Dec 26 2024

Patrick K O’Donnell On The Brenner Assignment

Posted originally on Rumble By Bannons War Room on: Dec 25, 2024 at :12:00 pm EST

Dec 26 2024

US-Russia Relations Today Akin to US-Japan Relations before WWII

Posted originally on Dec 26, 2024 by Martin Armstrong

The US government is treating Russia just as it treated Japan before World War II fully took hold.

President Roosevelt was inflicting embargos on the Japanese, freezing their money, and cutting them off from all energy. When they turned to buying fuel from other nations, Roosevelt threatened to blockade their ships. Is it any wonder why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to eliminate the US fleet after the threat of an embargo?

The neocon strategy is taken right out of the war book used during the Roosevelt Administration. This is precisely what FDR did to get the United States into World War II. He was frustrated because Congress would not authorize joining the war. When FDR went to Boston, the Irish lashed out at him, saying that the British starved the Irish and they were now not going to go defend them. Many people who fled Europe to America wanted to be free of the hatred and politics in Europe. So, it was NOT a popular idea to come to the rescue of Europe, which they fled.

It may come as a surprise, but the US public was sympathetic toward China during this period. America saw Japan’s actions during the Second Sino-Japanese War as predatory. Similarly, many now view Russia as the aggressor and believe it must be quelled. The hatred of the Japanese later came to a head during the war as the US government imprisoned all Japanese people, women and children, and those born in the US.

The Neocons, during the FDR Administration, followed a clever agenda to circumvent Congress as they are doing right now. They were racists and simply hated the Japanese, as is the case with Russians right now. They started in 1938 with a series of escalating highly restrictive trade restrictions imposed on Japan. The Neocons terminated the 1911 commercial treaty with Japan in 1939. They then tightened the Export Control Act of 1940, which was intended to prevent the scarcity of critical commodities in a likely prewar environment. In addition, this act directly targeted Japan to restrict the exportation of material to Imperial Japan.

This was followed by the United States embargoing scrap metal shipments to Japan and closing the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. The Neocons were seeking to isolate Japan without engaging in a war that only Congress could declare Japan, at the time, imported about 74% of its scrap iron from the US and over 90% of its copper.

Then, on July 26, 1941, the US seized all Japanese assets in the United States in retaliation for the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China as they have done today with Russia’s reserves. This was followed on August 1 with an oil embargo and gasoline exports to Japan which also came from the United States. The oil embargo was the last straw when 80% of its energy supply came from the USA. The US also was proposing intervening to prevent Japan from getting oil from other sources.

The complete US oil embargo was the last straw. The Japanese had to then seize Southeast Asia for resources which expanded the war instead of the old hatred between China and Japan. They needed to do that before they ran out of resources. To secure themselves in the Pacific, they attacked Pearl Harbor with no intention of actually invading the United States.

What we are doing to Russia is exactly the same way Roosevelt treated the Japanese. There will be only one resolution – World War III. I do not believe that those in Washington and Brussels are this stupid. This is a deliberate attempt to provoke Russia to attack. They will then claim we wear the white hats and Russia is the aggressor with an unprovoked attack. It worked before. There was even a Senate investigation after the war into the fact that Roosevelt knew Pearl Harbor was to be attacked and pulled out the important ships, all to force Congress to enter the war.

Dec 24 2024

Eastern Region of Moldova Declares a State of Emergency as Ukraine Refuses to Continue Transit Agreement for Russian Gas

Posted originally on the CTH on December 24, 2024 | Sundance

In the nation of Moldova, the left bank of the Dniester (Nistru) River is home to 360,000 citizens in the Russia-controlled region of Transnistria. To the right side of the dividing line made by the Dniester is the western/EU allied side of Moldova.

The Russian energy company, Gazprom, provides gas to Transnistria through Ukraine. The gas is subsidized by Russia, so the Russian-allied citizens of Transnistria do not pay market prices; in fact, the gas is provided free. However, the gas into Transnistria is also used to power the Moldavskaya GRES power plant, which generates electricity for both banks of the Dniester. In essence, the “free” Russian gas is provided to both the pro-Russia and anti-Russia elements in the region.

The contract for the transit of Russian gas into Transnistria through Ukraine’s territory expires on January 1, 2025. Despite the war between Russia and Ukraine, gas transit and the contract signed in 2019 have continued. However, Ukraine under Zelenskyy has repeatedly said they do not plan to extend the gas transit agreement with Gazprom. This is a way for Zelenskyy, technically NATO, to create anxiety and crisis in the region.

