Let me start with my interview with Vladimir, host of a popular Russian morning radio show. I stayed up till 1am edt to do the interview live. We had a great, entertaining conversation:
Let me clarify the intent behind the provocative question in the title of this article. If you are the typical superficial consumer of news reporting from mainstream media sources, you (like me) probably believed that the coup in Niger took place the last week of July. But that is not what the CIA is reporting. According to the CIA Factbook the coup took place on April 23, 2023.
After achieving independence from France in 1960, Niger experienced single-party or military rule until 1991 when political pressure forced General Ali SAIBOU to allow multiparty elections. Political infighting and democratic backsliding led to coups in 1996 and 1999. In December of that year, military officers restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power. TANDJA was reelected in 2004 and spearheaded a 2009 constitutional amendment allowing him to extend his presidential term. In February 2010, military officers led another coup that deposed TANDJA. ISSOUFOU Mahamadou was elected in April 2011 and reelected in early 2016. In February 2021, BAZOUM Mohammed won the presidential election, marking Niger’s first transition from one democratically elected president to another. Nonetheless, a military junta once again seized power in late April 2023, detaining President BAZOUM, and announcing the creation of a National Council for the Salvation of the Homeland.
Did France and America really wait over three months to raise a stink about the coup in NIger or is the CIA completely incompetent? If the coup really started in April, why was it not reported then? We know that there were no threats to cut off aid or send a military rescue force in May, June or July. Nope. Washington and Paris waited till the first of August to grab the fainting couch and start issuing belligerent threats against Niger’s new military leaders.
This is a glaring editorial mistake. Just more evidence that the CIA is sloppy and haphazard. ( I wonder how long it will take the CIA to make a correction. I have posted the screenshot above.)
I also did a podcast with Redacted’s Clayton Morris on the future fate of Ukraine’s Volodomyr Zelensky.
Yes, they are that incompetent. Diversity is ranked over competence. Depravity is ranked over competence. Any sort of make believe “grievance” is valued over competence.
My favorite buffoon is Peter Zeihan. He was a NSA/CIA tool at Stratfor and transitioned into a civilian asset mouthpiece. His whole sthick is USA preeminence and how our “advantages” will lead to our continued domination of the world. These advantages are Hispanic slave labor, ocean moats, and raw resources.
He actually has a few points there. But they are all overshadowed by our raw bleeding incompetence. An idiot can have all the cards and lose the game.
And there is no going back. Every day another child is indoctrinated by the teacher’s unions. Every day another company (Disney) slits their own throats and profits at the altars of ideology.
There is hope in the world. But it increasingly looks like it is centered in Moscow.
I like some of what Peter Zeihan says. Then there’s the other side where he says China and Russia will miraculously vanish tomorrow. I can’t recommend a schizophrenic but I will occasionally read him as a counterpoint to the echo box.
Larry, nice catch on that date.
I decided to run checks on several random Zeihan tubes, he obviously lives on a different planet. He’s very credible if you are gullible.
I first came across him on Joe Rogan. I was aghast at the obvious shit he was talking. Everything he said was demonstrably wrong.
A company cannot slit their own throats unless they completely misread the true sentiment of the customers. What we are suffering under is an echo chamber of the so called enlightened elites who deem their ideology and themselves are above the masses. That they can dictate what is reality. This is wrong think.
While there may be no going back there is also no going forward for this delusional line of thought. This will come to an end somehow, like day follows night. If at all possible it will be quietly forgotten by the perpetrators. The damage to society will be real.
Social Darwinism, stupid ideas will fail.
Personally I want electrical and plumbing codes to reflect the new wave of enlightenment. I cannot wait for extension cords to have either two male of two female ends, because one end identifies differently.
I’m reading Zeihan’s latest book, ‘The End of the World Is Just the Beginning,’ precisely so I can post a scathing takedown review on Amazon and on my Substack.
It’s a struggle. He DOES ‘have a few points.’ His ‘background’ discussions, where he talks about how technological advance and geography influenced commerce, enabling more development, etc, is useful. That entire topic area used to be known as ‘geography’ or at most ‘historical geography.’ But it overawes many US readers, who think geography means filling in the names of countries on a blank map (and mostly can’t even do that.)
