Bold Move, Cotton

I wonder if any of these brilliant “soft power” strategists have taken into account the fact that a) Russia has prepared for this move, and b) Russia and China already have a SWIFT alternative in place and ready to go.

The leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States issued a statement on Saturday, announcing the latest round of restrictive measures targeting Russia’s economy in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

In particular, they concern “selected Russian banks,” which will be “removed from the SWIFT messaging system.” Russian Central Bank, meanwhile, will be prevented “from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact” of the sanctions.

The leaders said they will also “limit the sale of citizenship — so called golden passports — that let wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems.”

Finally, the countries announced plans to launch “a transatlantic task force” that will identify and freeze the assets of sanctioned entities within their jurisdiction.

As usual, the provocation is a bluff. The Prometheans aren’t willing to simply shut down SWIFT entirely because that would result in Russia simply replacing it with the Sino-Russian alternative. And because it would shut off natural gas shipments to Western Europe for lack of payment. So, they’re trying to cause enough pain to encourage submission, but not so much that would result in rejection and competition.

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China is Unimpressed

The imperial US rhetoric attempting to paint Vladimir Putin as the Hitlerist of all the Hitlers that ever Hitlered does not appear to be impressing China. Just as it is failing to convince anyone outside of the Anglo-European globohomo-controlled government-media order:

Since dramatic changes took place in Ukraine, the US, which had repeatedly promised to protect Kiev at critical moments and continued to “add fuel to the fire” of the situation, has once again come into the spotlight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video speech complained that Western countries have abandoned Ukraine and left it to defend itself alone. Some Western netizens even asked: Where has the US been which provoked the war and said it “stands with Ukraine?”

However, has the US really disappeared? On the contrary, it is quite busy gaining more “strategic interests” from the flames of war in Ukraine. The latest remarks by the US on the Ukraine situation released by the White House have underlined two points: First, turning Russia into “a pariah on the international stage” through sanctions and other measures; second, NATO has been “more united and more determined than ever” and this is “good news.”

As for Ukraine, which Washington uses as a pawn, in addition to reiterating that the US wouldn’t send troops there, Washington only simply said it “will support the Ukrainian people as they defend their country,” and “will provide humanitarian relief to ease their suffering.” Washington has once again displayed its selfishness and hypocrisy to the world. People have seen that after the US pushed Ukraine into the fire, it stood aside, pretending to care about the country and saying “I support you, keep fighting!”

It is fair to say the evolution of the situation in Ukraine until today is a geopolitical tragedy. From the very beginning, it’s a bitter result of the US’ strategic selfishness and shortsightedness. As early as 1998 when the US Senate approved NATO’s eastward expansion plan, the late senior US diplomat George Kennan had foreseen today’s tragedy. He said then, “This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves.”

The US often talks about humanity, justice and morality, but what it really does is calculating interests. Washington’s strategic selfishness and hypocrisy have been laid bare again and again in international political practices. Reports indicate that at least 37 million people have been displaced in and from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya and Syria as a direct result of the wars fought by the US since September 11, 2001. There is even a saying that wherever the US “intervenes,” conflicts, chaos and terrorism will appear.

US’ real strategic color of selfishness, hypocrisy revealed in Ukraine crisis, Global Times, 25 February 2022

The Chinese leadership knows perfectly well precisely who, and what, is responsible for the current Russo-Ukrainian war. Notice how the official Chinese English-language mouthpiece for the CCP is very careful not to attack the American people, but focuses entirely on “the US” and “Washington”. They clearly understand the difference between the nation and The Empire That Never Ended which rules over it.

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Why Russia Would Roll On

The US Secretary of State suggests that Russia might press past Ukraine into NATO territory:

Vladimir Putin may not stop once he has taken Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has warned, as satellite images show Russia assembling troops, armor and artillery along Belarus’s border with Poland. The massive buildup was spotted in the Belarus city of Brest, just 10 miles east of the the Polish border.

‘Russia has assembled troops, armor, artillery, and more than 50 heavy equipment transporters at a training area in Brest, the Polish border. Russia has also added more equipment at a nearby railyard in Belarus,’ said reporter Jack Detsch, a Pentagon and national security correspondent at Foreign Policy magazine.

Blinken was asked by ABC News on Thursday night whether he felt the Russian president would recall his forces once Ukraine was conquered.

‘Is it a possibility that Putin goes beyond Ukraine? Sure, it’s a possibility,’ Blinken told host David Muir.

But he stressed that progressing beyond Ukraine into neighboring Poland, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania would mean invading a NATO member country, and would automatically draw in the US, UK, France, Canada and the other nations that form the 30-country alliance.

