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What Does Putin Want?
Foreword by the Saker:
The analysis below is, by far, the best I have seen since the beginning of the conflict in the Ukraine. I have regularly posted analyses by Ishchenko on this blog before, because I considered him as one of the best analysts in Russia. This time, however, Ishchenko has truly produced a masterpiece: a comprehensive analysis of the geostrategic position of Russia and a clear and, I believe, absolutely accurate analysis of the entire “Putin strategy” for the Ukraine. I have always said that this conflict is not about the Ukraine but about the future of the planet and that there is no “Novorussian” or even “Ukrainian” solution, but that the only possible outcome is a strategic victory of either Russia or the USA which will affect the entire planet. Ishchenko does a superb overview of the risks and options for both sides and offers the first comprehensive “key” to the apparently incomprehensible behavior of Russia in this conflict. Finally, Ishchenko also fully understands the complex and subtle dynamics inside Russian society. When he writes “Russian power is authoritative, rather than authoritarian” he is spot on, and explains more in seven words than what you would get by reading the billions of useless words written by so-called “experts” trying to describe the Russian reality.
We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Denis, Gideon and Robin for translating this seminal text, which was very difficult to translate. The only reason why we can read it in such a good English is because the innumerable hours spent by these volunteers to produce the high quality translation this analysis deserves.
I strongly recommend that you all read this text very carefully. Twice. It is well worth it.
The Saker
What does Putin want?
Rostislav Ishchenko
Source: http://actualcomment.ru/chego-khochet-putin.html
Translated from the Russian by Denis, Gideon, and Robin
It’s gratifying that “patriots” did not instantly blame Putin for the failure to achieve a full-scale rout of Ukrainian troops in Donbass in January and February, or for Moscow’s consultations with Merkel and Hollande.
Even so, they are still impatient for a victory. The most radical are convinced that Putin will “surrender Novorossiya” just the same. And the moderates are afraid that he will as soon as the next truce is signed (if that happens) out of the need to regroup and replenish Novorossiya’s army (which actually could have been done without disengagement from military operations), to come to terms with the new circumstances on the international front, and to get ready for new diplomatic battles.
In fact, despite all the attention that political and/or military dilettantes (the Talleyrands and the Bonapartes of the Internet) are paying to the situation in Donbass and the Ukraine in general, it is only one point on a global front: the outcome of the war is being decided not at the Donetsk airport or in the hills outside Debaltsevo, but at offices on Staraya Square and Smolenskaya Square, at offices in Paris, Brussels and Berlin. Because military action is only one of the many components of the political quarrel.
It is the harshest and the final component, which carries great risk, but the matter doesn’t start with war and it doesn’t end with war. War is only an intermediate step signifying the impossibility of compromise. Its purpose is to create new conditions whereby compromise is possible or to show that there is no longer any need for it, with the disappearance of one side of the conflict. When it is time for compromise, when the fighting is over and the troops go back to their barracks and the generals begin writing their memoirs and preparing for the next war, that is when the real outcome of the confrontation is determined by politicians and diplomats at the negotiating table.
Political decisions are not often understood by the general population or the military. For example, during the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, Prussian chancellor Otto Von Bismarck (later chancellor of the German Empire) disregarded the persistent requests of King Wilhelm I (the future German Emperor) and the demands of the Prussian generals to take Vienna, and he was absolutely correct to do so. In that way he accelerated peace on Prussia’s terms and also ensured that Austro-Hungary forever (well, until its dismemberment in 1918) became a junior partner for Prussia and later the German Empire.
To understand how, when and on what conditions military activity can end, we need to know what the politicians want and how they see the conditions of the postwar compromise. Then it will become clear why military action turned into a low-intensity civil war with occasional truces, not only in the Ukraine but also in Syria.
Obviously, the views of Kiev politicians are of no interest to us because they don’t decide anything. The fact that outsiders govern the Ukraine is no longer concealed. It doesn’t matter whether the cabinet ministers are Estonian or Georgian; they are Americans just the same. It would also be a big mistake to take an interest in how the leaders of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR) see the future. The republics exist only with Russian support, and as long as Russia supports them, Russia’s interests have to be protected, even from independent decisions and initiatives. There is too much at stake to allow [Alexander] Zakharchenko or [Igor] Plotnitzky, or anyone else for that matter, to make independent decisions.
Nor are we interested in the European Union’s position. Much depended on the EU until the summer of last year, when the war could have been prevented or stopped at the outset. A tough, principled antiwar stance by the EU was needed. It could have blocked U.S. initiatives to start the war and would have turned the EU into a significant independent geopolitical player. The EU passed on that opportunity and instead behaved like a faithful vassal of the United States.
As a result, Europe stands on the brink of frightful internal upheaval. In the coming years, it has every chance of suffering the same fate as the Ukraine, only with a great roar, great bloodshed and less chance that in the near future things will settle down – in other words, that someone will show up and put things in order.
In fact, today the EU can choose whether to remain a tool of the United States or to move closer to Russia. Depending on its choice, Europe can get off with a slight scare, such as a breakup of parts of its periphery and possible fragmentation of some countries, or it could collapse completely. Judging by the European elites’ reluctance to break openly with the United States, collapse is almost inevitable.
What should interest us is the opinions of the two main players that determine the configuration of the geopolitical front and in fact are fighting for victory in the new generation of war – the network-centric Third World War. These players are the United States and Russia.
The U.S. position is clear and transparent. In the second half of the 1990s, Washington missed its only opportunity to reform the Cold War economy without any obstacles and thereby avoid the looming crisis in a system whose development is limited by the finite nature of planet Earth and its resources, including human ones, which conflicts with the need to endlessly print dollars.
After that, the United States could prolong the death throes of the system only by plundering the rest of the world. At first, it went after Third World countries. Then it went for potential competitors. Then for allies and even close friends. Such plundering could continue only as long as the United States remained the world’s undisputed hegemon.
Thus when Russia asserted its right to make independent political decisions – decisions of not global but regional import – , a clash with the United States became inevitable. This clash cannot end in a compromise peace.
For the United States, a compromise with Russia would mean a voluntary renunciation of its hegemony, leading to a quick, systemic catastrophe – not only a political and economic crisis but also a paralysis of state institutions and the inability of the government to function. In other words, its inevitable disintegration.
But if the United States wins, then it is Russia that will experience systemic catastrophe. After a certain type of “rebellion,” Russia’s ruling classes would be punished with asset liquidation and confiscation as well as imprisonment. The state would be fragmented, substantial territories would be annexed, and the country’s military might would be destroyed.
So the war will last until one side wins. Any interim agreement should be viewed only as a temporary truce – a needed respite to regroup, to mobilize new resources and to find (i.e., to poach) additional allies.
To complete the picture of the situation, we only need Russia’s position. It is essential to understand what the Russian leadership wants to achieve, particularly the president, Vladimir Putin. We are talking about the key role that Putin plays in the organization of the Russian power structure. This system is not authoritarian, as many assert, but rather authoritative – meaning it is based not on legislative consolidation of autocracy but on the authority of the person who created the system and, as the head of it, makes it work effectively.
During Putin’s 15 years in power, despite the difficult internal and external situation, he has tried to maximize the role of the government, the legislative assembly, and even the local authorities. These are entirely logical steps that should have given the system completeness, stability, and continuity. Because no politician can rule forever, political continuity, regardless of who comes to power, is the key to a stable system.
Unfortunately, fully autonomous control, namely the ability to function without the president’s oversight, hasn’t been achieved. Putin remains the key component of the system because the people put their trust in him personally. They have far less trust in the system, as represented by public authorities and individual agencies.
Thus Putin’s opinions and political plans become the decisive factor in areas such as Russia’s foreign policy. If the phrase “without Putin, there is no Russia” is an exaggeration, then the phrase “what Putin wants, Russia also wants” reflects the situation quite accurately in my opinion.
First, let’s note that the man who for 15 years has carefully guided Russia to its revival has done so in conditions of U.S. hegemony in world politics along with significant opportunities for Washington to influence Russia’s internal politics. He had to understand the nature of the fight and his opponent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lasted so long.
The level of confrontation that Russia allowed itself to get into with the United States grew very slowly and up to a certain point went unnoticed. For example, Russia did not react at all to the first attempt at a color revolution in the Ukraine in 2000-2002 (the Gongadze case, the Cassette Scandal, and the Ukraine without Kuchma protest).
Russia took an opposing position but did not actively intervene in the coups that took place from November 2003 to January 2004 in Georgia and from November 2004 to January 2005 in the Ukraine. In 2008, in Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia used its troops against Georgia, a U.S. ally. In 2012, in Syria, the Russian fleet demonstrated its readiness to confront the United States and its NATO allies.
In 2013, Russia began taking economic measures against [Victor] Yanukovych’s regime, which contributed to his realization of the harmfulness of signing an association agreement [with the EU].
Moscow could not have saved the Ukraine from the coup because of the baseness, cowardice, and stupidity of the Ukraine’s leaders – not only Yanukovych but all of them without exception. After the armed coup in Kiev in February 2014, Russia entered into open confrontation with Washington. Before that, the conflicts were interspersed with improved relations, but at the beginning of 2014 relations between Russia and the United States deteriorated swiftly and almost immediately reached the point where war would have been declared automatically in the prenuclear era.
