Posted originally on the conservative tree house on July 4, 2022 | Sundance
Senator Lindsey Graham (U-DC) was apparently in Turkey around the same time as the NATO summit. According to a Twitter announcement by Graham he has returned to the U.S. hopeful to close the deal on selling F-16”s to Turkey now that Turkish President Recep Erdogan has removed opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
“I will do all in my power to support the Biden Administration’s decision to sell F-16s to the Turkish Air Force,” Graham writes.
Also adding, “These fighter jets, in the hands of our NATO allies, will create a sense of stability and provide capability to the Turkish military that is most definitely in America’s national security interests.” {link}
On Tuesday of last week Turkey removed their block of Sweden and Finland from joining NATO, and on Wednesday Joe Biden agreed to sell Turkey 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes:
Newsmax – The Biden administration threw its support on Wednesday behind the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a day after Ankara lifted a veto of NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.
Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs at Pentagon, said strong Turkish defense capabilities would reinforce NATO’s defenses.
“The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security,” she said. (read more)
Finland now represents an additional 1,340 km (830 mi) long direct border with Russia. The border runs mostly through uninhabited taiga forests and sparsely populated rural areas.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on July 4, 2022 | Sundance
Separatists in Luhansk had been embroiled in a bloody civil war against the Ukraine military since 2014. On Sunday Russia announced its military forces and allies had taken control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region after capturing the final Ukrainian holdout of Lysychansk. Based on ground reports showing celebrations of Russian troops and the citizens of Lysychansk, the end of that regional conflict appears confirmed.
According to Politico, “Ukrainian troops have retreated from Lysychansk, the last major Kyiv-controlled city in the eastern Luhansk region, the country’s military command said Sunday. “In order to preserve the lives of the defenders of Ukraine, a decision was made to withdraw,” according to a statement from the General Staff of the Armed Forces.” {link}
Previously Moscow media were reporting that Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin Luhansk had been “liberated”, after earlier statements saying the military had captured villages around Lysychansk and encircled the city.
Politico – […] Ukraine’s military command said that given the great “superiority” of Russia’s troops in terms of weapons, ammunition and personnel, attempts to prolong the defense of the city — which had a pre-war population of around 100,000 — “would lead to fatal consequences.
The eastern region of Ukraine is a major target for Russia: Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014 in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that make up the key industrial area of Donbas, and Russia’s recognition of the self-styled people’s republics there preceded its full-scale invasion of the country this past February.
[…] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that “there is a risk” that the whole Luhansk region could be fully occupied by Russian troops soon. “There are such risks, and we realize them,” he said at a press conference after a meeting with Australian PM Anthony Albanese in Kyiv.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported earlier on Sunday to President Vladimir Putin that “full control” had been established over Lysychansk as well as “a number of nearby settlements,” and declared “the liberation” of the whole Luhansk region. (read more)
(Telegraph, India) – […] Russia also reported explosions on Sunday in its city of Belgorod, about 40km north of the border with Ukraine, that killed at least three people and damaged and destroyed homes. Senior Russian lawmaker Andrei Klishas accused Ukraine of shelling Belgorod and called for a stern response.
Russian regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that five homes were destroyed in the city and at least 11 apartment buildings and more than 30 houses were damaged.
“The sound was so strong that I jumped up, I woke up, got very scared and started screaming,” a Belgorod resident told Reuters, adding the blasts occurred around 3am.
Moscow has accused Kyiv of numerous attacks on Belgorod and other areas bordering Ukraine. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility but says such incidents as payback, after Russia has pounded Ukrainian urban areas into rubble. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the latest Belgorod incident. Reuters could not independently verify the Russian accounts. (link)
Meanwhile there are even more reports of the Ukraine military burning crops in Eastern Ukraine.
Keep in mind…. (New York Times) […] “as the Biden administration has declared it will not deploy American troops to Ukraine, some C.I.A. personnel have continued to operate in the country secretly, mostly in the capital, Kyiv, directing much of the vast amounts of intelligence the United States is sharing with Ukrainian forces, according to current and former officials.” {link}
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on July 4, 2022 | Sundance
John Kirby is the former Pentagon spokesperson who is now the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications. The people in/around the White House have shifted Kirby, a very good spinner of parseltongue, into a place where he can give the media an impression of White House competency.
The LGBTQ, racially inclusive and woke checkbox hires are not up to the task of their positions. Incompetence is running amok. As a result, it is somewhat ironic and representative the Biden hypocrisy, that Kirby is needed to take the pressure away from administration checkbox hires. In this interview Kirby defends the White House policy on the Russia-Ukraine war, interventionist and dependent foreign policy, and the energy policy that has resulted in high gas prices.
