The CIA, thanks to Hollywood and fanboys, enjoys an undeserved reputation for competence in carrying out espionage and covert actions. I am fascinated by the delusional punditry offered by former CIA officers, such as Douglas London and Steven Hall. Full disclosure, Hall was a young 20 something in my Career Trainee class (we entered on duty in September 1985). He is emblematic, in my opinion, of the problems that have plagued the CIA over the last thirty years–he was a legacy, i.e. got into the agency in part because his Daddy preceded him. Steve, if you recall, was one of the liars who signed a letter declaring that Hunter Biden’s laptop had all the earmarks of Russian disinformation. Attaching himself to such a libelous letter (he was impugning the character of John Paul Mac Isaac) highlights his tendency to follow the herd and eschew critical thinking.
But I want to focus on Douglas London. He is popping up all over media, especially CNN and the Wall Street Journal, and offering analysis that ranges from the banal to the delusional. Consider this snippet, published in the Wall Street Journal, in March:
I spent 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine service, and watching Vladimir Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine from the sidelines fills me with both sadness and a sense of opportunity. Espionage is a predatory business, and there’s blood in the water. Mr. Putin’s self-inflicted damage has done more to turn his own people against him than anything the West could have done. . . .
Russian mystique is gone. Mr. Putin has proved his country is the declining power that the best-informed Russia watchers claimed it was. Fewer pundits will wax poetic over Mr. Putin’s cunning and strategic brilliance. He might have been a capable operations officer during his KGB career, but he clearly missed the classes on self-awareness and counterintelligence. The more he tightens the security screws and covers Russia’s window to the world, the more likely those he depends on will turn against him.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/spies-will-doom-putin-russia-ukraine-cia-espionage-kremlin-soviets-operations-officer-warsaw-pact-11648044741
Got that? Russia, whose economy is clicking along nicely in contrast to the implosion underway in Europe, is a declining power in Mr. London’s fanciful world. Since the start of the Special Military Operation last February, Putin has frustrated Western attempts to paint him as Hitler reincarnated and has forged closer ties with China, India, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. Oh, did I mention he enjoys popular support among the Russian people:
The proportion of Russian citizens’ confidence in President Vladimir Putin stood at over 80%, according to the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center that published the results of a survey conducted from October 3 to 9 among 1,600 respondents aged over 18, reports TASS.
“When asked about trust in Putin, 80.9% of respondents answered positively (-0.2% over the week), the approval rate of the Russian president’s work was 75.6% (-1.3 % over the week),” the pollsters noted.
https://www.daily-sun.com/post/650584/Poll-reveals-level-of-Russian-public%E2%80%99s-confidence-in-Putin
I want to remind you of the desperation of the West to portray Putin as a loser bereft of popular support. Five years ago, Statista claimed that Putin was losing popular support:
According to a Pew Research Center survey released last week, Russians still have a high level of confidence in President Putin’s ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Despite his high overall approval rating, however, Putin is actually losing public support on many key issues. Support for his handling of relations with Ukraine and the EU have dropped 20 and 15 percentage points respectively since 2015. Russians are also increasingly dissatisfied with the way their president is handing relations with the United States.
https://www.statista.com/chart/10010/putin-losing-public-support-on-key-issues/
If you thought that an experienced spook like London would take the time to actually gather some facts and compare them to history, think again. Sure looks like Mr. London is not about to let facts get in his way. London believes that his ability to speak Russian grants him special insight into the mind of Vladimir Putin. Here is his keen analysis from a recent column in “Just Security“:
Policymakers would do well to remember three fundamentals that guide Putin’s decision-making: 1) he is the product of the 1970’s and 1980’s KGB and stood witness in then-East Germany in 1991, when the world as he knew it ceased to exist; 2) ego, survival, greed, and ambition direct his moral compass; and 3) he has come to believe his own propaganda.
https://www.justsecurity.org/83605/addressing-putins-nuclear-threat-thinking-like-the-cold-war-kgb-officer-that-he-was/
Unlike all other political leaders, Putin is driven by “ego, survival, greed, and ambition.” Excuse me, but good grief!! Thank God that neither Bill Clinton nor Barack Obama nor Boris Johnson were motivated to run for office because of “ego, survival, greed, and ambition.” Any further question why I deride London as banal. Hell, Mr. London does not even understand himself, i.e., what motivates him. Apart from Jesus Christ, I have not had the privilege of knowing any political leader of substance that was free of ego, self-preservation, greed and ambition. This kind of superficial, shallow thinking is part of the reason that officers like London wormed their way up the ranks of the CIA bureaucracy. As long as you mouth platitudes and do not rock the boat of established thinking, you get a great Personal Appraisal Report (aka PAR), and are promoted in accordance with the Peter Principle.
The London Express asked Mr. London about Putin’s decision to name General Surovikin as Supreme Commander of the Military Operation in Ukraine:
Douglas London, . . . believes Vladimir Putin did not appoint Surovikin on merit but because the Russian Air Force Commander lacks the connections within the military to launch a coup. Putin installed Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon,” to oversee Russian operations in Ukraine this month after a run of heavy defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces in Kherson and Kharkiv. . . .
General Surovikin previously headed up Russian operations during the Syrian Civil War when Moscow propped up the regime of Bashir Al-Assad against Islamist rebel forces.
He was credited with masterminding the recapture of large swathes of Syria from rebel hands, the use of overwhelming firepower, and scant regard for collateral damage.
Surovikin’s appointment as the top Russian commander in Ukraine coincided with the use of widespread suicide drones to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1686164/Vladimir-Putin-Kremlin-coup-Ukraine-war-general-sergei-surovikin-Russian-military-vn
Got that? Surovikin is without “merit”, yet he is credited with capturing large portions of Syria from Islamic rebels. If Douglas London really had any analytical talent at all–along with some intellectual honesty–he could have at least acknowledged that Putin’s choice of Surovikin was in fact grounded in merit. Putin was not looking for some boot licking toady to kiss his ass and tell him what a wonderful dictator he is. Putin selected a General with experience in running a combined arms operation with a clear track record of success. I don’t know if London is just stupid and ignorant or if he sincerely believes the nonsense he is spouting. Could it be that his own experience as a boot licker is clouding his judgment?
U.S. policymakers, when it comes to Russia, are an ignorant lot with little appreciation for history. They are blinded by ideology and tend to view present day Russia through the expired constructs of the Cold War. Putin and Russia are inept. They are bumbling. They are backward. Etc.,etc. etc.
None take into account the remarkable transformation of life in Russia under Putin during the last 22 years. Russia was a genuine shit hole in 1999. Rather than spend Russian tax dollars on disastrous foreign policy expeditions like Iraq and Afghanistan, under Putin’s leadership the creaky, rotten infrastructure left by the Soviet regime was renovated and modernized. Russia’s military services also were upgraded dramatically and its technological skills, particularly in the realm of space exploration, surpassed that of the West. The vast majority of people in the United States fail to appreciate the implications of Russia’s role in providing the rockets and space craft that ferried U.S. astronauts to the Space Station.
Back in 2004, President Bush announced that NASA’s aging space shuttle program would be retired in 2010 and — eventually — replaced by a plan to return to the moon. At the time, NASA realized there would be a four-year gap between the space-shuttle retirement and when the new manned space transport system would be in place.
But at that point, it didn’t seem like a big problem for NASA to ask Russia to transport US astronauts to and from the space station in the interim. Relations between the two countries were friendly — Bush was telling reporters that he’d looked into Putin’s eyes and “got a sense of his soul.” What’s more, NASA had relied on Russian transport for 29 months after the Columbia disaster in 2003, when the shuttle program was put on hold.
Development of NASA’s replacement vessels, however, has taken much longer than anticipated — the agency won’t have a replacement for the shuttle until 2017. There are a few reasons for that. Bush’s moon program was cancelled by Obama in 2010 and replaced with a plan for private companies to shuttle astronauts. Meanwhile, NASA’s budget requests to pay for the new program were repeatedly underfunded by Congress.
https://www.vox.com/2014/5/5/5674744/how-nasa-became-utterly-dependent-on-russia-for-space-travel
Just to be clear. The incompetent, inept, backward, technologically unsophisticated Russians have been the Uber driver for the United States, carrying U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station. But when it comes to running military operations in Ukraine, the Russians supposedly cannot pour piss out of a boot. I offer this as the clearest example of the delusion that blinds the minds of supposed super spies like Douglas London and Steve Hall and others. Instead of acknowledging that Russia, notwithstanding its relatively small population compared to other countries, is a certified leader in sophisticated, complex technology, Western intelligence officials and politicians only see the bad old days of the Soviet Union and the craven party politics that sundered the Soviet empire. The West fails to understand that there is a new kid on the block who is not going to buckle or cower in the face of belligerent threats from the cretins in the West. A failure to know one’s opponent (or enemy) is a recipe for disaster. Sadly, I fear the West is consumed by that recipe and will continue to fight a figment of their collective imagination that no longer exists.
