Category Ukraine The Pawn of Foreign Powers

Apr 18 2023

US Troops on the Ground in Ukraine


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Apr 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

It’s official – the US is at war with Russia. This is no longer a proxy war regardless of whether an official declaration has been made. Washington confirmed that there is “a small U.S. military presence,” but only made the admission after the Pentagon data leak. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby insists American soldiers are not fighting on the battlefield.

“I won’t talk to the specifics of numbers and that kind of thing. But to get to your exact question, there is a small U.S. military presence at the embassy in conjunction with the Defense Attachés office to help us work on accountability of the material that is going in and out of Ukraine,” Kirby said, claiming the troops are connecting to a specific embassy. The initial data leak showed that there are also at least 50 troops from the UK on the ground in Ukraine, along with military personnel from 33 NATO nations.

The New York Times reported on Monday morning that NATO members are amassing their troops along the border. “NATO is rapidly moving from what the military calls deterrence by retaliation to deterrence by denial. In the past, the theory was that if the Russians invaded, member states would try to hold on until allied forces, mainly American and based at home, could come to their aid and retaliate against the Russians to try to push them back,” Steven Erlanger wrote. But NATO is going on the offensive rather than the defensive this time around. “To prevent that, to deter by denial, means a revolution in practical terms: more troops based permanently along the Russian border, more integration of American and allied war plans, more military spending and more detailed requirements for allies to have specific kinds of forces and equipment to fight, if necessary, in pre-assigned places,” the journalist wrote.

The war in Ukraine has already cost more than any war since World War II. Ukraine is not a NATO member, and there has never been a situation where NATO prepared its troops to battle a country unaffiliated with its alliance. Russia is completely backed into a corner now and the war must escalate. Putin will not retreat or surrender. Russia does not have the option to surrender as the world powers would swoop in and take over the nation, including its very valuable resources, which they’ve wanted all along. Zelensky is no longer running the show, and the global elites will decide how quickly to escalate this battle. Countless men, women, and children will die, all for the pride of a few who want to destroy the world to Build Back Better.

Apr 18 2023

China v Taiwan – The Draft Begins


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Apr 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that he is preparing for war. The military budget will grow by about 7.2% this year after it has already doubled over the past decade. This is not a sudden decision. China has been quietly positioning itself for quite some time and has taken notes over Russia’s missteps with Ukraine. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is now drafting soldiers, and veterans and college-educated students will be at the top of the list.

Wars are now fought through intelligence and strategies rather than pure brute strength. The PLA is seeking out both women and men and is particularly interested in those with a STEM background. China’s announcement comes after Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul visited Taiwan to “provide deterrence to China.” Worse, McCaul told the international press that America would fight alongside Taiwan if Congress approved.

In typical political fashion, McCaul proposed a world war! “Taiwan is in a very different position from Ukraine,” McCaul said. “Number one, they’re not battle tested or ready. They are not prepared for war.” His solution? “When you look at Ukraine, they had NATO supporting them. You don’t have NATO in the Pacific,” he continued. “That’s why when looking at Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, we need to start having these discussions as a deterrent for peace.”

Peace was never an option with Ukraine, and Zelensky made it known that he would not meet Moscow on any agreement. In fact, NATO and others directly helped Kiev break its promises to Moscow, such as France and Germany helping to broker the Minsk Agreement hoax to buy time for Ukraine to build up its military. China has a strategy and a mission.

Losing Taiwan would be seen as an unfathomable loss, and they are prepared to go to war against any nation that intervenes. The West has already stretched itself thin by hyper-fixating on Ukraine as their own economies crumble. Interestingly, US intelligence services believe China will invade Taiwan in 2027. The computer also indicates that a world war could peak as early as 2027, with 2024-2027 being a period of concern.

Apr 18 2023

Notice Something – EU Tells Member States They Must Accept Massive Grain and Agriculture Harvest From Ukraine Even if Market Price Collapses


Posted originally on the CTH on April 17, 2023 | Sundance 

This is one of those reality moments when a few more people might scratch their puzzlers and, if we are lucky, possibly awaken themselves to the reality of World War Reddit.

It was not long ago when MSM headlines were all about how Russia was to blame for starving people around the world as a result of Ukraine farming shortages caused by war. As the narrative was told, specifically as it reflected in massive food inflation, the EU and corporate media said the global grain market was missing the farm output from Ukraine, ergo grain prices skyrocketed; ie. Russia bad.