Video prompted to 04:05, where the topic of Biden’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia is discussed. WATCH:
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on July 2, 2022 | sundance
Two weeks ago, a NATO blockade of Kaliningrad, an outpost of Russia, was triggered when Lithuania blocked the transport of goods through Suwalki corridor. According to the Lithuanian justification they were following through on NATO sanctions against Russian goods. However, the escalation was very provocative toward Russia and discussions between Russia and NATO countries were tense.
Apparently, Germany was increasingly concerned the blockade was creating a scenario where Russian military were going to escort the transport of railroad goods to Kaliningrad, and that would lead to escalated military conflict with Russia. “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is eager to avoid unnecessary provocations of Russia. He has repeatedly emphasized that he would do everything in his power to ensure that NATO does not become a party to the war between Russia and Ukraine. German soldiers are stationed in Lithuania and could become involved in a possible conflict.” {link}
The EU has now dropped the blockade and the transport of goods between Kaliningrad and Russia will resume. The EU decision was made before the NATO meeting in Madrid concluded; however, it looks like NATO postponed the announcement until after Biden left in order to save face on the reversal of position.
GERMANY – The European Commission plans to issue a clarification that will allow Russia to resume sending supplies to the exclave of Kaliningrad via Lithuania. Berlin supports the idea, but some in Vilnius are not pleased.
[…] The move will put an end to a disagreement that had not only been a significant source of tension between Russia and Brussels – but also exposed deep rifts within the EU regarding the correct approach to Moscow.
[…] The European Commission clarification expressly applies to all EU member states, but it mostly only affects the situation in Kaliningrad. According to the document, Russia will be allowed to transport sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad, but only in amounts comparable to pre-invasion deliveries.
The policy that has been adopted by the Commission largely reflects the position of the German government. Berlin had been critical of the approach taken by Lithuania.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is eager to avoid unnecessary provocations of Russia. He has repeatedly emphasized that he would do everything in his power to ensure that NATO does not become a party to the war between Russia and Ukraine. German soldiers are stationed in Lithuania and could become involved in a possible conflict.
The rules for the transit of goods, Scholz said at the conclusion of recent NATO summit in Madrid, “must of course be established in light of the fact that this is about shipments between two parts of Russia.” The comment made it clear that Berlin has a different interpretation of the legal situation than the government in Lithuania. (read more)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 26, 2022 | Sundance
Comrades, this is quite a remarkable interview if you stand back away from the issue and just look at the context. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss abortion in the aftermath of Supreme Court overturning Roe. The legal aspects for any abortion restriction now return to the state legislature and representatives closest to the people.
Comrade Whitmer is repeatedly asked what she can do to keep abortion available without limit. In her responses Whitmer notes that her opinion on the issue is not held by the state legislature and lawmakers, as a result there’s not much she can do. Gretchen Whitmer is admitting her view is not the view of the people in her state, yet she vows to continue fighting against the will of the people. WATCH:
[Transcript] – …”GOV. WHITMER: What I’m trying to fight for is the status quo in Michigan and there are reasonable restrictions on that. With the current legislature that I have, there is no common ground, which is the sad thing.” (read more)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 26, 2022 | Sundance
Western leaders, specifically including the G7, have a serious problem. Their collective energy and economic policy, a chase for the climate change and corporate financial agenda, have created the downstream consequences of global food shortages and third-world instability. The non-industrial nations will now, once again, suffer as a direct result of Western ideology and arrogance.
To combat the pesky third-world pitch forks, today Joe Biden announced the U.S. will lead the G7 in a series of advanced spending measures intended to control how the pain inflicted by the industrialized nations will surface to the rest of the world. Western media must not let the suffering of the brown people become visible, lest people start to connect the dots and realize the G7 is an ideologically racist and exploitative enterprise.
To soften the reality of the brown people suffering, the leftist administration of Joe Biden will spend $200 billion to mitigate the damage. There are four aspects:
(1) To increase dependency and control the third-world population the G7 will finance a vaccine manufacturing facility in Senegal. The breeding of the brown people must be controlled – climate change policy demands it.
(2) To control the optics of the third-world complaining about it, the G7 will mobilize $335 million in private capital to control the communication systems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The brown people must not discover the nature of their exploitation; and the citizens within the G7 nations must not find out their government is exploiting the brown people. Wouldn’t look good.
(3) The United States will spend $50 million over five years to support gender equity in the developing world increasing the friction between brown women and brown men, while ignoring cultural differences and forcing the social ideology of the West upon them. And finally….
(4) The G7, fearing third-world instability and anger from the brown people that could disrupt their supply chains, the U.S. and Western nations will now seek to increase their control of mining for mineral deposits needed for G7 batteries – and will fund more railroads and ports to export the critical material to the West more quickly.