What a terrifying world we would live in if they where competent..
I Sometimes wonder if they deliberately handicap these agencies to prevent them from being able to over throw to many countries at the same time, or actually you know create peaceful stable foreign governments that might turn out to be more peaceful, productive and competitive than any other western country.
And dare i say become to successful at planning and operations they might get some ideas of changing things at home..
Best to think of them as agents of chaos that create the self fulfilling need for there own existence and budgetary requirements.
If a sad state of affairs when one realizes if peace where to break out the job losses could tank the economy. 🙁
The terrifying world we live in is due to their competence, which is a poor choice of words to describle psychopathic malfeasance.
Agreed. We in the West are ruled by fools and psychopaths.
For me the truly psychopathic nature is most clearly seen in the physiognomy and rantings of creatures such as Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, and Anne Applebaum.
The men, with exceptions, seem to be more fools.
In Western societies, one is mandated to lick elite boots or else get booted out. Maybe that’s why Mr. Putin has been demonized as the arch-villain – he reportedly had been trained as a WEF Young Global Leader, but he evidently revolted against those plundering elites when he threw them out of Russia during the first decade of this century, and now he leads a powerful force against much of their globalist agenda – the most punishable betrayal imaginable. And yet he has gathered support from several of the most populous countries as well as many others that seek to escape the same yoke of exploitation imposed by the US-enforced financial cabal, the ones that now truly are on the ropes.
VVP surely wasn’t a Young Global Leader. He was born in 1952 and the YGL program began in 1993. One should be 38 years or younger when he/she is taken into the program. VVP should’ve been 41 at the time of the program’s initiation
Absolutely, I’ve seen a few things now that make me think the WEF have a tendency to gild the lily a bit in terms of their influence. It costs them little to put a profile on a politician up on their website and, generally, an up-and-coming figure would be pleased they were considered worthy of consideration by the global élite.
I suspect that the links between the WEF and most of those figures is actually pretty weak, it’s a way of ensuring the future share of the WEF in the creepy élite discussion club market. Can’t have the new boys and girls getting snatched up by Bilderberg, can we?
Tulsa Gabbard was listed by the mother-WEFers as a Young Global Leader.
She was invited, told them to stuff it yet they listed her anyway.
can one person uphold his / her conviction and reach a position as high as tulsi now ? or is it just another form of controlled opposition ?
“VVP surely wasn’t a Young Global Leader.”
Yes that’s another invention, he was engaged in mild matters hooliganski like many before judo advised otherwise, made an application to join the KGB – a practice which was against regulation and normal practice which raised a smile, but after some delay deemed necessary in regulations, was invited to join.
Is this you Gospodin E A Costa?
Exact. How, in any case, would they have got a KGB officer into that outfit? To get him to spy on them?
One might expect that an intelligence officer, invited to participate in an international organisation may attend such to gain insights into its agenda, personnel, financing, methods, motivations, ambitions and goals.
One might form an opinion that Vlad the Invader didn’t like what he discovered, though attendance may have proved useful in gaining political influence. His subsequent actions, deeds, policies, speeches and statements could provide evidence to form such an opinion.
The anti-all-things-Russian actions of WEF leaders, flunkies and hangers on subsequent to February this year would suggest that they and Vlad the Invader are no longer besties.
i would be angry too if i watch my own goverment grovel for acceptance to their masters in white house.
Australia, Japan, SKorea (occupied korea) , Singapore and many more nation that is not sovereign but totally under vassaldom of USA.
That there is so many support from other nations for Russia and China showed they are ready and united toward a multipolar world where they wont be treated as slaves under US rule. Even the middle eastern oil producing nations reached out and grasp this opportunity.
Why is this ? because every single nations in this world know the US is on a fast decline and they know the end is near for US dollar financial slavery.
In the end , the best case would be that US dollar removed as world reserve currency , and USA live and act within their means , and US military become a true defender of CONUS..
but im afraid the dying empire will lash out even at the cost of the well being of US citizens
When, not if, the US collapses, they had better pray that a person of the adeptness, insight and ability of V. Putin arises in American society, That society is presently run by a cesspool of scheming, amoral oligarchs where greed is seen as a virtue and the “dog eat dog” attitude is seen as essential to success. That is the type of society that raises insignificant toadies like Douglas London etc….they have to lick-ass to survive. America could do worse than study Russian history, especially from 1991 to the present day,
“America could do worse than study Russian history, especially from 1991 to the present day,”
You may be dismayed when I tell you that by design its not all in the history books, but may come to the dance when trials are convened.
You may send an application to release the files via http://en.kremlin.ru/ but your reply may be – unfortunately these files are sub judice and anyway de facto “Americans” are precluded from the archives due to previous sins of lying bastardry.
That is correct. The WEF was planning on using Putin to do to Russia what Zelensky and Xiden are doing to their countries. But in 2012, they began to suspect his loyalties.
Ultimately Putin stabbed Schwab in the back, and his profile pic was deleted in 2022 February on the wef forum.
Then the avalanche of anti Russian and thus anti house o Israel lies began. It isn’t even good enough to be called propaganda.
Just like with covid 2020.
My uncle went to West Point and ultimately became a four star US Army general who was supposedly on the cusp of being named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when it went, instead, to Colin Powell. He spent most of his later career in the DC area. He was at my mom’s house once watching Fox News. He proclaimed it very interesting and a welcome change. He’d never ever seen it. (This was before 9-11). I realized then – subsequently reinforced on many occasions – that he was a midwit. Not a dumbshit, but not especially bright. These are the people who run our country, and that’s before you even throw in a delusional and malevolent belief that we can force the entire world to run the way we want it to.
Thank you for putting out this comment. It is always good to get some reinforcement with what we believe especially one with a ring of authenticity to it. Another highly over rated career path is Ambassadors. My Dad worked for USAID as a food and agriculture officer — he designed and setup agricultural projects in Africa and Asia for 30 years. He had plenty of opportunity to observe and work with foreign service diplomat types. He said most would be pumping gas if not for their current jobs. He said their greatest fear is a bad personnel review and thus are super cautious. They never state an opinion openly without hedging everything they say. I knew many of these people as well they were also midwits. Living overseas gives you many of the trappings of wealth nice houses servants but none of the real thing. However it further increases this snob elitism among them. They are the closest thing we have to a class system being made an ambassador is like knighting them. They are midwits and hopeless bores and CNN presents them as august sources of deep wisdom as the spout trite summaries or in the present case dead wrong opinions.
It’s my observation based on limited social contact with mid-Level FSOs over the past 40 years – their quality has plummeted.
My guess is bright young things are going into consulting or finance and don’t even think about choosing the State Depart. The young FSOs I‘ve come into contact with ( admittedly a small sample ) are shockingly lightweights, like embarrassingly so.
As a working musician who has studied and toured in the global south, sometimes appearing in State Dept and other USG-supported contexts, I can strongly reinforce the notion that our spooks (CIA or DIA, who knows?) are ridiculously easy to spot as spooks and obvious in their attempts to glean information from the most unlikely sources. They, like traffic cops who need to write a lot of tickets, perhaps need to lard their reports with “incidents” based on asking stupid questions of people such as myself who have no likelihood whatever of knowing any privileged information about a local scene. This has happened to me several times in several countries. Then there are the State Department “tour guides” who blandly parrot the Department’s line on the local scene with no apparent recognition of the obvious contradictions or subtleties of the situations where they find themselves posted. And Brad Patton, writing in this thread, is completely right about the colonialist mentality that develops in “our” officials living well above the standards of luxury their competencies might get them with honest jobs at home. All of this is stuff I’ve seen repeatedly over several decades.
The official line on the local scene — is the perfect way to put it. USAID used to be completely separate from the Embassy with their own chief of mission — their own buildings. That may have changed. They were FSRs not FSOs. We did not have diplomatic passports but something called official ones.
We lived in Algeria Congo Tunisia Ivory Coast Haiti Cameroon.. My dad spoke French is why.
Colonialist life style another perfect way to put it — except now that word has been hijacked by the left to be nothing but bad.
Where did you perform? And what?
My Dad (deceased) started college at 13. So he was bright. USAID was separated from the Embassy had their own Mission Directors in those days. They viewed themselves as the doers of practical things and embassy staff as doing nothing valuable. He was friends with some of the FSOs (USAID were FSRs).
The poster child of the type I am talking about is William F. Taylor (who sounded some alarm about Trump). Taylor even affects a New England upper class accent when he talks — I went to MIT and know these accents. The lower class ones from Quincy or South Boston are the ones I like. The Kennedy’s is middle class — Taylor sounds like the college professor type.
I can’t even imagine what today’s FSOs are like well I can imagine unfortunately.
Interesting. I was always under the impression that USAID was just another intelligence agency front just like make NGOs that flooded every poor/developing country.
