This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Putin Slams US $9 Billion Fine Against French BNP As "Blackmail" For Russian Warship Deal
Recall that about a month ago we reported that shortly after France was stunned to see its largest bank slammed by its bestest buddy, the US, with a record $9 billion fine, "France responded to the fine by announcing it will train hundreds of Russian seamen to operate the French-Made Warship", the Mistral. In other words, for all the angry rhetoric of sanctions against Russia, France was merely the latest country to admit that it too can't exist without Russian business (not to mention natural gas) even if, or especially if, it means incurring US wrath which is taken out on its banking institutions. After all, if the US is engaging in scorched earth tactics France needs a stable trade partner, especially if it is one who turns on the gas, so to speak.
As a reminder, this is what all the commotion is about:
However, it turns out that was only a small part of the story.
Earlier today, when speaking to Russian diplomats in Moscow, Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of blackmailing France to scrap a contract to sell Russia Mistral warships by offering to cut a record $8.97 billion fine against BNP Paribas. From Bloomberg:
France’s largest bank agreed to plead guilty in court documents yesterday to processing almost $9 billion in banned transactions involving Sudan, Iran and Cuba from 2004 to 2012. The company will be temporarily barred from handling some U.S. dollar transactions.
French President Francois Hollande has refused to cancel a contract to sell two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia in the face of criticism from the U.S.
“We know about the pressure which our U.S. partners are applying on France not to supply the Mistrals to Russia,” Putin told Russian diplomats in Moscow today. “And we even know that they hinted that if the French don’t deliver the Mistrals, they would quietly get rid of the sanctions against the bank, or at least minimize them,” he said without naming BNP Paribas.
“What is that if not blackmail?” Putin said.
Well it is blackmail, but what's worse it shows to what depths the US will fall when it fails to get its way in the international arena even with its so-called allies, which under Obama, is essentially always.
But one wonders: since the biggest opponent of Russian sanctions in Europe is, by and far, Germany - despite what Merkel spouts any given day - and since Russia is sure to antagonize the US in the coming months, one wonders: just what legal and criminal action will the US reveal against Deutsche Bank in the coming months as first blackmail, then "punishment" for daring to engage America's suddenly most hated superpower adversary?
And perhaps a better question: with US foreign policy set to continue its disastrous ways, does this mean that the best way to profit from the incompetence of John Kerry et al is merely to short a basket of European banks? After all, if it happened with BNP it is sure to happen elsewhere in Europe - a continent which, for better or worse, is now wrapped around Putin's gas finger.
»
- 29753 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Economic terrorism is all it amounts to, and the participants need to be thrown into gitmo, waterboarded, have their balls shocked and then its nail gun time.
Tit for tat
King Dollar says you pay Boris..........so you pay........at least for now
War is economic
America: Karma is a bitch!
What will the next 100 years look like for a bully!
Putin is Wrong!
It has nothing to do with the aircraft carrier.
It is simply because the French are..... how do you say?
French
What’s the big deal?
Blackmail is a time-honored operational technique for low-lifes.
Weapon Of WAR And Mass Disfunction ::: Usd Reserve Fiat Paper...
Actually the fact that it is the french getting screwed is kind of nice.
The fact that the US is doing th escrewing takes away some of that good feeling.
But man, I tell you watch when the colonial backlash finally starts. It will be epic and terrible.
Git yer karma straight while ye can ;-)
ori
"Let's Have A War" - APC
There's so many of us,
So many of us,
So many, there's so many, there's so many
Let's have a war,
So you can go and die,
Let's have a war,
We could all use the money,
Let's have a war,
We need the space,
Let's have a war,
Clean out this place
It already started in the city,
Suburbia will be just as easy
Let's have a war,
Jack up the Dow Jones,
Let's have a war,
It can start in New Jersey,
Let's have a war,
Blame it on the middle-class,
Let's have a war,
We're like rats in a cage
It already started in the city,
Suburbia will be just as easy
Let's have a war,
Sell the rights to the networks,
Let's have a war,
Let our wallets get fat like last time,
Let's have a war,
Give guns to the queers,
Let's have a war,
The enemy's within
It already started in the city,
Suburbia will be just as easy
And nobody cares:
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends
Crimea river Putin....
And if they did would it show on a google trends list?
I should point out that the proper credit for these lyrics go to Lee Ving & Philo Cramer of Fear, not APC.
And a far superior rendition IMO.
FEAR does such a great job on that song!