‘There is something very powerful standing in the way of that, and it’s something we call Article Five,’ said Blinken.

In theory, sure. But Article Five is precisely why Russia is highly incentivized to attack any of the four countries concerned. Vladimir Putin now has a low-risk, low-cost opportunity to shatter NATO once and for all, and he would be remiss if he did not seriously contemplate taking advantage of the opportunity that now presents itself. This is so obvious that even the dementia-addled Fake Biden Administration is aware of it.

It’s clear that the USA, let alone the larger European states, have no desire whatsoever to go to war with the highly formidable Russian military. Even their ability to do so has to be in question given the way in which the larger Ukrainian military has melted before the Russian quantzkrieg, especially given the fact that the third-largest European military – Germany’s – is considered to be roughly comparable to the now-defeated Ukrainian forces.

So Putin now has the chance to prove to the various NATO member states that their precious treaty, including Article Five, is as worthless as the Anglo-French security guarantees given to Poland prior to World War II. In light of the strategic brilliance exhibited thus far by the Russian strategists, I cannot imagine that this thought has not occurred to Putin or any of his generals. They know there is no need to sweep across Eastern Europe to shatter NATO and render all of its promises null and void. A simple incursion in force that destroys a few NATO bases would almost certainly suffice to accomplish their objectives without risking World War III.

Words are often no more than just that, words. And history demonstrates that the average military treaty is worth less than the paper on which it was signed. NATO is a literally paper tiger, and it is in the Russian interest to demonstrate that to its members.

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The Great Predictor Strikes Again

Scott Adams wants to be fact-checked in the future. And yet, it’s already clear that he’s wrong.

Fact-Check me:

Probable Winners: China, USA, NATO unity

Probable Losers: Russia, Ukraine, Europe

24 Feb 2022·

Correction: Russia and China are the winners here. Europe will be better off if the EU is a loser along with the USA, NATO, and the ever-feckless UN. Ukraine will almost certainly be better off too. Most importantly, Scott left off the Western Democratic Neo-Liberal Rules-Based New World Order, aka Globohomo, which is the primary loser.

I have far more confidence in John Bradley’s prediction.

1 Month Later: “Hey, I just said they were the probable winners/losers, which they objectively were. That unanticipated events changed the outcome, well heck, you can’t blame that on me! I still called it correctly!”

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Quantenverschränkungskrieg*

It appears the war, such as it is, is already over. And if Vladimir Putin manages to achieve his declared objective of decapitating the evil and illegitimate government of Ukraine with such minimal force and minimal bloodshed, and replace it with a pro-Russian government that will actually govern for the benefit of the Ukrainian people, his name will rank with Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and Charles of Sweden as one of the greatest military leaders of all time.

Kyiv is expected to fall to Russian forces within days and the country’s resistance effectively crippled, US security officials fear, after the first day of conflict left around 100 Ukrainians dead. Troops are already closing in on the seat of Ukrainian power after taking control of the strategic Chernobyl nuclear power plant today, and will seize it within 96 hours.

Keep in mind that it took the USA three weeks and more than 30,000 dead Iraqis to take Baghdad, an astonishing performance of modern blitzkrieg that shocked and awed the world, including the Chinese military leadership. And also note that this is a report from distinctly unfriendly sources in the British media, as the spelling of Kiev clearly indicates. The Russian strategic brilliance goes well beyond lightning war and into the futuristic realm of quantum entanglement. And yet, the media is still bloviating falsehoods about the highly surgical operation.

Few expect Ukraine to emerge victorious from what is almost certain to be a prolonged, bloody, and vicious war – but so far, Kyiv’s forces have managed to inflict heavy losses on Putin’s troops.

The Russo-Ukraine war is “almost certain” to be over by this time next week, and the initial indications are that it will have been neither prolonged, nor bloody, nor vicious. Which, of course, is why the Jewish comedian who heads the preposterous, but violent puppet regime has already been reduced to publicly shrieking at the neocons and globalist leaders who egged him on rather than commanding his military forces.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has raged at Western cowards after his country was ‘left alone’ to face Russian troops as officials warn that Kyiv will be seized this weekend. In a video address to his nation after midnight, the president called his fallen compatriots ‘heroes’ after 137 were killed on the first day of fighting, and insisted he will stay until the bitter end.

He said: ‘They’re killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets. It’s foul and will never be forgiven. We have been left alone to defend our state. Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone.’Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid.’

He added that the enemy has already entered Kyiv.