Imagine, we here in Canada have Mélanie Joly as Minister of External Affairs. She can’t tell the portuguese flag from the Spanish flag.https://www.cliqueduplateau.com/2021/06/07/melanie-joly-souligne-lheritage-portugais-en-montrant-le-drapeau-de-lespagne/
I presume you have seen Jack Devine on Judging Freedom. He fits right into your examples. I am having a hard time reconciling the narrative that the west is putting out and the reality on the ground.
Saw extracts from it when Scott Ritter was on, providing an alternative perspective on key points. Very interesting to see two so qualified, experienced individuals putting forward such starkly contrasting assessments.
Imo Devine’s conclusions (in the extracts) were unsupportable in the light of what we know, and Ritter’s were far better. But so much depends on who you listen to in this kind of information warfare environment.
i agree.U.S. policy is like watching the old Kungfu movies with an over dubbed sound track in english.
” Very interesting to see two so qualified, experienced individuals putting forward such starkly contrasting assessments.”
It is normal as the CIA illustrates, since they are experienced in different matters whilst Mr. Ritter as a function of recent experiences is a little less prone to over-extension in regard to strategic matters, whilst both to some degree rely on their assumptions to more than the degree that others of different cultures would rely.
However neither are like “The Saker” who in comparison is more of a snake-oil salesman and hence more usefully foolish – which is deemed by some to be better manners than killing them, although the CIA apparently does not always agree as Mr. Kissinger observed during his retirement.
The CIA/ MI6 story line is that not only propaganda — it is also hate speech. Putin is continually demonized as a “thug”, a word with racist connotations, Those connotations are not deliberate but they reveal something basic — a racist view of Russian culture and values — that resonates with that of the Nazis of Hitler’s time and Nazis of today — and the more sophisticated racism of American culture which is more correctly “otherism”. Race, of course, does not exist biologically; it is a psychological manifestation of the fear of those “other” than you, or of the guilt involved in exploiting others to meet your needs (as, for example, a rationalization of slavery). A rant on this subject here:
“Thug” is a racist term, A politer form of “n****r. https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/media-hate-speech-a-rant
… and the correct term for the CIA & Mi6 is ‘terrorists’.
I’m appalled at how few of my nominally “progressive” friends will even consider
the possibility that the Russians are dealing with an existential problem re Ukraine.
That the Russians even have a point of view worth considering.
The following is my “comment” in the NYT yesterday re inflation in Europe:
“h king | mke
@3R The NATO/West/USA expansion to Russia’s border was a bridge too far for the Russians. This is Russia’s version of the Cuban Missile Crisis in Oct 1962. The USA finds reasons to invade Vietnam/Iraq/Syria et al. but Russia can’t deal with security issues at their own border?! Think about it. It’s just not that complicated.”
I ask my Ukraine war promoting friends to substitute “Black” or “Jew” for “Russians”
and see how that feels/tastes in their nasty/ bigoted mouths. One cannot overestimate how little knowledge of or interest in history there is out there in the supposedly educated classes.
“Word Origin
early 19th cent. (originally referring to a member of an organization of robbers and assassins in India): from Hindi ṭhag ‘swindler, thief’, based on Sanskrit sthagati ‘he covers or conceals’. The current sense arose in the mid 19th cent.”
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/thug
If only Miguel de Cervantes could see the U.S. and Europe today. He wouldn’t have to change a word of his timeless masterpiece:
Absolutely. Mass delusion has seized the US – and by contagion, their vassals. Putin warned against this malady in his NYT article. “A Plea for Caution”: drilling into the minds of the Americans that they are the “exceptional nation” charged with policing the world, leads to such delusions, including among parts of the elite “midwits” mentioned above.
There is nothing wrong with their mental capacities: they were simply brought up on a steady diet of delusions, so that their neurons connected only according to patterns that feed on those delusions. A disaster in terms of mental development, which makes it is very hard for them to see the world as it is.
A good “midwit” product of such delusion-based education is that poor fish Josep Borrell: he thinks Europe is a garden (of Eden), and he and other “gardeners’ must go forth into the surrounding jungle and either tame or kill the beasts therein.
As someone has written before the entire Western disinformation operation about the conflict in Ukraine is a Mirror Propaganda Operation. That started way back in 2019 when the EU passed an infamous Resolution to compare Russia with Nazi Germany for responsibility for WWII?! To then abstain on Russia’s UN Resolution against the glorification of Nazism. Voting that Russia won 153-2. Only with US and UKR votes against. Today clearly two States that support neo-Nazis!
The Mirror Propaganda Operation both in premises and in results. So rather than looking at Russia or Putin or wasting time with warmoggers or spin doctor morons in the Western media we should look at the state of the G7. Perhaps remember that meeting in a former Nazi sanatorium in the emblematic Bavarian Alps a short distance from the eagle’s nest. Of course, it is ridiculous so much effort to hide reality when comparing British PM with lettuce. And with Europe just now starting to really get into social turmoil on the street, with the German Chancellery, imitating Sweden, coming to say that it cannot say anything about the sabotage of Nord Streams to Parliament or the German people in the “public interest “?! In Sweden they chose “national security” to evade the investigation and not have to tell the Swedish people that after all, the terrorist is an old “ally” who lives in the White House. Can anyone imagine anything more surreal?
So it must not be true like almost everything in conflict. Where until now it has only gone well to disconnect Europe from energy Russia. It remains to be seen what will also happen to the European governments who allowed Europe to disconnect from cheap Russian energy and with it disconnect thousands of companies and millions of families. Like liver sausage. After the fall of the clown head Bojo, Draghi and now the lettuce that could not distinguish the Baltic from the Black Sea. But I wanted to press the button. Indeed the war is going very badly for Russia as the infamous warmonger Petraeus repeats!
“Policymakers would do well to remember three fundamentals that guide Blinken’s decision-making: 1) he is the product of the 1970’s and 1980’s Cold War and anti-Russian immigrants; 2) ego, survival, greed, and ambition direct his moral compass; and 3) he has come to believe his own propaganda.”
Our Western MSM, pundits, politicians and wannabes provide a valuable insight into their psyche through the projection of their fears, insecurities, motivations and dreams onto their opponents, thus exposing their own delusions. We live in a mentally ill society with rulers and oligarchs leading the charge from mayhem to disaster.
As for the UK, lipstick and swine – are they going for the prettiest pig in Europe? Perhaps it’s time for the European Pigovision Wrong Contest?
With Truss’ demise, like her or loath her, we see the raw power of the banksters removing a PM who had the delusion that a Prime Minister actually governs the country. They didn’t get their boy first time round so now its time to try again. Like a nation of slow-learners (sorry, educationally sub-optimal), they have to repeat the selection exercise until they make the right choice.
“They didn’t get their boy first time round so now its time to try again. ”
Perhaps, but irrespective of “choice” it will add wood to the present fire, whilst Mr. Boris Johnson is a bigger more combustable log than the others.
Faites vos jeux, but try to remember that the house “owns” the wheel and consequently nobody “wins” but all are transcended eventually by reiterative spins.
Is Peter Zeihan a CIA agent or supported by the CIA?
Everything he says seems to predict or mirror the latest propaganda narrative. I read his Twitter, and he’s a Ukraine war-porn addict.
No idea who he is.
a deep state shill for sure.you dont need to know him or his comrade George Friedman.Well paid liars all,
Zeihan, if not a card-carrying globalist, is certainly aligned with them philosophically. A technocrat through and through.
Having said that I don’t dismiss what he says about demographics.
he always leaves out western demographics.
The RD200 rocket, which the USA used till 2021, was made in Russia. It was the backbone of American space missions. Russia didn’t just bring Astronauts to the ISS, but also build the rockets for the USA to bring the satellites especially military types into orbit.
That would be the RD-180, basically a Soviet Space Shuttle booster engine cut in half (2 thrust chambers instead of 4). The US still has a few in hand for the last couple of Atlas V rockets that typically launch the high value military satellites and NASA probes that they can’t afford to have blow up on their way to orbit.
John McCain and his crew decided that the US couldn’t be dependent on the evil, backward Russians for such precious cargo and decreed that the RD-180 be replaced with God-fearing American rocket power. Unfortunately the engine contract for the new Vulcan rocket’s booster engines went to Jeff Bezos and development is 4 years behind schedule.
Vulcan is supposed to launch Q1 2023, while the US military is prohibited by act of congress from using the Atlas V/RD-180 from the end of 2022. Fellow oligarch Elon Musk is hoovering up important launch contracts in the interim, but a serious launch failure resulting in the grouding of his Falcon rockets would leave the US without any space launch options.
It seems both the US and Russia are only just catching up to where the Soviets were in the 1980s. They had a Saturn V-class super heavy launcher (like NASA’s SLS and Musk’s Starship) that could also launch a Shuttle, an advanced medium lift rocket derived from the booster of their super heavy (like the Atlas V or Falcon 9, lost to Ukraine in the dissolution), and an advanced crew spacecraft that could transport 7 cosmonauts to a space station (on the medium lift) or 3 to the moon (on the super heavy).
