Eric Zuesse’s Dispatches: Why the U.S. Regime and Its Colonies Hide the Reality from their Public

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Eric Zuesse
SUBSTACK.COM


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Truman: probably the worst president ever, although in criminality he has robust competition.


Why the U.S. Regime and Its Colonies Hide the Reality from their Public 

The central reality ever since Harry S. Truman started the Cold War on 25 July 1945has been and is that the U.S. Government is determined to capture Russia in order to culminate and satisfy the craving that America’s billionaires (who control the U.S. Government via their ‘news’-media, think tanks, and other propaganda-agencies) have, to achieve the world’s first-ever all-encompassing and unchallengeable global empire (it’s called “U.S. hegemony”). Just months after Hitler died with that dream for Germany’s Government, Truman took up this banner for America’s Government. It’s too ugly a fact for the empire to allow the public to know. This fact explains not only the U.S. regime’s secretly protecting thousands of ‘former’ Nazis and hiring them for work against the Soviet Union (which had no similar program of hiring Nazis to work against the U.S.), but also the nearly a hundred post-WW2 coups and over 130 U.S. military invasions and occupations of countries throughout the world after WW2 — clearly the world’s most aggressive country ever, with the only possible exception having been Hitler’s Germany. But within the U.S. empire (the U.S. and its nearly 50 colonies), it is unknown because strictly prohibited to assert and even more strictly prohibited to document (think, for example, of the thousands of ‘classified’ documents from 1945 to 1955 — more than 65 years ago — that still are hidden by the U.S. Government and its satellites, and of the uncounted thousands of others that have been released only recently and so heavily expurgated as to be virtually uninterpretable). Why does the U.S. Congress not pass a law forcing the U.S. Government to publish ALL documents in its possession that are more than 30 years old? Why don’t its ‘allies’ do it? And they have the nerve to call themselves democracies! (And to call the nations they aim yet to conquer ‘autocracies’ or ‘dictatorships’!) Only fools can trust such hypocritical regimes, because these Governments lie about themselves vastly more than other Governments do — they have to do it in order to remain in power ‘democratically’ (meaning with elections).

The first fact that they hide is that though elections are a NECESSARY part of any democracy, elections throughout the U.S. empire are only for PR purposes, to fool the deceived public to think that an election is a SUFFICIENT condition in order to BE a democracy. That ridiculous lie is universal throughout the U.S. empire — despite its ludicrousness. For example: Did you know that each of the two political Parties in America, the DNC and the RNC, is a closed self-appointing private club, which has no obligation to its voters — much less to the entire public — and so it can and sometimes does ignore vote-counts in its primary ’elections’, whenever it wants to? And it consists of representatives of the mega-donors, and is funded by billionaires and their agents including lobbyists. For example, these are the reasons why Bernie Sanders, whom no billionaire donated to, actually never had a chance to win the Democratic Party’s nomination, regardless of what the voters wanted. It’s all for show, and the show must go on.

The second fact they hide is the falsehood of the belief that a multi-Party Government is necessarily more democratic than a one-Party Government is. By hiding the falsehood of that allegation, they falsely allege that they themselves ARE a “democracy” because they have multiple Parties (representing different factions within the aristocracy). The ridiculousness of that falsehood is now painfully evident in the indisputable fact that in both the U.S. itself and its main colleague the UK, the two Parties that vie for power — Democrats versus Republicans, and Labour versus Conservative — are indistinguishable from one-another on the key ideological matters:each of the four Parties is the very embodiment of neoliberalism in domestic policies and of neoconservatism in foreign policies. The liberal billionaires and the conservative billionaires are solidly both neoliberal and neoconservative. And ALL billionaires are both neoliberals and neoconservatives (which is why our Governments are). That’s a “democracy”? It is instead a voracious empire, which is ruled on behalf of its billionaires — not of the public.

A regime of "democracy" that is all form and no substance. A cunning oligarchy that relishes empty symbols devoid of real power. Like Barack Obama.


317 miles away, Kotka Finland is now America’s fallback position, 507 miles away. This is real geostrategy, not the fake stuff (such as Annie Jacobsen’s potboiler Nuclear War: A Scenario, which provides an extremely unlikely scenario for WW3’s start, which presumes there’s no imperialistic intent on the part of America’s Government — it’s just nice people making mistakes — and so, her book is, to that extent, divorced from reality — this being the reality that is hidden throughout the U.S. empire).

A personal friend, a U.S. veteran, emailed me today saying, 

Because of Ukraine funding which includes medical care for their wounded, American veterans are being denied health care.

Biden instituted a hiring freeze at VA facilities [see about that here] which has led to appointments for emergency critical care to be 6 months wait or longer which in some cases guarantees death.

I have personal experience in this area, as I am a disabled veteran and found this to be not only true but to get my VA doctor to take a phone call required me calling my member of congress and having her intercede.

When he called back he said to not even try to get care and to use my civilian insurance (which I and very few others am lucky enough to have) and go to a hospital emergency room.  

Of course, Emergency room care costs 12 to 18 times as much as a visit to a retail health clinic, eight to 12 times as much as a visit to a doctor’s office and six to seven times more than an urgent care visit. So: America’s healthcare system is by far the world’s least efficient, because the Government is incredibly corrupt, which is the way things are in any aristocracy, and America is extremely so.

It’s just not being reported to the public, though the signs of it are. For example: on 7 November 2023, Axios headlined “U.S. health outcomes worse than OECD nations on most measures”, which was actually an understatement of the facts:

The U.S. performs worse than the average developed nation on 77% of health status indicators like life expectancy, obesity and opioid mortality rate, according to an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report.

Why it matters: U.S. health spending as a share of gross domestic product yet again far outpaces the other 37 OECD nations while the country continues to have poor outcomes, the OECD Health at a Glance 2023 report shows.

By the numbers: The U.S. ranks 33 out of 38 OECD countries for average life expectancy, after recording one of the largest decreases between 2019 and 2021.

Virtually the only thing that all U.S. billionaires demand from their Government is for it to spend vastly more on ‘defense’ than all other countries do (which means to cut necessary services to the public). And, on top of that, they want it to spend more on healthcare than any other country does. They’ve invested heavily in those sorts of things, and are more concerned about their profits than they are about the country they live in.

