Interview: NATO military defeat to destabilize the dollar?


Click here to wWatch Martin Armstrong’s latest interview, “NATO military defeat to destabilize the dollar?” with Mike Adams.

Nuclear Arms no Longer Key to Peace


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Feb 17, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Russia has fitted its fleet with tactical nuclear weapons both in the North Sea and in the Atlantic. The United States and NATO have convinced themselves that they can destroy Russia and China and neither will report to nuclear weapons.  Nobody ever questions: What if we are wrong?

Once upon a time, it was PRESUMED that having nuclear weapons promoted peace. We needed the nuclear arms race to promote deterrence and thus peace. That theory is now completely dead. Everyone has nuclear weapons and now they think nobody will use them and we can now conquer foreign lands even if they have nukes. So why did we invade Iraq?

After having serious discussions about the “what-if” scenario that Russia nukes a major city in Ukraine justifying itself as did the United States with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I found that there was no playbook for such an event and there remains nothing but disagreement as to how the U.S. would even respond. Macron has come out and stated that France would NOT launch nuclear weapons if Russia nuked Ukraine. Macron is not an insane neocon. If there was any retaliation, the cloud of nuclear fallout would be drifting over NATO countries in Western Europe. That would wipe out crop production and unleash further food shortages. We would see instead of a volcanic winter event, it would be a nuclear winter event.

Actually, most people do not realize but during the Obama administration, they conducted a war game simulating Russian use of nuclear weapons in the Baltics. Even back then, there were fundamental disagreements about how to respond. The US policy is to conquer and destroy Russia. They know this. It has been the US demanding no peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Under this proxy-war reality, Russian military doctrine published since 2000 has envisioned the first use of nuclear weapons in response to a conventional threat in a regional war. This is precisely what the US and NATO are carrying out right now. Even Russia’s smallest nuclear warheads are many times the explosive power of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Russia nuking Ukraine has been talked about behind closed doors for months. Those in the military arm have been warning the Biden administration for several months that Russia could be pushed into a corner where they will do the unthinkable. The Biden Administration “prefers” to think they can accomplish their end goal without nuclear weapons. Those behind Putin would push the button in the blink of an eye. They see that as a serious option and believe it would end the war as did Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

There is no clear-cut scenario. Many say it would depend if they used a small nuke to wipe out Ukrainian troops rather than nuking a major city. The only thing that the Biden Administration seems to agree on is just to increase the sanctions. That will only further divide the world economy and increase the chances of world war III. Other are saying that unless a NATO country was hit by Russia, then the U.S. would not have any obligation to respond.

This leaves the door open that perhaps the ONLY way to stall World War III is to take nuclear action against Ukraine in some measured manner. With subs armed with supersonic nuclear missiles just offshore of the USA, they could take out Washington DC before Biden could even make it to a safe room. Perhaps nuking Ukraine becomes the only way to wake up the population of Europe demanding to end this warmongering. All they had to do was honor the Minsk Agreement and Putin would have no choice but to withdraw.

NATO Preparing for World War III


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Feb 17, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Perhaps NATO is starting to wake up. They now realize that they may have to wage war on two fronts simultaneously. NATO is considering what they call a defensive move which is an “Article 5 conflict” but also an “out-of-area” battle. This is showing that NATO is no longer what it was supposed to have been – the defense of Europe against a Soviet invasion that never took place. The “out-of-area” is none other than China invading Taiwan. NATO is simply usurping power that it was never authorized to carry out. This, Article 5 event is an attack on a NATO member, whereas the “out-of-area” is a non-NATO member.

Clearly, we are witnessing how once power is taken, it is always abused. NATO has always billed itself as a “defensive alliance” but it has embarked on an offensive posture with Ukraine and now even Taiwan. Don’t forget, NATO joined the hostilities in Yugoslavia during the 1990s and again with Libya in 2011. Many have viewed that NATO has been usurped by the American Neocons to further their agenda of manipulating US foreign policy. That is becoming self-evident by even considering war with China and Russia.

All our sources confirm that the US has demanded that Brussels increase its defense expenditures. Everyone is expected to chip in 2% of GDP – ASAP. The US is now also expecting that it will have to fight on two fronts against both China and Russia. The Neocons are demanding higher Pentagon budgets now. They simply want war and we have no right to vote on any of this confirming once again, we do not live in a democracy, but in a dictatorship masquerading as a republic.

You NEVER go to war without weight the gains against the losses. What is taking place is the very same bankers that tried to take over Russia I wrote about in the 2000 Plot to Seize Russia, are back after 23 years and they are pleading to wage war and are licking their lips once again at seizing all the natural resources of Russia from gold and diamonds, to energy and uranium.