Roscosmos has updated these designs (without the Shuttle option) and all 3 are currently in development. Russia will probably have to prioritize its military space program in the near term, but Russia has everything it needs to join China on the Moon as part of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
Great piece Larry.
The modern-day CIA and FBI are emblematic of the decline of Washington DC itself. It’s a clownshow is unimpressive liars, bootlickers and apparatchiks.
They’re cowards, as well, as they target innocent citizens. This is because they don’t have the courage or skills to take on genuine American adversaries. Take Russiagate – the entire time CIA/FBI were using resources to participate in what they knew was a fraud, both Russia and China were developing hypersonic weapons, among many other secret projects.
Contrast the superiority and effectiveness of Russia and China’s intelligence communities. They are simply miles ahead of the CIA/FBI etc in every way and as a result, have fully infiltrated every level of American society.
“Russia’s intelligence communities have fully infiltrated every level of American society.”
Not during the times of The Russian Federation since it was not necessary since the process of the opponents’ dumbing down accelerated from 1970 onwards rendering infiltrating every level of American society a waste of productive resources better focused elsewhere since a whole lotta preparation was going on, and Star wars were always known to be a bluff by those engaged in development testing in areas of hypersonics and related endeavours not limited to things that go bang.
This may not be among your beliefs although phenomena can exist without your perception/belief.
Tom Clancy single-handedly rehabilitated the CIA.
Larry:
In continuation to my previous comment on your “Thelma-Louise” post, and after reading all your posts, I am now convinced that the entire US intelligence service is working for Putin; otherwise, how else would you explain the clownish behavior of its senior personnel?
Reminds me of the following episode from “Yes, Prime Minister”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751834/?ref_=ttep_ep8
In particular, the following conversation seems to be applicable:
“Geoffrey – Director General MI5: Personally, I find it hard enough to believe that one of us was one of them. But if two of us were one of them, or two of them, all of us could be, um, could be…
James Hacker: All of them.”
After all, as Sherlock Holmes said:
“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
found this short youtube videos interesting. quite apt i think for the few men out there that still have testosterone
33 Rules to Power – Greatest Warrior Quotes to Be Invincible – 6 and half minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQvy_BFAMYE
for Douglas London and Steven Hall
Arrogance and Stupidity – 3 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF27OtzAslY
Ukraine Is The Latest Neocon Disaster
https://www.tikkun.org/ukraine-is-the-latest-neocon-disaster/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=aad56c14-e4e5-40c2-8962-eaf42faed792
“The knock-on effects could be devastating, if a right-wing demagogue in the US rises to power (or in the case of Trump, returns to power) promising to restore America’s faded military glory through dangerous escalation. “ The Sachs article is spot on except for this glaringly twisted viewpoint.
Trump was not nearly the warmongering leader that Biden and his “neocon” puppeteers have proven to be. We need to fear the Swamp, inhabited by both leftists and right wingers.
Trump’s possible return would likely evidence wiser appointments than were made by him during his last run. That the neocons would stand to loose their power and influence is a powerful reason to bring back the wrecking ball.
After the Ukrainian steppe freezes along with its army and population, while the US reels from its shocking election results and as Europe staggers from the realization that its golden goose really is dead, Gen. Armageddon will let slip the dogs of war and scatter the UA/US/NATO army.
The world then enters the no-man’s land between “Ukraine who?”, and “Launch!”. One hopes Gen. Surovikin’s foreboding nickname doesn’t forebode the worst.
“The world then enters the no-man’s land between “Ukraine who?”, and “Launch!”. ”
If I’m right (and I am on record!;) there will be a seige of Kiev, which means the US and its bumbling associates will have plenty of time – months of agony! -to consider their rock and hard place options, to either write off their proxies and admit defeat or go for the whole enchilada, and attempt to win the Super Bowl of Wars.
Good stuff.
“The world then enters the no-man’s land between “Ukraine who?”, and “Launch!”. One hopes Gen. Surovikin’s foreboding nickname doesn’t forebode the worst”… very well stated! I’m not sure we’re not already there… Guess the “phone call” with Austin /Shogui after zero calls since May, does have me wondering… I feel it went one of 2 ways:
Austin: “Hey Shogui old buddy, you know we’re just fooling around, need to launder a bunch of bucks b4 bond default & reset, hey hope you’re not thinking about getting serious or anything, you know we don’t give a crap about Donbas, as long as we get our reconstruction contracts & crap, we’re all good, after the Midterms, end of the year, last quarter fiscal end, we’ll say the public doesn’t want this & we’ll get on outta there”…
Or it went like This:
Austin: “Get the Hell out of there or we’ll bury you, you know we’ve got our Nuclear drill, & yours is next week, we will make this so painful, we will hang our FF around your neck, get out or get dead, that’s your choice.”
Either way, guessing Shogui’s reply the same:
Shogui: “Anything else? Ready to sign those December 2021 agreements?…”
Good thread, Larry. I just wanted to suggest that you take up the work of intelligence agents, how much benefit is there to the party that uses their services. The occasion is the daily announcements of British intelligence (military?).
From the third day of the war, these intelligence officers reported about “chaos” in the Russian army, even when the Russians were conquering new territories, they would find some reason why it was a “tactical defeat” for the Russians.
As a sign of Russian weakness, they see the use of Iranian drones, which cost $20,000 and are elusive to Western anti-aircraft systems.
Last week they reported that the Russians were withdrawing from Kherson and that the Ukrainians just needed to walk into this region. The Ukrainians listened to them and launched an attack on October 19, which ended with catastrophic losses in the direction of Berdyansk.
British intelligence officers reported yesterday that there is no chance that the Russians will attack Kiev from the north and that the massing of troops is only a tactical ruse to attract the enemy’s forces.
After so much “good” intelligence from the allies, if you were the commander of the Ukrainian army, would you believe them and not strengthen the defense of Kiev?
Correction: Ukrainian forces suffered heavy losses in the direction of Berislav, not Berdyansk.
Is what CIA saying what CIA is doing ?
The only thing i know is you can’t trust those guys. Whatever they are saying. It’s king of out of the place, if you think about it, for a secret services agency to communicate that much.
C’mon , they can’t be of such an incompetence and managing to actually doing things. Yeah the heads might looks rotten , but for every director than speaks shit and likes boots , how many Daves and Johns are actually doing the job and doing it well ?
Ever heard about Dilbert’s Principle ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle
One hears that their for-profit operation ( like maybe the drug trade?) are running very well. Along with training Gladio types, for after the Ukes get pounded into the dirt. And they are very successfully operating the part of the global hybrid war that shoves pretty in-credible propaganda into the ears and eyes of the mopes of many nations — Operation Mockingbird and the Mighty Wurlitzer never ended, https://eraoflight.com/2019/10/08/a-third-of-the-cia-budget-went-to-media-propaganda-operations/
And the regime-change and destabilization-chaos sowing branch (and influence of the three branches of US government) seem to be charging along just fine.
So there’s likely some “intelligence,” however malign, in the intelligence agencies.
“A failure to know one’s opponent (or enemy) is a recipe for disaster.”
Correct and a component of why they continue to choose the wrong Allen/Allan and a component of why the observation “The Central Intelligence Agency pissing on the world and undermining “The United States of America” since 1947 blinded by concentration on dominoes/chequers, fucked by the Dulles double act and others.”
“The West fails to understand that there is a new kid on the block..”
Not new, merely newly dimly perceived by some, facilitated by lateral vectors including but not limited to, the Prague events of 1968, the turning of gold into paper, the war in Afghanistan 1979 to 1989, and attempted colour revolutions in the 1990’s and subsequent.
” I fear the West is consumed by that recipe and will continue to fight a figment of their collective imagination that no longer exists.”
Don’t be afraid, it is a vector of “How to drown a drowning man with the minimum of blowback” to the benefit of the norod throughout the world in faciliation of the transcendence of coercive social relations of cooperation by coercion by mutually beneficial cooperation, with the unintened complicity of those enmazed in coercive social relations who choke on their “own” salad of misinterpretations.
“The United States of America” is a network of interacting coercive social relations which need to be transcended if humanity is to continue to exist.
Transcendence cannot be facilitated by emulation or by its derivative “Putin is driven by “ego, survival, greed, and ambition.”, but as is the case through mutual cooperation in facilitation and as a consequence of ,from each according to her/his abilities, to each according to her/his needs, without illusion of attaining “perfection” since lateral change is a constant.
Agoras are another useful vector, but not for those who are cooperation incapable which tends to be the root of agreement incapable.
You missed something?
“A failure to know one’s opponent (or enemy) is a recipe for disaster.”