MBA thinking "The Art of the deal"
Of course, karma is only a bitch if you are. But your point stands...
True. So know thyself...
As much I fart in the general direction président Flanby and his uncanny ability to demonstrate stupidity on par with his perpetual stupid face... He obviously understands a simple economic truth better than most:
$1B in factory output is worth more in the real world than $10B in bankster printing press output.
well put....
war is economic (about money) until it's not---and it's about labor and industry backing an army.
war is the ultimate command and control exercise.
And to reinforce that point we will stop BNP from handling dollars? It's like cutting of your nose to spite my face.
Chicago politics on an international scale... This won't end badly...
and now Russian fighter jets are arriving in Iraq to fight the US, I mean ISIS terrorists;
http://rt.com/news/169144-iraq-russian-jets-arrive/
Looks like Mr. Putin, a ZH favorite son, is in a deep shit: Libya is lost, Ukraine is lost, Assad Syria is all in flames, Iraq is finished as a country, Iran is betrayed by Russia, and now China will invade whatever left from Russia. What else can someone expect from a thief, a coward, and a gangster?
Obama handlers are on a move! Remember that WWIII is already started.
PS
As for Mistrals, Russia needs them like fish needs an umbrella.
So tell me "Cack on me" what the fuck you been smokin' ?
You need to slow down a bit
Libya, Ukraine, Syria.. might very well be 'lost' for Putin.
But they are by no means 'won' for us.
https://news.yahoo.com/thumbing-nose-u-russia-sends-military-experts-ira...
Exactly who is losing what, again?
Putin should do the Snowden thing more often,,,,
He'll, I didn't know about the fine forgiveness and I LIVE in this fascist backwater!
[1] War of the MICs + Energy Wars + Currency Wars = War-by-Proxy.
[2] War-by-Proxy + Insolvent Gov + Black Swan = Major/World War
tick, tock
So how would continental europe look like if we still had 18 separate, small, difficult-to-defend currencies? In this kind of currency war environments with lots of wannabe Soroses and US megabanks willing to push them around to make a political point from Washington moar pointed?
Are you still wondering about the EUR "project"? Or just missing the divinely ordained right to short the French Franc versus the German Mark?
"But one wonders: since the biggest opponent of Russian sanctions in Europe is, by and far, Germany - despite what Merkel spouts any given day - and since Russia is sure to antagonize the US in the coming months, one wonders: just what legal and criminal action will the US reveal against Deutsche Bank in the coming months as first blackmail, then "punishment" for daring to engage America's suddenly most hated superpower adversary?"
imho this is the usual, casual misreading of european politics. in the "we always have leaders, so where is their leader". Germany is by far not the biggest opponent of sanction against Russia, in the same way as France is only importing 18% of it's gas from Russia, as this ZH article shows. Just lately it was Italy that expressed the strongest misgivings
it's a concert. you can't focus on the single notes and think you got the music. we run on consensus, and so you have to listen a bit longer than one second. and it's a kind of protection - the same herds and shoals use to confuse predators
that monstrosity called Deutsche Bank is not, in most ways, a German bank. start with the fact that DB's main honchos are mostly Americans working from a London office. go on with their immense, trillion dollars derivative book nobody can really have any idea how it's structured - or where it would hurt. if Obama really goes after DB I'm going to laugh all the way to the quite predictable end of the story
I'm also not so sure about the willingness of Russia to antagonize Washington more in the next months. Washington has it's way of getting pissed about things without active foreign help
But Ghordius, gentlemen and banksters prefer bonds...
and either can still pound a Bund-OAT spread six ways from Sunday...
unless and until Brussels and the unitarists finally get their way...
excellent observation. bur bonds wars are an escalation ladder rung higher than FX wars, aren't they?
Higher or lower... I haven't thought through. However, the widening of Italian spreads certainly facilitated Bunga Bunga's replacement with someone more amenable to Brussels' ambitions.
Without the euro we probably would be much more vulnerable in the current turmoil. That might very well be true, but without the euro we probably wouldn't have had this credit overhang.
"Sources of the autonomous Kurdish government of Iraq say ISIS has plundered in the past fortnight enough advanced US-made weapons to arm 200,000 combat personnel. They include the arsenals of the four Iraqi divisions supposed to have defended Mosul, Kirkuk, its oil fields and the Saluddin province. Los Angeles Times said Tuesday that that US armored Hunvees, artillery pieces as well as truck rockets from Iraq were seen on the Syrian battlefield." Debkafile
US weapons to Syria without the kerfuffle of congressional approval. What could go wrong? Tick tock indeed.