Thus at any given time Putin engaged in precisely the level of confrontation with the United States that Russia could handle. If Russia isn’t limiting the level of confrontation now, it means Putin believes that, in the war of sanctions, the war of nerves, the information war, the civil war in the Ukraine, and the economic war, Russia can win.
This is the first important conclusion about what Putin wants and what he expects. He expects to win. And considering that he takes a meticulous approach and strives to anticipate any surprises, you can be sure that when the decision was made not to back down under pressure from the United States, but to respond, the Russian leadership had a double, if not a triple, guarantee of victory.
I would like to point out that the decision to enter into a conflict with Washington was not made in 2014, nor was it made in 2013. The war of August 8, 2008, was a challenge that the United States could not leave unpunished. After that, every further stage of the confrontation only raised the stakes. From 2008 to 2010, the United States’ capability – not just military or economic but its overall capability – has declined, whereas Russia’s has improved significantly. So the main objective was to raise the stakes slowly rather than in explosive fashion. In other words, an open confrontation in which all pretences are dropped and everyone understands that a war is going on had to be delayed as long as possible. But it would have been even better to avoid it altogether.
With every passing year, the United States became weaker while Russia became stronger. This process was natural and impossible to arrest, and we could have projected with a high degree of certainty that by 2020 to 2025, without any confrontation, the period of U.S. hegemony would have ended, and the United States would then be best advised to think about not how to rule the world, but how to stave off its own precipitous internal decline.
Thus Putin’s second desire is clear: to keep the peace or the appearance of peace as long as possible. Peace is advantageous for Russia because in conditions of peace, without enormous expense, it obtains the same political result but in a much better geopolitical situation. That is why Russia continually extends the olive branch. Just as the Kiev junta will collapse in conditions of peace in Donbass, in conditions of world peace, the military-industrial complex and the global financial system created by the United States are doomed to self-destruct. In this way, Russia’s actions are aptly described by Sun Tzu’s maxim “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”
It is clear that Washington is not run by idiots, no matter what is said on Russian talk shows or written on blogs. The United States understands precisely the situation it is in. Moreover, they also understand that Russia has no plans to destroy them and is really prepared to cooperate as an equal. Even so, because of the political and socioeconomic situation in the United States, such cooperation is not acceptable to them. An economic collapse and a social explosion are likely to occur before Washington (even with the support of Moscow and Beijing) has time to introduce the necessary reforms, especially when we consider that the EU will have to undergo reform at the same time. Moreover, the political elite who have emerged in the United States in the past 25 years have become accustomed to their status as the owners of the world. They sincerely don’t understand how anyone can challenge them.
For the ruling elite in the United States (not so much the business class but the government bureaucracy), to go from being a country that decides of the fate of inferior peoples to one that negotiates with them on an equal footing is intolerable. It is probably tantamount to offering Gladstone or Disraeli the post of prime minister of the Zulu Kingdom under Cetshwayo kaMpande. And so, unlike Russia, which needs peace to develop, the United States regards war as vital.
In principle, any war is a struggle for resources. Typically, the winner is the one that has more resources and can ultimately mobilize more troops and build more tanks, ships, and planes. Even so, sometimes those who are strategically disadvantaged can turn the situation around with a tactical victory on the battlefield. Examples include the wars of Alexander the Great and Frederick the Great, as well as Hitler’s campaign of 1939-1940.
Nuclear powers cannot confront each other directly. Therefore, their resource base is of paramount importance. That is exactly why Russia and the United States have been in a desperate competition for allies over the past year. Russia has won this competition. The United States can count only the EU, Canada, Australia, and Japan as allies (and not always unconditionally so), but Russia has managed to mobilize support from the BRICS, to gain a firm foothold in Latin America, and to begin displacing the United States in Asia and North Africa.
Of course, it’s not patently obvious, but if we consider the results of votes at the UN, assuming that a lack of official support for the United States means dissent and thus support for Russia, it turns out that the countries aligned with Russia together control about 60% of the world’s GDP, have more than two-thirds of its population, and cover more than three-quarters of its surface. Thus Russia has been able to mobilize more resources.
In this regard, the United States had two tactical options.
The first seemed to have great potential and was employed by it from the early days of the Ukrainian crisis.
It was an attempt to force Russia to choose between a bad situation and an even worse one. Russia would be compelled to accept a Nazi state on its borders and therefore a dramatic loss of international authority and of the trust and support of its allies, and after a short time would become vulnerable to internal and external pro-U.S. forces, with no chance of survival. Or else it could send its army into the Ukraine, sweep out the junta before it got organized, and restore the legitimate government of Yanukovych. That, however, would have brought an accusation of aggression against an independent state and of suppression of the people’s revolution. Such a situation would have resulted in a high degree of disapproval on the part of Ukrainians and the need to constantly expend significant military, political, economic, and diplomatic resources to maintain a puppet regime in Kiev, because no other government would have been possible under such conditions.
Russia avoided that dilemma. There was no direct invasion. It is Donbass that is fighting Kiev. It is the Americans who have to devote scarce resources to the doomed puppet regime in Kiev, while Russia can remain on the sidelines making peace proposals.
So now the United States is employing the second option. It’s as old as the hills. That which cannot be held, and will be taken by the enemy, must be damaged as much as possible so that the enemy’s victory is more costly than defeat, as all its resources are used to reconstruct the destroyed territory. The United States has therefore ceased to assist the Ukraine with anything more than political rhetoric while encouraging Kiev to spread civil war throughout the country.
The Ukrainian land must burn, not only in Donetsk and Lugansk but also in Kiev and Lvov. The task is simple: to destroy the social infrastructure as much as possible and to leave the population at the very edge of survival. Then the population of the Ukraine will consist of millions of starving, desperate and heavily armed people who will kill one another for food. The only way to stop this bloodbath would be massive international military intervention in the Ukraine (the militia on its own will not be sufficient) and massive injections of funds to feed the population and to reconstruct the economy until the Ukraine can begin to feed itself.
It is clear that all these costs would fall on Russia. Putin correctly believes that not only the budget, but also public resources in general, including the military, would in this case be overstretched and possibly insufficient. Therefore, the objective is not to allow the Ukraine to explode before the militia can bring the situation under control. It is crucial to minimize casualties and destruction and to salvage as much of the economy as possible and the infrastructure of the large cities so that the population somehow survives and then the Ukrainians themselves will take care of the Nazi thugs.
At this point an ally appears for Putin in the form of the EU. Because the United States always tried to use European resources in its struggle with Russia, the EU, which was already weakened, reaches the point of exhaustion and has to deal with its own long-festering problems.
If Europe now has on its eastern border a completely destroyed Ukraine, from which millions of armed people will flee not only to Russia but also to the EU, taking with them delightful pastimes such as drug trafficking, gunrunning, and terrorism, the EU will not survive. The people’s republics of Novorossiya will serve as a buffer for Russia, however.
Europe cannot confront the United States, but it is deathly afraid of a destroyed Ukraine. Therefore, for the first time in the conflict, Hollande and Merkel are not just trying to sabotage the U.S. demands (by imposing sanctions but not going too far), but they are also undertaking limited independent action with the aim of achieving a compromise – maybe not peace but at least a truce in the Ukraine.
If the Ukraine catches fire, it will burn quickly, and if the EU has become an unreliable partner that is ready if not to move into Russia’s camp then at least to take a neutral position, Washington, faithful to its strategy, would be obliged to set fire to Europe.
It is clear that a series of civil and interstate wars on a continent packed with all sorts of weapons, where more than half a billion people live, is far worse than a civil war in the Ukraine. The Atlantic separates the United States from Europe. Even Britain could hope to sit it out across the Channel. But Russia and the EU share a very long [sic] border.
It is not at all in Russia’s interests to have a conflagration stretching from the Atlantic to the Carpathian Mountains when the territory from the Carpathians to the Dnieper is still smoldering. Therefore, Putin’s other objective is, to the extent possible, to prevent the most negative effects of a conflagration in the Ukraine and a conflagration in Europe. Because it is impossible to completely prevent such an outcome (if the United States wants to ignite the fire, it will), it is necessary to be able to extinguish it quickly to save what is most valuable.
Thus, to protect Russia’s legitimate interests, Putin considers peace to be of vital importance, because it is peace that will make it possible to achieve this goal with maximum effect at minimum cost. But because peace is no longer possible, and the truces are becoming more theoretical and fragile, Putin needs the war to end as quickly as possible.
But I do want to stress that if a compromise could have been reached a year ago on the most favorable terms for the West (Russia would have still obtained its goals, but later – a minor concession), it is no longer possible, and the conditions are progressively worsening. Ostensibly, the situation remains the same; peace on almost any conditions is still beneficial for Russia. Only one thing has changed, but it is of the utmost importance: public opinion. Russian society longs for victory and retribution. As I pointed out above, Russian power is authoritative, rather than authoritarian; therefore, public opinion matters in Russia, in contrast to the “traditional democracies.”
Putin can maintain his role as the linchpin of the system only as long as he has the support of the majority of the population. If he loses this support, because no figures of his stature have emerged from Russia’s political elite, the system will lose its stability. But power can maintain its authority only as long as it successfully embodies the wishes of the masses. Thus the defeat of Nazism in the Ukraine, even if it is diplomatic, must be clear and indisputable – only under such conditions is a Russian compromise possible.