So he routinely segues from ‘good (general) points’ to wild, but very specific, utterly baseless assertions and predictions.
For example, my stepdad is a Zeihan enthusiast. Back in 2018, Zeihan was telling his fans ‘Russia HAS to invade Ukraine, it can’t feed itself without those agricultural lands.’ By then Russia was already a net exporter of wheat, and in 2019 became a net exporter of beef. It was all over the damn news!
Many other Zeihan predictions have been discredited in the year and a half since ‘The End’ was published, such as his claim Russia was going to collapse due to SWIFT and other sanctions.
He is utterly clueless about military matters. He seems not to have gotten the memo about hypersonic missiles making surface navies obsolete – although the US Navy and USMC have most certainly gotten that memo: The Marines are undergoing a sweeping reorganization as a consequence, giving up tanks and artillery to operate in smaller teams off smaller faster vessels. So for example, he belittles the Chinese navy as a glorified coast guard, ignoring the obvious: What China needs, now that the US is actively planning operations right in China’s waters to close off its sea lanes, is PRECISELY a glorified coast guard, backed by land- and air-launched hyper-accurate hypersonic missiles.
And he almost never cites sources or references. His ‘footnotes’ are just asterisks linking to half-witticisms he might as well have kept in the text.
He’s sure Russia’s and China’s demographics will lead to collapse. But he seems utterly unaware that 25% of today’s US high-schoolers identify as LGBTQ+. Most that is just T, due to recent teacher-led social contagion, and many or most of those kids are going to get puberty blockers, which will leave them unable to reproduce or even have normal sex.
Also Z toes the party line on Covid and vaccines. He hasn’t noticed the birth rate collapse, starting in spring 2021, in countries that deployed the mRNA injections … nor has he pondered how these phenomena might affect US birth rates.
You said it better than I did. He literally posted one day that China would collapse by the coming Sunday. And millions of views. I would despair of the human race. If I had any faith to begin with.
I was hoping Larry in video would discuss Niger, in addition to the comments. I have seen reports that the military coup leader was trained by Ft Bragg SOCOM. And that hundreds of Green Berets are stationed in Niger and have close ties to Niger military. So I wonder whose who and the real story 🤔
Money quote: “Tremendous pride in our mediocracy.” (Larry speaking about the upper reaches and policy of the US gov’t.)
Nothing scary about that is there? (Remember the nukes!)
Acting unter-furher porcine vickki von Hutt (Jabba’s releation) was blown off in Niger. Wasn’t even allowed to see the new leader. Some reports say that the EofL response is stillborn, as willing colonial levies can’t be found. Others say that sepoys are being press-ganged to be thrown into the fire.
Suppose time will tell.
I have to agree with Larry! America’s moral standing and strategic goals in this conflict are somewhere between Ogedei and the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus and Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa. The goals are pretty much identical. There is more to it than the commercial success and tax revenues from BLK, GS, JPM, and the physical resources of Russia. But I think the ideological component, Lebensraum for the Master Race or the elimination of an Orthodox Christofascist state getting in the way of the WEF and woke agenda are large drivers as well. Just as the oil fields of Baku was important to Hitler and The Wehrmacht, rare earths and Russia’s vast oil, nickel, and other mineral deposits are important to the West. And of course, Russians would be serfs working these resources for the benefit of American and European firms just as they were working for German defense companies in concentration camp settings. Another reason why I believe its imperative that Russia wins this conflict ASAP, is because its become obvious that democrats, neocons, and various woke scoundrels in the deep state-Nomenklatura in America are using foreign adventures to neglect dealing with crises and disintegration at home. Unfortunately, America has to be humiliated all around the world and have its ability to raise capital threatened directly for both the GOP and DEM Congress and military industrial complex to retrench at home and attempt to placate middle America, who they despise and adopt the attitude that because they didn’t go to Ivy League schools and apply themselves, they deserve subsistence living. I am thinking many of our so-called representatives deserve Robespierre and the terror.
I think that you have missed the point of the disintegration. They WANT it to disintegrate. How else can you Build Back Better?