The Democrats blame the Republicans, and the Republicans blame the Democrats — and neither blames the billionaires, who actually run both.


BONUS FEATURE


By Eric Zuesse

Why George Clooney, Peter Welch, and the New York Times, Are dangerous


 

Liberals in general, and Hollywood shitlibs in particular, cannot be taken seriously, except as dangerous obstacles to a more genuine democracy.


I opposed the invasion of Iraq by Bush in 2003 — which destroyed that country — even before it was perpetrated. George Clooney, Peter Welch, the New York Times, and other liars or fools of liars, did not.

Thanks for reading Eric’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

bombing of Libya by Obama in 2011 — which destroyed that country — even before it was perpetrated. George Clooney, Peter Welch, the New York Times, and other liars or fools of liars, did not.

I opposed the U.S. arming of Al Qaeda in Syria in order to overthrow Assad in 2012 by Obama — which destroyed that country — even before it was perpetrated. George Clooney, Peter Welch, the New York Times, and other liars or fools of liars, did not.

I opposed the U.S. coup that was perpetrated in 2014 by Obama, Clinton, and Biden, against Ukraine in order to place U.S. missiles there to blitz-nuke The Kremlin — which destroyed Ukraine — even before it was perpetrated. George Clooney, Peter Welch, the New York Times, and other liars or fools of liars, did not.

George Clooney says of our present neoconservative-in-chief, “I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals.” I do not, and I would never sink so low as to say such a thing as that.

Peter Welch says of our present neoconservative-in-chief, “I have great respect for President Biden. He saved our country from a tyrant. He is a man of uncommon decency. He cares deeply about our democracy. He has been one of the best presidents of our time.” (He thinks that Obama was the best.) I do not, and I would never sink so low as to say such a thing as that.

The New York Times says that we must vote for Biden because Trump is supposedly even worse: “HE IS DANGEROUS IN WORD, DEED AND ACTION: DONALD TRUMP IS UNFIT TO LEAD”. Instead, they want us to vote for the most corrupt President in all of U.S. history.

Lili News 029
  • In cynicism and power, the US propaganda machine easily surpasses Orwells Ministry of Truth.
  • Now the fight against anti-semitism is being weaponised as a new sanctimonious McCarthyism.
  • Unless opposed, neither justice nor our Constitutional right to Free Speech will survive this assault.


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Vassalise allies, destabilise the rest is now US strategy in Indo-Pacific

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by Alex Lo
South China Morning Post



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AUKUS SUB George Burchett

© 2024 George Burchett, AUKU$, iPad art, 22.9.21

 

A peaceful and prosperous Asia? Think about it, there is no upside in that for the United States. This is especially so because there is no scenario in which that doesn’t also mean a more stable, prosperous and, therefore, even more powerful China.

For the US to contain China must also mean impoverishment and instability for its neighbours, intentionally or as collateral damage.

That is the real meaning behind the hatefest currently taking place at Nato’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington. For an alliance that has “North Atlantic” in its name, it’s extraordinary that it now spends as much time fretting about China as Russia, against which it is waging a hot proxy war.

The purest expression of this US strategy in Asia has been Australia’s costly deal for nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus security partnership with the United Kingdom and the US.

In a new book, Australian investigative journalist Andrew Fowler has delivered the proverbial smoking gun, courtesy of David Gould, former British undersecretary for defence hired by Canberra as consultant for a programme to replace the country’s ageing submarines.

“Gould revealed for the first time what has long been suspected: one of the submarine’s most important requirements would be to work with the Americans in the South China Sea,” Fowler wrote in Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty.

“He explained that the submarine would need ‘to get through the archipelago to the north of Australia and into the South China Sea and operate in the South China Sea for a reasonable period of time and then come back again, without docking, or refuelling or anything. That’s what it needs to do.’”

That was in fact the criticism of Paul Keating, former Labor prime minister, from day one. The original contract for much-cheaper conventional submarines, which would have been adequate for the defence of the continental homeland, was unilaterally broken by the Liberal government of Scott Morrison.

The book quoted Gould as saying the submarines would work alongside the US and Japan in an “integrated system”, which had become “even more pertinent with China”. The revelation, of course, undermines Canberra’s claim that the new submarines would be used to defend Australia and protect its shipping lanes.

The argument is, of course, ludicrous. Why would Australia need to defend sea lanes against China, its best customer and biggest trading partner that had, until recently, helped boost its economic growth over two decades?

It is at the same level of absurdity as Brussels and Washington’s claim that the Nord Stream pipelines, blown up in September 2022, was the work of the Russians, who built them to supply oil to Germany and beyond. But you can always count on the stenographic mainstream news media in the Anglo-American sphere to duly repeat the absurd propaganda.

Across the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, it’s the same story. A little more diplomatic finesse could have considerably eased tensions. But then, Washington would neither be able to sell expensive but obsolete weapons to the island, nor justify deploying massive naval hardware to the region. Taiwan’s secessionist forces are only too happy to play along.

“Today Ukraine, tomorrow Taiwan” – that has been the argument Nato and the US have been using to justify an increasingly aggressive Western posture. It is not that Beijing wants to go against the island, but Nato and Washington want it to do precisely that or at least threaten the island enough to justify Western intervention.

That’s why President Xi Jinping has openly declared that China will not be goaded into launching a cross-strait war. Now, even the Philippines and Australia are having second thoughts about the frontline role assigned to them by the US.

If there is hope, it is that India and most Asean countries recognise the malignancy that Nato and Washington have been trying to introduce into the region’s geopolitics and economics. That’s why non-alignment and neutrality remain their best strategy.



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  • In cynicism and power, the US propaganda machine easily surpasses Orwells Ministry of Truth.
  • Now the fight against anti-semitism is being weaponised as a new sanctimonious McCarthyism.
  • Unless opposed, neither justice nor our Constitutional right to Free Speech will survive this assault.