Thus, regardless of Putin’s wishes and Russia’s interests, given the overall balance of power, as well as the protagonists’ priorities and capabilities, a war that should have ended last year within the borders of the Ukraine will almost certainly spill over into Europe. One can only guess who will be more effective – the Americans with their gas can or the Russians with their fire extinguisher? But one thing is absolutely clear: the peace initiatives of the Russian leaders will be limited not by their wishes but their actual capabilities. It is futile to fight either the wishes of the people or the course of history; but when they coincide, the only thing a wise politician can do is to understand the wishes of the people and the direction of the historical process and try to support it at all costs.
The circumstances described above make it extremely unlikely that the proponents of an independent state of Novorossiya will see their wishes fulfilled. Given the scale of the coming conflagration, determining the fate of the Ukraine as a whole is not excessively complicated but, at the same time, it will not come cheap.
It is only logical that the Russian people should ask: if Russians, whom we rescued from the Nazis, live in Novorossiya, why do they have to live in a separate state? If they want to live in a separate state, why should Russia rebuild their cities and factories? To these questions there is only one reasonable answer: Novorossiya should become part of Russia (especially since it has enough fighters, although the governing class is problematic). Well, if part of the Ukraine can join Russia, why not all of it? Especially as in all likelihood by the time this question is on the agenda, the European Union will no longer be an alternative to the Eurasian Union [for the Ukraine].
Consequently, the decision to rejoin Russia will be made by a united federated Ukraine and not by some entity without a clear status. I think that it is premature to redraw the political map. Most likely the conflict in the Ukraine will be concluded by the end of the year. But if the United States manages to extend the conflict to the EU (and it will try), the final resolution of territorial issues will take at least a couple of years and maybe more.
In any situation we benefit from peace. In conditions of peace, as Russia’s resource base grows, as new allies (former partners of the United States) go over to its side, and as Washington becomes progressively marginalized, territorial restructuring will become far simpler and temporarily less significant, especially for those being restructured.
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Zorin-9 is more stable. Ubuntu 14? keep up the good work. :-D
Hey Yen... gotta say I love the tiny thumb drive systems.
Real hoot to plugin to get busy. Then woosh I am outta there.. chuckle. Heh, have some 64gig babies bout the size of a bluetooth adapter.
Keep the faith brother!
The author is very deliberate and concise in his analysis. I am guessing that when he refers to the Cold War economy he is referring to the post WWII system established at Bretton Woods and later supplanted by today's US dollar centric petrodollar system. If so, I'm curious to know what he meant that Washington had an opportunity to reform this system in the mid to late 1990's? I can only guess that the western financial system had not yet suffered the dot com bust and mortgage derivative meltdown which destroyed the actuarial models underpinning the funding systems for public/private pensions and trusts, college endowments, etc.
I agree with latina lover. obama lives for the day when israel is destroyed by iran (whom he is helping in every way possible) and for the US to be destroyed either from within (by his socialist policies) or from without= russia. I'm sure he'd love to see the colonialist honkies in europe get theirs too. these are evil people in washington
absolute nonsense. where are you reading this sort of thing?
It's naught but neocon propaganda/disnfo because he isn't doing exactly what Likud says.
Putin wants a geo political balance of power based on honest trade and honest money. The U.S. succeeded in global dominance and is antithetical to Putin's and many other global leaders world view. I support Putin in striving for peace and thusly reducing the geopolitical tyranny and chaos caused by the U.S. through it's inevitable fall from grace in the great rebalance of the world powers.
If only folks would consider that the financial sociopaths grouped as The Great Red Dragon (Serpent, "Snakes In Suits") finance ALL entities against each other. Why else would JPMorgan, Goldman-Sachs, etc etc etc have offices in London, then in New York, Moscow, Beijing, and other countries? They find other sociopaths who want the position of the BIG leader, and then finance them. How do you think the Hitlers, Stalins, Lenins, and other got their position? They were chosen and financed. Simple as that. Sociopaths who claim to be Jewish sell out their own brothers, just like Madoff and Corzine did. But no group wants to clean their own house. Too bad for all.
Sociopaths (psychopaths) claim to be a lot of things to hide in one group or another, don't they? The more unsuccessful psychopaths usually pick "disadvantaged" groups that a government has deemed to have "protected" status, so they can strike their victims and then hide behind a label so the victim appears to be the aggressor. They do despicable things, and when caught vanish into the night, leaving the group they claimed membership in to take the blame. They taint everything they touch, and the worst part is most people never catch on to the truth of what's going on,
More successful psychopaths don't need to hide behind a minority status to do their dirty deeds. They openly rule and whatever they do is just the will of the tyrant class. When things go sour, and they always do with asshole psychopaths in control, they start blameshifting to other members of their percieved superior group. So we have stories about "greedy Jews" and all the rest. (Zionism doesn't help either)
The problem is authority. No authority, no psychopaths wielding it. Someday enough people will reject the concept of authority that most of the world's horrors will be avoided in the future. If something is not consensual, it is not legitimate. It will take time for the conditioning against personal freedom to wear off though. Too many people still think we "need" armed thugs dominating us, else we lapse into horrifying anarchistic chaos.
lol, Is this question loaded? Putin wants NATO to stay the fuck off his doorstep.
+1
What Putin gets:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3064178/Ex-wife-Russia-s-richest...
RM - you are so correct regarding the colony of Canada - recently I had the opportunity to speak with several rather informed Canadians, and to the individual they lamented the exploitative colonization of their country by their southern neighbours (in defference to them I will try to use their spelling - hope I get it right ...); particularily as it relates to their natural resources. I must admit that I find the Canadian perspective on the world to often be as opaque to an outsider as that of Russia. The people that I recently spoke with attributed that to Canada's balancing act between a fierce national drive towards true independance (and just because the Canadians don't blow their own nationalistic horn the same way that we do in the USA - do not for a moment doubt their love of country and its freedoms - look up how the "Canucks" provide last respects for every military service man or woman lost in battle as they proceed from the Trenton Air base to Toronto along the "Highway of Heros" - they put us to shame), a powerful exploitative colonizer on their southern and western borders, a British tradition coupled with a beholden Commonwealth which is increasingly siding with the exploiter to their south (and this is not new - look up what we did to the Canadians with the help of "Mother England" many years ago when the Alaska panhandle was created, or read about the Finian raids which we believed might overthrow their country - we do exploit our neighbours..), their common northern heritage that they share with Russia ( yes - Russia - who exactly is dissambling old Russian nuclear submarines across the bay from Murmansk to keep them from being sunk in the Arctic ocean - not us or the EU - it's the Canadians), and finally their careful attempts to embrace a future Pacific centric world.
It would be interesting to get a true understanding of Canadian DFAIT (sort of a mix of our State Dept and Dept of Commerce) priorities and trade offs - these guys and girls have to deal with all of the complexities, both overt and nuanced, that we and many others impart upon them and still navigate the good ship Canada to safe harbour. At first blush the Canadian's appear submissive and rather transparent, but I submit that this perspective is only a further vindication of the complexity that they bring to their international relationships.
There is no benefit to the Canadians in a relationship with Neo Cons in uSA - your "independence" costs less, has less risk and more upside - get out of NATO and become Switzerland before it is too late
Go see Russell Crowe Epic - Water Deviner - about Gallipoli 1915 - Australians got sucked in and were decimated for.........nothing!
dont follow them into the abyss
How much longer can the USSoA give the illusion that they are controlling affairs. It's got a 50/50 get out of jail card if it decides to go full retard.
Each passing month the illusion will recede.
The FREAKS who can't let go are watching former allies question R.O.I.
Germany behind the scenes bitterly divided is terrified of losing out on the Neu Silk Road.
Very good analysis of the nation-level of the 3d chessboard. But many are of the opinion that the demise of US is engineered. That US has been used as a vehicle by the elite until it can't run any longer whereby they will switch to the BRICS. How does that fit to this model? Obama is obviously a puppet, but I'm not 100% sure about Putin. Could he be largely independent? If so, is he aware of the 3d-chess or is he playing in 2d (and being played rather than playing)?
Bizarre, delusional, and unhinged from history or reality. I guess that describes Putin as well as this "article" (Russian propaganda rant) about why "his" Russia is imploding.
Citizen, you stink of rancid lard, plaster, and unpaid loans.
These world leaders are morons. Replace them and their governments with open source software and run everything by referendum. Limit the amount of money for any individual 10,000,000 and corporations must be made up by collective individual investments. There is no need to vote for a crook to abuse others for their own personal gain in an open source system. Corporation's books are held in public review as are all corporate transactions. Get rid of the fuckin military they are a threat to everyone.
Away with the concentration of wealth and power before it kills us all. Begone Satan. Take the evildoers to the pyramids.
One half the population is below average which makes them susceptible to manipulation by the schemers. Of the half that is capable of discerning the finer points of issues most are preoccupied with their own agendas. They devote neither the time nor the energy into familiarizing themselves with the thousands of issues that need addressing. Therefore, they are swayed by the most plausible narrative that coincides with their personal agenda making them just as susceptible as the lower half of the population to manipulation by the schemers. The end result, nobody knows anything and we are all being swayed by those who are able to somehow seize our attention. It must be understood that those that have caught our gaze are simply talking their own book. Those that would lead like the rest of us have no clue where this is going. They have an agenda and they are pushing it.