You're correct on the weapons transfer, but few if any have pointed that out.
Whilst the Obama/McCain crowd were "officially" stalled on supplying Syrian rebels directly they went through the back door and had it delivered via the prepacked Iraqi depots.
Though there is much more to the story it expalins the mass dissertion and treason committed by the Iraqi Generals and senior officers (many of whom were/are double agents created by US during the official occupation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MCN-sKLd64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8mZ3_e7ha0&index=4&list=UUOasKxkBYsG5xiL...
The French Finance Minister came out yesterday saying that EU countries should start abandoning the USD in trade. Obozo and his merry band of idiots are now manipulating EU banks like a Mafia protection racket. This is an act of war against the EU to protect US super power. The US has become the global terrorist for sure. This must end. I'm selling all my few remaining USD's today as a matter of principle.
Provide link if making reference....
Reminder of a kinder, gentler time...
On Feb. 15, 1996, the Chinese rocket launching a $200-million Loral satellite blew up. Without telling the U.S. Government, Loral scientists prepared a 200-page report advising China how to improve the guidance of its missiles and forwarded this helpful advice to China without Pentagon approval.
I had to give you an up vote even though I worry that every time I up vote comments I also increase myself on the NSA terrorist list.
I think that's a horrible idea. Absolutely horrible.
I think THAT would cause the herd to lift their me-centric, self-absorbed snouts out of the clover field (video games, iPads, Facebook, and HBO) and take notice, and probably go after YOU.
No, the better route is suicide the old fashioned way: Three gunshots to the back of the head, and a double tap or more to the chest, ruled of course, a suicide, and defended on TEE-VEE by "experts" and "professionals in the field of medical forensics". Now THAT is something the cattle can digest.
TV News Half-twit bimbo anchor with big boobs: Dr. Horus, how can someone shoot themselves three times in the brainstem and not pass out after the first shot?
Dr Eyeof Horus: Well easy Ms. -insert attractive bombshell bimbo in $3,500 wardrobe here -, the first shot actually did cause him to pass out, but he was so quick on the trigger, and ballistic EXPERTS confirm this, that, that the trigger was indeed a hair trigger, and so the recoil from the first shot caused a second, totally coincidental perfect shot to his medulla, which at the time was processing his last neural messaging which, according to our brain EXPERTS, was likely interpreted by the motor portion of his brain as "Take another shot", Hence the third shot. It was reflexive. He had already expired by then and his arm was merely acting autonomically on his last mental thought processes.
Bimbo News Anchor: Well, we're already hearing chatter on the internet from CONSPIRACY THEORISTS, CONSTITUTIONALISTS, RON PAUL SUPPORTERS, and other potential domestic terrorists that a 4th, 5th, and possibly sixth shot were fired due to the alledgedly unexplained additional triple tap to his chest. Can either of you explain that?
Suicide Tzar Angie Christ: Well, as Suicide Tzar of this administration I just want to dismiss these so-called "free thinkers" out of hand. That observation is perfectly explainable. You see, the first shot went out the front of his neck, so the second and third shots followed cleanly through, then hit a stop sign and ricocheted back at him and hit him twice in the chest.
Tee-Vee News Bimbo Anchor: But that only explains 3 shots. What about the 4th?
Government SpokesWyman Judy Escariot: It was actually the first shot. A strong spontaneous gale caught the bullet on exit, causing it to reverse course a few hundred yards out, and accelerate to 900 fps, where it struck the victim in the chest, thus explaining the third hole.
Male Bimbo Co-Anchor: But Judy, Angie. Witnesses claim they heard 6 shots. How can that be?
Angie: Well, unfortunately two of those three witnesses from yesterday's unfortunate event are no longer with us. One was involved in a fatal car accident this morning, and the other just expired from a rapid onset form of leukemia, a rare 24 hour version seen in every 10,000,000th patient. The third witness now is stating that he heard a car backfire at almost exactly the time of the suicide, but our forensic EXPERTS have confirmed that he heard an echo.
Male Bimbo Co-anchor: An echo in a cornfield in Iowa?
Judy Escariot (snarling): Mr. Bimbo. Are you witholding source information critical to the National Security of the United States? It is my understanding that this unfortunate event occurred in a canyon located in a corn field, and that's Nebraska, not Iowa, which perfectly explains the echo.