[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Well, good afternoon, folks.
Our nations and our world stand at a genuine inflection point in history. Technology has made our world smaller, more immediate, and more connected. It’s opened up incredible opportunities, but also accelerated challenges that impact on all of us: managing global energy needs, taking on the climate crisis, dealing with the spread of diseases.
And the choices we make now, in my view, are going to set a direction of our world for several generations to come.
These challenges are hard for all of us, even nations with resources of the G7. But developing countries often lack the essential infrastructure to help navigate global shocks, like a pandemic. So they feel the impacts more acutely, and they have a harder time recovering.
In our deeply connected world, that’s not just a humanitarian concern, it’s an economic and a security concern for all of us.
That’s why, one year ago, when this group of leaders met in Cornwall, we made a commitment: The democratic nations of the G7 would step up — step up and provide financing for quality, high-standard, sustainable infrastructure in developing and middle-income countries.
What we’re doing is fundamentally different because it’s grounded on our shared values of all those representing the countries and organizations behind me. It’s built using the global best practices: transparency, partnership, protections for labor and the environment.
We’re offering better options for countries and for people around the world to invest in critical infrastructure that improves the lives — their lives, all of our lives — and delivers real gains for all of our people, not just the G7 — all of our people.
Today, we officially launch the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. We collectively have dozens of projects already underway around the globe.
And I’m proud to announce the United States will mobilize $200 billion in public and private capital over the next five years for that Partnership.
We’re here today because we’re making this commitment together as a G7 in coordination with one another to maximize the impact of our work.
Collectively, we aim to mobilize nearly $600 billion from the G7 by 2027.
These strategic investments are areas of — critical to sustainable development and to our shared global stability: health and health security, digital connectivity, gender equality and equity, climate and energy security.
Let me give you some examples of the kinds of projects that are underway in each of these areas.
First, health. Two years ago, COVID-19 — didn’t need any reminders about how critical investments in healthcare systems were and health sec- — and health security is, both to fight the pandemic and to prepare for the next one, because it will not be the last pandemic we under- — we have to deal with.
That’s why the United States, together with the G7 partners and the World Bank, are investing in a new industrial-scale vaccine manufacturing facility in Senegal. When complete, it will have the potential to produce hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines annually for COVID-19 and other diseases.
It’s an investment that will enhance global vaccine supplies as well as improve access and equity for developing countries.
Second, in the digital area. Our economies’ future increasingly depends on people’s ability to connect to secure information and communications technologies. And we need to strengthen the use of trusted technologies so that our online information cannot be used by autocrats to consolidate their power or repress their people.
That’s why the Digital Invest Program is mobilizing $335 million in private capital to supply secure network equipment in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
And the U.S. government also supported the successful bid by an American company, SubCom, for a $600 million contract to build a global subsea telecommunications cable. This cable will stretch from Southeast Asia, through the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, to Europe.
This will be essential to meeting the growing demand for reliable security, high-tech connectivity in three key regions of the world.
Third, gender. When women and girls have the ability and the opportunity to parcia- — to participate more fully in those societies and economies, we see positive impacts not only in their communities but around the board — across the board.
We have to increase those opportunities, though, for women and girls to thrive, including practical steps to make childcare more accessible and affordable as we continue the vital work to protect and advance women’s fundamental rights.
The United States is committing $50 million over five years to the World Bank’s global Childcare Incentive Fund. This public-private partnership supported by several G7 partners will help countries build infrastructure that makes it easier for women to participate equally — equally — in the labor force.
Fourth and very important, climate and energy. We’re seeing just how critical this is every day. The entire world is feeling the impact of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine and on our energy markets.
We need worldwide effort to invest in transformative clean energy projects to ensure that critical infrastructure is resilient to changing climate.
Critical materials that are necessary for our clean energy transition, including the production of batteries, need to be developed with high standards for labor and the environment.
Fast and reliable transportation infrastructure, including railroads and ports, is essential to moving inputs for refining and processing and expanding access to clean energy technologies.
For example, the U.S. government just facilitated a new partnership between two American firms and the government of Angola to invest $2 billion in building new solar projects in Angola. It’s a partnership that will help Angola meet its climate goals and energy needs while creating new markets for American technologies and good jobs in Angola and, I suspect, throughout Africa.
And in Romania, the American company, NuScale Power, will build a first-of-its-kind small modular reactor plant. This will help bring online zero-emission nuclear energy to Europe faster, more cheaply, and more efficiently.
The U.S. government is helping to advance the development of this groundbreaking American technology, which will strengthen Europe’s energy security and create thousands of jobs in Romania and the United States.
These deals are just some of what’s in store. And we’re ready. We’re ready to get to work, together, all of us.