A classic example of those that would lead us to the Promised Land was Robert McNamara considered in his time to be one of the best and brightest. He was a great advocate of the domino theory and containment. Despite all the billions spent and lives lost what did he obtain? Vietnam still went communist. Millions were killed and maimed. The world did not end. It’s all a game until your neighborhood goes up in a sheet of flame. If there is a hell, that bastard is on a rotisserie.
Hey start a webinar blasting out your plan to the world and see what support you get. Point that passion to the masses.
Lay it out then run like hell.
Count this:
"Stop whoring for Wall Street"
http://www.showrealhist.com/yTRIAL.html
http://patrick.net/?p=1223928
I like you.
You've decided to come clean.
What load of CRAP! Yes, the US is kleptocratic state run by Big Government and Crony Capitalists, but Russia is even worse!! Vlad the Economic Impaler has destroyed what could have been a vibrant Russian economy, and left only a Hugo Chavez style oil industry that is grossly inefficient to boot! The idea that the bankrupt and demographically doomed Russia is going to rise like a Phoenix is total BS!
That is why the standard of living doubled in Russia in the 12 months following Putin throwing out the Rothschilds.
It could double here too if the we throw out the Rothchilds.
or hold them further down in the wash.
In their drunken haze they will believe anything.
"What load of CRAP!"
please, list your sources. lmao
congratulations....you showed your ignorance all your post...
http://ozziesaffa.blogspot.com/2014/06/15-years-of-putin-rule-in-one-infograph.html
compare debt:
http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock/
People here seem to misunderstand that Putin isn't building a new Empire so much as trying to carve out a somewhat stable, Russo-friendly regional zone in which Russia can manage as Russia further disintegrates due to its demographic nightmare.
Actually Hyjinx Russian demographics has stabilized and is ticking up ever so slightly thus far, of course, WAR can change that for them, and us too.
http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/actually-russias-population-isnt-shrinking/
There are other sources confirming this, contrary to popular opinion.
Interesting. It might be turning but it will take some years more to determine that once it becomes more clear what the immigration / emigration patterns are. Reaching parity on births/deaths doesn't necessarily mean pop. is net increasing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia
No doubt wjy you are stll a stupid . keep following your twisted facts .
While this article is well written the author failed badly to identify the core of the issue. This is that this issue is about Russia standing up to the banksters who want full global control. These are the people who have destroyed the middle class in the west, who have abused the right to create money to such an extent that western economies have begun failing and who if left unchecked will reduce humanity to little more than slaves. Russia are doing us all a favour by confronting this evil.
http://www.softpanorama.org/Skeptics/Pseudoscience/harvard_mafia.shtml
luckylongshot,
The point is there and it is front-loaded in the very first sentence of his analysis of the US view:
"In the second half of the 1990s, Washington missed its only opportunity to reform the Cold War economy without any obstacles and thereby avoid the looming crisis in a system whose development is limited by the finite nature of planet Earth and its resources, including human ones, which conflicts with the need to endlessly print dollars."
This economic "conflict" with the "need to endlessly print dollars" is, as you say, the core of the issue. Since the article is not about the explanation of why the USA must print dollars then the reasoning leads elsewhere. However often the presumption is implied elsewhere in the article, it is stated explicitly here at the beginning of his argument. Elsewhere in the article, this system of "plundering the rest of the world" is done by the primary mechanism of exporting dollars to the rest of the world in exchange for resources. This "hegemony" of the USA is that the world still uses the dollar as the world's go-to currency. This conflict between the printed dollars and resources is the contradiction between fantasy and reality and therefore the natural, predictable, loss of hegemony for the USA as reality trumps fantasy every time.
To your point of an explanation of the core of the issue:
If reality trumps fantasy every time, then how can fantasy appear to prevail at all for any amount of time? Deception and belief in the deception is what keeps the hoax alive. And you, luckylongshot, appear to believe in the deception and your belief in the deception keeps the hoax alive. The belief that banks "create money" or "print money" is not factual. You have been duped. Money comes from banks like milk comes from cartons. Banksters create counterfeit, not money. Mr. Ishchenko does not seem to agree that the USA banks create money. He says they print dollars and exchange these dollars for resources as the means of plunder. This is the action of counterfeit, not money. Only after the initial theft is complete do others then use the same currency as money when they use it to mediate their exchange of full value for full value.
This belief that the introduction of counterfeit into the economy is the introduction of money into the economy is the core issue. You are correct that this evil should be confronted but this is difficult when for generations children and adults are indoctrinated into the hoax. Afterall, how is it evil that "banks" are "creating" "money?" Banks are good, creating is good, money is good. Where is the evil?
In the mid-thirties Churchill observed that Hitler had declared war on the international bankers. And that it would be the cause of his destruction.
Well, Russians are Russians. My wife is one and now another Russian moved in across the hall. Do you think that my wife had something to do with that? We knew the guy for a couple of years before and I liked him. He was a doctor in Ukraine in Crimea but can't be a doctor here thanks to .gov regulations. The guy is really intelligent and he is huge, like 300 lbs and 6'6'. He recently married another Russian woman and she is due to arrive next Friday. We might as well hang the Russian flag in the hallway. It is fine with me because it turns out this guy is a coin collector and I acquired a couple from him. He says he has more in Russia but there are the antiquities laws to deal with. He said that they can go fuck themselves because if they really knew what they were doing then they would have caught what he already brought to the U.S.. Hard to argue that point. I gave him something pretty cool in return but he didn't even want to take anything. I understand but I don't operate that way so you have to take this silver coin.:-)
Later we went down and checked out my bikes and he sat on my Harley. He did not want to get off of that motorcycle. Yeah, well, I suppose he wouldn't and even Mrs.M wants to ride(operate) it. Well, I waited 25 years to own that bike and I'm not so sure that I want to share right now. That kind of thing with bikes and letting someone else ride your iron makes your hair stand on end: You really can't do that. He makes good money though so he can afford his own passions if he wants to. I want to encourage him to do that too. I ride solo most of the time which is my style but it is fun to join up once in a while. I want to form an MC of sorts but I'm not sure what you would name it? I would be the only Merican in that group for now but it is fun with a group. What do you name it, the Libertarians, Mises Chapter?
I guess Putin likes to ride as well. I don't blame him. Our Idiot in Chief likely to slice Pro-V 1's into the nearest swamp. What a douchebag that asshole is that we have for USSA president.
In 1984 I wrecked my buddy's Kawasaki 750.
Things were good until we got to the curve,
The frikkin handle bars wouldn't turn.
In the ditch, still going straight ahead,
From the pillion he knocked my hand from the throttle
And yelled jump! as he bailed.
Later, as we were hitching home on crutches,
Mark said he was sure that bike was fifty feet in the air
After going over that highway approach.
+1. I am glad you lived. At least it was a Kawasaki and not an overpriced Harley!
Have to practice your counter steering and target-fixation avoidance.
And don't forget that China is becoming the biggest leaser of the best Ukrainian land.That wheat and other various commodities won't be going to the European Union or to the United States.If there are long droughts in the U.S. going forward you can bet that the stupidity of the CIA and State Department paved the way for extremely high prices.The world population will double again soon.With American Cities falling back into ghetto status along with rotting infrastructure and rascist police departments as,how is a dwindling tax base in a society of minimum wage jobs going to pay more for everything?You guessed right,the morons in the U.S. Government don't understand that their problem is structural in nature this time.It is not an economic cyclical problem.Just like James Rickards says.He should know he works with the CIA.They know it's not a military problem nor can it be solved by over 900 military bases worldwide.It's from within.The international military-industrial complex spending to be the world policeman going around the globe wrecking countries and ruining their economies is helping to destroy from within.They fit right into the long term plan to grind down American society into poverty and government socialism.Just look around,being a white American,you just don't go to certain areas of town.And that says it all.
The Chinese may be atm but they have been ripped of by the Ukrainians who seem to be developing that aspect of their reputation.
I am wide awake.
I took an oath to do what is right.
I will do my best. Every day is a fresh start.
(these rules don't apply if you're a party member)
You've been "stepping -up", as of late monad.?
Who, rattled your cage?
Natalia has a new hairdo.
http://nyka-huldra.livejournal.com/10220279.html
1.The Russians will never walk away from an ice-free port.
Never have,and never will....
Now who has been flooding Europe with Heroin? Hmmm......
The key issue for Italy right now is seaborne illegal immigration.(Caused by lack of a functioning Libyan gov't).
If there are ET's out there watching us they must shaking their two heads furiously...
Did you read the article?
The article was about "simple finance" . Bitchez
Come On? " Monad" is using 'carlin' as a VESTIGE....
Frau Merkel sorta holds the cards here. Or, perhaps it is a 3-letter intelligence agency whose first letter begins with 'N'...? In any event, a German foreign policy independent of the State Department is the lynchpin in all this. The question remains, does Merkel have the spine, or if not, who in Germany does?
mutti merkel's spine belongs to the amis.
or they blackmail her with another bioweapon attack ...
I cant remember a German politician with a more flexible spine than Merkel. Since the BND was spying for the NSA on German corporations and the BND must report to her, she must have known and tolerated this for many years. I like to imagine Sarah Wagenknecht got one.