The western aligned government of Moldova have been demanding that Russia withdraw all military and influence from the Transnistria region, meanwhile the Transnistria local governing officials are requesting Moscow to keep the flow of Russian gas ongoing. Observers have noted, “It looks stupid to ask for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria and meanwhile request Russia to continue to give free gas to the region.”

The citizens of Transnistria are pawns in the political schemes. Zelenskyy (Ukraine) is refusing to allow gas to heat their homes to come after the transit agreement ends. Ukraine, together with NATO, want Russians out of Transnistria. The looming energy crisis has created a state of emergency that the west, together with the Moldavian government intends to exploit.

It is not accidental that the EU/NATO/US State Dept/CIA are using the flashpoints of Georgia and Moldova to create conflict against Russia (check the map).

EUROPE – Moldova enacted a state of emergency, as the country gears up for an energy crisis at the start of 2025 following the end of Ukraine’s obligations to transport Russian gas through its territory.

Moldova, and especially the country’s breakaway region of Transnistria, will be hit the hardest following the end of the decades-long agreement.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that the country has enough gas, bought on the international market, to keep the right bank of the Dniester (Nistru) River warm throughout the winter ahead.

But, he added, some360,000 citizens on the left bank of the river, in the Russia-controlled region of Transnistria, “are still dependent on one source of import — Gazprom.”

The leader of the Russian-controlled Transnistria declared a state of economic emergency on Dec. 6. Heaters, as well as basic goods like rice, grains, matches, salt and so on, have disappeared from shops, hoarded by the local population in anticipation of the crisis ahead.

Following decades of relying on free Russian gas, the Moscow-controlled region will now need to pay market prices, lowered by energy bill relief schemes provided by the Moldovan government. (read more)

It’s almost a guarantee at this point the CIA and U.S. State Dept. have ongoing strategic operations in control of Moldova. Energy market prices will be a lot higher than what eastern Moldovans pay now. There is going to be unrest and political friction created by this crisis as the west says, “apparently, independence has a several costs.”

White House FEBRUARY, 2023 – President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met today with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Warsaw. President Biden reaffirmed strong U.S. support for Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He highlighted ongoing US assistance to help Moldova strengthen its political and economic resilience, including its democratic reform agenda and energy security, and to address the effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine. (link)

Moldovan President Maia Sandu

For more than two years we have been saying to keep an eye on Moldova in the background. On November 2, 2024, Moldova held their national election, and while the actual number of people living in Moldova voted for the anti-war position, once the overseas ballots were added the results changed. The nationalists became the minority and the pro-war/pro-EU globalists declared victory.

This may seem like a relatively ‘over there’ and small issue. However, the people who control Joe Biden, the U.S. State Dept and the CIA have been positioning themselves in/around Moldova for several years now.

Now that Georgia has voted to reject the EU and anti-Russia efforts, watch out for Moldova to become the spark that leads to escalated conflict with Russia.

Moldova has a significant population of pro-Russia citizens in the east, which makes the internal domestic dynamic a little strenuous to manage. It is very similar to Ukraine in that regard. It is much smaller than Ukraine, but similar inside the national political dynamic. Additionally, the geopolitical dynamic that is unfolding with the use of Moldova is identical to how the U.S/NATO exploited Ukraine.

It was the Moldovan ex-pat community, living outside Moldova, that overwhelmingly decided the fate of this small nation that borders Ukraine.

The people living in Moldova are majority aligned with Russia. However, the people voting in the election from outside Moldova changed the dynamic of the election. This reality creates a major source of angst for Russia and Vladimir Putin. This dynamic also creates the point on the stick the EU/USA and CIA will use to poke the bear.

Watch closely.

When the U.S. activates NGOs in European countries (Moldova, Hungary, Georgia) the media call it “spreading democracy.” However, when the people who live in the country organically rise up in the opposite direction against the government outcomes from the NGO pressure, the media call it “Russian interference.”

Dec 22 2024

How does Silver Act During War?

Posted Dec 22, 2024 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: You are wrong. Silver did not decline during World War II.

ANSWER: I think you misunderstood what I said. It is not that silver declined in price because it was fixed, as you can see from this chart. However, silver declined relative to nickel, which was more critical during the war, so they replaced the 5-cent nickel with nearly pure silver. After the war, the 5 cent returned to being struck in nickel. What I said is to pay attention to the spread between silver and nickel as an indication of war.

During World War II, they imposed fixed prices to prevent inflation. As you can see, as soon as the war ended and the price fixing ended, there was a major rally in 1945. By 1966, silver was testing the high of World War I. The major low was with the stock market in 1932 BECAUSE the dollar was at a record high.