Well, how does this story reconcile with that narrative?   According to Reuters reporting, the EU is telling all member states they must take massive shipments of grain and excessive grain commodities into their country even if it collapses the market price.   Poland and Hungary said they don’t want the excessive harvest outputs; the EU is telling them they must take them.

Funny how that global famine narrative now disappears under the weight of excessive commodity outputs from Ukraine.  Farming output going well in Ukraine. Weirdest war outcome ever. lolol

WARSAW, April 16 (Reuters) – Unilateral action on trade by European Union member states is unacceptable, the bloc’s executive said on Sunday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine to protect their local agricultural sectors.

After Russia’s invasion blocked some Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, ended up staying in Central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.

[…] “We are aware of Poland and Hungary’s announcements regarding the ban on imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine,” a spokesperson for the European Commission said in an emailed statement.

“In this context, it is important to underline that trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable.” “In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU,” the statement added.

[…] Solsky said at the weekend that 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes of various [Ukraine] agricultural products cross the Polish border every month, including grain, vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, meat and other products. (read more)

Old narrative “Russia is starving the world”… New narrative “Excessive Ukraine harvests must be accepted”…   Any questions? 

Apr 17 2023

Greg Hunter Interview of Martin Armstrong


Blog/Armstrong in the Media Re-Posted Apr 16, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Apr 15 2023

The Leaked Pentagon Papers Show Ukraine is NOT Winning


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Apr 15, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7F0jE1UAdt8%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Apr 14 2023

Credit Where Due, Glenn Greenwald Nails This Discussion of Media and the U.S. Intel Leaks


Posted originally on the CTH on April 14, 2023 | Sundance 

There are times when CTH and the perspective of Glenn Greenwald do not align. This is not one of those times. {Direct Rumble Link Here}

In this segment with Tucker Carlson, Glenn Greenwald nails the agenda, motives and outcomes of the U.S. media as they relate to the recent classified intelligence leaks. This is a solid three-minute encapsulation of the problem. WATCH:

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Apr 14 2023

The Full Surveillance Power of the U.S. Govt Could Not Find the Classified Intel Leaker, But the Media Did…


Posted originally on the CTH on April 13, 2023 | Sundance 

Sometimes the obvious answers are in the reality of the part that few pay attention to.

According to the original outline, as presented by the Washington Post last night [Original Story Here], the full surveillance and intelligence power of the United States government was unable to locate the source of the largest leak of U.S. classified intelligence in a decade, but some journalists found a teenager in his mom’s basement with all the answers.   This is the story, and they are sticking to it.

I’ve been in enough rabbit holes created by the silos of the intelligence community to know when not to enter one.   First things first, what silo uses the Washington Post?

We all should know by now the same three-letter operators in charge of the Amazon Cloud Service, are the same three-letter operators who use the PR firm known as the Washington Post.

Why the intelligence people from inside the CIA/NSA silo wanted to exploit the teenage gamer with a connection to an intelligence leaker, as the preferred narrative is unknown.  However, the DHS details provided in the intelligence community follow-up through the New York Times does provide some clues.

New York Times – The leader of a small online gaming chat group where a trove of classified U.S. intelligence documents leaked over the last few months is a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The national guardsman, whose name is Jack Teixeira, oversaw a private online group named Thug Shaker Central, where about 20 to 30 people, mostly young men and teenagers, came together over a shared love of guns, racist online memes and video games.

Two U.S. officials confirmed that investigators want to talk to Airman Teixeira about the leak of the government documents to the private online group. One official said Airman Teixeira might have information relevant to the investigation.

Federal investigators have been searching for days for the person who leaked the top secret documents online but have not identified Airman Teixeira or anyone else as a suspect. The F.B.I. declined to comment. (read more)

There it is again….

The CIA, DoD, NSA, FBI, DHS and all of the combined systems of the United States intelligence apparatus, the kind that can isolate your location through the mirrored image on a WaWa CCTV camera in Podunk, Mississippi, could not find the 21-year-old originating leaker who was posting details, images and classified data for months in a chat room online.   But the Washington Post and New York Times can isolate, locate, interview, record, broadcast and then name the suspect within 12 hours….

Okay. Gotcha!… and now the government will talk to young Mr. Jack Teixeira about his endeavors. Got it.

I have been in these intelligence creations, and we have traveled into the rabbit hole of their intelligence storylines long enough to spot one when it surfaces.