Another country probably has records on what she was up to. Hint - a lot of information about the relationship between CIA/NSA and Merkel was released by Snowden.
http://sputniknews.com/columnists/20150430/1021571145.html
As one who as studied history I only had to read it once. Its true that Putin only took the job because there was no one else who could do what had to be done to save Russia from the claws of the banksters. You see the banksters double crossed the drunk Boris Yeltsin who was probably drinking because those he confided in (banksters) had double crossed him. So in order to stop the raping of Russian resources he decided to become a dictator in the same fashion that Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon Bonaparte became a dictator. I'm not justifying his actions but if he didn't do what he did the banksters would have completely destroyed Russia.
The article is propaganda for sure but much of what we see here in our media is nothing more than propaganda itself. So you need to take the Russian, US, European and others propaganda then find the average. That is how you get closer to the truth. Throw in the underground media from everywhere (internet, zerohedge, infowars, forums, etc.) and you will get a much clearer picture of the situation.
The Russians are right that Europe was the deciding factor and had they took a neutral stand rather than caving in to the banksters then the situation with Ukraine would have been over with. Europe would have become independant and if Israel tried to force America to do harm to Europe through the Federal Reserve. Then Europe could have threatened to join forces with the BRIC nations thereby isolating the US and Israel. If Russia tried to mess with Europe then it could have just grown closer to Israel and that in and of itself would be more than enough to keep Russia back. Everyone knows that Israel is the true power and the brains in the USA. The Europeans blew it by taking sides and because of that the whole entire European market is collapsing.
Another thing I noticed in the article and I totally agree with is that the author was trying to say that thanks to the Federal Reserve, the IMF and many other crooked organizations. The whole entire Ponzi scheme run by the FED is about to collapse and that the only thing keeping it from collapsing is globalization. This printing of fiat dollars needs to be backed up by something so stealing natural resources from others is the only way these bankster crooks could justify all that paper they keep printing. This is oh so true and time is on the BRIC nations side and if Europe was to dump its banksters and join the BRICS they too would have been spared the calamity when the bubble finnaly bursts. So yes staying out of war and stalling for time is in Russia's best interest.
The rest of what I gathered from the article is all based on history which by the way is all true. It may be skewed a little towards Russian propaganda but then again history is and has always been skewed and painted with propaganda.
You say "The Russians are right that Europe was the deciding factor and had they took a neutral stand rather than caving in to the banksters then the situation with Ukraine would have been over with."
I do not disagree with your analysis, but there are wider dimensions to the Ukraine situation, and good reasons for the EU politicians to cave to the banksters.
First, the EU is much more beholden to the banksters than is publically admitted. The only nations in the EU that are solvent are Germany, Norway, and Sweden. The rest of the EU nations are in varying degrees of bankruptcy with debts that exceed any conceivable ability to pay off, and continuing budget deficits. The EU as a whole is in desperate financial straits, reflected in the current QE program of the ECB, the crisis in Greece, and the ongoing shaky situations in Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy, France, the UK, Andorra, Cyprus, and Austria. The eruption of the bank failures and bond defaults in Austria is causing contagion in German banks, and new problems keep emerging. Greece seems destined to default on payments to Germany, the IMF, and ECB. The banks in the Euro zone, and the ECB, received $Trillions in loans and swap facilities from the Federal Reserve in 2009-2012, and are strongly dependent upon the Fed and US goodwill to keep their banking system afloat. In this situation, it is hardly conceivable that the EU would easily defy the USA, the Federal Reserve, or the banksters.
Second, there is a strong sentiment in elite European political circles known as "Atlanticism" - the view that: (1) the EU was saved by the USA and its allies from Nazi German in WW2, and saved by the USA and NATO from takeover by the USSR during the Cold War; and (2) the USA and EU are natural partners and comprise the "enlightened world of democracy" standing against the rather unstable and threatening world of 3rd World and developing nations. This view effectively prevents many EU leaders from considering the notion that any action led by the USA that involves Europe might not be for the best interests of Europe.
Third, the coup and ensuing civil war in Ukraine are the result of a long process of takeover of former USSR satellite states in eastern Europe by the US/EU/NATO group. Ukraine was the latest former USSR satellite state to be taken over. The EU wanted Ukraine's farmland and natural resources, and Ukraine as a market for EU exports. Western oil and gas companies wanted to take over Ukraine and its contiguous Black Sea areas to frack for oil and gas. NATO wanted to expel Russia from its Black Sea naval base in Crimea, and NATO and Brussels wanted control of the natural gas pipelines through Ukraine that carry much of Russia's gas exports to the EU.
The choice to accelerate the process of taking over Ukraine (set up over 5 years according to Victoria Nuland in a Dec.13, 2013 speech) from a gradual process to a bloody coup on February 22, 2014 was an attempt to take revenge against Putin for Putin's deflecting the US plans to invade Syria using the excuse that Syria had weapons of mass destruction (chemical weapons). Russia brokered a deal for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons under UN supervision, frustrating the US plans.
The planned invasion of Syria was part of a US/Israel/Saudi/Qatari/Brussels plan to run natural gas pipelines from the Middle East into Turkey and then into Europe, to break the Russian monopoly on natural gas supplies to much of Europe. Syria, an ally of Iran, foms part of the "Shia Crescent" of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon that blocks access to Turkey for Israel, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The plan was to overthrow Assad in Syria and replace him with a puppet. When the US invasion plan failed, the US/EU/NATO set in motion the Ukraine coup and ensuing propaganda war to drive a wedge between the EU and Russia, give political cover to efforts to cut Russia out of the gas markets in Europe (or extort a great part of the profits from gas supplies to Europe from Russia, and cut Brussels' cronies in to use Russian pipelines), and to stir up the movements for regime change in Russia (getting rid of Putin would allow Western interests and their Russian oligarch allies to return to the 1990s plundering of Russia, they thought). Putin's adept moves in joining Crimea to Russia and preventing the Kiev puppets from achieving total control of Ukraine have outraged US and NATO military leaders and Western interests that sought to plunder Ukraine.
The US and its allies have let loose other forces in their attempts to unseat Assad, using the "Free Syrian Army", the "Al Nusra", then ISIS/ISIL/IS/Islamic State against Assad. So far, Assad, with Russian and Iranian support, has held on to power. Iraq has been destabilized further in an attempt to counter Iranian influence...
The latest Ukraine ceasefire agreement brokered among Russia, Germany, France, and Kiev, saw a major split between the US and EU when Germany's Merkel and France's Hollande held private meetings in Moscow with Putin to seek a way out of the escalating military situation in Ukraine. It is noteworthy that the US was deliberately excluded from these meetings, and Merkel and Hollande excluded all members of their own staffs in an apparent attempt to prevent any leaks to the US.
Since then, Merkel has played coy, insisting that sanctions against Russia cannot be lifted "until Russia complies fully with the conditions of the Minsk2 ceasefire agreement", although there appears to be no credible evidence that Russia has not complied. The heads of NATO continue to scream that Russia has invaded east Ukraine, but present no evidence. Meanwhile the economic damage to Germany and the rest of the EU from the loss of trade with Russia continues to mount, and German and EU business groups are complaining loudly about loss of business. It has become clear that the NSA has been recording Merkel's communications, and just recently it was revealed that German intelligence authorities were routinely cooperating with the CIA and NSA in conducting electronic surveillance on EU subjects. It is hard to believe that Merkel and her government were not aware of this surveillance activity.
Ironically, the moves against Russia have spurred Russia to turn away from exporting to Europe, and turning toward China, the rest of the BRICS, and Shanghai Cooperation Organization members for trade and financial relations. Russia cancelled the South Stream pipeline project to frustrate Brussel's attempts to extort control of, and profits from, the pipeline and is redirecting the gas that now flows through Ukraine to Turkey and then to the Turkey/Greek border. Flows of Russian gas through Ukraine are now scheduled to be terminated in 2019. Turkey is now emboldened to be more independent of the EU and NATO, and Russia is making nice with Greece and Cyprus.
The biggest loser in all this may turn out to be the EU.
"The biggest loser in all this may turn out to be the EU."
That will teach them to try to sanction Israel. As Nudelman said "Fuck the Eu" with an implied "we are gonna".
Thanks for the information that filled in a lot of gaps from the article I just read. Now I know why we really wanted to invade Syria.
great comments.
Foghorn Leghorn... great cartoon character as well.
I think the article is a bit biased in favor of Putin, and the author makes a few assumptions that are a bit of a strech. If the US wanted a war with Russia, they could certainly have it, and peace loving Putin would be wise not to give them the opportunity to call the question. Specifically, I find Putin's provocations, with relic nuclear armed bear bombers, a bit of a gamble. If somebody in the US administration wanted war, one or more of those bombers could easily be found a little too close to US airspace and sent for a swim. Then what would Putin do? If he doesn't respond, he looks weak to his peeps, and if he does respond, well there's the hot war he wanted to avoid. I don't think Putin is as careful and cunning as the author thinks he is, otherwise why would he risk sending this already tenuous situation over the edge with these ridiculous bomber patrols, particularly if he isn't ready to do the fire dance with the devil.
"with relic nuclear armed bear bombers, a bit of a gamble."
update your sources. :)
your entire argument is based on outdated info.
You aren't clear whether a hot war and a nuclear war are the same.
Putin has been playing tit for tat with Obama since the gas attack near Damascus.
And he's cooling it now as he's 2 months from the extension of sanctions vote in the EU.
Do you really think if the Pentagon shot down a bomber, that they give a thought about getting a Yakhont in the side of one of their aircraft carriers? Or maybe Putin will go nuclear first.