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Netflix Carries Fake Documentary on Ukraine Nazi Fighters

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ACTIVE MEASURES
Alex Rubinstein • Kit Klarenberg


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Jul 4, 2024
Netflix is now carrying a mockumentary purporting to showcase the heroism of Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, which is led by the infamous neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky. The film's director has said the fake documentary will be privately screened for the Pentagon and US Senate.

If you liked this video, consider supporting our project on Substack, Patreon, or BuyMeACoffee. https://activemeasures.substack.com/ https://www.patreon.com/activemeasures8 https://buymeacoffee.com/activemeasures8
You can also follow our work on: Twitter/X: https://x.com/ActiveMeasures8
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Lili News 029
  • In cynicism and power, the US propaganda machine easily surpasses Orwells Ministry of Truth.
  • Now the fight against anti-semitism is being weaponised as a new sanctimonious McCarthyism.
  • Unless opposed, neither justice nor our Constitutional right to Free Speech will survive this assault.


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ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS




US/ISRAEL SLAUGHTER OF CHILDREN: Over 20,000 Children Missing In Gaza, With ‘Unknown Number’ In Mass Graves: Report

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By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink


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US/ISRAEL SLAUGHTER OF CHILDREN: Over 20,000 Children Missing In Gaza, With 'Unknown Number' In Mass Graves: Report

Powerful documentary "The Night Won't End" reveals the brutally perverse, grotesque reality of US/Israel campaign of genocidal terror and war crimes.

DeMOCKracy.ink (6/25/24)

To be honest, this is one of the toughest posts I have put up to SubStack. Every child killed, every toddler with a limb ripped off, every grade schooler buried beneath the ruins and every orphaned child in Gaza and the West Bank is a direct victim of the ZioNazi Israeli government and its funder and timid little cuck: The United States.

Our tax dollars fund it, thus…

WE are killing these children.

Our grotesque corporate war industry, venal uniparty government and the criminals in the White House, Congress, State and War departments and the corporate press have made — and continue to make — it all possible. As citizens, we have a duty to witness what is happening and to speak out and resist our psychopathic criminal government in whatever way we can and — at some point — hold them accountable.

While Israel and the United States ZioNazi governments are acting as World War II Germany, we cannot play the enabling role the majority of German citizens played then. To do so is cowardly and condemns our souls.


"No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child's body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be detained or held hostage.”

By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams (6/24/24)

The humanitarian group Save the Children estimated Monday that around 21,000 kids are missing in the Gaza Strip as Israel's military continues its assault on the enclave, reducing much of the Palestinian territory to rubble.

Roughly 4,000 kids are likely buried under that debris, according to Save the Children, while at least 17,000 are unaccompanied, an "unknown number" are in mass graves, and others have been "detained and forcibly transferred out of Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their families amidst reports of ill-treatment and torture."

A child protection specialist with Save the Children said that the group finds more unaccompanied children every day in Gaza, where parents and entire families have been wiped out by Israel's relentless bombing campaign and ground invasion.

"We work through partners to identify separated and unaccompanied children and trace their families, but there are no safe facilities for them—there is no safe place in Gaza," said the Save the Children specialist. "Besides, reuniting them with family members is difficult when ongoing hostilities restrict our access to communities, and constantly force families to move."

"Neighbors and extended family members who have taken in lone children are struggling to meet their basic needs, such as shelter, food, and water," they added. "Many are with strangers—or completely alone—increasing the risk of violence, abuse exploitation, and neglect."

"We desperately need a cease-fire to find and support the missing children who have survived, and to prevent more families from being destroyed."

More than 14,000 children have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since October 7, and many others have experienced devastating psychological and physical trauma, including the loss of limbs. Dozens of children have also been starved to deathin recent months as Israel's blockade hinders the flow of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.

Conditions for children have further deteriorated since Israel's invasion of Rafah, which has forced roughly a million people to flee the city. Last month, Israeli forces used U.S.-made bombs in an attack on a Rafah camp sheltering displaced people, killing dozens—including women and children. The United Nations Human Rights Office said that infants were "torn apart" in the attack and people were "trapped inside burning plastic tents, leading to a horrific casualty toll."

Vast graveyard for children

Save the Children stressed Monday that its count of Gaza's missing kids is far from conclusive, given the difficulty of collecting accurate information in areas under near-constant attack. The group noted that "confirming identification of a body by the next of kin is almost impossible when whole families have been wiped out and entry restrictions mean the equipment and experts needed cannot get in."

Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children's regional director for the Middle East, said that "families are tortured by the uncertainty of the whereabouts of their loved ones."

"No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child's body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be detained or held hostage," said Stoner. "Children who are missing but living are vulnerable, face grave protection risks, and must be found. They must be protected and reunited with their families. For the children who have been killed, their deaths must be formally marked, their families informed, burial rites respected, and accountability sought."

"As many have pointed out, Gaza has become a graveyard for children, with thousands of others missing, their fates unknown," he added. "There must be an independent investigation and those responsible must be held accountable. We desperately need a cease-fire to find and support the missing children who have survived, and to prevent more families from being destroyed."

Link to story

"Neighbors and extended family members who have taken in lone children are struggling to meet their basic needs, such as shelter, food, and water. Many are with strangers—or completely alone—increasing the risk of violence, abuse exploitation, and neglect."

 

Al Jazeera Documentary "The Night Won't End" Investigates Civilian Deaths In Gaza & U.S. Complicity

“There’s no question that U.S. weapons have killed civilians in Gaza. This violates both international humanitarian law and domestic law.”

 

Democracy Now! (6/23/24)

"The Night Won’t End," a new documentary from Al Jazeera English, takes an in-depth look at attacks on civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the United States’ role in the war. The film follows three Palestinian families as they recount the horrific experiences they have endured under relentless Israeli assault, including the family of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, the young Palestinian girl who made headlines when it emerged in January that she had been trapped in a car with family members killed by Israeli ground troops, and the Salem family, who first lost dozens of family members in an Israeli airstrike and then additional family members who were executed by Israeli soldiers.

We play clips from the documentary and speak to journalists Kavitha Chekuru and Sharif Abdel Kouddous, the director and correspondent on "The Night Won’t End," respectively. We also discuss the plight of journalists in Gaza and U.S. complicity in Israel’s war.