What on Earth did he think would happen? How could he possibly have imagined anything else was ever going to be the case? What Zelensky should do is surrender to Putin tonight and accept whatever terms the Russians require. The war is already over, whether the puppets or their masters want to accept that fact and its inevitable consequences or not. No one wants to fight for the Drag Queen Democratic New World Rules-Based Neo-Liberal Order, aka globohomo, or whatever the satanists are calling themselves this week.

*Quantzkrieg for short.

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The Saker was Right

And I, quite clearly was not. I was under the impression that Russia was content to permit Ukraine to keep running its “Russia is going to attack, send us money and arms that we can sell on the black market” grift while making serious bank on the rising oil and natural gas prices as long as the globohomo governments were willing to fund it. But what I failed to account for was the active threat that was being posed by the Ukrainian forces with their constant attacks on the two Donbass republics, or the significance of the civilian evacuations there.

To his credit, the Saker saw the Russian operation coming the day before it happened.

Until the time of writing this, the Ukronazis have continued shelling and shooting, but there has been no fullscale ground attack (yet!). The Ukie special services have sent a few diversionary groups into the LDNR and even into a small strip of Russian land. These groups were detected and intercepted by the Russian Border Guards. The Ukies tried to send a BMP few infantry fighting vehicle to rescue their soliders only to have them destroyed by the Russian military’s anti-tank weapons.

Today the Ukies continued to direct their artillery attacks and diversionary groups at the LDNR. Water and electricity are off in some parts of the LDNR. People are still dying every day and there is no signs of the Ukie bombardments abating. Especially violent combats are taking place near the town of Nikolaevka.

The Ukies have also declared a state of emergency (to be approved by the Rada) and are now making more and more noises about re-arming themselves with nuclear weapons. Smart move when Putin says that the Ukraine must be disarmed… Frankly, I think that the Ukies are terrified.

I know I sure would if I was in their place.

They cannot simply retreat, there is no way Ze can order that and not be overthrown.

They cannot attack because now it is too late, all these force comparisons between the Banderastani forces and the LDNR forces have become, if not irrelevant, than at least a lot less relevant now that Putin has basically prepared both the military and the legal conditions necessary for any kind of Russian military operation, from strikes with standoff weapons, to a ground and/or amphibious assault. All he has to do now is say “go”. Judging by his tone yesterday, not only do I feel that he is willing to give that order, but I also think that he has accepted that this is the “least bad” option for Russia and the LDNR.

Again, Putin said that he fully intends to disarm the Ukraine, at least from all her heavy weapons. Since the Ukies won’t give them up, I see only one way to achieve this: disarm them by force.

So, in one way or another, I expect major combat action in the Eastern Ukraine in the next couple of days.

Keep in mind that the West’s response to Putin’s words and actions only serve to further convince Russia that 1) more sanctions and subversion is inevitable 2) violence is unavoidable.

Remember these famous words by Putin: “Fifty years ago, the streets of Leningrad taught me one thing: If a fight’s inevitable, you must strike first“?

It appears to me that the Kremlin has concluded that a violent fight is, indeed, inevitable. You figure out the rest 🙂

So where do we go from here?

I would say that major combat operations against the Ukie forces in the LDNR republics are probably inevitable and, barring some last minute miracle, the Russians will soon disarm a good part of the Ukie forces. Remember that Putin specifically added the disarmament of the Ukraine as one of his demands.

Does anybody think that anybody can stop the disarmament (we are talking about major weapon systems, not AKs) of the Ukraine by Russia in the near/middle term?

I don’t.

Next, I think that Putin will successfully impose all his demands upon the Ukraine, which means two things:

The Kiev regime will collapse, at least de facto. The rest of Banderastan will eventually break-up into different regimes and successor states.

It will remain to be seen how extensive the Russian operation – which, contra the mainstream media reports, is clearly not “a full-scale invasion” yet – turns out to be. However, I am very, very dubious that NATO, the USA, or any European government is going to send any troops to Ukraine, because that would not only guarantee the very full-scale invasion it was supposed to prevent, but increase the risk of Russia declaring war on the governments responsible.

That being said, the Saker was correct about the timing of the operation and its focus on disarming the Ukrainian forces. So, perhaps he is correct about the US/NATO being foolish enough to attempt a military intervention. Regardless, I think he is absolutely right about the threat that the Russian demonstration of force poses to the existence of NATO, and perhaps even the EU as well.

I think that there is a high probability that the US/NATO will move some forces into western Ukraine, to “protect their people and infrastructure” in and around Lvov, and to declare that “their show of unity and determination stopped Russia from invading the entire Ukraine”. I don’t think that Russia will object too much against any NATO move inside and limited to the Lvov/Ivano-Frankovsk region. These are not historically Russian lands and they are basically irrelevant to Russia.