To lead efforts — to lead U.S. efforts, in my case — appointed — I appointed Amos Hochstein, my Special Presidential Coordinator, to deal with the rest of our colleagues. I’ll [He’ll] lead the U.S. whole-of-government approach to drive a coalition and a collaboration with the G7 and our partners around the world, including private sector and multilateral development banks.
I want to be clear: This isn’t aid or charity; it’s an investment that will deliver returns for everyone, including the American people and the people of all our nations. It’ll boost all of our economies, and it’s a chance for us to share our positive vision for the future and let communities around the world see themselves — and see for themselves the concrete benefits of partnering with democracies.
Because when democracies demonstrate what we can do, all that we have to offer, I have no doubt that we’ll win the competition every time.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 26, 2022 | Sundance
World Bank President David Malpass appears on CBS with media propagandist Margaret Brennan, a woman of exceptionally low intelligence, to discuss the current state of global economics and the likely consequences. I have been saying this for a year and I will repeat, the absence of food will change things.
Within the interview [Transcript Here] the status and solutions that Malpass outlines are accurate and factual, albeit couched in gentle terms acceptable to the globalists. As noted by Malpass, if a shift in messaging and actual policy for energy and finance does not take place, the outcome will be bad for food production and government stability.
The World Bank president accurately states increased production is urgently needed to avoid global shortages. However, that increase in production is only possible if the leaders of the largest economies reverse their positions on energy development and finance. The world needs oil and natural gas production to increase dramatically in order to stave off food shortages. Unfortunately, those pragmatic recommendations are falling on deaf political ears. WATCH:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: There are a lot of stressors on the global economic system right now, how do you describe where we are?
MALPASS: It’s a sharp slowdown, including even China. So we’ve seen the world growth fall by half since January in terms of GDP growth. But there’s also shortages, there’s inflation. And the food shortages for the poorer countries are becoming a significant concern, they already are.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I mean, global inflation, it’s not just the US it’s other wealthy countries around the world. But you’re also describing a recipe for global instability.
MALPASS: It feeds in when there’s not enough food that for- for weaker countries, poorer countries, that- that causes instability. And it’s a big factor in the turnover of governments that’s been occurring in quite a few of the countries. And then there also has to be much more discussion of what to do about the fiscal challenges that you know, running out of money for government as well as food. And so these all go together into fragility, very concerning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: COVID caused the deepest global recession since World War Two. Now, the world economy is in danger because of this Russian invasion in Ukraine. How do you avoid a global recession with all of these factors?
MALPASS: Some countries, it’s going to be very hard to do that. I think that leadership from the stronger countries is very important. There are a lot of possibilities, tools, for example, the- the central banks have many more tools than in 2008. You know, there were, there are regulatory tools that they have, they now hold huge bond portfolios, those could be- those are all funded by money from banks. So if there is reduction in the bond portfolios, that frees up capital that could be used for these supply chains that are so strained. The bottom line is there needs to be lots more production and that’s most available to the strongest countries. The U.S. is the world’s biggest economy and can increase production more than anybody else. And so that becomes one of the key variables in the outlook. What are you doing today, to increase production of everything, the world needs practically everything that the U.S. makes and there needs to be a process to really boost that production.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So if you were talking to Jerome Powell, that chair of the US Federal Reserve, you would say focus less on interest rates, focus more on what?
MALPASS: He’s got multiple tools. One is regulatory policy, the Fed is a sort of an important regulator of banks. So let the banks lend more. But then also on the bond side, reducing the bond portfolio would return more money to banks, all of the money being used to hold the bond portfolio comes from banks. And if they had more, they could lend and also the non-bank sector of the U.S. economy. That’s one of the most innovative, and it could put more money into the supply chain.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s interesting, you say that, the banks, I heard something from a U.S. official talking about that as an impediment to oil companies right now and President Biden’s calling on them to produce more energy. Is that a problem, that you see?
MALPASS: Big problem, and it’s really around the world markets look ahead, and they look at what the regulatory policy is going to be into the future. So if you’re an oil company, you hear the message from all around that, that the- the politicians don’t want your oil. And so- so then you- you drill less you put you make less of your R&D plans. You know, R&D is research and development is critical to the innovation in every sector. In developing countries, they aren’t producing energy either, because they’re constrained by bank regulations by the lack of financing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But even at this meeting of the largest global, you know, Western economies at the G7, there’s going to be focus on sustainability, there’s going to be focus on climate change, the message there is switch away from fossil fuels. But then at the same time, you’re hearing Germany, build a coal burning once again, the United States urging oil and gas production once again, because of the crisis with Russia. So how do all these pieces fit together without impacting growth in a negative way?