“There’s no question that U.S. weapons have killed civilians in Gaza,” says Kouddous. “This violates both international humanitarian law and domestic law.”

Link to 30-minute video

LINK TO “The Night Won’t End” AT BOTTOM OF POST.

 

The Murder Of Hind Rajab: Analysis Finds Israeli Tank Fired 335 Bullets Into Car At Close Range

 


"It's not plausible that the shooter could not have seen that the car was occupied by civilians, including children," an investigation of the five-year-old Palestinian girl's death found.

 

By Edward Carver
Common Dream (6/22/24)

An Israeli tank or tanks likely fired the bullets that killed five-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab and six relatives as they sat in a car in northern Gaza in January, according to an analysis released Friday that adds to evidence of the Israeli military's role in an indiscriminate killing which galvanized anti-war protests around the world earlier this year.

A tank had to have been positioned between 13 and 23 meters from the family car when it fired the shots that killed Layan Hamada, Hind Rajab's 15-year-old cousin, and it's "not plausible that the shooter could not have seen that the car was occupied by civilians, including children," wrote the authors of the analysis, which was completed by U.K. research agency Forensic Architecture, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, with Earshot, an NGO, and Al Jazeera journalists.

The investigators found 335 bullet holes on the body of the Kia Picanto the family was using.

An Israeli tank also likely killed the two Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics who came to the scene, the analysis found. The new analysis refutes Israel's contention that its forces were not responsible for the killings, which caused an international outcry.

On January 29, seven extended family members including the young Rajab tried to flee Gaza City by car. Rajab remained alive for at least three hours after the other six had been killed, and was on the phone with the PRCS, pleading for help. "I'm so scared, please come," she said, according toThe Guardian.

Hamada, the 15 year old, had herself been on the phone with the PRCS when she was killed. A released audio recording of her final moments, in which she explains that a tank is next to the car and shooting at them, went viral.

The bodies of the seven family members and two paramedics, whose vehicle was attacked nearby, were found 12 days later, on February 10.

Clearly sociopaths

 

The new analysis broadly fits with findings of an in-depth investigation of the family's killing conducted by The Washington Post in April, adding new details and strengthening the case that Israeli forces were culpable. Following the new release, Medhi Hasan, editor-in-chief of Zeteo News, argued that those who continue to support the killing of Palestinian children are sociopaths.

Columbia student protesters honored Rajab by naming an occupied academic building "Hind's Hall" in late April. Rajab was generally reported as having been six years old at the time of her death, but The Guardian issued a correction in May stating that she had been just five years old.


US & Israel Deliberately Hunt Down & Kill Children — Hind Rajab's Murder Exposed As DELIBERATE

Owen Jones (6/24/24)



10-minute video

“Anne Frank and Hind Rajab. Different context, but the same racist contempt for the life of human beings.” — @GianfreeZ


DOCUMENTARY: ‘The Night Won’t End’

Al Jazeera (6/21/24)

As Israel’s bombing campaign continues in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis deepens to catastrophic levels, the Biden administration has not wavered in its support for Israel. United States weapons transfers - from 2,000-pound bombs to artillery shells and tanks - have been a crucial part of the Israeli military campaign. Fault Lines worked with journalists in Gaza to profile three families as they try to survive the war. Together with Airwars, Fault Lines also investigated an air strike on December 11 in north Gaza in which more than 100 people from the same family were killed. Numerous attacks on civilians - including that on Hind Rajab and her relatives in late January - have raised international concern and questions over continuing US support.

Fault Lines partnered with Forensic Architecture and Earshot to investigate that attack. From air strikes to field executions, Fault Lines investigates the killings of civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the role of the United States in the war.



Al Jazeera English 1-hour, 18-minute video

ABOVE The oligarchic scum that runs YouTube (Google) does its best to reduce and block the circulation of anti-imperialist materials. The "age-restricted" window (above) is a cynical crock calculated to make people desist by forcing them to leave the site and go to YouTube, where the video remains visible at their whim. We had to waste 2 hours to capture the code and display it on our site. It is now also (we hope) permanently on Rumble.com.

The Night Won't End: Biden’s War on Gaza

A Fault Lines Documentary

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Rumble("play", {"video":"v51u566","div":"rumble_v51u566"});

As Israel’s bombing campaign continues in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis deepens to catastrophic levels, the Biden administration has not wavered in its support for Israel. United States weapons transfers - from 2,000-pound bombs to artillery shells and tanks - have been a crucial part of the Israeli military campaign. Fault Lines worked with journalists in Gaza to profile three families as they try to survive the war. Together with Airwars, Fault Lines also investigated an air strike on December 11 in north Gaza in which more than 100 people from the same family were killed. Numerous attacks on civilians - including that on Hind Rajab and her relatives in late January - have raised international concern and questions over continuing US support. Fault Lines partnered with Forensic Architecture and Earshot to investigate that attack. From air strikes to field executions, Fault Lines investigates the killings of civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the role of the United States in the war.

A Poem: ‘RUBBLE’

-Why was I born in the rubble,

Did I do something wrong, get into trouble?
Will I end my life under the rubble’s weight,
Living in this hazy, suffocating state?
Please don't silence my voice or condemn my plea,
For talking of rubble and seeking your empathy.

— Hadi Hasib

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Lili News 029
  • In cynicism and power, the US propaganda machine easily surpasses Orwells Ministry of Truth.
  • Now the fight against anti-semitism is being weaponised as a new sanctimonious McCarthyism.
  • Unless opposed, neither justice nor our Constitutional right to Free Speech will survive this assault.


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The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of The Greanville Post.

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ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS




Should Vladimir Putin Call His Shot on a NATO Brushback Pitch? by Ron Unz

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Ron Unz
THE UNZ REVIEW


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Should Vladimir Putin Call His Shot on a NATO Brushback Pitch? • 24m ▶

Babe Ruth called shot


⬇

Whether or not it actually happened, the story of Babe Ruth’s famous “called shot” in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series has become one of the great legends of baseball’s Golden Age.