If the US wants to Poles to oppress the Ukronazis in their own western Ukraine, nobody in Russia will care.

As for the West, to take credit for a defeat is a long US/NATO tradition, so such an operation can be used to save NATO’s face.

But that won’t be enough.

The West has already been beaten politically, and now a military defeat of some kind is probably inevitable.

I am not talking about an invasion of the entire Ukraine (God forbid!) but it will be clear to all that the Russian bear forced NATO to retreat, politically and militarily. The Anglos are too smart to volunteer for a war with Russia. The Polaks are, as always, only hiding behind the backs of their latest masters. The Balts are irrelevant.

So the only option is to fight the Russians down the the last Ukrainian and when that happens, it might not be an “NATO defeat” legally speaking, but like on 08.08.08 it will be a crushing defeat for NATO publicly. Maybe not as bad as Kabul, but much worse than Georgia in 08.08.08.

At that point, a lot of folks will be wondering if NATO is worth the money spent on. And once that process begins, there will be no stopping it.

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A Tale of Two Narratives

Russia announces a “special military operation” intended to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine:

Russia has taken out Ukraine’s air defenses and airforce with a series of precision attacks, the country’s Defense Ministry has said in a statement, after airports and runways across the country were rocked by explosions.

Officials also claimed on Thursday morning that Ukrainian border guards are not resisting advancing Russian troops, who have moved in after President Vladimir Putin signed an order to begin a “special operation” in the Donbass. At the same time, officials denied claims made by Kiev’s defense chiefs that Russia had lost at least one military plane over the country during the offensive.

In an earlier statement, Moscow reported that it was carrying out strikes at elements of Ukraine’s military infrastructure. Russia launched the offensive against Ukraine on Thursday morning on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, who said the goal of the operation was to demilitarize and “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

The Russian leader claimed military action was necessary to stop Ukrainian attacks on the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Moscow recognized as sovereign states on Monday. He claimed Russia could come under attack by Ukrainian radicals, unless their influence in the country is diminished, and accused Western nations of arming Kiev against Russia.

The Western media, on the other hand, reports a “Ukraine in flames” and a “full-scale invasion” by Russia.

War in Ukraine begins as Putin launches full-scale invasion: Missiles rain down on Kharkiv and tanks roll across border from Belarus as ‘hundreds’ of Ukrainians die, martial law is declared and five Russian jets are shot down.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed martial law and defiantly urged his people to stay home after warmonger Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Russia’s neighbour, plunging mainland Europe into its worst military crisis in decades.

In a video message published on Facebook after the Kremlin began its attacks, Zelenskyy said Moscow had carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards, and that explosions had been heard in many cities, in the north, south and east of the country.

Later, the President cut diplomatic ties with Russia and pleaded with Western leaders to provide large-scale defence support and to protect Ukraine’s airspace from the ‘aggressor’.

Major General Valeriy Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this morning that he had received orders from the Ukrainian President to repel Russia’s invasion by inflicting ‘maximum losses’. The Ukrainian military claim to have killed ‘50 Russian occupiers’ so far today, shooting down six Russian planes in the process.

The mere fact that the Jewish comedian at the head of the neocons’ puppet government is still in a position to impose martial law tends to indicate that the Western media narrative is false. It’s fascinating to see the difference between the way a) Russian missile strikes on Ukraine, b) Israeli missile strikes on Syria, and c) US missile strikes, well, pretty much anywhere, are reported. It’s also informative to note the restrained tone of the Russian statements in comparison with the Baghdad Bob-style statements being issued by the Ukrainians.

This doesn’t mean that Russia won’t launch a “full-scale invasion”. But a close reading of the reports does not tend to currently support the media’s “official story” and we’ll know who is telling the truth if Kiev isn’t completely occupied by Russian troops by the end of the weekend.

There is also a third narrative, as Clandestine notes that the location of the reported Russian strikes appears to be suspiciously in harmony with the location of the US bioweapon laboratories in Ukraine. But I doubt we’ll hear much about this narrative even if it is the most consistent with what’s actually happening.

Always keep in mind that the official story as reported by the media is the one thing you can be certain is not true. I’m confident it will shock the media to discover how much support Putin has across the West, especially after two years of unrestrained vaccine dictatorship on the part of the so-called liberal democracies. The media is already openly stating that “this is not just an attack on Ukraine, it is an attack on the Western liberal democracy system and the entire Free World.”

I, for one, certainly hope so. It’s long past time to end Clownworld and its unrestrained satanry.