What if Russia Nukes Kyiv?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Feb 16, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Dear Mr. Armstrong,
In the event that Russia does employ nuclear weaponry in/over Ukraine, does Socrates offer any insight as to what effect that might have on Ukrainian food/energy/commodities -production in general (…. let alone their capabilities, or likely lack thereof, to transport, said items from fields/mines/etc. to harbors/rail-lines/etc.); and what type of effect will (potentially, severely) reduced outputs like that (from the “bread basket of Europe”) have on shortages, inflationary cost-pressures, disease-cycles, population migration, and so forth and so on? Having traveled through Ukraine in my youth (around the time of your Israel sojourn; and yes, I had a whole lot more hair than too still), I remember marveling at arable topsoil some 8 to 10 feet deep; what (long-term?) effect would nuclear fallout have on such valuable planting-media, one wonders?

All my very best to you, Mr. Armstrong, believe me; I admire your bravery a great deal. You, Sir, are a Prince & a true gift to humanity!
Sincerely, …. tlk

ANSWER: Everything to the East of the river was the Russian Empire from the days of the Tzar. Ukraine was NEVER a country – period! That is why they joined Hitler who promised to carve out territory so they could be a nation. I get hate mail from Ukraine calling me a Putin lover. They will not respond when I ask do you really think you can destroy Russia and survive? Is it worth losing the country you finally won in 1991 all for the Donbas where the majority of people are Russian? They will not respond to any such questions. They are blinded by the hatred of Russians and cannot see that they are risking it all. They had a country. That was their dream. They are throwing that all away with nothing to gain even if they won – they will never survive the conflict. It just makes no sense.

100 Kiloton

That said, Russia could nuke Kyiv. It would all depend upon the size of the bomb. This would be the destruction of Kyiv with 100 kilotons. The argument inside Russia is that Putin has been too “soft” and he should have gone all in for the kill. The military believes they have been held back and could have won had they not had their hands tied.

This would be 100 metric tons. So you can see, they can nuke Kyiv and “win” the war without destroying all of Ukraine. This is what some are pushing for because they see this as a war against NATO and not just a war now to defend the Donbas. Ukraine has been the fool on the hill. They have listened to the West, and gone head-to-head against Russia which has more nukes than the United States, which cannot defend itself against a hypersonic nuclear missile.

Everyone has gone just mad. There is NOTHING to gain from this and the Ukrainian people will only wake up when it is too late. Zelensky is the Adolf Hitler who has brought death and destruction to their dream of a nation-state. Russia could take out Kyiv without harming Crimea or the Donbas.

The Coming War


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Feb 13, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT:

Hi Marty,

As it appears the US is marching toward war, what is notable this time, unlike what happened in the run-up to US participation in WW2, was the sense of isolationism in this country. Roosevelt was clearly walking a fine line, knowing there was no stomach for US involvement in Europe. US involvement in WW1 also started out similarly with many in the US, in particular those of Irish descent who opposed helping the British in their battle in Europe. Wilson, another Democrat, also walked the straight and narrow, professing neutrality which history shows was a lie. Later, his 14 points, the forerunner to an imposed peace on Germany, would backfire. The League of Nations would die off.

But today, unlike the prior two world wars, both democrats and republicans appear to embrace an escalation in conflict. And with an old, decrepit mannequin in the WH, it looks like there’s nothing stopping this push toward war. Republicans especially are a total disgrace. They stabbed Trump in the back repeatedly or let him twist in the wind for 4 years and for the first two when they were the majority party…did little to show their one chance to lead. Trump did more for peace than any president since Kennedy. Trump at least tried to engage Xie, met with the North Korean leader and focused more on building up the US domestic economy. He tore up US participation in these climate pacts. He focused on building the wall to stem the flow of illegals crossing the border. Her met with the Mexican president and forced his counterpart to accept an arrangement that kept illegals inside Mexico pending and petitions later to the US government for entry based on their applications.  And for all this, he was the target for a fraud based on collusion to get elected with Russian help. Which turned out to be baseless. Later, he was implicated in the Jan 6 insurrection…courtesy of both parties. Which itself was a total fabrication.

Both Dems and R’s are now marching lockstep toward war. It’s no wonder public opinion toward the government is sinking to all-time lows. In both parties. Both of which will be swept away in the years ahead for betraying this country on so many levels.

MS

REPLY: Hillary, started this whole mess by launching the fake dossier and blaming Putin for interring in the election. She managed to convince 70% of Democrats that Russia was the enemy. RussiaGate, despite being discredited, set in motion this hatred for Russia. Still, 65% of Americans support Ukraine when in fact what they are doing is relying on a border drawn by Kruschev for administrative purposes and demanding that the Donbas is their territory when NEVER for even a single day have Ukrainian people ever been the majority in that region. This is a land grab and nothing more that is engulfing the entire world all because our idiot politicians want to destroy the world economy so they can blame it on war and default on all the debt.