Thanks Larry, everytime the question is asked about America’s incomitance I recall your article here… This article you pinned is a lesson everyone should understand.
https://sonar21.com/why-is-the-west-so-weak-and-russia-so-strong-the-role-of-human-capital-and-western-education/
Gotta dig Vladimir’s accent 🙂 I enjoyed that interview. Felt different to your normal interviews (and I’m not referring to Iran’s Frame TV – ha ha). Hopefully see you back with Vladimir soon.
Why do you refer to Solovyev as“Vladimir“ ?
His Telegramm channel is Solovyev
He owns a villa in Italy seized by NATO Kleptocracy and has a lyrical style superior to most Western media types
The French bureaucrats pay 5% of the world price for Uranium from Niger. Then they turn around and sell electricity to their population with inflated prices, pocketing the difference for their golden parachutes.
Politics by any means is in the service of economics, so what is the real reason behind France’s Micron throwing a little man’s threat to Niger? France has no gold mines, yet it is the fourth largest gold reserve. To loose all that gold from Niger would indicate a downgrade in France’s credit rating below Aa2 according to Moody’s.
The EU is a collection of paper cutouts, a bulldog, a poodle and a schnauzer printing money. And, as usual, the people on both sides suffer.
With Scholz in charge I think it’s a dachshund not a schnauzer. With Sunak in charge, looks more like a sheepdog than a bulldog. With the stature of Micron, we’re looking at a toy poodle. Ursula’s just a bitsa bitch.
Remember the ol Apache ways, such as Coyote teaching styles and whatnot.
Doing my best to reel em in and hook em for the LORD on my end.
Of course I suck at it.
Yet I am finding the opportunity during my efforts on the spiritual side of my work, to show more and more people your viewpoints, and those of your guests.
It’s all I can think of to do for my battle buddies from this ol – done with “western” money – fella.
I surely hope spreading the word, in all the ways I do so, is works worthy of repentance my brothers. thank you all for being here.
Have an awesome rest of the week sir. And thanks for the videos.
Ritter completely lost his shizzle today. It was epic.
Where? What program?
Unless I’m flummoxed by a third world date system, I think it is this one (- banned on utube).
https://www.onenewspage.com/video/20230809/16037029/Youtube-censored-this-Scott-Ritter-interview.htm
And by “third world date system” you mean ISO standard, right.
The Russian coup seems to me now to have been a classic manoeuvre to move wagner down to west Africa without much ballyhoo.
Maybe I’m wrong, but the months of bullshit before the so called Russian coup never made any sense.
The response by the Niger officials that the US should pay for Victoria Nuland’s obesity surgery was the funniest comment in years. The fact that fatso didn’t even get to meet the top man and the previous top man tells its own story.
Niger is home to what amounts to the world’s top uranium mines from a purity point of the ore point of view.
They represent some 5 – 7% of world production.
All French nuclear reactors are partially powered by enriched uranium coming from these mines. The share of wallet of uranium from Niger is some 20 – 25%.
The purity of Niger’s uranium makes for less-energy intense enriching to the level of contents that goes into making fuel rods to power the reactors. And it seems rods made from Niger’s uranium last longer too.
The oldest mines, Somair and Comniak are exploited through a joint-venture between the French state-controlled Onaro-Group and the government of Niger.
The deal holds that France gets most of the uranium mined at way below world-market prices.
The new government in power would like to change that and wants to get out of the stranglehold to have to sell their share of the ore through French controlled trading companies.
They would also like to increase the tonnage they can sell to the world-market directly.
Having to pay considerably more for their uranium would lead the French electricity industry having to charge much higher prices to cover costs and turn a profit for the French government.
As an ever increasing amount of electricity is to be delivered to Germany this would lead to big losses for the French electricity industry. Most of that the electricity is to be delivered at fixed longer-term pricing that has not taken the hike in the pricing of Niger’s uranium into account yet.
The increase in electricity cost could also jeopardize the financial health of many traders active on the European electricity exchanges.
And to make matters worse the French start to feel the breath of the Chinese in their neck as the Chinese have started to exploit the deposits in Niger with their own mining company and paying close to world-market price for the privilege to mine in the country.
Follow the money, I dare say.
Useful post. Thanks.