MALPASS: There’s an inconsistency [in energy policy] and it’s a moment in time the world’s trying to reduce the dependence on Russia, and also on China. And it needs to keep markets open and not restrict exports and finance the new investments that’s needed, and there’s not clarity in Europe. You know, some of the countries want nuclear power, some want natural gas, and they’re talking about importing natural gas, but they’re doing it slowly. So that for the poorer countries in the world, this is also- it’s a conundrum, how are we going to get forward when Europe is drawing in so much of the world’s natural gas.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So a state department official said, a few days ago, food crisis will be at least a three-year problem. What time horizon do you put on the food crisis and the energy crisis?
MALPASS: I’ll say one thing, it’s possible to produce enough to soften that crisis. But at the rate that we’re going right now, the fertilizer isn’t being made, you know, fertilizer comes a giant source of fertilizer is from natural gas, through the ammonium channel into the most useful fertilizer. And it also is used to make the electricity that converts the minerals into fertilizer, and that’s just not happening. So a lot of the world is shutting down for lack of fertilizer, and then those shortages of crops will last for multiple years. We need to break that cycle, and do it pretty forcefully now, through announcements. The markets listen to what the governments are saying. And I think if the governments were saying, if the central banks were saying there’ll be currency stability, meaning years and years from now, the currencies won’t have devalued, they won’t be causing inflation, they’re going to be strong and stable for the long term, that would go a long way and the same thing on this production side of the economies, say that you want your strong economies to produce twice as much as they are right now. That’s within reach for many of these innovation techniques.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Federal Reserve Chair said this week in this country, that recession is certainly a possibility, in part because of higher interest rates. Citigroup puts the odds of a recession at 50%. What’s your projection here for the world’s most important economy?
MALPASS: We put out a report three weeks ago that didn’t have the US in recession. But we said in downside scenarios there could be and so I don’t disagree with those estimates that you’re seeing there. And I would say the key variable is what do you do today to provide more production that addresses both the recession problem and also the inflation problem because you- you just push goods into the market and you make it clear to the world, we’re going to produce so much, you won’t be able to get that price.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So do you agree with Fed officials when they say it’s going to take at least two years, a couple of years before we get inflation back down to 2%?
MALPASS: It’s going to take time to come down, but again, that depends on what our- what’s your forecast for oil prices, for natural gas prices, for fertilizer? I guess it’s- it’s clearly- it’s going to take- months and months and maybe two years to bring inflation back down. It- markets respond, though, to signals. And so I think the important question is, can there be enough signals out of the U.S. but also the other advanced- the big economies, that they’re going to provide more production. And the reason I keep coming back to that central banks have a lot to do with whether businesses feel that they can borrow more money. It’s the regulatory policy, also this, this control of so many bonds, you know, in Japan, they’ve bought up a huge part of the national debt, so the central bank, but takes money from the banking system and buys government bonds. That’s not adding to supply in Japan.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So lastly, before I let you go, you have warned on this program before about a debt crisis in these developing countries, the emerging markets, with interest rates headed up is that now where we are, are we at crisis?
MALPASS: We’re at crisis, and we see more countries falling in one by one, we’ve seen that Sri Lanka in the very grave difficulties there. But it’s, it’s going to be many countries because of as you say, the interest rates going up and also their GDP going down in- in this slow growth environment of the world. The solution is a lot more production intent from the advanced economies.
MARGARET BRENNAN: A perilous moment for the global economy, David.
MALPASS: Dangerous, and I just hope we can push through strongly and with confidence.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you very much for your time.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 26, 2022 | Sundance
We must always keep focus on the context for information that comes from the U.S. State Dept and the Central Intelligence Agency to the media. Yesterday, as Joe Biden was en route to the G7 summit in the Bavarian Alps, the New York Times published an article saying the CIA and Pentagon special forces are organizing and conducting the NATO war effort from a secret operation center in Kyiv.
Some viewed the article as the NYT violating operational security for the U.S. led effort. However, that perspective belies the nature of how the media is used in war by Dept of State and intelligence officials. The details of the Times article are attributed to “three U.S. officials,” and should be looked upon as purposeful.
In addition to the timing of Biden headed to the G7, the admission of CIA officials conducting the war effort from inside Ukraine, comes as NATO partner country Lithuania informs Russia that prior transit treaties to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad will not be honored. NATO is poking and provoking a response from Russia, the Times article is part of this effort.
New York Times – … [E]ven as the Biden administration has declared it will not deploy American troops to Ukraine, some C.I.A. personnel have continued to operate in the country secretly, mostly in the capital, Kyiv, directing much of the vast amounts of intelligence the United States is sharing with Ukrainian forces, according to current and former officials.