The Chicago Cubs fans in Wrigley Field had been relentlessly hectoring the renowned Yankee slugger and the cat-calls and insults intensified as he came to bat in the fifth inning with the score tied 4-4, especially after he took a first strike. At that point, the Bambino raised his hand, pointed to the bleachers, then hit the next pitch as a towering home run to deep center field, the same spot he had just indicated. Or at least so goes the legend. Details aside, that homer helped the Yankees win the game, eventually leading to their 4-0 sweep of the entire series, and Ruth later included the tale as a centerpiece of his 1948 autobiography.

Calling your shot before you take it seems a very effective means of intimidating your opponents by demonstrating your effortless superiority. So perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin should consider doing something similar in his current confrontation with NATO over the Ukraine war.

 

As everyone knows, the Western mainstream media has spent more than two years demonizing Russia and its president following the February 2022 outbreak of the Ukraine war, with Putin having become the most reviled world leader since Adolf Hitler more than three generations ago. And although Russia’s military attack only came after many years of the most extreme military and political provocations by America and its NATO allies, our astonishingly dishonest media outlets have uniformly plastered the word “unprovoked” on all their accounts of the conflict.

Prof. John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago ranks as one of our most distinguished political scientists and his 2016 lecture on those Western provocations and the major risks of a future war has now been viewed some 29 million times on YouTube, quite possibly more than any other academic lecture in the history of the Internet.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University spent decades as an important economic advisor to Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the region, making him a direct eyewitness to many of the important developments responsible for the conflict. He recently provided his first-hand account in a two-and-a-half hour interview with Tucker Carlson. The Tweet containing that interview has already been viewed more than 6 million times and I would highly recommend watching the entire segment, either on that platform or on YouTube:

Despite their enormous scholarly credentials and their deep knowledge of the issues, both these leading academics have been almost completely banned from our rabidly anti-Russian mainstream media outlets. In past generations they would have quickly disappeared from the public discussion, preventing any concerned citizens here or elsewhere from getting both sides of the story. But fortunately, the growth of the Internet and its video platforms have now begun to partially level the skewed playing field, reducing the power of the media gatekeepers to prevent the dissemination of important information.

As an example, over the last year or two both these individuals have become regular weekly interview guests on the popular podcast channel of Judge Andrew Napolitano, reaching an audience easily comparable to that of various cable news shows on network television. They have been joined by numerous other experts and analysts, equally blacklisted by mainstream outlets. These latter individuals include Ray McGovern, who spent 27 years as a leading CIA analyst, rising to become head of the Soviet policy group and serving as the morning intelligence briefer for a half-dozen American presidents.  Col. Douglas Macgregor has been an influential military analyst and an advisor to our Secretary of Defense, while Col. Larry Wilkinson was the long-time chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell.  Dr. Philip GiraldiLarry Johnson, and Scott Ritter are experienced former CIA officers and military experts, Alastair Crooke is a former British diplomat and senior MI6 officer, while Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté are young Jewish progressives who have published award-winning journalism on the Middle East conflict. Despite having such a wide variety of different backgrounds and ideological orientations, all these individuals generally find themselves in strong agreement on the extremely dangerous nature of the current NATO confrontation with Russia over Ukraine.

 

During the last week or two, their concerns reached new heights as Ukrainian drones attacked and damaged several of Russia’s early warning radar installations intended to detect incoming nuclear missiles. These attacks may have seriously degraded Moscow’s ability to spot an American first-strike, possibly lowering that country’s own threshold for triggering a nuclear response, an exceptionally dangerous and destabilizing situation. A recent Mike Whitney column discussed these important developments:

Prof. Sachs is an extremely level-headed academic, who has spent his long career working closely with top political figures in America and across the rest of the world. But in his Thursday interview, he sounded the alarm, declaring the unprecedented danger from this attempt to blind Russia to a potential nuclear first strike. He felt these were acts of madness by Western governments that had raised the threat of nuclear war to the highest level since the end of World War II, but our ignorant and oblivious leaders seemed entirely unaware of the perilous nature of this situation.

Then late last week, Politico reported that President Joseph Biden had secretly agreed to allow the missiles we were providing Ukraine to be used in deep strikes against Russian territory, multiplying these dangers. It also appears likely that any actual Ukrainian involvement in use of these advanced missile systems is relatively minimal, with their control and targeting remaining in the hands of American or other NATO personnel. Another Mike Whitney column a couple of days ago usefully summarized these crucial facts:

1. The long-range precision weapons (missiles) are provided by NATO countries

2. The long-range precision weapons are manned by experts or contractors from the country of origin

3. The long-range precision weapons must be linked to space reconnaissance data provide by the US or NATO

4. The targets in Russia are also provided by space reconnaissance data provide by the US or NATO

The point that Putin is trying to make is that the long-range missiles are made by NATO, furnished by NATO, operated and launched by NATO contractors, whose targets are selected by NATO experts using space reconnaissance data provided by NATO. In every respect, the prospective firing of long-range precision weapons at targets in Russia, is a NATO-US operation. Thus, there should be no confusion about who is responsible. NATO is responsible which means that NATO is effectively declaring war on Russia. Putin’s lengthy comments merely underscore this critical point.

Thus, NATO is on the verge of firing a barrage of advanced missiles deep into Russian territory, an obvious act of war against a country possessing an arsenal of some six thousand strategic nuclear warheads, a decision of extraordinary recklessness. The leaders of some NATO members have even explicitly declared that they believe that Russia must be destroyed, exceptionally provocative public statements.

Unlike his Western counterparts, President Putin certainly recognizes the extreme gravity of this situation and Whitney quoted the threatening remarks he made at a press conference in Tashkent:

So, these officials from NATO countries, especially the ones based in Europe, particularly in small European countries, should be fully aware of what is at stake. They should keep in mind that theirs are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into the Russian territory. It is a serious matter and, without a doubt, we are watching this very carefully.

The Russians have also expressed considerable alarm that Ukrainian forces may soon be bolstered by the addition of Western F-16s. Those aircraft are nuclear-weapons capable, and the Russians have indicated that they may be forced to assume that they are so armed.


Version 1.0.0

Thus, both America and its NATO vassals seem to be sleepwalking into a potential Third World War fought with strategic nuclear weapons. This recalls the extreme hubris of their European political predecessors more than a century ago who led their continent into the First World War.