Do you really think the US is more insouciant about a nuclear exchange than Russia?
Who has more to lose?
Everyone with half a brain knows what Putin wanted.
For 7 or 8 years he wanted to know whether the Patriot Missile Defense Shield was directed at Russia. He wanted to join the NATO countries and be part of the system that was to protect the capitols of Europe against an attack by Iran and North Korea.
He probably knew it was aimed at the launch stage of Russia's nuclear ballistic missiles, so that after America's nuclear first strike, Russia's response wouldn't get out of their silos.
But he continued to ask for proof about the missile shield to cover the fact that he was developing killer missiles while the US was just building more and more Patriots to sell to Hungary and Slovakia et ctera
So while the US was holding the purpose of their missile shield close to their chest, Russia was turning out Iskanders, Yakhonts (read between the lines what the Israeli Navy has to say about Yakhont. This admiral says Israel has defenses against it. They don't. He's full of shit)
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Ex-navy-chief-Israel-has-defenses-against-a...
Can I put in a good word for Khibiny?
That's what Putin used to want.
Now he just wants to beat America into every turn.
So America is looking into a future where it will have to fight a war on two fronts:
in the Pacific where it will be fighting A country as big as China and not as small as Japan.
But the big shock will be in Europe where the US will not be fighting the Nazis alongside Russia, but will be fighting Russia with their Nazi allies.
And as for Vladimir Putin, he is the enemy of my enemy and therefore my friend.
putin regime wants USSR 2.0
That has not been hidden from those who listen and think. Putin regime has created similar regime to stalin.
Just like stalin, putin regime has:
1. huge propaganda machine financed by regime to brainwash people minds. In this USRR 2.0 upgrade – there is a huge internet troll army, an international “news” channels, all major Russian TV channels are controlled by regime, alternative news are systematically oppressed in everyway possible. So there is no alternative news – or it accessible only to small minority. Internet bloggers are attacked, oppressed – they have even a “law” that demands if you have 3000 visitors a day in your blog – you have to register ar putin regime ministry of truth agency.
2. opposition is oppressed and destroyed any way possible. Even killed if it’s necessary. There is one party rule for generation. Just like in USSR times. This is done using huge corruption so that anyone from elite would not join opposition but would receive benefits from this one single party rule.
3. there has been created paramilitary organizations that are supported by putin regime directly like “Black wolfs” who openly announces that will use violence against any people who will protest and demand removal of this putin regime. That idea has been taken from Nazis – who had similar organization.
4. The court is not independent in Russia – it belongs to putin regime. So you won’t find any justice in law system – it’s corrupt to the core. And this way putin regime uses it to jail any person that is enough important in speaking and doing against putin regime.
5. putin regime invades other countries just like stalin during USSR. First victims are Georgia and Ukraine – but if this new stalin is not stopped he will go further and invade other countries - maybe even try to use nuclear weapons against such NATO countries as Baltic in order to have complete control over Baltic sea.
putin regime = stalin regime = hitler regime = criminal regime that must be stopped in time before worst happens and history repeats it self.
You can learn more about putin regime crimes and lies here in blog I created:
http://stopputinregime.wordpress.com
Now after this post, putin regime payed trolls can line up – for what they have been paid.
I liken Putin more to the character Daniel Plainview in the movie There will be blood. Putin has always acted more like a greedy oil tycoon, always looking for more. He relished his monopoly on natural gas over Europe so much that when Georgia tried to upset his applecart by running a competing gas pipeline, he went to war. When it looked like some in the middle east wanted to run a pipeline through Syria, he again threatened war. All to save his precious gas monopoly, so he could continue raping Europe more and more. Putin is all about more for himself. It's no secret he owns a large chunk of gazprom, and is one of the richest men in the world. It's never enough though.
ahem
If you can provide a crediable link to that delusion......
Dear Jiz-slurp,
Iraq, U.S. invasion, please see.
Say hi to Mr. Dimon for us, k?
Thanks, toots!
useless talkings
better wake up dude, the nazis are coming to a parliament near you.
it's easy to see how the amis took over this country listening to you. lol
Free occupied Latvia
"putin regime wants USSR 2.0"
Most unlikely in my view.
Get a life and look around you and wonder why the deathdealing USA State and it's mouthpieces are so widely hated. It was not always this way - America was the vision. Try to be more empathetic. Better still visit some of the countries that you hate - you will be surprised that people welcome you - even the brainwashed you.
Bitch, please.
Newsoutlet:
You make it seem that Putin is copying US standard international and domestic procedure.
All he needs now is militarized local police forces, NSA, CIA, DHS, Patriot Act, NDAA, TBTF banks, FEMA camps, AIPAC, a tame MSM, racist cops killing citizens at will, Obamacare, and 700 Russian military bases in foreign nations, and he will be able to say that he has copied US democracy to a T.
Totally agree with 1. - 4., and you forgot to mention that every Putin critical journalist had been killed, but for some of the US haters in this blog, these are inconvenient little details and must be ignored...
Examples of egregious divergence of words with reality.
your proof?
suprised you didn't throw in polonium..
.
Now you have your own blog, can Tyler have his own blog back, please?
Here are recourses I recommend to visit in order to break free from putin regime propaganda and it's troll army:
1.) http://toinformistoinfluence.com/
2.) https://meduza.io/en
3.) http://www.interpretermag.com/
4.) http://www.rferl.org/
5.) https://www.youtube.com/user/babylon13ua/videos
6.) http://euromaidanpress.com/
if you understand russian and either are one of putin paid trolls but is sick of this job or simply are a russian who want to learn truth - here are channels in your language to do that:
1.) http://glavred.info/
2.) https://www.youtube.com/user/OmelchukTV/videos
3.) https://www.youtube.com/user/arutv2/videos
4.) https://www.youtube.com/user/worthlook/videos
5.) https://www.youtube.com/user/neuromirtv/videos
I wish people of russia break free from putin regime. But first they have tobreak free from that regime lies machine.
Holey Moley
Look what came to life.
Lack of potato will have that effect on outsourced Latvian member of Kiev Kartofel Korps.
Gotcha(!!) It's our old Latvian troll friend "viedoklis_lv".
Back again with yet another new handle to sneakily spread anti-Putin propaganda from his bar stool in Riga-On-Sea.
Latvian potato troll newsoutlet (viedoklis_lv) is careerwise employed as a honeydipper. As such, his familiarity with stools is not confined to drinking in bars.
This photo explains how his honeydipper trade resulted in side job as Kiev junta troll paid daily potato:
http://i.imgur.com/YTci5n7.jpg
LOL!
(If you can't read the caption, it says "Gateway to Europe.")
holy bats*it Robin look who just crawled out of his hole.
must be one of those latvian white-slave cretans coming up for air.
Free occupied Latvia.
In my experience the only cocksuckers using the term "Putin trolls" are, in fact, trolls themselves.
People from the Baltic states are just too fuckin' stupid to comprehend the ass-raping their western benefactors are about to give them. If only their IQ was anywhere north of 60, they would look to Iraq today for a glimpse of their future as ordained by the banking cartel, and tremble.
What utter losers.
Oh, they don't even rise to the level of troll. They are "Do it to Julia' scum. Walking around with rat cages on their faces. Wanting all the terrible things to happen to Russia and not where they live.
They're missing some gene that you need to be human.
Ah, newsoutlet viedoklaizi dirsa, you have a rich inner schizophrenic world.
I see you've been busy circulating a petition to round up the Latvians of Russian ancestry and herd them into ghettos.
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150425/1021365385.html
So this is that "bright European future"?
Sputnik is directly financed by putin regime. It has been created as part of putin regime lies propaganda machine, its used by putin troll army to spread its lies and disinformation. So if you are using it - it means you are putins troll, what was known already.
There is no petition to round up russians in camps. That is complete BS created by putin regime propaganda. There is civil law in EU, not like in Russia under putin regime. If there is such petition than its not created by any member of Latvian parliament but by some putin regime goon as another provocation to be used in putin regime propaganda channels for their trolls.
In Latvia all petitions are done using manabalss.lv where any Latvian citizen can create draft for new law and after its checked that its not against constitution, start gathering signatures verified by iBank authorization. If 1initiative reaches 10k signatues, its passed to parliament to vote on.
So if there would be any petition from Iesalnieks or any other person who would agree to be verified would use manabalss.lv
But I see lot of troll got histeria after I posted truth about putin regime. That is good :) very good :)
.
Yes we now take a look and quickly believe your smelly Banderatard propaganda. Reap the rewards of their Maidan and jump.
Well I say mentally ill. Not a single sentence without the participation of Putin.
Doctor needs to see you. The pills time to eat. Don't be stubborn, nurses are the people good-natured, but firm.
Well for you all this: straitjacket, haloperidol...
A sea lion pup that was released earlier this year after being nursed back to health was found wandering on a San Francisco sidewalk Thursday and was captured by marine rescuers.
Video from the Marine Mammal Center in nearby Sausalito shows the male sea lion, nicknamed Rubbish, hiding under a car and trying to scurry away from rescuers. They eventually got a net around it and move it into a crate, taking it back to the center.
KTVU reports that a veterinarian noticed the sea lion, which was rescued in February. Then, the sea lion was treated for pneumonia and malnutrition. The animal weighed just 30 pounds when it was rescued.