At the same time, a few dozen commandos from other NATO countries, including Britain, France, Canada and Lithuania, also have been working inside Ukraine. The United States withdrew its own 150 military instructors before the war began in February, but commandos from these allies either remained or have gone in and out of the country since then, training and advising Ukrainian troops and providing an on-the-ground conduit for weapons and other aid, three U.S. officials said.
Few other details have emerged about what the C.I.A. personnel or the commandos are doing, but their presence in the country — on top of the diplomatic staff members who returned after Russia gave up its siege of Kyiv — hints at the scale of the secretive effort to assist Ukraine that is underway and the risks that Washington and its allies are taking.
[…] The commandos are not on the front lines with Ukrainian troops and instead advise from headquarters in other parts of the country or remotely by encrypted communications, according to American and other Western officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. But the signs of their stealthy logistics, training and intelligence support are tangible on the battlefield.
Several lower-level Ukrainian commanders recently expressed appreciation to the United States for intelligence gleaned from satellite imagery, which they can call up on tablet computers provided by the allies. The tablets run a battlefield mapping app that the Ukrainians use to target and attack Russian troops. (read more)
Regardless of debatable opinion on the Russian special military operation in eastern Ukraine, there are multiple motives for NATO and western government to escalate the proxy war against Vladimir Putin.
The proxy war in Ukraine provides a cover justification for the economic consequences driven by western government COVID-19 spending and policy. We are seeing Russia being blamed for oil shortages, an EU energy crisis, U.S. gasoline prices, global food and fertilizer shortages, as well as global inflation overall.
While there is some latter causation in EU energy disruption related to the Ukraine war, the blaming of Putin is wildly disproportionate to the actual impact from the Russian operation; not to mention disconnected from the reality of those economic consequences surfacing long before the February 24th Russian incursion began.
Factually, it is the NATO and Western sanctions against Russia that have contributed to the Ukraine impact on the global economy. Russia has no issue selling oil, gas and food related products to the global market. It is the sanctions that forbid the sales and created the fracture in global trade now impacting the EU and to a lesser extent the U.S.
All of that said, consider the position of Vladimir Putin now as the U.S. openly admits to conducting military operations against Russia from inside Ukraine while NATO allies like Lithuania announce blockades against products to and from Russian civilians in Kaliningrad.
Putin knows the U.S-led NATO alliance would like nothing more than to invoke article 5 of the NATO treaty if Russia takes any hostile action toward a NATO country. The Russian president is likely not going to fall for any bait that can be placed in front of him. However, that doesn’t mean Vladimir Putin does not have options to strike back against increased provocation.
Russia can strike any region inside Ukraine, including any area they previously did not have as a target, without changing the dynamic of current hostilities. This puts the capital city of Kyiv in a precarious place, especially given the pronouncements by U.S. officials that CIA and Pentagon operators are working to fight Putin’s forces from inside Kyiv. Again, a pronouncement that could be looked upon as intentionally publicized in order to provoke such a move.
Russia can also shut down the remaining pipelines out of Russia and sell oil and natural gas, albeit at higher prices, to non-western countries (India, China, etc).
As the ongoing successful effort in eastern continues, Russia has options to ignore NATO’s desire to expand the conflict or he could target very strategic operation centers in Western Ukraine that are being used as bait by U.S. officials promoting their antagonism through the New York Times.
By Reuters Published originally on Rumble on June 11, 2022
Singapore’s defense minister Ng Eng Hen, speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday (June 11), told media that China wants a quick and peaceful resolution to Russia’s ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.
Governments are pulling off a major profound theft. They have been violating international law robbing individual Russians with no connection to Ukraine on the pretense that this will somehow put pressure on Putin to leave Ukraine. But the US has been funding the civil war against Russian-Ukrainians in the Donbas. Western Ukrainian simply hate Russians and this goes back to Bandera in World War II. The West was not upset when the Ukrainians were beating Russians on the street in Odessa, chased them into a building, and then burned them to death alive. That was perfectly fine because they were Russian
The real question here is have our politicians simply used Ukraine as the excuse to just confiscate money regardless of who owns it? There seems to be an apparent almost ownerless view of money emerging especially in Europe where governments are just grabbing money at will abandoning any rule of law. Like Trudeau in Canada confiscating people’s accounts because they supported the truckers. We seem to be entering a complete collapse in the very foundation of law upon which civilization has been sustained.
This confiscation of private Russian accounts and assets on the theory that their country is doing something that offends another is the complete collapse of civilization and it appears to be just getting started as we head into this ominous target of 2032. If we just look at Europe, savers and investors have been abused with negative interest rates since 2014, the assets have been devalued for years, and now with inflation of over 7% in Europe, there is complete drastic destruction of European capital.
