A boss I once had told me a story. He went to high school in the 1950’s when
tough guys with duck tail haircuts wore engineer boots, jeans and had a pack of
Lucky Strikes wrapped into their T-shirt sleeve. My boss was a short guy but he was scrappy and
he told me about when he picked a fight with this big guy, who didn’t want to
fight. Ed wanted to show how tough he
was and wouldn’t take no for an answer and kept instigating attacks until the
big guy finally decided to fight him.
Back in the 50’s the guy who won the fight was the guy that
refused to “give.” So Ed started fist fighting with the big guy and the big guy
beat the crap out of Ed, but Ed refused to “give.” The big guy finally got
tired of using Ed’s face for a punching bag and “gave.” Ed said he’d won, but his face told a
different story. Two black eyes, a
broken nose, split lip and chipped tooth while the other guy was
unscathed.
Ed thought he had bragging rights because he didn’t “give”,
but as an adult he now realized just how stupid that was. That has been America’s foreign policy since
the overthrow of the U.S. Government on December 12, 2000 when five of the most
corrupt Supreme Court Justices ever to serve in America overturned the
Presidential election and installed George W. Bush as President. One of those Supreme Court Justices was
Anthony Kennedy who is now retiring. If
ever there were a reason to revoke life-time appointments to the high court it
was then. We can lay the blame for the
state of America’s impending Deep State imperial implosion at the door of those
five corrupt Justices.
The foreign policy ushered in by George W. Bush and
continued by Barack Obama of instigating undeclared wars across the globe to
show how tough we are and then refuse to accept the obvious conclusion that we
can’t win has left America trillions in debt, our infrastructure in shambles, a
corrupt casino based Wall Street economy, a media owned and operated by
billionaire tycoons and corrupt billionaire think tanks, while the American
people suffer the effects. According to
the Economist:
“From
1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans aged 35 to 64 increased nearly
30 percent. The largest increases were among men in their fifties, with rates
rising nearly 50 percent, and for women aged 60 to 64, with rates rising 60
percent.”
The “big guys” that don’t want to fight today are Russia and
China, but they are now finding themselves having to fight an adversary already
bloodied and beaten from previous lost fights that refuses to “give.” From Russia Insider:
Excerpt:
US Military Superiority Is a Propaganda Myth. Russia's Forces Are
Actually Far More Capable
When was the last time the US won a
war? Unlike their US counterparts, Russian weapons are designed to kill, not
to make money and, second, Russians understand warfare because they
understand what war really is.
The fact that the US is facing a profound crisis, possibly the worst one in its
history, is accepted by most observers, except maybe the most delusional ones.
Most Americans definitely know that…
When speaking of this crisis, most
people will mention the de-industrialization, the drop in real income, the lack
of well-paid jobs, healthcare, crime, immigration, pollution, education, and a
myriad of other contributing factors. But of all the aspects of the “American
dream”, the single most resilient one
has been the myth of the US military as “the finest fighting force in history”…
In this new book, Andrei Martyanov
not only comprehensively debunks this myth, he explains step by step how this
myth was created and why it is collapsing now…
First, he defines military power, then he explains where the myth of US
military superiority came from and how the US rewriting of the history of WWII
resulted in a complete misunderstanding,
especially at the top political levels, of the nature of modern warfare. He
then discusses the role ideology and the Cold War played in further exacerbating the detachment of US leaders
from reality.
Finally, he demonstrates how a
combination of delusional narcissism and outright corruption resulted in a US
military capable of wasting truly
phenomenal sums of money on “defense” while at the same time resulting in an
actual force unable to win a war against anything but a weak and
defenseless enemy… in the words of Martyanov:
Surely when America fought against a third-rate adversary it was
possible to rain death from the skies, and then roll over its forces, if any
remained by that time, with very little difficulty and casualties. That will
work in the future too against that type of adversary—similar in size and
flimsiness of Iraqi Forces circa 2003. But Ledeen’s Doctrine had one major
flaw—one adult cannot continue to go around the sandbox constantly fighting
children and pretend to be good at fighting adults.