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2015/05/shark-attacks-and-deaths-in...
All the posturing is possible because states can now make war at zero cost (or loss) to the proponents. Everybody has forgotten the lessons of the reformation and the wisdom of Locke's natural rights of Life, Liberty, Property for everyman ('property' being carefully removed from the USA constitution) and of Isaac Newton's coinage acts that prevented fraudulent creation of currency for war (by clipping in those days). Today we have States (that we gave sovereignty to) that can (and do) pauperise their people and can inflict damage on good citizens, even the most earnest, upright and faithfull. There was a time when the elected representatives of the States would protect us from the asset grabbers and the rentiers but not now, those in power are just (unjust and immoral) bankers, some of our representatives living high on the hog are not even aware of the danger. We are all at war for our life, liberty and,,, property and many of the posts confirm it.
Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take away from them the power to create money, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money.
~ Josiah Stamp – Bank of England Chairman, 1920s
Russia and China now challenge the NWO and this convenience but for what (whose) benefit?
Alex, I'll take a vowel,
For one hundred.
U for
Human.
vlad is of the old white russian strain; actually deeply religious. wants to bring promise of fatima to fruition - save the world.
White Russia is Belarus.
Putin was born in Leningrad (modern day Saint Petersburg), Russia.
You're off by around 800 km- and a different country..
better search to see definitions of the White Russians
not White Russia
he know what he meant
Putin is a fascist and the russian people are too drunk to understand or care what's really going on. Hopefully one day they sobered up, but it probably will be too late and by then they will be totally fucked.
Listen, if you can sober up, then all of Russia can too.
Tell me , which is better do you think.
A putin who is thoughtful commands support from Russians and is doing everything in his power to defuse the ambitions of the the fuck wits in Washington.
From Syria to the rest of Baltics and now Ukraine, the only reason a full scale war wih tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths is due to Putin.
Whereas what do we have in the Whitehouse.
A fucking nigger monkey from the back jungles of Kenya, a fucking shit stabbing promiscuous faggot, a bathhouse romping queer cunt that spends more of his time thinking about being a cock jockey and blowing his wad in shit.
But thats just what you would expect from a shit for brains, incompetent retard that is nothing more than a ball of strings to be pulled by any cunt that licks its cock.
But no doubt you know that too, and thats why you are on here you fucking NSA troll
No need to be racist here besides I bet President Obama can suck a mean dick, especially Rahms.
Come on, sancho0, this is the best of Bandera in the ass kiss?
Don't hesitate, jump higher!
Why would I want to kiss Banderas ass? Just because I said that Putin is a fascist you reckoned I must be pro Bandera Ukie?
So narrow minded of you. I just strongly believe that Putin is a fascist. (Check Franco or Mussolini).
Mind you, that does not mean that he is a Nazi. That's a completely different thing. Fascist ? Nazi. I know you russkies a freaking out on Nazis. Rightly so. First the Nazis were you big friends and then they stab you in the back in 1941. Everyone would be pissed off.
Sanch0 - ZHer for three weeks.
We definitely have another winner.
LOL! You dried out pussy Amerikans are and always have been, big on talk, short on balls (qualify: for the last 25+ years - before that you were approaching nation-hood and lost it)
You've let your own elites turn you into servile, useless, afraid of your own shadow pussies. What, apart from talk, have you EVER ACTUALLY done? Pussies. Fucking Pussies.
Russia and China, as determined & planned more than 30 years ago, will combine to destroy you and that will happen within 5 or 7 years. Who cares? But you fuck-wits will take the rest of the world with you.
Good riddance to Amerika the great! You stuffed it up big time. Climb up your assholes and savour the breeze.
First of all Putin is a member of world Oligarch Club.
Whole current geopolitical problem can be reduced to Putin unwillingness to further enslave his own people to American oligarchs. Simply put membership wants him to submit or get out of the green.
What Putin wants? He wants what everybody in the club wants. The same what Xi wants, namely to run the club or to at least be treated as VIP. That's all.
Obviously when they play golf wagers are tabulated in thousands of human lives.
Ukraine is just a golf ball in geopolitical play. The Ukrainian problem is an internal problem stemming from historical heritage of WWII and policies of Soviet era.
Interesting take on what's going on in Ukraine in historical and political context can be found at:
https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/ukraine-no-country-fo...
so
So George W Bush is the champion after Iraq, right?
Ukraine has never been a sovereign nation
you know nothing about...
VV Putin was never about money
The truth about the conflict with Russia >> http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-1Gm
How often does he want it?
Almighty horseshit, a full blown assault on common sense from the first line, couldn't finish it.
In your town there is a good psychiatric hospital? Go urgently with Obamacare.
go away then...
what a crappy article. "EU should come closer to Russia". What a nonsense, EU is close enough to russia. Besides, russia can not offer anything to anyone, just oil (which is cheaper and will be cheaper), gas and a lot of troubles.
The problem is so simple, you paid trolls willl never-ever understand: the people of Eastern and Central Europe DO NOT want russians back. It's not about USA, or aliens, but it's just as simple as that: central and east europe was for 50 years under russia influence and we know the disaster in each of these countries. So, nobody wants them back. Why would they? What for?
We can not say that Western world is perfect, but it's the best humanity invented. It is easy to verify that: everyone form russia, china, brasil and so on, is desperate to come to any of these countries in the west to work and live. Why you dont see line of people waiting for working visas in rusia?? What's there to be done? Corruption? Thugs? Poor people living like 100 years ago? What else?
LoL, what bullshit you foreskineaters posts, where you from that any one would want to come to your country ? I think you speak only for those in charge and not for your countries people.
I'm guessing you have never been to Russia and just believe the rubbish that Western media desperately prints to try and portray American style "democracy" (ie oligarchy) as being great and the rest of the world living in semi-barbarous conditions. In reality life in Russia has been improving by a magnitude in the last 15 years, even as life in America has declined. And it will continue to decline as the whole basis of the American dream, ie US hegemony, continues to be eroded by Eurasian powers.
Just accusing those who disagree with you of being a "paid troll" is disingenous.
And for the record, hunter-gatherers had a much better system of government and lifestyle than the current Western feudal pyramid!
Dude, your are deluding here. I know russia better than you will ever know. Moreover, I am from an eastern-european country so i know what i am talking about, ok?
When you say "feudal system" just try to get a job in russia and you will know more about that. Until then, keep the crap out of my face, you are really insulting my intelligence.
Besides, please read again my post, what has to do everything with the US? I spoke only about russia, dude. Again, why you guys always have to mention USA? Are you having horrible inferiority complexes? Here, was all about russia.
Look at facts dude: are people living in Transnistria, South Osetia and Abhazia doing well? All of these territories were sized by russia after 1989. find out that at least in Transnitria, 50% of its citizens left that "country" because were fed-up being always poor. And I mean poor is poor and is bad. Is that the way forward you want for you and your kids?
So, we the people say NO to a new USSR. So simple. No USA, no extraterrestrial creatures or women from Venus will ever change our minds.
I am Russian and you Romanian.
HaHaHa another failed EU State ..
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Romanian economy to grow 2.7% this year and 2.9% in 2016, fuelled mainly by private consumption. But weak public infrastructure was hindering higher growth, it said late on Monday (9 February).
Romania failed to reach an agreement with the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank on its €4 billion euro aid deal - its third since 2009 - as Bucharest resisted calls for gas price hikes and restructuring state-run coal firms, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said.
"The Romanian economy has largely corrected ... imbalances with a mix of sound macroeconomic policies. However, convergence has stalled and weak public infrastructure has emerged as a key bottleneck for a higher growth trajectory," the IMF said in a statement. An IMF mission is expected to return in April.
Romania hopes to end EU monitoring by 2020
"Despite a history of capital spending above the average in peer countries, Romania's infrastructure density is relatively low and quality is perceived to be the worst in the EU, reflecting wasteful spending and weak medium-term planning."
No one other than fools will go to Romania ;-)
:)) right dude, we are out of your influence and so sorry for that. As you quoted in your post, the economy is "recovering" and yes, that is what I ment: Romania was the 5th economical power in Europe, until 1946 when comunists took power. The same situation applies to: Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgary, Czechoslovakia, and so on... I went to russia so many times and like russian people but so sorry, so poor country and with a horrible political system.
We will be OK, and Romania economy is doing much much better. Sure, after 50 years of communism things are not easy, See why we will always say NO to soviets and russian political influence?
apart of that, simple people will always understand each other.
:)) right dude, we are out of your influence and so sorry for that.
No need for apologies, we were unaware you were gone ;-)
Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgary, Czechoslovakia and so on
All are basket case economies with high unemployment, little outside investment and with poor chance of recovery in the near term (at best ). Begging at the feet of the IMF is no way to improve your Countries and the economic outlook for the people. Thanks to the stupidity of joining the rest of the EU fools with sanctions against Russia, one who would have been a friend, you have made life far worse for youselves than is wise.
You reap what you sow Romanian.
:))))) you are funny and please keep being unaware, it's good for everyone. We do not need your attention anymore.
I think you are kind of particular russian, I met so many of them over the years and they seemed a bit smarter than you, but well, what can I do?!:)
The worst is about to begin for russian's economy. Remember how USSR crushed? Why that?
We do not need your attention anymore.