“The deal holds that France gets most of the uranium mined at way below world-market prices.”
There seems to be a pattern developing:
1. Germany loses cheap Russian gas. (Nordstream II)
2. France loses cheap Nigerien uranium.
3. EU loses access to Chinese rare earth elements to manufacture wind turbines.
Once access to Chinese solar panels ceases Europe will be back to coal & wood.
is it possible they’re over extended?
They’re still in Afghanistan Pakistan China Ukraine and all these little fires are starting everywhere.
Unintended consequences of going against Russia and China.
Would cia veterans approve of the current administration going so hard after Russia risking a clash between USA and Russia?
The US doesn’t want to ‘win’, it just likes to destabilize & create problems. (Winning probably means commitment of money & resources after victory.)
Not April 23, 2023, the CIA fact book says late April 2023.
Even CIA analysts make mistakes occasionally 🙂
And there are reports of Bazoum making Freance sympathetic speeches into June and July.
Early July Josep Borrell (the kind of foreign minister for EU) visited Niger and was complimenting Bazoum. So he certainly seems to have been in place till mid July.
I’ll add another annoying question to the mix if you please : why trying to oust the junta with an economic only structure (ECOWAS) instead of the local politically competent structure on military matters, namely the African Union ?
I don’t buy the French Uranium narrative. Macron don’t seems to care that much. The Chinese also got a mining concession nearby recently…
It looks like someone is desperately trying to create a “new” war from available bits & pieces with the secret hope the public opinion is gonna forget the “old” war … if it add pressures on the French, the EU and pisses off the Chinese : that leave a very evident culprit for the Qui Bono.
Plenty of years ago it came out that the CIA World Factbook isn’t a reliable source of information. It completely misinterprets historical events and often gives wrong numbers. It’s contents are best considered as a curiosity. Considering that it’s from the CIA, I would even imagine CIA is playing 5D PSYOP chess with the contents of the factbook – and I know I’m probably going to get bonked on the head for doing so. 🙂
“CIA Factbook” is a textbook oxymoron.
Please everyone – post video and audio ELSEWHERE than on Rumble only. Here in France, it is blocked.
It’s available on Rutube too 😉
https://rutube.ru/video/d9a0f6f02ad24e1e2e6349960accbe12/
You can watch Rumble link trough some free Web Proxy like:
https://www.proxysite.com/ (switch to US server first)
Paste this link into Web Proxy:
https://rumble.com/v35mf9c-larry-on-russian-tv.html
“A CONTRIVED CRISIS OR A MAJOR CIA GOOF?”
Resort to binaries makes you short-sighted, obfuscating the long-sighted who cares both and more afford opportunities to those with facility.
Great interview! Thanks for doing an interview with Vladimir Solovyov; the man is sharp as a tack. I was fortunate once to catch one of his shows (Sunday evening with Vladimir Solovyov) with subtitles – what a difference from U.S. political talk shows. Wish we’d get to see more of him in the U.S., it would raise the bar.
“… it would raise the bar.”
We want none of that.
Often alluded to and likely explicitly stated somewhere, but worth repeating explicitly:
Where “whatever it is” that the Russian military has been doing to Ukrainian infantry, armor, artillery, and airpower and air defense has not been destroyed, it is going to continue to produce EXACTLY the same result with every additional piece of gear and tactical unit sent to within Russia’s striking reach.
~CNN poll found that 55% of Americans do not want to send any more money to the Ukraine. Our Congress and State Department are deaf and stoned on their own endorphins.
Thank you especially for enduring the inconvenience of appearing on Vladimir’s show–his questions were apt, English is great, and his RESPECT for your knowledge and wisdom was clear as he allowed you to speak. I hope you can go on with him more in the future.
Thanks!
Hi Larry,
“According to the CIA Factbook the coup took place on April 23, 2023. ”
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/niger/#introduction now has this:
“Nonetheless, a military junta once again seized power in late July 2023, detaining President BAZOUM, and announcing the creation of a National Council for the Salvation of the Homeland.”
Possibly just a typo, now corrected?
There’s a big flaw in your comparison of Zelensky to Norriega and Sadam Hussein : the former is jewish and is assured of the tribe’s solidarity.