Correct and a component of why they continue to choose the wrong Allen/Allan and a component of why the observation “The Central Intelligence Agency pissing on the world and undermining “The United States of America” since 1947 blinded by concentration on dominoes/chequers, fucked by the Dulles double act and others by keeping it in the family.”
“The West fails to understand that there is a new kid on the block..”
Not new, merely newly dimly perceived by some, facilitated by lateral vectors including but not limited to, the Prague events of 1968, the turning of gold into paper, the war in Afghanistan 1979 to 1989, attempted colour revolutions in the 1990’s and subsequent, plus a sprinkling of aikido.
There, you wouldn’t want to lose China again ?
Awesome article Larry ! What disturbs me is Russia is the last mostly white Christian nation left on the planet and all we’ve done is demonize their people and leaders. We should be best friends.
“We should be best friends.”
That has never been an option since 1918 given growing understanding since 1922 of What are the United States of America and how are they facilitated ?, and of the “Treaty” of Versailles by which the current “War in Ukraine” was/is facilitated – the faux “alliance” from 1941 to 1945 being a confidence trick to re-direct the attention of the folks back home in matters of we-are-not-aloneness, and an earning opportunity for one party sourcing food primarily for the other party who incurred the added expenses of de facto acting as the agent to minimise casualties of war for the attempting to be tricksters, which “The Soviet Union” understood on “agreement”, the former bank robber who was remiss in his accounting being a vindictive meddling bastard, but not a completely stupid bastard, and partly why the Russian Federation is not a cult of personality.
On the contrary, Putin’s ‘Brain’ Aleksandr Dugin says that as Russia is not really considered white, that this will be the only thing that saves her. The rest of the world is getting quite fed up with Europe and zir smug sense of superiority.
As a Slav, I can confirm that we are not white. You should also not mix Ortodox Christianity with Catholicism/Protestantism.
Putin is an interesting lawyer, and a stickler for form and procedure.
It is not commonly know, even though he said it in the Oliver Stone interview, but he resigned from the KGB on the day that the KGB tried to overthrow Gorbachev.
His departure was long planned, but he could have easily waited to see what would happen.
He is actually trying to keep all casualties low, obviously except Ukrainian military, as this is a combined arms police action.
“His departure was long planned, but he could have easily waited to see what would happen.”
You are mistaken in regard to “regulations” covering resignation from the KGB including but not limited to lay periods, and the requisite delay in joining Mr. Sobchak and Associates. in Leningrad/St. Petersburg to gain wider experience.
Throughout at least the last 35 years Mr Putin has been a stickler for form, procedure, honesty and aversion to ass-lickers even in Germany, hence “Putin is driven by “ego, survival, greed, and ambition.” has always been nonsense of projection by others within whom a Gospodin is a rare occurence.
Ironically, the lies that we are all bombarded with would seem to be directed back at the West. I liked the piss in the boot analogy, and in this case the pee gets poured from one boot to the other. It is truth that holds societies together, that and the ability to tell it. In the West the Empire of Lies is labelled with its own demise.
Well said, Larry, please keep the words coming.
L.
“Ironically, the lies that we are all bombarded with would seem to be directed back at the West.”
Well projection is always useful for your opponents in targeting, as Mr. Martyanov may agree.
Mr. Martyanov’s usage of “my way” was likely a function of the lyrics and provenance not of the practice, which was always our way subject to opportunity but not “democratic centralism”.
Dear Larry,
Back when I was growing up in Yugoslavia, I used to watch many American shows on TV. From John Wayne (the Duke was and still is my favorite, he got me into horses, leather working, pistols and repeating rifles!) to Mel Gibson to Bruce Willis to…. The overwhelming image I had in my head was of a place pragmatic and full of professionals who always stand up for what they believe and always work on fact guided by the “good”, place built on the sweat and tears of steely men and strong women supporting them and working by them shoulder to shoulder. After all, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise… would do the right thing no matter what and damn the consequences.
Then I moved to United States and visited my first DMV office… From there I started dealing with real estate agents, county authorities, home inspectors, mid-level managers, insurance companies, lawyers, car salesmen, telemarketers, banks that charge monthly fees for “carrying a balance” (do they carry it on their shoulder?), the “healthcare system” (where a cotton swab costs a small fortune) etc etc.
In any case, let me offer this – everything that the West accuses Russia of – is just a projection and deflection mechanism rooted in jealousy.
When people here talk about corruption, deceit, incompetence, downright dictatorship etc. in Russia – they are actually talking about the two party system that has made sure that a leader cannot appear who can fix things, the subjugation to tech companies in bed with “journalists” in bed with state surveillance, the taxation without representation where checks go to some midget, sorry, vertically challenged pawn in a green t-shirt 3,000 miles away without any public discourse, the prisons that are full, the corporate owned police state, the army that cannot find recruits ’cause you know, fat and drugged up, the mountains of debt the population is under, the stock market casino ponzi scheme detached from the economy, etc. etc. – right here in the beacon of democracy. If you think about it – it is actually embarrassing how we here live these days, no?
The amount of brainwashing going on is just wild and systemic: in my state/county here I get taxed on personal property (cars, trucks, trailers), I also get taxed on farm equipment (as if farming isn’t hard enough), I get taxed on state income, I get taxed on federal income, I get taxed on real estate. All that is done under the threat of the full power of the state. Yet, people drive around with license plates (issued by the state!) that say “Don’t tread on me”. Well, I rest my case. What exactly constitutes treading these days anyway?
Once you “lose” a country to civil war, you tend to develop a nose for recognizing all the signs of a place that is turning into a 3rd world s*ithole. I mean, look at us – cognitively impaired people running the country with a nuclear arsenal where we all pretend they are not impaired…. Speaking of which, is this like North Korea where nobody can tell Kim that he is fat and they all pretend he is slim and sexy?
We are dialed in so tight in every sense of the phrase – that one small shift and it can all go wild (1% change in interest rates = recession, 2% = depression, 3% = bye bye?). Well, Russia and China and BRICS etc. are apparently causing not small shifts but major earthquakes (technically our sanctions caused all of this). That must be creating sheer panic in Washington and London?
In that sense, Mr. London is just a “party official” at this point, no? Expect more Mr. Londons to appear, retrieved from wherever they were mothballed. As you said yourself – more cowbell? It is after all, an existential fight…now.
My Yugoslav friends who sold their US house and returned back to the old country are very happy they did.
Yup, considering becoming an “expat” for the second time in my life (wait, you are only expat when you are leaving the west, you are an immigrant when you are coming to it?). If I am going to live in a s*ithole, at least I don’t want my tax money to be party to funding proxy wars….
as am I here in Serbia. And I see a lot of others. I spent 14 years in JUSA and maybe 7 in Canadistani transgender gulag.
So happy to be here – beautiful, happy, strong, socially connected people with a great sense of humor. I would not go back to Canadistan if they gave me the whole country with Turdo’s balls on a plate
Meanwhile, between a golf swing at an American club, and between a puff a Cohiba at a London gentlemen’s club, sophisticated gentlemen (joke) agree to increase their portfolio and decide to play even or odd. to choose which of your tink tanks they will use to create a color revolution or a war. Like gentlemen, they decide to use their poodles together, but enough business, let’s have a good swing or a good puff.
CIA …Crying In America.
Sad, all they have got left is lies. NASA piggy backing on Russian rockets for years is the final in your face humiliation. The latest mission, is advertised as Americas biggest rocket ever, powered by old hotted-up shuttle engine’s, it is now back in the shed. The silence is deafening.
Afghanistan back to back with Ukraine must be sending them nuts. All the old guys with guts and brains are on pensions jotting down notes or mowing the lawn in their back yards, maybe in Venice on holiday.
Armageddon kinda describes everything.
I also think the false flag nuke stuff is just desperate fear mongering. The dollar nuke is the only thing thats going to blow up the world.
Brandon’s team rainbow will do it. Then again the dollar could detonate all on its own. I predicted this at Uni in 1978, USSR destroyed by incompetence , America destroyed by greed when GM and Ford go broke and they did in 2008 along with the banks.
China makes more cars now, add Japan, Korea, Europe and Russia, it’s overwhelming obvious, the donkey is dead !
I lost all confidence in he CIA when it became clear that George Tenet lied to Colin Powell to get him to go on TV and push the “existential threat” of Iraqi WMD. By Aug or Sep 2003 I realized we had been lied to and manipulated to invade Iraq.
It’s clear that both the CIA and FBI are politically corrupted and have been so for decades.
Full Brigade of the 101st – 340km from Odessa. Live fire drills with Romanian ( soon to be cannon fodder)
CBS news promo piece
https://twitter.com/cbseveningnews/status/1583596082541383680
“None take into account the remarkable transformation of life in Russia under Putin during the last 22 years.” Agreed. But the lens they’re seeing through is the last 22 years of West influence & power in Russia degraded from the 1990-2010, so therefore, for this echo chamber, the Russian citizens must also be in hell & dissatisfied. Systemic narcissism was also present in WW2, the root of the West. A tree has to be pulled out by the roots, but that tree was simply transferred to different soil, although frankly the root is UK.