The main problem for the US today is that there are very few of those
third-rate adversaries left out there and that those who the US is trying
to bring to submission now are either near-peer or even peer adversaries… Still, one can live in an imaginary world only
as long as reality does not come crashing in, be it in the form of criminally overpriced and useless
weapon systems or in the form of painful military defeats…
In this book, Martyanov explains
why, in spite of the absolutely catastrophic 1990s, the Russians succeeded in
developing a modern and highly capable combat force in a record time… There are two main reasons for this: first, unlike their US counterparts,
Russian weapons are designed to kill, not to make money and, second, Russians
understand warfare because they understand what war really is…
In contrast, Americans have no
experience of real warfare (that is warfare in defense of their own land,
family and friends) at all. For
Americans warfare is killing the other guy in his own country, preferably from
afar or above, while making a ton of money in the process. For Russians,
warfare is simply about surviving at any and all cost. The difference couldn’t
be greater.
Yes, indeed “the main problem for the US today is that there
are very few of those third-rate adversaries left out there and that those who
the US is trying to bring to submission now are either near-peer or even peer
adversaries” but it was inevitable that after 20 years of war. However, the bloodied, battered America
refuses to “give” and continues bullying and demanding a confrontation. Sadly, they will get one. From Strategic Culture:
Excerpt:
Two Knockout Blows to US Imperialism: De-Dollarization and Hypersonic
Weapons
In the current multipolar world in
which we live, economic and military
factors are decisive in guaranteeing countries their sovereignty. Russia
and China seem to be taking this very seriously, committed to the
de-dollarization of their economies and the accelerated development of
hypersonic weapons.
The transition phase we are going
through, passing from a unipolar global order to a multipolar one, calls for
careful observation. It is important to analyze the actions taken by two world
powers, China and Russia, in defending and consolidating their sovereignty over
the long term. Observing decisions taken
by these two countries in recent years, we can discern a twofold strategy. One
is economic, the other purely military. In both cases we observe strong
cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. The merit of this alliance is
paradoxically attributed to the attitude of various US administrations, from George Bush Senior through to Obama.
The special relationship between
Moscow and Beijing has been forged by a shared experience of Washington’s
pressure over the last 25 years. Their
shared mission now seems to be to contain the US’s declining imperial power and
to shepherd the world from a unipolar world order, with Washington at the
center of international relations, to a multipolar world order, with at least
three global powers playing a major role in international relations…
Both de-dollarization and the
development of hypersonic weapons serve the purpose of defending both
countries’ sovereignty. Economic sovereignty entails, among other things, elimination of dependence on the US dollar,
the abandonment of an international banking system based on the SWIFT payment
system, the inclusion and increase in the share of the yuan in the basket
of international currencies, the reduction of dollar-denominated public debt,
the constant accumulation of gold, and, of course, the elimination of any residual debt with international
institutions that are part of the world governance model controlled and
manipulated by Washington for its own interests…
From an economic point of view, the
international order is very similar to a duopoly rather than anything
multipolar, without forgetting that the
European Union has an important role to play should it regain some form of
sovereignty by freeing itself from dependence on Washington. For Moscow and Beijing, reducing public
debt is one of the best ways of achieving strong economic sovereignty.
The Russian Federation has reduced its public debt in relation to GDP
from 92% at the beginning of 2000 to 12.9% today. The People's Republic of
China, over 20 years, has increased its public debt from 20% of GDP to around
48%. Compared to the public debt of European countries (Italy and Greece are
over 120%, France 100%, the EU average is 85%), Japan (240%) and the United States (110%),
Beijing and Moscow have paid particular attention to keeping their accounts in
order. Another important strategy involves the steady accumulation of gold in
the reserves of these two countries…
China and Russia are once again
trending in an opposite direction to that of the West. Since 2005, Russia and
China have accumulated huge amounts of gold, with the clear intention of
diversifying their reserves. Both Moscow
and Beijing are among the top 10 countries in terms of gold reserves, with
an exponential increase over recent years.