Network Anchor Bimbo. Well, thank you Eyeof Horus, Judy Escariot, and Angie Christ for your analysis and expert opinion. When we return, More secret revelations on Michael Jackson's tragic death.
I am sure that Mr. Putin will turn this into a positive while making the West look like Asshats. It's not hard to do when your main objective is fuckery. I am not a Putin fan, but I am sick of the West's bullshit. I wonder how Iraq will be financially hurt from the Jet deal...oh wait, we already completely fucking destroyed that country too.
It's more about to do with BNP than Putin.
Something fishy...
And why did nobody mention today that Sarkozy is in jail for fraud?
FORMER FRENCH PERSIDENT?
imagine...
that this would happen to Obama in 2 years :)
ehm was not it Sarkozy who sold those ships to Putin ?
nevertheless it's quite difficult to make that connection. or can you? in which case, do you see a parallel to that other friend of Putin, former Italian PM Berlusconi?
French politics can be "bumpy". if you can connect DSK, too, to all this... then you might have found a very interesting pattern
Is there a black Ethiopian diseased mentally retarded quadriplegic tick infested maid involved?
Coffee...keyboard
Keyboard...coffee
Exactamundo!
Aw, screw it; I feel like writing. Here goes...
For decades, "Americans" (of the USA kind, not the rest of the Americas) have been successfully trained in Pavlovian fashion to dislike the French, because up until Sarkozy, France had a 40 year long history of staunch opposition to the type of US ideology that has brought us the deception and evil that is this so-called "war on terror".
Let us not forget that Sarkozy prostrated himself and his country for a massive gang-bang by Uncle Sam, Israel, and International Capital/Finance. Long before he "somehow" managed to win the (ugly and dubious) 2007 French elections, he was already known as 'Sarko the American' and 'President Bling Bling'.
Sarko was a Neocon agent whose job was to eviscerate France's military/political neutrality and subordinate the country by reducing its independence. In this dirty deed, he succeeded admirably, to France's detriment.
Essentially, his task was to undermine and undo the lasting work of the Fifth Republic's Charles DeGaulle. One clear example of this could be Sarkozy plugging France back into the NATO matrix after 40 years of an independent, somewhat-sovereign foreign policy.
Say what you will, but DeGaulle was a true leader and a fierce French patriot. Whenever he walked, you could hear his balls clank before he even came into view. Among the many things he did for France-
Sarko was a shadowy agent and an unmitigated disaster for France. He deserves everything he gets...
"Indeed, there can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Yes, gold, which never changes, which can be shaped into ingots, bars, coins, which has no nationality and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence."
-Charles de Gaulle
+1000
comments like this are what brought me to zerohedge! thank you for sharing!
NATO feared de Gaulle because he saw through their charades and duplicitous machinations and stood for the sovereignty of France.
When de Gaulle learned that NATO and the US were behind more than two dozen assassination attempts on him, he ordered all NATO units off of French soil.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-lessons-of-history-in-1966-president-de...
NATO and the US are terrified by Putin for the same reasons that they were afraid of de Gaulle. He sees through the charades and stands for the sovereignty of his nation.
Even worse, he points out US/NATO hypocricy and double standards regarding international law, elections, and self-determination. In the view of 'american' regimes, this is the gravest offense possible.
Right on Stooge-ing, I agree completely.
Excellent article; thanx for the link.
good post
Good use of D&C* by Putin.
* Divide & Conquer, not the other/medical D&C (Dilate & Curettage). Unless you consider the US as the Unwanted Pregnancy in countries around the globe, after having been screwed by Uncle Sam. Metaphorically speaking.
Hey IR. It won't take Putin to make the Americans look like "ass hats". It seems we're doing very well on our own.
What happens when American Exceptionalism is replaced by American Revulsion? What happens when the US is despised by the global community as we continue to run off our allies one by one?
Just possibly it creates a sound case for (i) replacing the USD, (ii) suspending the US Consititution as it will be "found" to be the source of American aggression, and (iii) creating a need for "international monitors" to be placed in the US to keep the peace.
At the same time we're seeing TPTB create a bogeyman out of the "far right" and "religious fundamentalists" in the US. Can you say "false flag"? Wait until one or more of these fringe elements is charged with acts of terrorism. Watch as Homeland Security flexes its muscles. Watch the Consititution vaporize in a puff of smoke.
