
Can’t apologize more for what “my” country has done to this world. It’s just not that easy to fix things here. How f’ing embarrassing…
Yes, the fate of the USA and a large portion of the world has been put in the hands of two creeps from Central Casting, Zelensky and Fauci.
Unbelievable
i hope it starts somewhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtKo9EEalwI
I hope they don’t start coming for individual, middle-class, Russian immigrant’s assets in the US.
I find the unbridled ethnic hatred of any ethnicity to be unconscionable. But it seems that the West now has lost most of its human-rights values. Westerners must hate Russians and Russian culture including art and literature, just like Westerners must hate all ‘white’ people from wherever they may be from.
The West just keeps stepping backwards toward the cliffs of totalitarianism.
Realistically, Russia, China, The BRICS, and the Global South seem to be the only ethical path forward.
An international collection of sovereign nations who respect each others sovereignty and seek mutual advantage through trade and cooperation.
You write “Biden is mostly unaware of the reality around him” This is exactly the reason that he is president. Biden is unaware of the realities arround him so the Clinton Mafia is using the same modus operendi that they used against Saddam, Kadafi, Milosevic, Maduro and now Putin and at home against Trump.
It will be a mistake for Russia not to act proactively and just wait for something to happen.
There is a golden opportunity to split the West Ukrainian leadership. Those supporting Zelenski’s quest for Ukraine as a whoke to be part of NATO — and those who have traditionally cared only to get independence.
The best solution is for Russia is to support West Ukrainian independence, with regions bordering subject to county by county referebmbdum ( Zhitomir and Vinitsya).
The hope of independence was what threw them into Hitler’s camp in the first place. They do not wish to be controled by Poland. And their chance of success is not worse than Slivakia!s.
Historically there is justice in it. But more importantly, why woukd they lise lives for Zelenski and neocons? Why fighta war against Russia to force thise Russians stay in Ukraine — when they themselves always wanted out.
There will be a split between neocon serving, Russia fighting leaders in Kiev, and nationalists back in Lviv. Is it better to get independence or continue fighting Russia with dangers of being invaded by Poland.
If I understand you correctly, this is kind of what I have been thinking.
Wouldn’t it best if Russia or someone could support a coup within Ukraine to get rid of Zelensky and the American noose, which is killing Ukraine and Ukrainians?
Get rid of Zel and make a separate peace with Russia.
Dear Andrei,
I always enjoy friday’s post the most, for the music. Although my heart breaks for the state of the world today. There is no sence left, no truth, no honesty, very little love. Where will it all lead? I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Andrei for your blog.
God Speed.
Whitebeach
Season’s Greeting to all especially those heroic Russian soldiers and their allies fighting the evil US/NATO-backed Neonazis. The recent Ze go home visit to DC was a private show aimed at bilking billions out of US citizens pockets while they are kept busy with economic problems, inflation, amphetamine addictions, widespread crimes…etc. and no way of knowing what’s going on in the world. Definitely, the Anglozionist Empire is standing on its last leg.
I think that Russia is deliberately baiting the west especially rabid russophobes like Poland and Romania to feel adventurous and start an operation into ukraine so that it can use this as a pretext to wreck NATO completely – From Asia , Africa and Middle East, Russia seems to have got ironclad guarantees from giants like India , UAE, Algeria, Indonesia etc that they will continue to support and buy Russian goods and materials as long as Russia promise to finish what it started – I also don’t believe that the Russian and Chinese relationship is as deep as everyone says but it’s more of an relationship of convenience – It’s hard to believe that the Chinese who have done multiple border wars with Russia,was the largest supplier of small arms to Mujahideen terrorists in Afghanistan and the largest backer of Pakistan and it’s devious isi which was the largest backer for the same Islamist terrorists and which caused significant damage to Soviet forces have been forgiven and forgotten by the Russian military intelligence complex – The fact that Russia, India and Iran have aligned up with the Taliban , TTP and Baloch fighters to attack both Chinese and Pakistani acting as surrogates for American and European commercial interests means that their common aim is hem China and the West in so that it doesn’t eat everything that it sees – So any move by Poland or any other East European country to intervene will most likely produce an full spectrum industrial war that nobody has seen till date – The aim would be to not just pulverize and annihilate but also to send a message to allies to keep the faith while asking it’s enemies to FAFOo FAFO
In case no one’s noticed it, Jim Kunstler has a hilarious take-down of the muppet show on his blog this weekend. https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/santa-and-satan/
I was feeling a little depressed and “down”. so Thank you for that Patricia. I needed a laugh.
Someone pointed out (SF) that the triangular box with US Flag folded 13 times, that Pelosi presented to Zelenskyy at the Congress his week, is solemnly reserved for funerals!
Sure looks like a gigantic funeral!
And then Pres. Biden :
“This guy is ready to give his life for his country.”
Capiche?
Put another way : “Here’s your money, you are a gone bunny” .
It is true the flag is folded and presented as you described at military funerals.
It is also true the flag is folded the exact same ceremonial way and stored overnight after it is lowered from its staff at retreat (generally sunset), then unfolded and raised the following morning. This happens thousands of times a day all over the world.