My gut hunch…  Two issues.  The first is the obvious; the USG was cool with the leaked information because it formed the baseline for a geopolitical change in direction, a pivot away from the quagmire they created in Ukraine.  This part is obvious, because if that wasn’t the case the leak cleanup operation would have been silent. The collective IC would have just traced the origin, destroyed the information, pulled in the participants and black-holed the entire mess.

The fact the IC engineered a media narrative for it, pushing the leak story into the mainstream cycle, says the IC had a motive to promote the leak narrative.

Second, the gaming “sector” has always been a thorn in the side of those who seek to control communication and conduct surveillance therein.   They are already in social media platforms, but the gaming platforms were not exploited to scale.  The USG has now established a baseline to enter that sphere of communication and networking and begin formal operations in the gaming platforms.

Still, anytime the U.S. Intelligence Community is involved, it is always best practice to watch and remain out of the hole.

The only question you really need to ask yourself is, what aspect of my liberty does this intelligence operation support the removal of?

After all…  if only we had the Restrict Act in place, then none of this classified information surfacing on social media would be such a concern, right?  Right?

Remember…. “Greasy Bear hackers and Macedonian Bot Farms might sound like a good justification for a prosecution when pitched to an incurious media. However, when Greasy Bear and the accused Macedonians show up in court, well, the prosecutors might just have a problem.  That is the backdrop for a series of bizarre requests from the Special Prosecutor to seal the evidence against the accused, Concord Management, and the defendant’s response.  (read more)

Apr 12 2023

Pentagon’s Leaked Documents Anger South Korea


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Apr 12, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

South Korea’s diplomatic policy dictates that it will not send ammunition to countries at war. The recently leaked documents from the Pentagon reveal that the US is bullying South Korea into breaking its policy to arm Ukraine. Worse, the documents reveal that US intelligence agencies have been spying on South Korea. This is an unfortunate start to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s meeting with President Joe Biden scheduled for April 26.

CIA personnel has been warning Washington not to speak to Seoul over the phone until they agreed to arm Ukraine. Former presidential secretary for foreign affairs Lee Moon-hee, named Yi Mun-hui in the documents, told former Director of National Security Kim Sung-han that South Korea would have two options. The first would be for the nation to change its stance. The second would be for South Korea to send weapons to Poland, using Poland as the middleman to avoid breaking policy as “getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the ultimate goal of the United States.” The documents also reveal potential wiretapping against South Korea who is supposed to be an ally.

Yoon is under pressure from both the US and his own policymakers. Opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Park Hong-keun is urging Yoon to demand an apology from Biden. “If confirmed, it is an unacceptable practice that cannot be tolerated in the 70-year alliance and a clear infringement of South Korea’s sovereignty that shatters bilateral trust … The U.S. government should be faithful to its ally and apologize to the South Korean public and the government, if those reports are true,” Park stated.

Why is the US risking its international alliances to fight a foreign war? The Biden Administration has completely abandoned domestic policy in favor of fighting a war on behalf of Ukraine. Countries previously yielded to the demands of the US as its military and economic power made it the key ally. Things have changed. Nations are increasingly distancing themselves from the US as the country spirals down a dark path that has already shaken its superpower status.

Apr 11 2023

When the Body Bags Start Coming Home


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Apr 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Neocons are on both sides of the aisle. In the Republican camp, of course, we have Lindsy Graham, but there is also Marco Rubio who has the audacity to tell Europe they better pick sides. Then there is Michael McCaul of Texas. Based on reliable sources, the military has been instructed to prepare for war. This is inevitable.

The Democrats intend to beat the war drums to make sure the Republican Neocons will vote with them. Biden intends to Run in 2024. The Neocons need him because he is senile and will say what they write on his cue cards and sign whatever they put in front of him. Blinken is the leader of the Neocons in the White House. They are pushing for war BEFORE the 2024 election for these people looks at war and that typically the president in power is always reelected in times of war. So, hunker down. Hide your kids. It’s off to war we go so Biden can be reelected. They thought Trump would be the Republican and Biden could beat him. That remains to be seen when the body bags start coming home. These people have no respect for the people or human rights. It’s all just a chess game to them.

Apr 10 2023

Interview: Can History Help Us Predict Market Cycles?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Armstrong in the Media Re-Posted Apr 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Visit Spotify or your podcast channel of choice for my most recent interview with TikMill.

Martin Armstrong, a true market maverick & innovator – ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme’ M.Twain – a motto for the ages and closely linked to Martin Armstrong’s market and personal ethos, Martin’s Socrates platform is truly groundbreaking as is his Economic Confidence model, listen in and learn more – enjoy!