It’s very hard to speak intelligibly when you’re preoccupied with licking boots.
Re: “U.S. policymakers, when it comes to Russia, are an ignorant lot with little appreciation for history.”
Kurt Vonnegut described the people surrounding Bush (who are the same neocons who have remained in positions of power to this day) as “upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography”.
As I’ve written before, we are ruled by truly stupid people who live in a bubble world of wealth and power. They are never held to account for their high crimes and misdemeanors. They are mass murderers and monumental thieves whose only God is power. They are drunk on it. They don’t care about anyone else, whether they are Russian, Ukrainian or American. We are all just cattle to them, to be herded about and slaughtered if necessary to further their ambition to rape, pillage and plunder the world at the point of a gun. Their mass/social media control would make Goebbels envious. But they’ve drunk their own Kool-Aid and now we see their vain pursuit crumbling before our eyes.
Unfortunately, they’re taking us down with them.
I just ran across this video from the journalist Eva Bartlett, where she interviews Russian soldiers on the front line in the Donbass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Gyvy2LCic
It brought tears to my eyes to listen to these salt-of-the-earth men, who know that they are fighting evil. They have real love in their hearts for the common people suffering. They know full well who is directing all of this.
I only hope that it is understood that the common people in America don’t really comprehend what those in power are doing in our names. We are victims of the most sophisticated and incessant propaganda machine the world has ever known.
God help us all and deliver us from this evil.
I have been doing a considerable amount of driving recently and listening to “A Tale of Two Cities”. In the chapter titled “Monsignor in Town” Dickens is a near perfect description of our Interagency betters and why we are on the road we are.
Hanlon’s Razor advises not to take for malice that which may be ascribed to incompetentence. I think that too fine a distinction and Mademoiselle Guillotine will, I believe, agree.
A building of Lies without the foundation of Truth can not stand for a long time.
It’s a matter of time that the Predatory system, sucking up the money and energy from hard working people to serve the Oligarchs will fall, not dissimilar to the fall of Soviet Union. These lying people are sleeping since 1991 and never noticed or pretend not to notice the rise of modern Russia, the most Sovereign and Religious country in the West right now.
The US and NATO couldn’t even win wars against truly unsophisticated Arab terrorists in Syria, or against inferior armies in Iraq, but they think they can win a war against Russia?
They thougt that Russian economy will crumble under sanctions. Economical collapse was suppose to result in internal unrest, regime change, and military loss. It turns out that US economists are dumber than US generals.
Just Sayin,
with the leaders selecting delusional economists to listen to.
“Leaders” are just reading what is written on teleprompter. Going off the script usually result in he-didn’t-mean-it-like-that moments.
Two critical principles of war:
Know thy enemy. Understand that which the enemy values most, what he holds most precious. In this you will then have insights into your enemy’s probable actions.
Unity of command is the most important principle of a military organization.
Whats precious?
Utter annihilation of Russia. Its existence eradicated as a state, culture, people. Its natural wealth plundered.
Ukraine as a regiment factory. As a terror and reprisal army. It was never built as a military organization per say. Thats why it sucks against Russian military on a “peer to peer military level. Yeah Ukraine had all the weapons and munitions, its structure was not of any standard of military doctrine and practice. I believe it was created for employing in the role as a private militaristic leg breaker army for a group of corrupt elites, fancy term for an organized criminal gang of global money grubbers and traffickers, a conspiracy, who are a non state entity, not a nation state, therefore a pseudo, military organization that is part of a client state regime, that itself was set up, installed in 2014 by said crime gang, what could be passed off with a media complex, a branch of this criminal gang, creating all the needed narratives and lies, producing a sovereign nation state lookalike military, this was the desired product. Looking right at it. What is left of it. And now this cabal os stripping the western hemisphere states it holds thrall over of everything its got on men and weapons to replace whats gone thru the meat grinder. That whats not being fed into Ukraine is being positioned right up to the very borders of Ukraine and the Russian Alliance states, to be ready to go when it is so deemed neccesary. Last couple days i have watched videos of B2 bombers, 101st Airborne, US main battle tanks, on Rumanian and Polish border frontier with Ukraine, on ready alert. It is not exercise/war games. Only missing piece is plausible deniability, ie, false/faked pretext, to go cross border, and only two US persons have cross border authority, POTUS and SecState. “Cross Border Authority” denied American’s in Benghazi fighting for their lives in real time comms with US forces stationed ready to go to rescue them. Remember that? All this force and arms sitting on Ukraines border can not put a toe across Ukraines border withput cross border authority. How’s them apples huh? WTF are B2 bombers flying into Poland for? Only one use for those billion dollar babies. Sneak past thru really advanced electronic environments to deliver precision bombloads. Their only purpose. And since when have B2 bombers been based for operations outside of US soil? Wanna take bets those B2’s require cross border authority? And M1 Abram main battle tanks? 101st Airborne?
Cross Border Authority by its very meaning is a critter of an entirely different nature.
Somehow i can not see darth vader and his sidekick in pink milley on situational command of all this building up.
Just who, what is running things right now? It certainly does not appear NATO itself as a military organization, it being an obvious money laundering front and chest beating paper tiger, whatever it actually is in control of the empire of lies, there is no commander appointed and given overall command of armed forces and the support infrastructure involved. Like Mr. Putin has placed General Armageddon in charge. Thats one serious dude right there. How unusual everything is on NATO’s side is a certain kind of question. Like critical question.
What seems to be here is a political entity, or force, in control and works from a centralized undisclosed center of political/economic/money power, along with a myriad of very special interests also vying for control/decision making powers, with the added dynamic of over-riding ideological fallacies which must reflect cherry picked realities, or whole cloth fabrications, or their proponents/messengers are raycist, un-inclusive of something, and possessed of very wrong think, all which creates an outward optic of ulterior motive driven agenda that must never be spoken in public of, which is of a hiding in plain sight clandestine nature, a vague seeming to outward appearance, an isolated control from at the least, on the ground direct understanding of reality, a conspiracy essentially, i mean what else to call such a thing, with no contact with where the bullet meets the bone, grim brutal realities of war, reality, has no place, and the course of on-going battle results seems to be of small if any concern, has the media complex questioned the unbelievable casualty rates of Ukie soldiers, where killed and wounded in action do not receive recognition due for such wonton loss of life and limb for those on the sharp end, where politicizing and propaganda, cloud cookoo land fantastical fantasies reign, has precedence over any actual facts based in reality of real time actual events in war.
Its one hell of a fucked up picture.
One things certain, “IT” is feeding the meat grinder with everything available which can be procured from the collective west’s military architecture, nothing can be spared, not munitions not weapons and top of the list, soldiers, men, human beings, meat for the grinder.
I believe, my reasons very much from personal observation of considerate appreciation for history combined with present developments and the seeming almost blind pig rooting for acorns repetition of doubling down on failure atop failure on and on, as strategy, for the NATO conglomerate’s part, they are gonna feed the meat into the meat-grinder till there are no bodies remaining to do so.
It is like something, some entity, some cabal, can not help it, it must feed the grinder now, that its caught in a catch 22 it itself created, that Ukraine is absolutely critical to the exclusion of everything, even if it is the destruction of Ukraine, specifically, destruction of what Ukraine was turned into in 2014, a client regime, yet its desperate to preserve what Ukraine was turned into. And its in a lot of trouble on the ground. Now that its receiving what its been dishing out for 8 years on the Donbas arc. That organized criminal collection of thieving oligarchs, nazi’s and Soros agents running Ukraine? They been sitting fat on the hog of Soviet times infrastructure that the meat-grinder is dismantling? Right on the edge of civilizational collapse? In our time where energy is as vital as air food and water for continuity of civilized society in our digital age. That what is in control over the collectivist west can not and must not reveal exactly how critical how important Ukraine is to it, while waging nothing less than total war. I know it is a contradiction in terms, yet it fits, regardless.
Another axiom of war, to paraphrase a recent epic post, applied to the Russian Alliance’s benefit; never interrupt your enemy when he is making endless cow bell.
Ask this. Is what is really running things behind a vynyl siding crook and corrupt senator, and child/daughter molesting peedo and son who didnt fall far from that apple tree, installed after an outright election coup, ie, regime change, that smart mouth cheap crook and clown, as a facade for who and what is the reigning regime in Washington, part of or the entity itself hidden, running the show in Ukraine, same one that blows up under sea gas pipelines, steals 36 billion in Russian financial assets in broad daylight, is running regime change op’s in Pakistan, Thailand, across Africa, in Eurasia, the Levant, one that has put at risk Europe where it could literally freeze to death by the tens of thousands this winter, put its economy in the dumpster, is this cabal this conspiracy running things in Ukraine?