Thanks to a limited public debt,
huge quantities of gold, and a progressive reduction in the amount of US
government bonds held, Moscow and
Beijing have embarked on the path of full economic sovereignty, independent of
the US dollar system and strongly protecting themselves against any future
financial crises…
A decided acceleration in this
general direction was made following the
exclusion of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the SWIFT system, a ringing
alarm bell for the Eurasian duo. Despite their reduction of public debt and
significant de-dollarization, both countries remain dependent on, and therefore
vulnerable to, an economic and financial system that orbits around Washington
and London…
The workaround has therefore been to create two alternative
bank-payment systems to SWIFT… Never
mind the petrodollar system that is one of the main problems that China and
Russia face when dealing with the international financial system. Efforts to
progressively switch from USD to Yuan in paying oil commodities have been in
place for years especially by Beijing.
This is an example of how countries
like Russia and China have found ways of circumventing the means used to limit
their sovereignty. The inclusion of the
yuan in the IMF basket of world reserve currencies is associated with the
Chinese strategy of supporting the renminbi for export, reducing the share of
the US dollar. The strategy adopted by Moscow and Beijing seems to leave Washington unable to stop the protective
measures of these two Eurasian powers.
In practice, we are already
beginning to see the effects of this alternative economic world order. The sanctions imposed by Washington and her
satraps on Moscow and Tehran are easily circumvented by Russia and Iran,
with exchanges denominated in currencies other than the dollar (often gold), or
simply through bartering.
China and Russia, with strongly
diversified economies, with treasuries
chock full of gold, and with minimal public debt, leave very little room for
international speculators to have an effect on their domestic economies
with actions that amount to financial terrorism.
Being able to minimize the impacts
and risks of a new financial crisis, or resist the threats and blackmail of the
international bodies steered largely by Washington and London, are the key
means of being able to chart an economically independent course and ensure
national sovereignty…
If this strategy proves successful,
it will only be natural to start
offering other countries the opportunity to hop onto the Eurasian train,
enabling those willing to shift their military, economic and diplomatic leaning
from the Atlantic to the Eurasian world.
Given the momentous significance of
India and Pakistan’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as
permanent members, it would seem that Moscow and Beijing are on track to eliminating the central role of the United
States in international relations in favor of a multilateralism that will
benefit everyone.
There are two main reasons for
this: first, unlike their US
counterparts, Russian weapons are designed to kill, not to make money and,
second, Russians understand warfare because they understand what war really
is…
After Ed won his fight by not “giving” he learned his lesson
of how foolish the bullying route was.
Unlike Ed, America continues to bully its counterparts demanding that
they buy America’s “criminally overpriced
and useless weapon systems” instead of Russia’s less expensive,
superior military equipment. America’s
congress is throwing a tantrum levying sanctions against Turkey, Iran and
threatening India. From Zero Hedge:
Excerpt:
India Defies Washington, Will Acquire Russian S-400 Missile Shield
Washington’s so-called allies continue to gravitate towards the Russian sphere of
influence, and specifically the Russian S-400 Triumph advanced
anti-aircraft weapon system.
First it was Turkey, which openly defied Trump's threats that the US
would sanction Ankara if it completes the purchase of the anti-aircraft
missiles, saying the acquisition of the missile defense system is "a
done deal and Turkey will not turn back from its decision."
Now India is also moving towards
acquiring five or more S-400 from Russia despite the threat of US retaliation.
The Defense Acquisitions Council (DAC), chaired by Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, last week approved the “minor deviations”
in the $5.7 billion deal to purchase S-400s for final government approval, to
the finance ministry and the Prime Minister’s office sources told the Times of
India.
The DAC discussed the S-400 deal just one day after Washington on
Wednesday canceled a “two-plus-two” discussion involving foreign minister Sushma
Swaraj and defense minister Sitharaman and Washington officials Mike Pompeo and
Jim Mattis, which was scheduled for July 6.