Domestic enemies identified. You're either with us or against us! (And at least our BFF Japan is heading in the right direction by reinterpreting its US-written Consititution. Yay!)
If that doesn't work there's always Plan B. Bring in enough "new voters" to the US and call for a Constitutional Convention after they've been properly educated for a few years. We can just vote for a new Consitution to fix all the flaws in the original.
I'm in!
Free speech as long as it's not offensive to LGBT, illegals, disabled, minorities, muslim religious leaders, democrats, progressives., etc.
Only government approved militias may be armed.
That's a start.
what a cunt : )
transgenders,gays and hollow hoax 911 dancing jews.
ever heard any body any actor say sorry to a muslim.
how about sorry to the jews gary oldman mel gibson and on into saturnic infinity
" (And at least our BFF Japan is heading in the right direction by reinterpreting its US-written Consititution. Yay!)"
To me it looks much more like the US finally getting Japan committing its troops and hardware to whatever the US demands from it.
Russia is lesser evil of the two choices we are facing, and one of those bigger evil is currently in control of our government and economy.
The US rules the world with both military (900 military bases in 130 countries per Ron Paul) and economic weapons enhanced by infinite spying. If and when US hegemony collapses, it will be epic.
Keep buying gold and silver for that event.
Don't sweat it. At the right moment, most of these bases (paid for with our money) will all be magically transferred over to the UN.
Everybody loves magic!
I don't believe this "scare the conservative" old, old, old anti-UN fantasy even one moment. for this, you'd need the IMF and a deal with China and the rest of the BRICs... and if you are willing to make such a deal while having all this military might... it just makes no sense
nope. there are two scenarios for it, imo. slow reduction or... privatization. with privatization being the worst scenario. one that is already creeping in. watch the next interventions. when one official regiment is sent... and 20 corporate mercenary outfits do the real thing, paid directly by megacorporations, then we are there. shortly before the return of the Indies Companies, complete of their own navies and armies
Gold and silver alone will only get you killed. Better stock up on lead, brass, copper, and steel first.
Do.n't forget the Claymore Garden Gnomes
I always thought those little fucks looked really angry...
I can see you and your guns holding off some thugs, organized or not. But I cannot see you and your guns holding off the US government.
If things get that bad, there will be no backing off by them. They will not want to set a precedent.
Do you see yourself as "winning" in that scenario?
How do you define winning?
Who won the Vietnam war? The Vietnamese ultimately drove the French and the U.S. out of Vietnam. But the real winners were the CIA (Golden Triangle), Monsanto, McDonnell Douglas, GE, Kissinger, etc.
I just want to survive along with my family and network.
I thought your goal was to keep your gold safe, in addition to your family.
i see myself not going out like a bitch.....
Definately not on my knees.
I think Putin's head is about to explode.
Wonder how "Rummy" is doing these days as well?
I'd love to see a Mortal Kombat where the entire game is Obama vs. Putin.
However, in this game (as in real life) Obama can never, ever win.
Putin wins every round by squeezing Obama's head until it explodes and snakes come out, or by ripping out where his heart should be only to pull out a computer chip and wires, no heart, no brain.
Do you want to play a game?
That'd be like paying $500 to watch Gennady Golovkin KO Cesar Chavez Jr in the first minute of the first round.
VV Putin had he continued, would likely have been all Russia Judo Champion
It is ridiculous to make comparison vs weak skinnyboy
Better not fight Russians are tougher....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUR4cr5M_gc
dude i love fedor but please stop with this nationalistic nonsense , every tribe has its own worriers.
How about Global Thermonuclear War?
Hmm....A strange game; the only winning move is not to play.
How about a nice game of chess?
"if you vote for me, i will restore America's credbility overseas.....WE are the Ones we've been waiting for"
All that is left of that promise, as some here at ZH have eloquently put it, is flapping in the wind.
It's not a failure if that was the plan all along.
Credibility means only a power to elicit belief.
Belief in what is another whole story
Too bad the EUSSR doesn't have the balls to use selective prosecution of US banks as a foreign policy tool.
A good bankers-as-pawns made-for-tv melodrama would be an amusing break the tired "terrorism" melodrama.
I find that interesting too
Are Russia's bankers somehow related to AmeriKa's bankers ?
Head of Russian Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina is a Tatar.