I can not imagine what else could be doing it.
I think its something been around a long time been screwing up our world for fun profit and an eventual dominion over all of us.
I think the Russian’s had enough of them.
I think the Russians mean to exterminate them.
I think the Russian will.
And the Russians are not stopping at Ukraines border because what this thing is infests everything across the west and into all of Asia.
Once the Russians are finished in Ukraine shit gets serious.
And what the Russian have done its set in motion events which will change the world and in the end cause peace and prosperity like nobody has known, the end of Warr, that which has plagued and caused on this earth for approximately twelve centuries give or take a decade or two.
You’re spot on!
That’s the money shot that stands out from the rest of your outstanding post.
This war is prologue to the upheavals it introduces. If it looks like the Russians are stretching it out too long, well, better that the prologue be long and the rest of the book short, because as you say it’ll be serious.
Things take time. Months, sometimes years are required for things to sink in, their meaning digested, decisions made, positions taken and action plans implemented. We’ve seen astonishing things happen over the last 9mos. From NATO disarming itself, to the Saudi’s joining BRICS, to India showing the US the door, to Europeans finally realizing that they’re on a hellbound train, to 100 other factors now in play. Small things like Mozambique’s President firing his Foreign Minister for voting against Russia at the UN, and big things like Xi cementing himself and his faction in power to ensure that China won’t be changing horses midstream, to perhaps even bigger things like half of the American people realizing that they bought the same ticket the Europeans bought.
Had Russia swept across UA in a month, they would’ve barely had a chance to be considered, much less had a chance to develop. The geo-political situation would’ve remained much as it was. As it is, the war is proceeding in sync with the tectonic socio-political developments it triggered, both driving and being driven by them. Eventually, with luck the combination will have sucked the air out of the cabal’s lungs and the world will get a chance to reorganize itself along different lay lines relatively peacefully.
Skip Towne,
Thank you for your analysis and interpretation of past and current affairs in this world. I, too, have high hopes for better things to come.
But that being said, I wouldn’t get too carried away with Millenialist dreams; after all, we humans are not angels, doing the bidding of God. There is a worm in the apple, and that worm is our very fallibility as humans, our tendency to err in judgment even when we strive to do good, let alone when those Ill-disposed scheme for their narrow interests. I offer up this quote from James Madison, one of the chief authors of the US Constitution, and later President under that Constitutional republic, meditating upon fallen humanity and its governance:
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”
And another quote, this one from John Adams, another “Founding Father”, also later President of the Constitutional republic, on an essential prerequisite to the successful functioning of that Constitution, even with Madison’s auxiliary precautions in place:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Well, that’s a tall order, particularly when immorality and godlessness are rampant.
Russian RT reports about the deployment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army close to the Rumanian – Ukrainian border https://russian.rt.com/world/article/1064371-ssha-specoperaciya-rossiya
“”Raising the stakes”: how the US is drawn into the conflict in Ukraine
Washington has spent a lot of money on helping Kyiv to ensure that Russia does not succeed in a special operation in Ukraine, said US President Joe Biden. Earlier, information appeared in the American media that for the first time in 80 years, the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army was deployed to Europe, which is now conducting exercises in Romania. According to the commanders of this unit, in case of further escalation, the paratroopers are ready to enter the territory of Ukraine. According to experts, the United States increases the global conflict potential of the situation by continuing to use Ukraine as a tool to weaken Russia.
The United States cannot allow Russia to succeed in a special operation in Ukraine, and Washington has invested heavily to achieve this goal, US President Joe Biden said in an interview with MSNBC.
“We spend a lot of money to help Ukrainians. But it’s not just about Ukrainians, it’s about NATO, Western Europe, about making sure Putin doesn’t succeed,” he stressed.
So Biden answered a journalist’s question about his attitude to a possible reduction in military support for the Kyiv regime if the Republican Party wins the midterm congressional elections, which will be held on November 8.
Recall, on October 14, the US President approved the allocation of a new aid package to Kyiv in the amount of $725 million. It included tens of thousands of artillery shells, anti-tank systems, ammunition for the HIMARS MLRS, HARM anti-radar missiles and other weapons. Then the Pentagon clarified that since the beginning of the NWO, the American side had already allocated about $17.6 billion to provide assistance to Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly warned that pumping Kyiv with weapons from the West increases the conflict potential of the situation. This, in particular, was pointed out by the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov.
“We perceive the statements of the American leadership about their intention to support Zelensky with additional deliveries of military products (military products. – RT ), including the latest models, as another confirmation of the fact that Washington is secured in the status of a participant in the conflict … We call on the United States and its allies … to stop pumping the regime with deadly weapons . This will only lead to new casualties and destruction, further prolongation of the conflict,” the diplomat said.
Territory development
At the same time, shortly before the mentioned interview with Biden, CBS News published material on the exercises that the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army is currently conducting in Romania “a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border.” The commanders of this unit told reporters that they were ready to enter the territory of Ukraine at any moment in case the situation escalated.
“The command staff has repeatedly told CBS News that they are always “ready to go into battle even today” and although they are there to protect NATO territory, if there is an escalation of hostilities or any attack on NATO, they are fully prepared to cross the Ukrainian border,” — emphasized in the material.
The US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, dubbed the “Screaming Eagles”, is stationed at a Romanian military airbase. In total, about 4.7 thousand fighters arrived from the United States to strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance. CBS emphasizes that the transfer of this unit to Europe occurred for the first time in almost 80 years.
According to one of the commanders of the brigade, Colonel Edwin Matthaides, due to its vantage point, his unit “closely observes” Russian troops, “sets targets for training” and conducts exercises that “replicate exactly what happens in a real conflict.”
In turn, the division’s deputy commander, Brigadier General John Lubas, told reporters that the US military is “ready to defend every inch of NATO territory.”
“We bring a unique potential, our air assault potential … We are light infantry, but at the same time we have mobility thanks to our aircraft and landing,” he said.
Recall that since February 2022, the Pentagon has sent an additional 20,000 troops to Europe. Thus, by the end of June, the total number of US military on the continent exceeded 100 thousand. At the NATO summit in Madrid, Joe Biden said that the US intends to further strengthen its military presence in Europe.
The Pentagon said that as part of this reinforcement, additional units will be sent to Poland, where command centers will also be established and a supply battalion will be deployed. A brigade of American troops is stationed in Romania on a rotational basis. In addition, the United States will strengthen its presence, also on a rotational basis, in the Baltics and increase the intensity of military exercises together with the armed forces of these countries.
In addition, two US Navy destroyers will go to Spain (increasing their total number to six), and two squadrons of F-35 fighters to the UK. In Germany, the US has already deployed new command posts, an air defense battalion and an engineering brigade. A short-range air defense battery will be deployed in Italy.
bad cards
Joe Biden’s latest statement about the goals pursued by Washington by financing the Kyiv regime once again confirms that the United States is actually one of the participants in the conflict in Ukraine, said Alexei Mukhin, director general of the Center for Political Information.
“Biden actually admitted on air that the United States is a party to the conflict. This puts under very serious doubt the statements of representatives of his administration and the leadership of NATO to the contrary. Of course, the participation of the United States and NATO in the situation in Ukraine is an open secret, but in any case, such a recognition puts all officials who said the opposite into a stupid position, ”the RT interlocutor emphasized.
In turn, the statements of the US military about their readiness to enter the territory of Ukraine is a clear manifestation of aggression, which completely nullifies all the words about the status of an observer, Mukhin added. However, such a signal should not be taken as a manifestation of a strong position in the current crisis, the political scientist emphasized.
According to Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, the current situation in Ukraine and the country itself remain a tool for the United States to contain Russia.
“By financing this conflict, the United States is trying to limit, contain Russia. For them, this is important because they believe that the current conflict gives them unilateral long-term advantages. Weak Russia is an advantage for the West. And Ukraine is a consumable material, which in this case serves this purpose. What will happen to Ukraine itself and the Ukrainians is the last question for them, ”the political scientist emphasized in a commentary to RT.
At the same time, information about the deployment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army in Romania indirectly confirms the intention of the American side to engage in a direct armed conflict with the Russian Federation, he believes.
“From a military point of view, the US Army has long been ready for such a step, but a political decision has not yet been made. For them, it is important that Russia, in the event of an unfavorable development of the situation, does not gain control over the whole of Ukraine. However, the 101st division is not enough to participate in some major operations. It is enough to stop the potential advance of Russian troops for a while and give it time to force it into some kind of negotiations. This is more an element of blackmail than a real projection of military power, ”Bruter believes.
At the same time, the American establishment is not interested in a political settlement of the situation and will seek a military solution using Ukraine for this, the expert added.
“To date, the situation has really gone very far. Now it is difficult to imagine what a draw or any agreement on freezing the situation with the participation of the United States could look like. Figures like Elon Musk who propose a solution to it should understand that this looks ridiculous for the political establishment. What Washington really thinks about this, Joe Biden told us, ”the analyst concluded.”