The Times of India noted that in
October 2015, India had planned to
procure the S-400s - which can detect, track and destroy supersonic bombers,
drones, fifth-generation fighters, spy planes, and supersonic missiles at a
range of up to 400km and altitude of 30km - in what many Indian officials have
praised as a game-changing military acquisition…
And while Washington officials
briefed India on the use of Patriot system, it seems that the country is more
interesting in purchasing Russian made BMDs instead. The New York Times reported in April that the Indian/Russian deal serves as a
blow to the United States’ ”struggling Patriot missile defense system.”
“India wasn’t very impressed with the Patriot compared with the S-400,
which wins hands-down in capability, in its availability, service availability.
It’s a more efficient system,” it cited Rahul Bedi of Jane’s Information Group
as saying.
India and Russia have worked on a
plan to beat the financial sanctions called CAATSA (Countering America’s
Adversaries through Sanctions Act) that
attempts to prevent countries from purchasing Russian weapons.
“The acquisition of this technology will limit, I am afraid, the degree
with which the United States will feel comfortable in bringing additional
technology into whatever country we are talking about,” US armed services committee chairman Mac Thornberry said back in
May, noting that there is also concern that “any country that acquires the
system [S-400] will complicate the ability of interoperability” with US forces.
In an act of growing desperation that in spite of passing an
almost trillion dollar defense bill surely to enrich the military industrial
complex, congress has now levied sanctions against NATO member Turkey,
something unheard of before. From
Strategic Culture:
Excerpt:
US Imposes Sanctions on Senior Turkish Officials
This is something unheard of. A NATO country has imposed personal
sanctions on senior officials of another member of the bloc! The White
House has announced that the US Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on
two Turkish officials, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of
Interior Suleyman Soylu, because of what has happened to Andrew Craig Brunson,
a detained American pastor who was tried on espionage and terror-related
charges.
He faces up to 35 years in jail if convicted.
Brunson is one of 20 Americans who were
charged after the coup two years ago. The US has refused to extradite
Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is wanted in Turkey for
allegedly organizing the 2016 coup d’état attempt…
Turkey’s private citizens and
companies have been sanctioned before, but imposing punitive measures on top
government officials is a game-changing move. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to bow. He
warned that the US may lose a “strong and sincere ally” in Turkey. No doubt the
bitter diplomatic spat is at risk of escalating further…
The US Congress has just finalized
the fiscal 2019 defense bill, which contains restrictions on weapons sales to
Ankara. The idea to hit Turkey with
punitive measures over alleged “human rights violations” and its purchase of
the Russian S-400 Triumf missile-defense system has substantial support in
Congress…
The deterioration of US-Turkish
relations may lead to a standoff in northern Syria, due to American support for
the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). It may affect the status of America’s military aircraft stationed at
the Incirlik air base. Ankara may not allow the US to use Incirlik against
Iran if a conflict ignites, which would significantly restrict US air power in
the region. The United States Air Force may have to leave the base completely,
like the German aircraft did some time ago.
Turkey’s disappointment with the US
and NATO is deepening. The talks on joining the EU are in limbo. During the recent BRICS summit, Ankara
said it wanted to join that organization, which is positioning itself as a
global pole of power that is independent from the West. Turkey doesn't look
ready to ditch NATO for good just yet, but it won’t be a US partner if push
comes to shove and a US-Iran conflict is triggered.
At the moment Iran is readying a large-scale military exercise in the Persian
Gulf, which is generally perceived as a step to block oil exports. Iran has
threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. “We will make the enemy understand
that either everyone can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one,” declared the
IRGC’s commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, on July 5, 2018…
It all has gone too far. Even if President Trump turned a blind eye
to Turkey’s S-400 deal and its fruitful energy cooperation with Russia, the US
Congress would not. A Senate committee has approved the Turkey
International Financial Institutions (TIFA) bill, restricting loans to that
country. The House is to follow suit. The process is unstoppable. The lawmakers will go on introducing new
measures against Turkey as well as Russia, making the two nations natural
allies in opposition to the US global domination…
Actually, there is little the West
can offer Turkey that would be in its best interests. The differences are irreconcilable, which will shift Ankara’s
foreign-policy priorities from the West toward the East. Eurasian integration
is much more promising for Turkey than the continuation of futile attempts to
find its place in the West as an equal partner.