I get hate mail and death threats from Ukrainian Nazis pretty regularly now. This only shows that we are historically on the wrong side. In WWII, we fought against the Nazo movement. This time, we support ethnic cleansing.

Americans fled here to escape the political chaos and warmongering in Europe. So when WWI and WWII took place, the American people saw no reason to go support a political movement that they had fled. Indeed, FDR’ solemn campaign promise was no boys would be sent to fight in a foreign war. That is why he did everything possible to get Japan to attack Pearl Harbor for that was the ONLY way to overcome the anti-war position of Americans. They have done the same to get Russia to act to protect the Donbas from the Ukrainians who began the civil war.

FDR repeated that solemn promise in Boston which was predominantly Irish. They refused to defend Britain openly recalling what the English did to the Irish. That was why FDR needed Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. Today, they needed Russia to launch its special operation which was absolutely legal under the United Nations Rules for he was protecting the Donbas, not seeking to conquer Ukraine.

All of those memories of past wars are long gone. Today, we cheer on war because we think it will be like watching Iraq on CNN after nightly dinner. As they say:

The US Covert Action to Destroy Nord Stream & Russia’s Economy


Armstrong Economics Blog/Russia Re-Posted Feb 9, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Seymour Hersch won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.  He is one of a dying breed of independent journalists. He has revealed that the United States destroyed Nord Stream Pipeline and this was all part of the Climate Change War where the Neocons are now supporting Nazis to exterminate Russia once and for all while they ask China to please wait quietly in line patiently for their turn to be destroyed. His in-depth article includes:

“Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.

Two of the pipelines, which were known collectively as Nord Stream 1, had been providing Germany and much of Western Europe with cheap Russian natural gas for more than a decade. A second pair of pipelines, called Nord Stream 2, had been built but were not yet operational. Now, with Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border and the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945 looming, President Joseph Biden saw the pipelines as a vehicle for Vladimir Putin to weaponize natural gas for his political and territorial ambitions.”

Interest Rates & the Fed


Armstrong Economics Blog/Interest Rates Re-Posted Feb 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Federal Reserve raised the benchmark by 25 bps, as expected. The Fed fully understands that the manipulation of the CPI is a necessary aspect both for containing government benefits and understating inflation also results in high tax revenues. The market loves hope, and as a result, they focused on the warning that we’ll be in restrictive territory for just a bit longer. Most still believe that there will be a slowdown in inflation just ahead.

The Fed’s cautionary commentary saying that the “disinflation process” has started triggered shares to jump ending up 1%. This shows how insane the analysis had become that they cheer a recession and think that lower interest rates are bullish for the stock market. Obviously, they just listen to the talking heads on TV and have never bothered to look at reality. When interest rates decline, so has the stock market. Interest rates rose for the entire Trump Rally, and they crashed during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. For the life of me, I just shake my head when the talking heads cheer lower rates and spread doom and gloom with higher rates.

Austria & Hungary Refuse to give Weapons to Ukraine


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Feb 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The people who are pushing for World War III attack anyone who tells the truth about Ukraine is suddenly a “Putin Supporter” when in fact they are the new merchants of death who have no regard for human civilization or history. I have dealt with every country surrounding Ukraine including Ukraine. ALL OF THERE NEIGHBORS say the same thing – beware of Ukrainians.

Austria and Hungary have come out and refused to send weapons to Ukraine. Hopefully, when this turns really ugly, their countries may be spared. Ukraine is filled with Nazis and their hatred for Russians knows no limit. NATO troops are already there without a formal declaration of war. If they die in battle, Ukrainians are choppy off their heads and hands so they cannot be identified which would expose NATO’s involvement.

I have warned that the West is the aggressor and have once again lied to the people. Zelensky stood up on February 23rd, and stated to the world that Ukraine would arm itself with nuclear weapons. Putin made a speech to the Russian people that night and launched the invasion the next day. VP Harris at the Munich Security Counsel bluntly told Ukraine to join NATO. Then Merkel admitted that the Minsk Agreement which was to allow the Donbas to vote on their own independence was a sham only to buy time for Ukraine to build an army to start World War III.

I reported that Ukraine had lost nearly 50% of its army. That was classified information from the Ukrainian side. I got emails saying, of course, that was Russian propaganda. The head of the EU stated that same figure at first and then had to take it out because Zelensky did not want his people to know the death toll.

Zelensky stood before Congress and bragged that his propaganda machine defeated Russia and had won the minds of the West, which only proved this is really a war to destroy Russia. Zelensky was an actor with no experience in anything else. He was put in place for this role. He has been doing everything to create World War III – that’s his real job.

Any world leader who gives 10 cents to Ukraine should be thrown out of office forthwith!