How do we go about disbanding the CIA?
Brilliant analysis as always Larry. And no I’m not licking your boots, my own analytical skills as a professional engineer and a telecommunications executive enable me to compare and contrast your opinions with your peers and I find you surprisingly consistent and well respected by your peers. At least the ones with any real intellectual capacity that’s nor blinded by Western delusional and narcissistic thinking. Too much Kool Aid about the “shining city on the hill” and American “exceptionalism”. Exceptional alright – in losing wars and in disservice to the citizens. Keep going Larry you’re one of the few I the West who’s batting over 0.750 consistently.
Andrew, Thanks for the kind words of encouragement.
Everything Larry writes about the spooks can be applied to people who thrive in corporate America. When I used to be a management consultant, I always felt like shorting the stock of a company after I spent time inside it. Only thing that allowed the company to best its competitors was its competitors being more incompetent overall or the company having one core competency that the rest of the company wasn’t able to undermine.
Good idea boss! Forget what is good for the company’s goals, what is good for me? Promote and retain people for how well they play the game not how well they perform and help the company meet its goals. Have lots of make work positions for women and minorities.
But the winner was always making executive decisions without an understanding of their customers. Actually, it was not just a lack of understanding. They had no interest in understanding their customers because all that mattered was their belief in what the customer was like. They were so smart.
It’s frightening to contemplate the implications of the same willful incompetency being in organizations that can cause a nuclear war or at least kill large numbers of people. However, at this stage of the game I just expect to find the same mindset in any Empire institution.
I have to agree with a lot of what you are saying. I started my career in a customer focused company that always put what the customer wanted first. It became my value set for all other professional experience. When I was an executive working for the senior executive who told me ” we need to provide service just slightly better the the crappy service provided by our closest competitors, it not only made no sense it devalued customers. In the end it’s the road to going out of business eventually if that’s the mindset. So you make good points.
In the bad old days of the fumbling, incompetent, Soviet Union, they managed to put the first satellite into orbit, the first man in space (in orbit), the first 24 hour manned orbit, the first woman in space, the first space walk, the first man made object to moon, the first pictures of the other side of the moon, the first robot probe on the moon, the most successful robot probes to Venus, and the first space station.
While they were doing this, they also fed, housed, educated, and provided medical care to a large population, as well as producing first rate military aircraft.
And do not forget they graduate as many STEM degrees as we do. We are much larger, but our children take aggrieved white women panacea degrees.
Two real world experiences:
1) I lost any illusions of the State Dept’s professional expertise when a close DEA analyst friend did a 3 year stint undercover at a US Embassy in the heart of the turf war between the 2 most powerful drug cartels in Mexico. He was amazed by the sheer incompetence, unprofessional work ethic, and cavalier security attitudes of the young poli sci/international studies majors populating the place. They waltzed through the office and socialized around town as if they were on Spring Break with daddy’s credit card. Meanwhile, he’s driving past the decapitated bodies gifted by the cartels on the well-groomed tree-lined lawn approaching the embassy each morning. Since he himself was rescued from his safe room in his hardened house by the Mexican marines in the first week on the job when the cartel hit squad was only a block away, one has to wonder if the state dept employees were benficiaries of some “mutually beneficial international arrangement”.
2) I inadvertantly got into a convo on the SMO situation and weaponry at my grocery store with a gentleman who turned out to be a recently retired former CIA analyst. Expecting some insightful and informed commentary, he instead quickly spewed the same Cold War drivel as those you quote, poo-pooing everything single historical fact re:Ukaine since 2014 and waving Russia’s modernized advanced weaponry and economy aside like a bothersome mosquito.
As my husband likes to say, these people have brains like a sprung steel trap – nothing gets in and nothing gets out.
As Mr. Stangl, Mr. Wagner and others established, hope and tempo facilitate productivity.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/57302.htm
Two points:
1. The length of Russia’s special operation, and is it hurting them or lengthening their strength as they build economic resources and weaken Europe at the same time? Why not just do it all at once? Why not one big strike?
Russia reminds me of Bismarck’s strategy in uniting Germany. He took his time, building support, making the most of his opponent’s weaknesses, then, when he had a consensus, acting decisively. When he beat Austria, he didn’t rub it in. Much as in 1870, he let the French declare war on Prussia, and turn it around to get the German states on his side.
As for France, it went into war overconfident. Read Zola’s Le Debacle, showing French incompetence. For example, the army was so confident they’d march on Berlin they didn’t have any maps of France when they marched. Or they had rapid fire machine guns in place; only to be punched out by the longer range Krupp cannon of Prussia.
Bismarck was an opportunist. There is a German movie, Die Entlassung (The Dismissal, 1942), showing Bismarck replaced by William II, and afterwards came a reckless, emotional foreign policy where William got France, Russia, and eventually England against Germany. Bismarck would never have let that happen.
Sorry for being pedantic, but I see many historical parallels in this Ukraine business.
2. The CIA. In the 1980’s, I was part of the protest movement against US intervention in Nicaragua. A couple of CIA agents resigned over Reagan’s policy
and spoke to our groups. One was a McMichael, I believe. He thought the CIA actually gave good intelligence on Central America, but the problem was the government, for political reasons, never listened. He insisted he and others urged a more subtle way of handling Nicaragua than Bill Casey, who was behind the contra war and sending US troops on the border (and I did talk to US troops, ex-special forces, who said they were there fighting Nicaraguans). McMichael contended the Casey faction dominated the war and guided Reagan.
The contra war eventually led to the mess of Iran-Contra. Mostly because Congress then had a strong pro-Nicaragua caucus and in the 80’s, Vietnam still cast a long shadow, so funding to the contras was limited. Also, the contras had a lot of factions that hated each other as much as they did the new Nicaraguan government. As it was, elections did turn out the Sandinistas (pro-leftists), but they eventually got back into power. So, it was a continuing crisis, but no major war. Perhaps now the CIA has changed. Perhaps now you can’t say there are political factions in the agency, but maybe it’s the same. Larry would know more about that.
McMichael also said KGB espionage was always overrated. He didn’t think the KGB did that much espionage (for example, he said the ‘yellow rain’ in Afghanistan was a false flag), but he did say the KGB did offer a lot of disinformation on the US, as they had a lot of allies in the European media…just like we did. he thought the idea of a “free press” very misleading.
Also, I’ll say McMichael struck me as very intelligent. He had a Jesuit education, and I wonder if there are that many types in the Agency anymore.
“Russia reminds me of Bismarck’s strategy in uniting Germany.”
This time no “support” was sought from Mr. Bleichroder and associates, but cooperatively invested in/financed, whilst the opponents as expected thought stolen apples taste sweetest, and thereby illustrated the existance of “dumb fucks”.
It is due to diversity hiring. We need a topflight Russian analyst! No, we have no lesbians in the Russian section. So, Bob’s daughter just got her 4th Masters and needs a job. And she is lesbian. We need a transgender stat before the next training/guilt sessions! Who cares if it doesn’t come to work on time. Put it in charge. I am being somewhat facetious, but it is the truth. And political polarization. There was a day when you might hate his guts because he was R or D, but he knew his effing job, and you kept him there in government. No longer. But on the positive side? When they finish the purge of the woke Army, and lose so badly overseas, the only war to fight is on the American public? Woke warriors with 3 months of transitioning leave a year are going to be easy meat.
InjustForThe MomentWe Live: I have no idea what you’re talking about. Your analogy is confusing.
Curt Nichols: I understand what you’re saying. I think as “woke” as our military is, the system is keeping a few brigades of reliables to do the hard work, be it fighting for the war of the month, or opening fire on any uppity deplorables. If they can’t train them, they’ll just go to Blackwater and hire them.
It’s like Harold Covington said: the real revolution isn’t when the masses turn on you, it’s when you call out the troops and they don’t come or join the mob.
Sort of like Iran in 1979. When, after a week, the Iranian army didn’t open fire on the mobs, it was time for all those American “contract employees” to scram to the airport.
What about William Burns? He seemed like a pretty sharp guy when he was ambassador to Russia, warning that Ukraine is “the reddest of red lines” for everyone in the Russian elite, not just Putin. But now as DCI, he’s on the same bandwagon as the rest of the MCIMATT, no?
Scary to hear a force that is your enemy speak to you in the voice of your father. All my life I was used to hearing the same speech style and idioms used by spokesman for the US, and
being a youth, I listened and identified their speech style as, well that’s MY country, but now
I hear the same speech pattern and voice, like ones father speaking to you sort of, speaking these lies. Now anyway I can recognize and evaluate the content but when I hear the patois speaking this pro Ukraine EU baloney, the effect turns my heart to stone. FBI, CIA, “victory at sea”, the same voice speaking lies.
CIA
Clowns
In
Action
Although these are killer clowns, not so funny.