Sheesh, talk about cutting off ones nose to spite ones
face. One thing that’s becoming
painfully apparent is that members of our government who have become
millionaires in service to the military industrial complex are completely
incompetent. It looks like Eurasia is
going to have a “lion laying with the lamb” come to Jesus moment. From Lew Rockwell:
Excerpt:
Pakistan’s ‘Jack Kennedy’
The Kashmir border is the world’s
most dangerous flash point.
Imran Khan may be able to calm tensions over Kashmir and open
meaningful talks with India where he is very popular. In the 1980’s, Gen. Zia ul Haq headed off an
invasion by India by flying to Delhi on the spur of the moment to attend a
cricket match. This writer expects Imran
Khan to similarly appear in India for his ultimate diplomatic test match.
The words ‘hope’ and ‘Pakistan’ do not often appear together. Pakistan, a sprawling nation of 205 million,
is hard to govern, even harder to finance, and seething with tribal or
religious violence and discord.
But Pakistan, which for me is one
of the most interesting and important nations on earth, is by far the leading
nation of the Muslim world and a redoubtable military power. Created in 1947 from former British India as
a haven for oppressed Muslims, Pakistan
has been ruled ever since by military juntas or by slippery and often corrupt
civilian politicians.
After decades of dynastic politics
under the Bhutto and Sharif families, there is suddenly hope that newly elected cricket star Imran Khan
and his Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI) may – just may – tackle Pakistan’s four
biggest problems: endemic corruption, military interference, political
tribalism, and a half-dead economy…
Imran Khan is sometimes called ‘Pakistan’s Jack Kennedy’ for his movie-star
good looks, charisma and zesty love life.
He no longer plays professional cricket though he is still idolized in
Pakistan and, interestingly, bitter foe India.
Khan (who is of Pashtun tribal
blood) is also a philanthropist and respected thinker. He says he is determined to
begin rooting corruption out of Pakistan and to revivify its ailing
economy. Pakistan’s GDP is only
$1,641 per person compared to India’s $2,134.
The illiteracy rate is about 40%, notably among women who are the
primary teachers of the young.
As Imran Khan is about to take
office, Pakistan’s coffers are almost empty.
Islamabad has had to take 12 loans from the International Monetary Fund
in the last 40 years, in part to pay for its oil imports. Now, Islamabad
is negotiating yet another loan of $57 billion from its most important ally,
China, whose vast belt and road project covering transportation, ports and
infrastructure seeks to modernize Pakistan and turn it into a primary
conduit to the Arabian Sea.
But Donald Trump’s Washington is angry over China’s dollar
diplomacy, formerly a preserve of US foreign policy. US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, who plays
bad cop to Trump’s bad cop, lambastes Pakistan for the Chinese loan.
The White House is obviously
dismayed by China’s growing influence over Pakistan caused, in large part, by
the US decision to cut aid to Pakistan and favor its old enemy, India. President
George Bush aided India’s military nuclear program, alarming China and
Pakistan. Now, Trump is working to
mobilize India against China. So far,
India has been too smart to act as an American strategic proxy.
Imran Khan will now have a chance
to resolve the Indo-Pakistani dispute over contested Kashmir that has flared
since 1947… The new Khan government must also try to find a way to get the US out
of the giant hole it has dug in Afghanistan. Imran has been a vocal critic of the
stalemated US war in Afghanistan. Soon, he will control the major supply lines
to US forces there. India and Pakistan
are important nuclear-armed powers…
We need to get all members of congress out of office and get
a new, unencumbered group that is not in service to special interests. As explained in the video below, Trump must
repair America’s relationship with Russia’s Putin. The Russian hysteria that has overtaken
America is deadly.
Putin's meeting with Trump in Helsinki has caused American
politicians to go berserk. The media in
America is useless and a danger to America.