Long trusted in the Putin Administration
not the same tribe
banker is a banker. its just a domestic form of opression
The man that is responsible for thousands of deaths in Cecenia, Georgia and Ukraine, for teritorial raptures, for assasinations of hundreds of jurnalists and other oponents and for the resurgence of state protected russian Mafia criticizes other countries. A blackmailer of weaker neighbours and the expert on breaking contracts for political motives tries to say that others do it too. This accusation is pretty thin, but it may catch a few front page views and it may influence a few naiives.
None of what you've said changes the facts at hand, so... other than all governments are pure evil (which you didn't bother to say), what's your point?
As always, IDNJY (I did not junk you) for your comment.
I junked for the purely emotional thinking.
I junked for the that guy's a dick, too!! line of thinking.
So, do you know the dossier and you are sure that the fine was politically motivated? This charade played by Putin is part of a strategy to weaken US. But not for the good motives: US has the only military muscle to stop Russia expansionism.
I'm sure that the critics of Hitler expansionism were junked for "subjective" comments. After all, the german people were living under fascist regimes in the neighbouring countries and asked to be liberated. And the Stalin expansionism wasn't expansionism, was state organized tourism on tanks. And those tourists forgot to leave for more than 50 years.
Pure delusional ravings exhibiting disconnect with reality.
Typical Banderatard.
No problem, I voted you +1 for your explanation.
"Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battlelines, which is not so much our enemy as our brother's enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves."
That is the basis of my thinking on ingroup-outgroup conflicts.
"Whether the mask is labelled Fascism, Democracy, or Dictatorship of the Proletariat, our great adversary remains the Apparatus—the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battlelines, which is not so much our enemy as our brother's enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others."
— Simone Weil, Politics, Spring 1945
What does it matter if I say that all governments are local Mafia organizations playing the game of free elections? I just say that I wouldn't accept advices about democracy from the responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of people, a man that is waging war onto a country right now. What would be next on the line? Advices from Pol Pot about corruption in US? Or from Boko Haram leaders?
I do separate the issues, but giving to <strong>any</strong> economic issue political implications will take us to a territory where logic and common sense are not applicable.
bs
learn to spell
Is not BS. Putin just is one gangsta calling another gangsta, Obama, out.
I say tie them together and let them duel with claw hammers to see who is best.
Puty would get dizzy from Obummer running circles around him trying to escape.
Can we get Frankie to call the match?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTOQUnvI3CA
Obozo isnt your typical athletic black dude. Hes more slow-twitch. I think if putin connected a good one, obama would go no mas no mas
Putin is many decades from a Russo-centric world government.
The US, with some luck, could pull it off in a decade.
Ergo, the US is the primary foe.
useless talkings
.
Your accusation is indeed thin, but I don't think it will make any front pages or influence anyone.
But hey, maybe if you try harder next time, who knows?
Well you got one up arrow and it was from me....
All these down arrows are in a catagory I call "putins' pussy's"....
Most people do hope the natural looser will win.
Obumer aitn much but thankfully he will be gone and the US will keep purring along. When Putin is gone then russia falls into chaos.
Always has when a strong leader dies or something....
I am sure the guy has more than one enemy and some of them are probably pretty good at whatever they do.
Only one has to make it thru as Putin probably has to keep his eyes on hundreds if not thousands.......
Somewhere, some how, sometime he will die, I doubt he is imortal.
"The US will keep purring along".... sure, buddy
It is actually pretty amazing if you think about it......
Look at all the shit Obumer and clan do to fuk everything up and we are still the best country and most powerful in the world.....
Others will try to change currency regimes but the one thing all foreign currencise do is crash and then everybody comes running back to the dollar.
Read your history books, The dude that rules the oceans rules the world......
When did sheep starting purring?
Really ? Putin is an FSB man holding Russia together after Clinton and Bush tried to dismember it. It is a US speciality to dismember countries and destabilise their regimes unless they are subservient like the UK or occupied like Germany. Putin is not particularly nice, but nor is the US which is run for gangsters.
My respect for Hollande goes up, but he knows a heavy fine on a bank is tolerable if real jobs in DSN shipyard can be saved - he knows how that plays. It is good that Russia gets ships in France; pre-Lenin it was Germany and UK competing for Russian orders for warships.
It is time Europe starting telling the US how to behave with regard to Israel or Mexico and stop the US trying to break up European trade with Russia so it can impose its Free Trade Treaty on the EU and imprison Europe in the EU Bloc
Very good post. The only part I disagree with you is the part where the UK is "subservient". I feel they are ok with giving that impression so long as the City of London is able to maintain it's position at the top of the financial pecking order.