So no, no symbolism there.
So Z will unfold the flag in Kiev?
If D.C. sends US ‘contractors’ for Patriots, they will have it handy nearby.
It is the biggest funeral in the world . Even EC von der Leyen blurted out the numbers.
NATO will fight to the last Ukrainian, meaning the last buried Ukrainian.
People that are capable o blowing up NordStream are very capable of funeral jokes – we have our ways as Biden said.
Capiche?
The western monetary system is collapsing and Putin and Xi know it. The West is Crumbling & Putin Knows it. “We are looking at the beginning of World War III. In order to pull off this Great Reset, they needed to remove Trump, Putin, and Xi in hopes of then subordinating both China and Russia to the New World Order with the United Nations in control.”
“We live in very interesting and dangerous times. The Climate Change people have pushed that the world has only 7 years left and the Neocons have usurped this agenda to make their dreams come true. These Neocons are a government within a government. They operate under their own rules and are not subject to oversight. “What is unfolding is that the arrogance of the Neocons and their personal hatred of Russia and China has run its course. They are now setting in motion the decline and fall of the West. A crisis is unfolding. They simply NEED war to cover up the collapse of Keynesian economics and the monetary system of borrowing endlessly with no intention of paying anything back.
hey think they really can defeat both China and Russia and the Build Back Better with a new Bretton Woods. All I can say is they are seriously wrong and they will only create World War III, they will lose, and the financial capital of the world will shift to China.
“That has been the forecast of our computer for decades now and instead of listening, they try to defeat it. “What 2032 represents is the complete collapse in government precisely as we saw with the American Revolution which brought the downfall of the monarchy. This was the birth of republics once again and we will move back to a new form of government that may be hard to visualize. The current system of socialism is collapsing.” We are on the path to 2032. We need to start thinking about what new form of government we must create. Our current version will collapse by 2028.” This is all needed because the monetary system is collapsing and we have reached the end of the road of fiscal mismanagement of borrowing every year, running deficits under socialism to bribe voters. But they are reaching the capacity to sell their debt. As interest rates rise, nobody wants long-term debt. The only way to escape this debt crisis is to create war. That will be the excuse to default on all the debt and start all over again, hopefully with a reduced population.
“We are looking at a sovereign debt default. This is what’s going on. This is why Biden will spend whatever he wants because he knows he doesn’t have to pay it back. Eventually, this is what’s going to happen. This is Schwab’s agenda.”
“2023 will be the year from Hell.” “Civil unrest will only get worse” this year, and he is predicting we will have full blown war next year” They need war as the excuse for the defaults of all the government debt.” This is Klaus Schwab’s ‘Great Reset.’ They know they have a serious problem. rand scale. There is no way it can sustain itself, and we are looking at Europe breaking apart.”
Europe is the problem. . . . The crisis in banking will start in Europe. . . . The debt is collapsing. They have no way to sustain themselves. The debt market over there is undermining the stability of all the banks. You have to understand that reserves are tied to government debt, and this is the perfect storm.
The situation for many will only deteriorate from here. I wish I could provide a more optimistic forecast, but I must go off what the models state rather than my own hopes or opinions. Again, the World Bank is now acknowledging that food and energy will become scarce. “Those who understand what is really taking place and that we are on the edge of global defaults post-2024 are not likely to take these vaccines. Hence, they are really trying to prevent movements that will overthrow governments. Just like communism fell in 1989, our Western economies will collapse, and they cannot prevent it. It will not necessitate massive civil unrest. People are not buying their long-term debt anymore, and when they cannot keep funding this insanity, they will collapse of their own accord. This is not some child’s game of blowing bubbles. We live in the real world.”
We are confronted by a real crisis called the Great Reset, which is an attempt to end capitalism as we know it. The crisis is that socialism is collapsing and to keep it going the governments have been borrowing endlessly with no intent of paying anything off.
The objective here is to eliminate paper money so they can just extract whatever taxes they want. The Bank of International Settlement (BIS) has plainly stated that they want digital currencies so the government can control what you are even allowed to spend YOUR money on.
“The Global Identity Project is designed to shift the global economy away from private ownership and into what the WEF calls an “access model” where you own nothing but rent goods and services from the world’s billionaires and billionaire corporations,” Martin Armstrong
Most do not realize the western system is actually collapsing as we speak as the west can no longer sustain themselves and need war to cover up the collapse which they lose badly.
It looks to me as though there is chernozem soil on both sides of the Dniepr River.
Here is a map of the chernozem soils of Eurasia:
https://i.redd.it/buee0q7qmuz41.jpg
Per an online query, “Nearly a quarter of the world’s most fertile soil, known as Chernozem, is located in Ukraine.”
I should think these areas would be a prize for whatever country controls them and controlling them would be a rational war aim. If Russia gains control, it would probably cancel foreign owners such as Monsanto and other transnational agribusinesses. These farmlands were never supposed to be sold to foreign entities.
Zelensky’s clothing is a costume, a prop. It has nothing to do with respect/disrespect for the US Congress. And, we note that his forebear fuhrer made a similar choice — at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939 announcing he would don his grey fieldcoat and not take it off until Final Victory. Well, he ended up getting buried in it. Keep to the script Zelensky.