The wise have been pouring money out into anything tangible. Everything from collectible cars to art, antiques, coins, and stamps have been rising. A gold Aureus of Brutus with a hole that had previously sold for under $100,000, was just sold for 2,200,000 CHF! A Mercedes Gullwing brought $1,3 million.
There are serious concerns that this is a prelude to the seizure of people’s savings on a wholesale basis for implementing You will Own Nothing & Be Happy. The Russian confiscation in total violation of international law appears to be just a test run for even more serious events in the future. In this wholesale confiscation of private assets, these politicians are using the excuse of Ukraine to implement a completely new normal procedure – the confiscation of billions without asking who the funds belong to and whether there is a connection to the Ukraine war. While some may look the other way because they are Russians and who cares if there is no connection to Ukraine or a rule of law. But turning a blind eye to what is going on is very dangerous for to accomplish this confiscation means they MUST abandon every foundation of the rule of law and without that there can be no civilization left standing.
Those who approve of such actions directed against Russia should be aware that what they can justify today with Russians can and will be done tomorrow with the savings of any citizen. They already confiscate private assets if you travel with more than $10,000 and they PRESUME it is illegal money. They do not even have to prove that there was a crime. They seize it and that is it.
Confiscating someone else’s money demonstrates how desperate politics has become. They MUST retain power and they will justify their actions just as Thraymacus argued in his debate with Socrates. Justice is always the same no matter what form of government because justice simply becomes the self-interest of those in power.
The past speaks to us if we dare to listen. History repeats because the passions of humanity never change throughout the centuries. For thousands of years, governments have been expropriating someone else’s property. No matter what century we look at, the same practice emerges when governments are financially stressed as they are today. It was Edward I who expelled the Jews from England, but the motive was not religion. He borrowed from the Jews to fund his war against France and when he could not pay, he suddenly discovered that his bankers were Jewish – OMG! How could that have been the case? So he expelled them from England but seized all their property denying them the right to flee with their property. It was Edward I who was the king in Brave Heart (being Scottish, it was the most influential film in my life).
Governments are UNWILLING to find solutions to pressing economic problems because they may result in their loss of power and our freedom. Even the plundering of private assets with the help of the low-interest rate policy has deprived people of their rightful income after telling people to save for their retirement and you will be able to live off the interest. Those promises have been destroyed.
Against the background, politicians are incapable of properly managing the state budgets entrusted to them. They no longer know even how to run for office without promising free gifts and taking money from one class to hand to another. Central banks, especially the ECB, have kept interest rates low to provide the over-indebted countries with cheap money, causing savers and investors to sacrifice their future with no end in sight.
Politicians have exploited Russia and begged them to invade Ukraine, refusing to enforce either the Belgrad Agreement or the Minsk Agreement which was to allow the people of the Donbas to vote on their own future while pretending this is a war for democracy v autocracy. They need the Ukrainian war as a diversion as a shell game to distract the people from the economic crisis hiding in the wings.
They have deliberately pushed Russia to suspend servicing their debts to Western lenders, in preparation for their own excuse to suspend their own servicing of debts. As usual with sanctions, not only the person against whom the sanctions are directed in this case Russia is harmed but also this has undermined the entire world economy ensuring its collapse in the years ahead. In this context, it cannot be stressed enough that sanctions historically have never worked and they know that they are generally pointless. They began imposing sanctions against Russia back in 2014 and more sanctions for the Ukrainian false flag of shooting down the Malaysia passenger jet trying to get the West to come in and defend Ukraine.
Even now blaming Putin for blockading Ukrainian ships carrying grain, they omit the fact that the Ukrainians have mined the harbors and are deliberately trying to create starvation to once again compel the West to enter this vindictive war against Russia. The Neocons, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham have been promoting civil war in Ukraine to create a Proxy War they are willing to fight until the last Ukrainian is dead. But nobody will dare look at the fact that this Ukrainian War has been provoked.
The day before Russia invaded, Zelensky announced he would rearm Ukraine with nuclear weapons. We invaded Iraq on the pretense he had such weapons which were never true. Here you have Zelensky standing up publicly announcing he is breaking the Belgrade Agreement and refusing to allow Donbas to hold elections as per the Minsk AGreement, but Putin is the evil person here?
Then we have Zelensky promoting World War III claiming has already begun yet all these world leaders visiting him in Ukraine including Biden’s wife while pretending Kyiv is a war zone. This is all a joke. It is such theatre for the world needs a war to hide the economic collapse they know is coming. I have warned that Zelensky will be the man that brings World War III. That is his mission in this play.