I too am waiting for Putin's counter move to this. This is a disgraceful and petty move on our part.
Our part????
Well, cut that shit out!
why are there humvees depicted on the carrier list?
DID AMERICA LOSE SOME OF THERE ALSO???!!
Well China did buy the Hummer brand from Gm even though the Humvee is now made by AM General.
AFAIK, the HMMWV has always been made by AM General.
believe they were toyota pick ups, they are more effective in iraq and africa
Let's hope France doesn't look too hard at all the US mortgage backed securities they bought from US banks, they might be levying their own fines and ask for criminal prosecutions for some US banks.
Then there's the war crimes...., HFT trades, gold fixing etc.
oh no you didn't go there
Putin just hurls shit at the media to move markets after he is positioned
Even the commies have figured out the game
Keep spewing Vlad - make that 70B into 140B
Vlad has no billions, where is your proof?
I see you prefer the orange Kool-Aid.
Shill On
I agree....no proof...
as if is all important....What matters is Russia Federation has leadership
billions and trillions stolen elsewhere and used against those it taken from...
compare...
There are only 2 things that fuck this world up.
1. A greedy corrupt and fraudulent financial sector
2. US foreign policy
Unchecked Greed + unchecked Pride = Root of All Evil
In creatures/orgs big and small.
One hand certainly washes the other.
It appears to me that the evidence over the past year or so points to Putin's favor. He appears to have more integrity than the western crew of so called leaders.
At least you know where you stand with him, like him or not.
Obama, go back to community organizing in Chicago, whatever community organizing means.
I wouldn't trust Putin any more than Obama except to say that if they were fighting on even ground I would always bet on Putin.
"I'll have more flexibility after the election."
LOOK.... WE ALL KNOW PUTIN IS JUST ANOTHER MURDERER LIKE ALL LEADERS OF COUNTRIES ARE (IT'S ALWAYS BEEN PART OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION).
BUT PUTIN MIGHT HAVE THE DECENCY TO SHOOT YOU IN YOUR FACE. THAT'S WHY I LIKE HIM. HE IS LESS OF A HYPOCRITE. HE'S LIKE: "YEAH I'M A GANGSTER...WHAT OF IT PUNK?"
WHEREAS US/UK LEADERS ARE HYPOCRITICAL DELUDED MASS MURDERERS THAT WOULD STAB YOU IN THE BACK. JUST LOOK AT TONY BLAIR SHAKING GADDAFI'S HAND THEN 3-4 YEARS LATER HE PAYS SOME MILITANTS TO FUCK HIM UP THE ASS WITH A BAYONET!!!
THAT SAYS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE US AND UK FACIST "LEADERS" . THEY ARE TWO FACED COWARDS AND GIVEN THAT A BLIND MAN COULD SE 9/11 WAS A MOSSAD INSIDE JOB...THE WESTERN MURDERERS AREN'T EVEN COMPETANT FFS?!!!
LOOK HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN FUCKING AROUND IN SYRIA!!! THE US SPY AND WAR MACHINE IS GETTING OLD AND FAT JUST LIKE THE AMERICANS THEMSELVES AND THE WORLD CAN SMELL BLOOD IN THE WATER...
Himpton Doctrine... ask Marc Rich, oh yeah he's gone. Ask Jon Corzine. BTW, where is Jon Corzine?
Running a new Ponzi scheme, MyRA.
The new US economic policy: Tap up foreign banks one by one to fill that sinkhole of US debt, while your own do what the fuck they want.
About time the rest of the world told the US to go fuck itself.
Fuck you, Murica!
"Fuck you, Murica!"
NO. If there's one lesson to be learned from reading ZeroHedge it's that the US Government - especially under the likes of Obama and his criminal cohorts and the Deep State apparatchiks - is that it does not speak for millions of American people. Meaning that we all have to draw a clear distinction between government policy actions and the people it purports to represent, but doesn't.
Same thing applies in Britain and the rest of Europe.
Government speaks and acts for itself, not the people.
+1
That's a fine thought, and it's undoubtedly true, but the people will always suffer for the misdeeds of their government.
I'm sure there were good Germans when Hitler was in power, and I'm equally sure many of them died horrible deaths when the Allies bombed the shit out of that country. When Murica faces its day of reckoning, don't think for one minute the bombs will be directed solely at politicians and bureaucrats.
In my opinion, all of us — myself included — have blood on our hands for allowing this corrupt government to still exist, and if I think that way, you can be certain a good portion of the rest of the world feels the same.