They report lies and propaganda 24/7 but then they are owned and
operated for the benefit of the CIA. The
media demanding that Trump unquestioningly believe America’s intelligence
agencies fact-free allegations of Russian meddling in our elections is
laughable. From The Burning Platform:
Excerpt:
Trump was recently questioned as to
whether he trusted US intelligence. He waffled. A light-hearted answer would
have been:
“What sort of idiot are you to ask me such a stupid question? Of course
they are lying! They were caught lying more than once, and therefore they can
never be trusted again. In order to claim that they are not currently
lying, you have to determine when it was that they stopped lying, and that they
haven’t lied since. And that, based on the information that is available, is an
impossible task.”
A more serious, matter-of-fact
answer would have been:
“The US intelligence agencies made
an outrageous claim: that I colluded with Russia to rig the outcome of the 2016
presidential election. The burden of
proof is on them. They are yet to prove their case in a court of law, which is
the only place where the matter can legitimately be settled, if it can be
settled at all. Until that happens, we must treat their claim as conspiracy
theory, not as fact.”
And a hardcore, deadpan answer
would have been:
“The US intelligence services swore
an oath to uphold the US Constitution, according to which I am their Commander
in Chief. They report to me, not I to
them. They must be loyal to me, not I to them. If they are disloyal to me,
then that is sufficient reason for their dismissal.”
But no such reality-based, down-to-earth
dialogue seems possible. All that we
hear are fake answers to fake questions, and the outcome is a series of faulty
decisions. Based on fake intelligence, the US has spent almost all of this
century embroiled in very expensive and ultimately futile conflicts.
Thanks to their efforts, Iran, Iraq and Syria have now formed a
continuous crescent of religiously and geopolitically aligned states friendly
toward Russia while in Afghanistan the Taliban is resurgent and battling ISIS—an
organization that came together thanks to American efforts in Iraq and Syria.
The total cost of wars so far this
century for the US is reported to be $4,575,610,429,593. Divided by the
138,313,155 Americans who file tax returns (whether they actually pay any tax
is too subtle a question), it works out to just over $33,000 per taxpayer. If you pay taxes in the US, that’s your
bill so far for the various US intelligence “oopsies.”
The 16 US intelligence agencies
have a combined budget of $66.8 billion, and that seems like a lot until you
realize how supremely efficient they are:
their “mistakes” have cost the country close to 70 times their budget. At a
staffing level of over 200,000 employees, each of them has cost the US taxpayer
close to $23 million, on average. That number is totally out of the ballpark!
There are two possible hypotheses
for why this is so.
First, we might venture to guess
that these 200,000 people are grossly incompetent and that the fiascos they
precipitate are accidental. But it is hard to imagine a situation where grossly
incompetent people nevertheless manage
to funnel $23 million apiece, on average, toward an assortment of futile
undertakings of their choosing. It is even harder to imagine that such
incompetents would be allowed to blunder along decade after decade without
being called out for their mistakes.
Another hypothesis, and a far more plausible one, is that the US
intelligence community has been doing a wonderful job of bankrupting the
country and driving it toward financial, economic and political collapse by
forcing it to engage in an endless series of expensive and futile conflicts—the
largest single continuous act of grand larceny the world has ever known.
How that can possibly be an
intelligent thing to do to your own country, for any conceivable definition of
“intelligence,” I will leave for you to
work out for yourself. While you are at it, you might also want to come up with
an improved definition of “treason”: something better than “a skeptical
attitude toward preposterous, unproven claims made by those known to be
perpetual liars.”
The purpose of my Boss Ed telling me his story of what a
punk he was in high school, was to point out where he was back then and how he
came to become a successful, self-taught businessman. He realized that his bully attitude was
counterproductive and would lead to his ruin.
Instead he channeled his energy into high school wrestling or “rassaling”
as he called it. Unfortunately America refuses to ever say “I
give” admit they were wrong and correct their course.
Instead, the American Deep State is on a high speed train toward
impending imperial implosion, she’s come undone.
By Patricia Baeten