Exactimundo.
As I wrote elsewhere:
“Originally the fatigue-colored T=shirt was supposed to signal that Z was (1) an army stiff, and (2) working around the clock at his headquarters in Kiev, defending the country.
Now the fatigue T-shirt look has become a :”brand.” This branding operation has been quite successful. I wouldn’t be surprised if a PR team had come up with this. We know that US and other PR teams are working with the Uke nationalists.
The Z brand also means showing that he can get away with flouting normal notions of diplomatic decorum and still be taken seriously as a national leader and lionized in the US Congress.
I don’t know how this look would fly in, say, the EU Parliament or in a meeting in Paris with Macron.
If he wanted to take his wife to dinner at, say, the Tour d”Argent in Paris, he might not be allowed in if not properly dressed (although the dress code at elegant eateries may have gone the way of the dodo by now)!
IMO this is partly a show for the American rubes. I won’t be at all surprised to see our elected representatives and govt officials soon sporting the fatigue T-shirt look in the halls of Congress and elsewhere.
It also shows how easily one can influence Americans. As Netanyahu famously said, “It’s easy to control the Americans and get them to do what you want.” “
Agree with Gonzalo Lira that the Polish government is foolish enough to hurl their troops in to grab Galicia, and count on NATO support. However, there is a fine grey area – I think only to a gibberish amount of NATO support would be allowed by the RF, and Art. 5 of NATO does not state the amount of help. Sending a box of pencils is help too. My guess is that Poles will mess up again. I wish them good luck, not forgetting to start a searching machine and hit ‘Volyn’ as search term.
It is hard to guess a plan in the west, not because there isn’t any, but more because there are many. In this respect it is interesting that fossil Kissinger, the speaker of the House of Rockefeller, is so hell-bent on negotiations and stopping before it’s too late.
To get an idea of what think tanks in the DC and EU area are spewing, away from cams and mikes, is really interesting. I would like to invite you to dive into these fine advises:
-The report of Luke Coffey of the ‘Hudson Institute’: https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/Preparing+for+the+Final+Collapse+of+the+Soviet+Union+and+the+Dissolution+of+the+Russian+Federation.pdf
Simplified summary: the writer is of the opinion, that the RF is kind of a disobedient child that broke a window at the neighbours house, and must be grounded.
-The report of Bruno Tertrais of ‘Institut de Montaigne’ : https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/analysis/fall-russia
The tendency of this ‘report’ is that the RF is kind of a ‘mafia style’ society and must be brought to order after the inevitable defeat – already at the third alinea I got the laughs that the writer has lived under a stone for at least 25 years or so.
(and only when you have no fears of losing a Christmas dinner, a fine European report of ‘Euraktiv’: https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/opinion/russias-inevitable-collapse/ this intellectual waste of Georgian and Polish writers is a funny mix of (what psychologist call) ‘projection’ and existential hate.)
Then realize that among people that take decisions, quite some actually believe this.
It is hard to foresee the developments on the ground. I think the RF is not in a hurry while NATO is running out of weapon deliveries, and might be reluctant to sent their finest stuff to see it fail (bad for business). I don’t think the RF is waiting for ‘security guarantees’ – that station has passed. They will look for their own guarantees, how and what is for anyone to guess.
To paraphrase the band Crowded House: NATO and the EU are more and more ‘hanging on single stitches’, and ‘things ain’t cooking in their kitchen’.
Thanks for sharing the beautiful performance of Roger Waters and the Vets, and merry Christmas.
Cheers and stay safe, Rob
Nato is not a Club, but occupation by Empire.
think of it as Gonzo Goes to Washington.
Well, someone had to cash in on the Jim Henson reference.
I can’t imagine that the author intended to refer to Kermit the Frog and his friends – AFAIK the term ‘muppet’ is also a generic term to describe an incompetent or foolish person. And even then I can’t imagine e.g. Gonzo being as foolish or incompetent as the neocon crazies in DC, notwithstanding any woke policies the Jim Hensom Company may have succumbed to.
Go take a look at the flag Zee handing to the US Congress. It has an Nazi SS symbol on it.
Now, in the real anti-Nazi world that would have been caught and the bearer of the flag excoriated.
Instead?
The bearer of the flag in the new Churchill forging a new Ukrainian “Democracy”……based on Nazism. So at this point I can only assume that the US Congress and Administration are pro-Nazi. There is no other way I can read it.
Privately its always been that way, pubilically if it doesn’t work, they either go to war, get sick to their stomach, or occasionally both.
But to date their are always another younger group of them to replace the aging ones, and its quite a challenge to confront them, they are hard as a rock, set in stone, and speedy to respond.
Zelensky intentionally hid the flag’s messages. He looked at it before handing it up to the VP and Speaker, then intentionally reversed it so viewers couldn’t read any of it.
havent read the comments to see if its been mentioned. but i saw someone shocked that the boxed american flag! folded 13 times as was presented is solely used as a solemn funeral event. there was also the holding up ukraine flag, unheard of ever in that place . there are no limits of precedence for this conflict. it will be a “there can only be one “ending