Great news :-) and we, in return, need no more trade with our broken neighbors either ;-)
I met so many of them over the years
Yes, and we still see many Romanians begging for Rubles on corners. What we do not understand is why the need ? If, as you say, you are so wealthy, can you not take back rag people and stop cluttering our streets, Please ;-)
Those aren't Romanians, they're Gypsies.
@mandea: Dude [sic], I'm Romanian too, why don't you come up with facts not slogans. Slogans are for losers - that is the vast majority of brain-washed Romanians who are just happy with petty electoral alms.
So who knocked down the Romanian economy since 1989 and has made millions of people to leave Romania? Surely not Putin or Russia!
Do you know what pisses me off? That we didn't have a Putin chap of our own to restore Romania economically and politically after the so-called 1989 Revolution. We are sold off for ten generations from now on and slaves in our own country.
And do you know what pisses off the Westerners? That this chap Putin, a real leader, has saved Russia from annihilation and has rebuilt a huge country from economic bankruptcy in only 14 years.
What have the Romanians done in 25 years? We destroyed the national economy, more than 3 million Romanians have left to seek work abroad, we have over 100 Bln Euro debt, we are in demographic decline.
How do you want to impress? That we have McDonalds and shopping malls and crap TV shows, at the same time with 8 million Romanians living on poverty line? We have now the highest rate of illiteracy in Europe, but building new churches like crazy.
Last 25 years in Romania = cheap talk, brain-washing, despoliation.
You know what's weird? you are member of ZH for 3 years and posted only 1 (one) comment, and that's today.
So sorry, apart of the fact that commentary is patetic (crying why you did not have a putin "chap" president) and full of the crap you hear only from very old people, I think you are just another troll so I am not going to argue with you because I am arguing with a hell of a propaganda machine.
The same applies to "Eugene66", member for 3 years and 1 comentary and that was simply pro-putin. Suddenly we have re-activated members which are very busy posting.
It shows the level of propaganda infiltration.
my words on that:)
You know what's weird, mandea? You are member of ZH for 2.25 years and only begin posting today.
Or perhaps too stupid to understand that the comment search is periodically reindexed and extends back in time only to the date of the last reindex operation.
Your comments indicate stupidity is diagnosis of greatest probability.
Pot calling the cooking marmit black. Stupidity is confirmed.
Such nonsense embarrasses your employer. No potato for you.
sure of that? I thot he posted before...
or maybe I wrong and was one of other dumbass...all alike and lack orignal thinking
Putin is Russia's George Washington.
And just as Washington was hated by the British, So Putin is hated by you.
15 Years of Putin:
http://ozziesaffa.blogspot.com/2014/06/15-years-of-putin-rule-in-one-infograph.html
Russians better off than ever...
amazing. absolutely galactic.
you should all knee before Him and allow you to change russia's name into putinistan.
astonishing.
There the cleaning lady for the month receives as much as you ukropskiy paid comments for the year did not earn.
Nothing amazing at all, it's what happens when you cast out the devil.
The USSR is no more Mandea, it died many years ago, instead of success and prosperity for former territories, they are now mere shadows.
As now today ( and this is the only thing that is important, we cannot change what is past )
Russian Federation = A Soverign Nation
Romania and other former satelites = Vassal States of the EU ruled by Brussels the IMF and World Bank. You exchanged 1 boss for now 3 cruel masters.
Tears for you.
You should remember though, there is bread and salt on the table if you chose to knock on the door.
romanian telling how Russia is bad and in terrible shape?
only in captive Europea...
It's a very strange Volkodav, I do not understand how he can say thees things with an honest mind, Romania is in bad shape, he should be more concerned for his fellows.
You forgot the part about Romania having a German head of state again. Fuck, man, you even have your own bush-league Obama appointed by banksters over the objection of actual Romanians.
I suppose we should look on the bright side. Germany's eventual plans for Romania will make the epoca de aur look like a real golden age.
At least "He" and "She" left Romania debt-free. That was the real reason the banksters whacked the Ceau?escus, not the whole starving his own people bit---they let far worse tyrants die in bed. They were afraid Romania would become competition in the market for Third World debt.
Lunatic said: We will be OK, and Romania economy is doing much much better.
I say: esti batut in cap!
The IMF ruined my country. Idiot politicians were on record with shit like: "This country is so rich, no matter how much you steal it will still be rich."
Look forwards not backwards. The same tribe that fucked you over from the east is now fucking you over from the west. You should have learned to diagnose and treat a parasite infestation by now.
This guy doesn't see that but plenty of his countrymen and fellow Eastern Europeans do see it. He is right though on the prevailing negativity towards Russia which they equate, even subliminally, with their former USSR occuopiers.
Sounds like that infrastructure dilemma is easy to fix. Just call in John Perkins and have him arrange a little NWO loan.
Yeah, well USA is interested in you even if you're not interested in it. The whole "Putin wants a new USSR" line is one of the stupidest concepts introduced into this information war, and a sordid excuse to occupy Eastern European countries with American troops. Ukraine is the richest country in Eastern Europe in terms of natural resources, so that was the first to be claimed by America, as a bridgehead to the other countries. The rest will be eaten up, planted with GM crops and fracked to toxic levels, with all real wealth leaving the countries, just to keep the oligarchy going for another few years. It's about economic control predominantly, as has been any conflict. As Churchill said after WW2, "The war was not just a matter of the elimination of Fascism in Germany, but rather of obtaining German sales markets."
So why are you again shifting this discussion towards USA, GM-crops and fascism??? Again, here was all about russia.
Do you think putin is the hero of this planet?? Do you think he is going to do smth for his people? Again, look at facts and check territories sized by russia after 1989, where NO american influence existed and check how these folks live. That is the answer to all issues here. sure, Capitalism is overstreched, there are a lot of problems and unfair things going on. But from here to saying that putin is all about "saving the planet" come on, this is worst than "captain america", ok?
Say anything about capital flow? Look at the latest economical results from Russia and see where most potent russian oligarchs keep their money and where their kids live and study!
Anywhere in Russia? No way, they are all in London, Milano, San Francisco, Berlin and so on...what does it tell you?
So much talk for a simple problem. anyways, putins days are numbered, his own buddies will drag him down. they loose money and they dare not interested in "patriotic" and "orthodox-superiority" indexes and ideeas. As simple as that.
The reason I'm bringing up USA is because they are behind this recent conflagration in Eastern Europe, not Russia. It's just misdirection so you're looking East while your country is stolen out from under you. Why do you think the IMF has taken such an interest in loaning to former Soviet countries? They want their tonne of flesh in return for bullshit printed dollars.
The author of the article correctly points out "the looming crisis in a system whose development is limited by the finite nature of planet Earth and its resources, including human ones, which conflicts with the need to endlessly print dollars." The American government have served up the American population and land mass on a plate to their debtors, and now they need new collateral to back all these dodgy loans with, not to mention needing new sales markets for their crap products like brain-numbing pharmaceuticals, GM seeds and pesticides that the rest of the world is saying no to.
Incidently, how about those 500 British infantry troops being deployed to Romania?
"Do you think putin is the hero of this planet?? "
At this time, yes.
"I am from an eastern-european country so i know what i am talking about, ok?"
since when have the eastern-europeans been brain-trusts. lmao
aren't you the latest polish joke on this site?
mandea, with delusion clinical, said:
Hmmm, trolling for daily wage of potato has somehow spread from Latvia to Romania.
Such a delusion always makes me laugh. You traded Warsaw Pact with Brussels Pact when absorbed by NATO. A slave with a different master does not give congruence with freedom.
"Anything you can know, I can know better. I can know anything better than you."
You must remember this song from "Mandea Get Your Gun."
what a crappy response. lmao
I'm sorry you miss the good old days of Nazi occupation, when the Germans let you kill Jews for sport.
Actually, no, I'm disgusted. When the Germans were done with the Jews the Slavs were next.
Eastern Europe was poor after the war because of central planning of the economy, not Russian hegemony as such. Central planning is no longer an issue. Those Eastern Europeans who love liberty more than they hate Jews and Russians will be richer and happier in the Eurasian Union than in the EU, by far.
My girlfriend of 5 years is Polish and I've visited their lovely country many times. Universally, they want as little to do with Russia and Russians as possible. Russia completely raped them and they will simply never be forgiven. I know a good number of Russians as well all of whom seem hell-bent on never returning to Russia to live. This includes one woman who's father is actually a member of the Russian security service. The USA may be in piss-poor shape at the moment but Russia is far behind on just about any standard.
Ignnorance is Bliss genius. In comparison to usa you can say they are behind in high social and high salary jobs or society . but saying they areny of any standard is preposterous it seems your polack gf is an ignorant too .
You're correct that eastern Europeans don't want the Russians 'back'. But this is a straw man diversion and a false alternative. Nobody is saying that Russia should or will reoccupy lost USSR territories. The Russians themselves know better than anyone the infeasibility of this. The issue is America trying to break Russia while it still can.
Few people would deny that Putin is a master strategist who out-smarts Washington at almost every twist and turn of the geo-political game.
This is becoming dangerous because as the stakes rise and he continues to out-smart Washington, it won't be Putin who becomes the cornered bear but Washington itself. Couple that to the slow-motion collapsing US economy, USD Reserve Status and growing civil unrest at home caused by increasingly out-of-control militarised police, moar war is the only way forward to distract attention elsewhere and for the US criminal elites to remain in power and control.
bye bye american pie