US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Kiev in a whistle-stop diplomatic push to defuse tensions with Moscow over Ukraine, warning that Russia could launch a new attack at “very short notice”.

Mr Blinken will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and then travel to Berlin for talks with allies before going to Geneva to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after negotiations last week produced no breakthrough.

Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine’s borders in what Kiev and its allies fear could be preparation for a new military offensive against Ukraine.

Adding to the jitters, Russia moved additional troops into Belarus this week ahead of what Minsk said were planned joint exercises next month.

Moscow denies plans to launch an attack but has pressed Washington for security guarantees, including a block on Ukraine joining the NATO alliance.

Speaking to diplomats at the US embassy in Kiev, Mr Blinken said he strongly hopes that Russia can stick to a diplomatic and peaceful path when he meets Mr Lavrov, and warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could give the order to attack at short notice.

“As you all know very, very well, we have been engaged in the past couple of months in an intense focus on Ukraine because of the significant buildup we’ve seen of Russian forces we’ve seen near the Ukrainian border,” Mr Blinken said.

The Russian buildup, he said, was taking place with “no provocation, no reason.”

“We know that there are plans in place to increase that force even more on very short notice, and that gives President Putin the capacity, also on very short notice, to take further aggressive action against Ukraine,” Mr Blinken said.

US President Joe Biden’s administration last month approved the provision of an additional $US200 million in defensive security assistance to Ukraine and gave more such aid last year than at any point since Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Washington has warned Russia of severe consequences if it mounts a new offensive, while promising to beef up its security presence in Europe.

“Should Russia further invade Ukraine, we will provide additional defensive material to the Ukrainians above and beyond that which we are already in the process of providing,” a State Department official said ahead of Mr Blinken’s arrival.

Mr Blinken will meet Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday.

Then in Berlin he will meet German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and later the Transatlantic Quad, referring to a format that involves the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

Germany signalled on Tuesday that it could halt the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia if Moscow invades Ukraine.

Mr Blinken spoke with Mr Lavrov on Tuesday and the two decided in the call that it would be useful to meet in person.

Mr Lavrov separately said Moscow would welcome US diplomatic efforts and reiterated Russian accusations that Ukraine was “sabotaging” agreements aimed at ending the conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev has sought weapons from Western nations to shore up its defence.

On Monday, Britain said it had begun supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons to help it defend itself.

-Reuters

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2022/01/20/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-warns-russian-attack/

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The Biden administration is expediting the transfer of five transport helicopters to Kiev, as Washington insists Moscow is about to “invade” Ukraine any day now. The Mi-17 helicopters were originally purchased from Russia and intended for the US-backed government in Afghanistan, before it surrendered to the Taliban last August.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Friday that Congress has been notified of the move, which will be conducted under the Excess Defense Articles program. The State Department said on Thursday this was the “fastest transfer ever” for the US government.

The helicopters are already in Ukraine, which was servicing them on behalf of the Pentagon and was supposed to send them to Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover disrupted those plans. Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov requested them from the Pentagon in late November, along with ammunition also earmarked for the defunct Afghan Army, Foreign Policy reported last month.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/546812-ukraine-russian-helicopters-afghanistan/

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An embargoed UK Foreign Office release to media outlets, which has been seen and reported by RT in advance, claims that Britain has exposed a plan by Moscow to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev as tensions continue to mount over an alleged threat of “invasion” by Moscow.

“We have information that indicates the Russian government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in [Kiev] as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine,” reads the correspondence, which was sent to media representatives on the Foreign Office’s mailing list on Saturday. No evidence was included to back up the assertions. 

Obviously timed to top the Sunday newspaper agenda, recipients were ordered not to carry the details until after 10.30pm London time the night before.

It even named the man who the Kremlin supposedly considers to be “a potential candidate” to replace Ukraine’s current Western-backed president, Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the Foreign Office, 45-year-old former Ukrainian MP Evgeniy Murayev is the chosen alternative. 

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/russia/546841-uk-truss-ukraine-leader/

The Poms are getting too smart for their boots... I've got news for you... Russia would have been working on alternatives to war with Ukraine since 2014. Ukraine is not a unified country. Zelensky won the elections because of "oligarch fatigue". Zelensky is NOT anti-Russian either, though he personally is in favour of joining NATO. He has no faction of his own in parliament and he has a "murky" relationship with Ihor Kolomoisky, a TV network owner who supported him during elections, against the "corrupt" chocolate oligarch Poroshenko.

But Zelensky also got the job with the support of far-right nasty neo-fascist Nazis movements. These are the anti-Russia anti-Putin elements in Ukraine... Ukraine is a conglomerate of Ukrainians, Russians and other ethnic groups.

The Minsk agreement between Ukraine and Russia in regard to Donbass, was a step forward but, with the West breathing on his neck and placing cash in "his" pocket (the West gave/give lots of cash and weapons to Ukraine), Zelensky has not been able to abide to the agreement... Zelensky is a former stand up comedian. He is Jewish, which could also influence some people to support him — or not.