PREPARING TO CONFISCATE PRIVATE ASSETS:
There was a practice run that people have forgotten. Remember the first confiscation of Russian assets when they robbed Russians by confiscating their deposits over Cyprus. Do you recall that back in 2013, the IMF head Christine Lagarde at the time advocated a wholesale seizure of 10% of all accounts throughout the Eurozone because there may be riots and discord if there are bail-ins on a case-by-case basis. This was laid out in the IMF report. The idea is that a wholesale seizure will prevent a bank run for if bail-ins take place on a case-by-case basis then this might start a contagion. Consequently, the latest reports from the IMF discuss this super-seizure of 10% on all savings in the Eurozone they are calling a tax. This is argued to be necessary to solve the debt problem in most sovereign countries. It would be an alternative to higher taxes or spending cuts. The economists who actually wrote the paper claim it appears to be an efficient solution for the debt problem yet it lacks long-term analysis.
Today, the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgiva, who is also on the Board of Directors of the World Economic Forum and got the job thanks to Schwab, made a very naive statement claiming that the Russian sanctions are not all that bad. Russia accounts for only 0.4% of the world financial market. She admitted in her 60-minute interview that imposing sanctions on China for helping Russia will lead to more supply chain disruptions which will further inflation. So she justifies illegally confiscating private assets using her bogus statistics yet energy prices are soaring and the EU says the entire food crisis is caused by “Russian alone!” The disinformation is not coming from Putin, but right before our eyes here with Western pretend leaders.
This is all the surface banter that avoids the entire point of our real pending economic crisis – authoritarianism in the West. What has emerged is the justification for grabbing money that belongs to others. Even if we turn the clock back to the 2010 Greek Financial Crisis when politicians suddenly declared bonds worth millions worthless. Private investors in Greek government bonds wanted to claim 12 million euros in damages from the ECB after the debt restructuring. The European Court of Justice ruled against the plaintiffs. Th claim that the expropriation of private assets would facilitate the rehabilitation of the country. That restructuring completely failed. Governments act ONLY in their own self-interest, never in the interest of the nation or the people.
Because we are pushing this end-game of governments being able to keep funding going under this system of perpetual borrowing year after year, adding the fact that the central banks cannot keep buying the debt creating money indefinitely while being blamed for not stopping inflation, the only remaining solution open to the government is to seize the assets of citizens and businesses. This is what Schwab is selling with you will own nothing and be happy. From now on, you can only withdraw small amounts of cash that are absolutely necessary to cover immediate needs. This is always the scheme that repeats in all historical financial crises.
Just Look at Russia
There was absolutely no valid legal basis for seizing the private assets of Russian citizens. It is purely arbitrary but violates every principle of international law. There is also no DUE PROCESS OF LAW afforded any Russian individual. In principle, such a policy against Russian state funds would be legal, but only if the USA and the EU were at war with Russia. There must be a declaration of war to justify even that action. A direct military confrontation is scrupulously avoided because only the US Congress can issue a declaration of war. Therefore, as long as the Biden Administration does NOT send troops to Ukraine, then he does not need Congress’ approval for this Proxy War which has the same intentions of destroying Russia. As far as the confiscation of corporate and private assets is concerned, there is no precedent in history to justify these sanctions. This means they have TOTALLY abandoned all rule of law whatsoever.
Consequently, after already abandoning the rule of law, the intensification of this behavior will only continue when it becomes evident that the political system is collapsing. This is point 8 in Schwabs Great Reset. They know that they are pushing the envelope here and as inflation rises, so will civil unrest. They will then turn on the people just as Venezuela has done which is also why they desperately need to eliminate gun ownership. That is essential to disarm the people who the complete implementation of this Great Reset.
We have embarked upon a new Wild West Economic Policy of just confiscating assets. Blocking funds that could be used to settle claims against Russian debtors is part of this strategy that they KNOW will have zero impact upon forcing Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. They have deliberately put Russia in a position where they know it cannot back down. The real question is do they really think overthrowing Putin will lead to Russia falling to its knees begging for forgiveness?
The sanctions against Russia are presented by the US and the EU as legitimate measures necessary to bring warring Russia and its President Putin to surrender. But they know that will not happen. Clearly, the sanctions do not have the desired effect under any scenario are all they have done is shake the very foundation of the world economy revealing that it is arbitrary and untrustworthy. SWIFT had committed suicide and China’s alternative is pushing the world into a Great Reset, but not the decided objective of a one-world government headed by the United Nations. Africa also just refused to sign the WHO’s dictatorship over world heath.
What is clearly in play is their idea of confiscating private assets. What started the hyperinflation of Germany was NOT the printing of money – that was the result, not the cause. In December 1922, the government did a forced loan. They too confiscated 10% of everyone’s accounts and issued a bond, We are returning to such measures. The US and the EU along with Japan and Switzerland have thrown out all rules of law. We should expect nothing less in this final stage into 2032 where it will become a war between the government against we the people – the great unwashed.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America