The main focus of Whitney’s most recent column was to argue that President Putin needed to take some sufficiently strong public steps to awaken the Western leaders from their slumber and force them to recognize the terrible dangers that they and the rest of the world faced, perhaps causing them to abandon their extremely dangerous and reckless behavior. Put in baseball terms, he believed that Russia needed to throw t he sort of “brushback pitch” intended to intimidate a batter.

This suggestion seems a very reasonable one. So the issue now becomes what sort of Russian action would be most advisable.

NATO troops may soon be firing NATO missiles guided by NATO reconnaissance data against military targets deep within Russia so there remains only the thinnest of Ukrainian fig-leafs to camouflage what is actually taking place. Hence the Russians should take forceful steps to convince NATO that such actions are totally unacceptable and must be stopped. However, any such Russian military response should be carefully calibrated to thread the needle, neither being so mild that it fails to bring American and NATO leaders to their senses nor so severe that it risks triggering a direct, full-scale war with NATO, with such a war probably being the intended goal of those provocations.

If such deep strikes into Russia take place, the Russians could target the firing locations in Ukraine with retaliatory missile attacks, perhaps killing some of the NATO servicemen responsible, professionals who had been “sheep dipped” and deployed there under the guise of being independent contractors or trainers. However, Russia has already done this in the past, and there are credible claims that substantial numbers of such NATO personnel have already died in Ukraine with no evidence that such losses had deterred escalating NATO provocations. The same problem applies if Russia merely intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian command and control facilities or critical infrastructure. Both America and NATO political leaders seem to have ignored such Russian responses in the past and would probably continue to do so.

Recognizing this problem, the Russians have begun raising the temperature. A couple of weeks ago, Russia publicized an important training drill for their potential use of tactical nuclear weapons and this produced a great deal of coverage in the global media. But it seemed to have had little impact upon Western leaders, who are probably very skeptical that the Russians would actually break the seven-decade-long nuclear taboo by resorting to first use of such destructive weapons. So any Russian use seems unlikely and if it did occur, there might be a serious risk of nuclear escalation. Therefore, I think that any Russian threats or actual use of battlefield nuclear weapons would be very ill-advised.

But I think that an even stronger reason for the Russians to avoid focusing on their nuclear arsenal is that their superiority is actually considerably greater on the conventional level. Over the last few years, the Russians have deployed a full suite of powerful hypersonic missiles, an important weapons system that the Americans have so far been unable to match. From everything I’ve read, these hypersonic delivery systems are almost unstoppable by any existing American or NATO defenses, which currently gives the Russians escalation-dominance on the conventional level. So the question is how the Russians can best exploit this existing advantage and force NATO to back down without risking a wider war.

During the last two years, anti-shipping missiles fired from Ukraine but presumably supplied and guided by NATO forces have inflicted very serious losses upon Russia’s Black Sea fleet, sinking or severely damaging a number of its major vessels. But turnabout is fair play and America’s geopolitical and military power is far more heavily dependent upon its own naval forces. Most analysts believe that our carrier fleet would be sitting ducks for Russian missiles, especially hypersonic ones. The loss of one or more of our carriers would have devastating impact upon American military credibility, and if taken seriously, Russian threats along such lines might force American leaders to change their Ukraine policy. But the arrogant Americans may stubbornly believe that their anti-missile defenses are capable of handling such a threat, while any successful attack against an American carrier battle-group might easily kill many thousands of Americans, leading to all-out war. So this should remain a last option.

The Russians have given strong hints that if their own bases deep inside Russia are attacked by NATO missiles, they might very well retaliate against NATO military installations in countries such as Poland. But any such attacks, especially if they involved heavy casualties, might once again trigger a full-scale NATO war with Russia under Article Five of the NATO Charter. Indeed, this is probably the exact goal of many Ukrainian and NATO leaders who have realized that the current war is lost but believe they can still achieve success by broadening it into a much wider conflict. So by taking such action, Russia might be falling into a NATO trap.

Since most of these other options seem so unsatisfactory, I think the best solution to this dilemma is for the Russians to take a page from the playbook of their Iranian allies.

A few weeks ago, the Israelis violated international law by launching an unprecedented bombing attack against an Iranian embassy building in Damascus, killing several top Iranian generals. This was merely the latest in a long series of such Israeli assassinations obviously intended to provoke the sort of heavy Iranian military response that could be used to draw in America, leading to a wider regional war and perhaps resulting in Iran’s destruction.

However, the Iranians shrewdly refused to take the bait and instead retaliated by bombarding very heavily-defended Israeli military bases with a huge salvo of some 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, but first providing several days of advance warning. Although the resulting full mobilization of American, British, and Israeli air defenses destroyed the overwhelming majority of the attacking units, quite a number still got through and inflicted serious damage on the installations, but without killing a single Israeli serviceman.

This Iranian attack had been skewed towards their older systems and only represented one or two percent of the country’s enormous arsenal. Therefore, it proved that even under the best of circumstances, Israel was entirely vulnerable to Iranian military retaliation. This demonstrated that Iran had achieved conventional escalation-dominance and military superiority over Israel, so the latter responded with only the most feeble and face-saving pinprick retaliation. Alastair Crooke described the enormous impact these developments had upon the Middle East strategic landscape:

Now suppose that NATO missiles based in Ukraine struck deep within Russia against important military targets, perhaps inflicting considerable casualties or loss of important equipment. The Russian government could publicly declare that since those missiles had been supplied, aimed, and controlled by NATO personnel, NATO had obviously become a co-belligerent and they would directly retaliate against that organization.

They could then announce that such retaliation would take the form of a hypersonic missile strike destroying the NATO headquarters building in Brussels, Belgium, with the attack scheduled for 12 Noon in two days’ time. That sort of advance warning would attract enormous international media coverage while allowing NATO plenty of time to fully evacuate that building and those nearby and also deploy a large number of its best anti-missile systems to defend the facility. Therefore, assuming that the multi-missile strike still succeeded in totally leveling the NATO HQ, the result would be few if any human casualties and a simultaneous demonstration that Russian hypersonics were unstoppable by any NATO defenses.