Meanwhile Russia is a much (actually more) entitled to make overtures to Russian-friendly political candidates in Ukraine than the USA that buy favours with cash. Note that at this level, it is likely that more than 50 per cent of Ukrainians would prefer a rapprochement with Russia than with the deceitful hamburger/cola people.

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The German government has recently refused overflight rights to the Royal Air Force who were sending planes to Ukraine loaded with weapons. The French government also refused overflight rights, which meant that the British planes had to make a long detour to eventually reach their destination.

A further development of note in this context was that the Italian government also joined their French and German colleagues in refusing to be a part of United States inspired sanctions against Russia. Is this a straw in the wind for finally marking growing European disagreement with the United States inspired sanctions policy against Russia?

One of the interesting points about the German attitude is that it was supported by the CDU, the main opposition party in Germany, who ran Germany for years under Angela Merkel and which could well be the German government again if the present for union of three political parties that makes up the present coalition government in Germany does not succeed in continuing in power.

It is also notable that the leaders of the three countries also opposed what was clearly a United States plan to remove Russia from the SWIFT global payments system. If the United States had succeeded with their ambition to expel Russia from the SWIFT system it would have had a devastating effect upon the European economies, all of whom have significant trading links with Russia. There is little doubt that removing Russia from SWIFT would also have impacted the United States economy as well. It is a measure of the extent of US hostility to Russia that such a self-defeating plan could even have been considered, let alone advanced as a serious policy option.

All of these moves took place in the context of United States secretary of state Blinken’s meeting in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The meeting occurred after a frantic series of meetings of Blinken with his counterparts in Ukraine and elsewhere. The meeting was held at the request of Blinken, whose country has yet to formally respond to the detailed Russian proposals put forward last year.

We were told that the United States answer would be supplied in the coming week. What has also been announced is that the United States answer to the Russian memorandum would be kept secret. This is astonishing. It suggests that United States answers to the Russian proposals are unlikely to find favour with their European allies. It is doubtful if the proposals will remain secret for very long. They are highly likely to be leaked, not by the Russians, but by a different faction within the United States government for whom they are likely to be anathema.

It is a fact of life that the United States does not have a singular view of how to present themselves to the challenges posed by the Russian proposals. The United States, nominally led by two foreign policy representatives, Victoria Nuland and Antony Blinken, are both notoriously anti-Russian in their outlook. Blinken recently made a speech against Russia that the kindest thing that could be said about it was that it was frankly unhinged. The United States is poorly served by his remaining as its principal foreign policy spokesman. He is clearly out of his depth. Nuland is no better, having a long history of antipathy, not only to Russia, but also to the truth. The latter’s role in her public pronouncements is purely coincidental.

The guidance from their nominal boss, the United States president Joe Biden, is scarcely any better. He has an unfortunate habit of saying one thing one week and being forced to clarify it a few days later. He is also prone to making unfortunate gaffs, as when he labelled Russia’s President Putin “a liar”. Putin’s record for truthfulness could be readily matched against United States pronouncements on multiple issues, with the disadvantage lying very much with the latter.

The other reason for the Americans wanting their written response to the Russian proposals remaining secret is that they are unlikely to please their European allies, and in particular Ukraine. The usual reason for secrecy is that the content is to someone’s disadvantage. In the present case the real loser of any compromise or concession by the Americans is that the one truly disadvantaged is the United States itself.

If it agrees to the Russian demand for an effective dismantling of the nuclear threats against Russia by withdrawing those missiles from several European allies that border Russia, it is unlikely to please those countries who have made a career out of the imminent Russian “threat” to their continued independent existence. Such an agreement would also signal to the Europeans the United States no longer itself believes their own propaganda about an imminent Russian attack across their borders.

Some commentators have also gone so far as to suggest that United States capitulation to the Russian demands spells the beginning of the end for the NATO alliance itself. That is unlikely. The United States has invested too much in its NATO program to meekly accept that it is hugely irrelevant, and quietly withdraw. They have after all invested a huge amount of money and political capital to meekly accept the Russian demands.

But clearly they have some sort of compromise in mind that disadvantages their European allies in some way. It is difficult to see any other possible explanation for the requested secrecy as to the contents of their answer to the Russian proposals.

One thing however, is abundantly clear. The three major western European nations, Germany, France and Italy are clearly sick and tired of being second fiddle to whatever scheme the United States drags out to try and maintain its hegemony.

It has surely not been lost on those three nations that Russia, through its increasing alliance with China, has options that do not depend on European goodwill. If Nord Stream 2 is cancelled, they will be the major losers and Russia will not care if they freeze as a result of their own stupidity.

The Europeans are also capable of reading the writing on the political wall. They know that the United States is definitely the wrong horse to back in the great realignment taking place in the world. Their at least partial capitulation to the Russian demands will truly reinforce that impression. The world is changing and they will not want to be left behind.