I cannot disagree with anything you've written. And you provide a good analysis of how things often pan out. All I can say is that wherever it's possible, I draw a distinction between the "American People" and the "American Government", at the same time recognising there are always plenty of people who support the Obama government. Fortunately not many of them appear on ZH and those that do are quite easy to spot :-)
"Same thing applies in Britain and the rest of Europe"
sorry, but I'm soo tired of this "if it's so and so in the Anglophone world, then it must be worse elsewhere". prejudice. a simple prejudice. expand your sample with details or stop putting us all in the same kettle
Ghordius dear fellow, surely I don't have to provide evidence that the British government does not speak for me. That's either of the two main parties. We have Hard Left (verging on Marxism) on offer from Red Ed Miliband and his gang of buffoons and - nowadays - Soft Left on offer from the Tory Party. Both are into Big Government without any Constitutional constraints. I am a strong supporter of having a proper strong Constitution.
How can either party possibly speak for me??
One look at Hollande in France will tell you he does not speak for millions of Frenchies.
One Look at Rajoy in Spain will tell you he doesn't speak for many Spaniards.
It goes on.....
THAT you are a European socialist who enjoys big government and all the rest of that nanny-state stuff does not mean the rest of us do.
I'm quite sure I'm as much more socialist than you than more conservative than you. And I won't hide that I'm... fascinated by this "hate socialism with every fiber of the body" of yours
I fought communism. Does it count?
Ghordius, I've never said what you claim.
But I do intensely dislike socialism. Socialism is a cancer on mankind. It cannot and never will replace mankind's desire to be free. Socialism has nothing to do with "levelling up" but of "levelling down". It destroys aspiration, innovation, risk-taking, the hard work ethos, freedom, personal responsibility and a whole lot more. It's the politics of envy. It's anathema to mankind's natural being.
Look at the millions killed in the name of socialism: USSR, China, Pol Pot, Nazi Germany, Italy. Then we have the Islamic warfare which is politically socialist (totalitarian) even if they don't realise it.
Look at the poverty across the EU today.
Look at the abject disaster of every socialist government in Britain since WWII.
All in the name of socialism.
Ahhh Good ole USSA....Our chief export these days is Blackmail, and tactical jackanapes.
Shut down the pipelines to Europe from Russia already Mr. Putin, nothing changes otherwise. More jawboning for a better deal, nothing more.
Same as it ever was.
One would expect that he wants to have possession of those warships BEFORE starting down that road.
I'd wait until WINTER! Nothing makes a statement like: "Damn, it's cold INSIDE!"
If Putin shuts off the gas he'll cut off his own balls. The media will have a field day showing video of Ukranians freezing while Putin is out bear-wrestling. The American sheeple will want boots on the ground in east Ukraine. They'll liken it to Hitler slaughtering Jews. And it'll work.
In my opinion, he knows this. He can make himself seem like a swell guy by leaving the gas on and assuring Ukranian citizens that his beef is only with their government, but if his troops are attacked on the eastern border then he'll have no choice. I think Putin has a better hand. He just has to hold out and do nothing.
Maybe the US will supply free gas to Ukrainians ? That would be great...impose a 20% levy on natural gas prices in the USA so they can gift gas to Ukrainians. Free Energy is surely much cheaper than 14 carrier groups ? Maybe the US should guarantee all Iraqis and Ukrainians a Minimum Income Guarantee and use the Social Security budget to pay for it ?
Which US State is it that pioneered free energy for those unwilling.unable to pay ?
Ukraine is one of the biggest energy wasters on earth but why should they try to be efficient when the US taxpayer is meeting their bills ?
Meanwhile, Detroiters are distilling their own piss for water.
'Murica!!!!
Metaphorically true, Detroit is a center for arab immigration via Dearborn.
Welcome Mr. President Putin, to our "tinfoil hat" "conspiracy theorist" club!
The US approach to its waning "soft power" seems to be, use it or lose it. They're burning every bridge they can on last ditch manuevers and squandering every long term investment made over the past generations to buy a few weeks or months of status quo.
No. This regime never has been acting differently. The difference is, thanks to internet the news monopoly of the international high finance and their plutocratic regimes has been broken and suddenly interested people within the ZOGs can receive the other side's arguments, instead of the controlled "plurality" of 2000 TV-stations and MSM outlets.
Who's the evil empire now?
Exceptional evil empire...