NATO HQ

NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium


The Russians could then announce that their next retaliatory strikes would sink several of our aircraft carriers, a warning that American military leaders would now be forced to take very seriously.

Under such circumstances, both the political leaders and electorates of the West might draw some important conclusions from that very high-profile military demonstration. If despite such considerable advance warning, NATO still proved completely unable to defend its own headquarters from total destruction in a Russian attack, the perceived value of that military alliance would crumble, perhaps causing it to dissolve, as should have happened after the end of the Cold War more than thirty years ago.

It would also be difficult for Western media outlets to continue demonizing a Russian government that had gone to such great lengths to minimize any human casualties, while the extreme effectiveness of Russian hypersonics would have been proven by the wreckage and craters suddenly appearing in the heart of Brussels. Taken together, this would constitute a velvet glove on an iron fist.

Many Americans might ask themselves why they were annually spending a trillion dollars on their military if our defense contractors were unable to produce hypersonic weapons or to successfully defend against those produced by the Russians.

And American political and military leaders would probably recognize that if despite such advance warning they were unable to defend their own NATO headquarters from destruction, our aircraft carriers would have little hope of surviving a Russian attack. Our country’s global power-projection relies very heavily upon these carriers, whose military credibility supports our inflated US dollar. If several of those carriers were easily sunk, that credibility would be lost, probably causing a collapse in the dollar. Our ruling political regime might collapse along with it, much like the Japanese victory in 1905 had triggered a revolution in Czarist Russia.

More than three decades ago, the mighty Soviet Union crumbled and dissolved with almost no bloodshed. Under the right circumstances, I think that the Russian destruction of the NATO headquarters building might lead to an equally bloodless and long overdue dissolution of that military alliance.

 

Finally, on a somewhat different matter, tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which hundreds or even thousands of peaceful pro-democracy student protests were supposedly slaughtered by Chinese troops, a watershed event in China’s relations with the West. Last month I published an article pointing that the alleged massacre had almost certainly never happened and was merely a hoax long maintained by the Western media:

Given our sharp current conflict with China, it will be interesting to see how the media covers that story. Several days ago, the Wall Street Journal already began running articles in commemoration, with their content and tone indicated by this lead sentence in one of them:

On its 35th anniversary, the 1989 massacre of unarmed protestors in Tiananmen Square remains such a source of embarrassment to the Chinese government that public acknowledgement of the event still faces automatic censorship.

I wonder how long our media will continue to maintain this historical fraud.

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To Avoid Nuclear War, Putin Needs to be a Little Crazier


 

President Putin’s press conference on Wednesday in Uzbekistan might have been the most unusual and extraordinary event in his 24-year political career. After addressing the Constitutional issues surrounding Ukrainian President Zelensky’s decision to remain in office beyond his four-year term, Putin delivered a brief but disturbing statement on NATO’s plan to fire long-range weapons at targets inside Russia. Putin made it clear that Russia would respond to these attacks and that the countries that provided the weapons systems would be held responsible. He also gave a very detailed description of how the systems work and how they require contractors from the country-of-origin be directly involved in their operation. What is so remarkable about Putin’s comments is not the fact that they bring the world closer to a direct confrontation between nuclear-armed adversaries, but that he had to remind political leaders in the West that Russia is not going to sit back and be their punching bag. Here’s part of what Putin said:

With regard to the strikes, frankly, I am not sure what the NATO Secretary General is talking about. When he was the Prime Minister of Norway, (we had good relations) and I am positive he was not suffering from dementia back then. If he is talking about potentially attacking Russia’s territory with long-range precision weapons, he, as a person who heads a military-political organisation, even though he is a civilian like me, should be aware of the fact that long-range precision weapons cannot be used without space-based reconnaissance. This is my first point.

My second point is that the final target selection and what is known as launch mission can only be made by highly skilled specialists who rely on this reconnaissance data, technical reconnaissance data. For some attack systems, such as Storm Shadow, these launch missions can be put in automatically, without the need to use Ukrainian military. Who does it? Those who manufacture and those who allegedly supply these attack systems to Ukraine do. This can and does happen without the participation of the Ukrainian military. Launching other systems, such as ATACMS, for example, also relies on space reconnaissance data, targets are identified and automatically communicated to the relevant crews that may not even realise what exactly they are putting in. A crew, maybe even a Ukrainian crew, then puts in the corresponding launch mission. However, the mission is put together by representatives of NATO countries, not the Ukrainian military. Putin Presser in UzbekistanKremlin

Let’s summarize:

  1. The long-range precision weapons (missiles) are provided by NATO countries
  2. The long-range precision weapons are manned by experts or contractors from the country of origin
  3. The long-range precision weapons must be linked to space reconnaissance data provide by the US or NATO
  4. The targets in Russia are also provided by space reconnaissance data provide by the US or NATO

The point that Putin is trying to make is that the long-range missiles are made by NATO, furnished by NATO, operated and launched by NATO contractors, whose targets are selected by NATO experts using space reconnaissance data provided by NATO. In every respect, the prospective firing of long-range precision weapons at targets in Russia, is a NATO-US operation. Thus, there should be no confusion about who is responsible. NATO is responsible which means that NATO is effectively declaring war on Russia. Putin’s lengthy comments merely underscore this critical point. Here’s more from Putin:

So, these officials from NATO countries, especially the ones based in Europe, particularly in small European countries, should be fully aware of what is at stake. They should keep in mind that theirs are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into the Russian territory. It is a serious matter and, without a doubt, we are watching this very carefully. Putin Presser in UzbekistanKremlin

Vladimir Putin Threatens ‘All-Out War’ if Ukraine Uses Western Weapons to Hit Russia — as Volodymyr Zelensky Asks Allies for Their Permission, MSN.com

  • Why is Putin again threatening a nuclear war?, The Interpreter
  • Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war, Reuters
  • TYRANT’S THREAT: Vladimir Putin threatens all-out war if Ukraine uses Western weapons to hit Russia, The Sun
  • (and the best of all)
    Time to Call Putin’s Bluff, CNN
  • If it is, it is a uniquely risky strategy. But there is a grain of truth to what they say. After all, Putin is warning that any attack on Russia will trigger an immediate and ferocious retaliatory strike. And he is advising the leaders of ‘small, densely populated NATO countries’ to consider how a nuclear attack by Russia might impact their prospects for the future. Would they really put their entire civilization at risk to find out whether Putin is bluffing or not? Here’s Putin again:

    Look at what your Western colleagues are reporting. No one is talking about shelling Belgorod (in Russia) or other adjacent territories. The only thing they are talking about is Russia opening a new front and attacking Kharkov. Not a word. Why is that? They did it with their own hands. Well, let them reap the fruits of their ingenuity. The same thing can happen in case the long-range precision weapons which you asked about is used.