China has already signaled its support for Putin’s protection of the Donbass republics, has blamed the situation on the USA, and is publicly encouraging everyone else to stay out of the conflict, so I very much doubt NATO forces are going to get directly involved regardless of how comprehensive the Russian operations turn out to be.

It should be noted that it is very regrettable that the Ukrainian issue has evolved so far. The US has continued its intensive containment on Russia, which finally forced Russia to try to realize its security demands in such a way. This is the outburst of the dissatisfaction of the party whose security demands have been ignored for a long time since the end of the Cold War… all sides should leave some space for Russia and Ukraine to solve the problems. Confrontation, sanctions, or even a direct battle will not help ease tensions. The flames scattered in eastern Ukraine are reminding all parties of the fact that blindly imposing pressure will only lead to an escalation of conflicts.

All sides should give Russia, Ukraine some space to resolve issue, Global Times, 23 February 2022

But no one knows precisely how this will develop, and don’t believe anyone who claims they do.

UPDATE: It appears the Ukrainian military is already running away.

Romania scrambled two F-16 Fighting Falcon jets on Thursday morning to intercept a foreign military aircraft, the country’s defense ministry has said. The intercepted target was identified as a Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27 air superiority fighter jet. It was directed to land at a military base near the city of Bacau in eastern Romania, the statement said. The ministry said the pilot of the Ukrainian jet surrendered himself to the Romanian authorities.

UPDATE: This may mark the end of the European Union before this is all over. Putin now has the option to take the EU’s rhetoric literally. If the EU wants war with Russia, Russia is more than capable of giving it to them, and very, very few of the EU member states are even remotely interested in fighting Russia. And breaking up the EU is absolutely in Russia’s interest.

We condemn Russia’s unprecedented military aggression against Ukraine. It must withdraw its military and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The EU leaders will discuss and swiftly adopt further restrictive measures against Russia. The EU stands with Ukraine.

EU President Ursula van der Leyen

UPDATE: Don’t expect NATO to do anything except issue strongly-worded statements to the press. As literally everyone except the neocons and their puppet government expected, the European militaries have no intention of fighting the Russian army.

“There will be no military confrontation between NATO and Russia,” – head of the German Bundestag Committee on Defense.

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Russia Recognizes Donbass Republics

Vladimir Putin expertly puts the ball – and any subsequent blame for future violence – in the Imperial USA’s court.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Moscow has recognized the two self-declared breakaway Donbass republics in Ukraine’s east as sovereign nations, as a military standoff across the contact line continues to escalate.

Speaking as part of a televised address to the nation on Monday evening, Putin signed the decree, saying that “I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago to immediately recognize the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics.” Lawmakers will now be asked to consider statements of friendship and support with the two regions.

Putin clearly understands the significance of 4GW. By planting a rhetorical flag directly in the Evil Empire’s language of freedom, democracy, and self-determination, and recognizing both republics on those grounds rather than simply annexing them, Putin has ensured that Russia will hold the moral high ground in the event war breaks out in the region.

Russia has the military means to quickly and easily defeat Ukraine, but as I have pointed out since 2015, the Russians really do not want to deal with the hassle of occupation and empire. And it isn’t only Russia that will be protecting the two new sovereign nations, as I doubt it will be long before China officially recognizes them as well.

Unless the USA and the EU do likewise, their utter hypocrisy and lack of adherence to their own proclaimed principles will glow like a Fed at a patriot rally.

UPDATE: The Russian military will secure the peace in the newly independent nations. Hearts and minds.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to “secure the peace” in the newly recognized Donetsk and Lugansk republics, which were formerly considered to be part of Ukraine.

Moscow officially recognized the independence of the two breakaway regions on Monday.

Putin has instructed the Defense Ministry to send peacekeepers into the Donbass, while telling the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish diplomatic relations with the states.

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Provocations

One can’t help but notice that it is the US Navy that is invading Russia’s territorial waters, and not the other way around:

A US Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine has been detected and chased away in Russian territorial waters off the Kuril Islands, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

The vessel was found submerged off the small uninhabited island of Urup while Russia’s Pacific Fleet was holding exercises in the area. Russian vessels contacted the submarine, warning it was in the country’s territorial waters and ordering it to surface immediately, the military said.

The submarine, however, did not respond to the messages, and destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov was deployed to chase it off. The Russian vessel used “appropriate means” against the US sub, the military noted without providing any further details.

Following the run-in with the destroyer, the Virginia-class submarine used an active radar decoy, sailing away from Russian waters at full speed.

Remember, any US military action is customarily preceded by a false flag of some kind. Don’t be fooled by the mainstream media narrative.

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