    More broadly, this unending escalation can lead to serious consequences. If Europe were to face those serious consequences, what will the United States do, considering our strategic arms parity? It is hard to tell. Putin Presser in UzbekistanKremlin

    Putin seems genuinely mystified by the West’s behavior. Do US and NATO leaders really think they can attack Russia with long-range missiles and Russia won’t respond? Do they really think their ridiculous propaganda can impact the outcome of a clash between two nuclear-armed superpowers? What are they thinking or ARE they thinking? We don’t know. We seem to have entered ‘uncharted stupidity’ where desperation and ignorance converge to create a foreign policy that is utter madness. This is from an article at Tass News Service:

    NATO countries that have approved strikes with their weapons on Russian territory should be aware that their equipment and specialists will be destroyed not only in Ukraine, but also at any point from where Russian territory is attacked, the Russian Security Council’s Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on his Telegram channel, noting that the participation of NATO specialists could be seen as a casus belli.

    “All their military equipment and specialists fighting against us will be destroyed both on the territory of former Ukraine and on the territory of other countries, should strikes be carried out from there against Russian territory,” Medvedev warned.

    He added that Moscow proceeded from the fact that all long-range weapons supplied to Ukraine were already “directly operated by servicemen from NATO countries”, which is tantamount to participation in the war against Russia and a reason to start combat operations. NATO weapons to be hit in any country from where Russia may be attacked — MedvedevTass

    There it is in black and white. Where Putin chose to take the diplomatic approach, Medvedev opted for the hammer-blow. ‘If you attack Russia, we will bomb you back to the Stone Age.’ Not much wiggle-room there. But perhaps clarity is what’s needed for people who do not understand the potential consequences of their actions. In any event, no one in Washington or Brussels can say they weren’t warned.

    We cannot exclude the possibility that Washington actually wants to expand the war despite the fact that cities across Eastern Europe could be incinerated in the process. It could be that beltway warhawks see a broader conflict as the only way to achieve their geopolitical ambitions. Putin knows that this is a real possibility, just as he knows that there is a sizable constituency in Washington that support the use of nuclear weapons. This might explain why he is proceeding so cautiously, because he knows there are crazies within the US establishment who look forward to a clash with their old rival Russia so they can implement their pet-theories about “usable” nukes for tactical advantage. Here’s Putin:

    The United States has a theory of a ‘preventive strike’…Now they are developing a system for a ‘disarming strike’. What does that mean? It means striking at control centres with modern high-tech weapons to destroy the opponent’s ability to counterattack.

    Putin has devoted a considerable amount of time studying US Nuclear Doctrine, and it has him deeply concerned. After all, didn’t the Biden administration launch an unprecedented attack on “a key element of Russia’s nuclear umbrella” just last week?

    Indeed, they did.

    And hasn’t the US (via its Nuclear Posture Review) rebranded the offensive use of nuclear weapons as a justifiable act of defense?

    It has.

    And doesn’t this revision provide US warhawks with the institutional framework needed to launch a nuclear attack without fear of legal prosecution?

    It does.

    And haven’t these same warhawks developed their respective theories on “first-strike”, “preemption” and “disarming strike” in order to lay the groundwork for a first-strike nuclear attack on a geopolitical rival of Washington?

    They have.

    And doesn’t US Nuclear Doctrine state that nuclear weapons can be used “in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners.”

    It does.

    And does that definition include economic rivals like China?

    Yes.

    And is that a defense of a “first strike” nuclear weapon attack?

    It is.

    And does that mean that the United States no longer regards its nuclear arsenal as purely defensive but as an essential instrument for preserving the “rules-based order”?

    Yes, it does.

    And does Putin know that there are powerful actors in the political establishment and deep state who would like to see the taboo on nuclear weapons lifted so they can be used in more situations and with greater frequency?

    He does.

    And does he know that Washington regards Russia and China as the primary threats to US global hegemony and the “rules-based order”?

    Yes.

    And does he realize that if the US implements its first-strike policy Russia may not have the time to retaliate?

    He does.

    And does Putin realize that foreign policy analysts regard him as a restrained and reasonable man who may not pull the trigger or respond promptly when Russia faces a preemptive attack that will inflict the strategic defeat on Moscow the West seeks?

    No, he doesn’t. He still thinks that possessing a large cache of nuclear weapons will deter US aggression. But a large cache of nuclear weapons is no deterrent when your opponent is convinced you won’t use them.

    Sometimes being reasonable is not the best way to fend off an adversary. Sometimes you have to be a little crazy.

    That’s a lesson Putin needs to learn. Fast.


    Lili News 029
    • In cynicism and power, the US propaganda machine easily surpasses Orwells Ministry of Truth.
    • Now the fight against anti-semitism is being weaponised as a new sanctimonious McCarthyism.
    • Unless opposed, neither justice nor our Constitutional right to Free Speech will survive this assault.

    Things to keep in mind...

    Neo-Nazi ideology has become one of the main protagonists of political and social life in Ukraine since the 2014 coup d'état. Meanwhile, fascist ideology and blatant lies also permeate the consciousness of most people in the West. Those in the comfortable top 10%, the "PMCs" (Professional Managerial Class), are especially vulnerable. They support and disseminate such ideas. They are the executors of the actual ruling class' orders, those in the 0.001%, who remain largely invisible. The PMCs are the political class, the media whores, the top military brass, some people in academia, and the "national security/foreign policy" industry honchos. Push back against these unethical, contaminated people with the truth while you can.

    AND...where the US Government is at: LYING 24/7


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