James O’Neill, an Australian-based former Barrister at Law, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

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https://journal-neo.org/2022/01/24/europe-faces-a-moment-of-truth-over-russia-s-demands-on-the-united-states-presence-in-europe/

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Russians believe they were promised that NATO would not move east as a quid pro quo for accepting German unification.

By Cavan Hogue

There are a number of actors in a complex situation in Ukraine. The Ukrainian state in its present form is a relatively recent creation in historical terms and is still divided by religion, language, geography and identity. The internal problems are further complicated by the interests of other European states and above all of Russia and the USA.

In the east are people of Polish origin and in the western Donbas region Russian speakers predominate around whom the current controversy swirls. Russian is widely spoken throughout Ukraine, even by nationalistic Ukrainian speakers, but not everyone speaks Ukrainian. Both Russia and Ukraine trace their origins back to Kievan Rus more than 1000 years ago at a time when the area was made up of a myriad of small cities and states which came under the fairly loose domination of the Mongol Golden Horde and eventually became the Russian Empire under Peter the Great and the Romanovs. Those interested in the history can consult a history book.

The current imbroglio revolves around Ukrainian nationalists who want everyone to speak and use the Ukrainian language on all occasions and those who prefer a more multicultural approach where Russian can be used, especially in the Donbas where it is the only language. In the Donbas, some would like to be part of Russia but others are happy to remain Ukrainian so long as they can use the Russian language. Many probably don’t care and just want to be left alone in peace and relative prosperity. The revolt broke out after Kyiv imposed the use of Ukrainian and Russia then supported the rebels.

We now have a clash between Ukrainian patriots supported by the government who want closer ties with western Europe, or in some cases membership of the EU and NATO, and on the other hand those who are pro-Russian and want closer ties with Russia, or in some cases, absorption into Russia. Russia is supporting the Donbas rebels militarily and politically. It has offered Russian citizenship to people in the region. The US supports the anti-Russian parties while western Europe offers rhetorical support but would not want a divided, poor and corrupt country joining the EU or NATO. Many Ukrainians hope that western Europe will raise them out of poverty and protect them against Russia.

The US still has many cold war warriors who don’t think things have changed, others who believe they have a mission to spread truth, justice and the American way of democracy to the world and those who are not interested in ideology but who see Russia as a rival to American pre-eminence. However, it is by no means certain that most Americans are interested in Ukraine and even less that they would support military action against a nuclear power. US President Joe Biden’s focus on economic sanctions recognises this.

The 62-rouble question now is will Russian President Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine and if so what will others do. There is much debate and much huffing and puffing by all sides but no clear answer. Russia has stated publicly that it has no intention of invading Ukraine but that a NATO presence on the Russian border is unacceptable. Russian forces have been sent to border regions and interference in the Donbas has stepped up. The US noisily threatens massive sanctions if Russia invades. It is perhaps worth remembering the Cuban missile crisis when the US threatened war if the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba and Russia backed down but only at the price of a secret agreement by the US to remove missiles from Turkey. Russia still sees NATO as a threat.

Many Russians find it hard to accept that Ukraine is really different and many on both sides of the border have relatives on the other side. Putin’s acquisition of Crimea was popular in Russia and nationalistic posturing is one of the tools he uses to get domestic support.

Similarly, the threat from the West is an age old theme in Russia where people remember that both Napoleon and Hitler invaded through Ukraine. Is NATO going to do the same thing? Rightly or wrongly, Russians believe that they got a promise from the US that NATO would not move east as a quid pro quo for accepting German unification but they now see this promise being broken.

This attitude justifies massing defensive forces on the border which Ukrainians and Americans see as a precursor to invasion. The Russian foreign minister has stated categorically that Russia does not plan to invade Ukraine. Whether Russian promises can be believed is a moot point but the most superficial look at American history tells us that the same can be said of US promises. The bottom line is that Putin would probably like to absorb the industrial Donbas and if he could achieve that he would almost certainly leave the rest of the country alone.

However, he does not want to get into a war with the West. Biden makes a lot of noise about supporting Ukraine and talking strong measures against a Russian invasion but he doesn’t want to get into a war either. American rhetoric suits the president’s domestic needs at a time when he is under pressure at home as well as upholding US global pre-eminence. China is the major threat to American dominance and focus on Europe is a distraction it wishes to avoid. Russia wants to be recognised as a Great Power and respected as such.

Putin is a dictator who faces problems at home while Biden presides over a fractured nation. Both find the talk of threat from an evil empire domestically useful.

The UK is sending armaments to Ukraine along with some Baltic states and making a big noise about it. The foreign secretary has accused Russia of supporting a proxy presidential candidate which he has denied. Moral outpourings from the UK, USA and others about attempts by Russia to suborn influential Ukrainians are naïve at best.

A British diplomat was once asked what the role of MI5 was and replied that MI5 exists to stop other countries doing to us what MI6 is doing to them. Recruiting influential people in countries of interest is standard modus operandi of all intelligence agencies.  As for attempts to overthrow foreign governments, the track record of the UK and US I can only say judge not lest ye be judged.

The British government is presumably pleasing the Americans and trying to deflect attention from its parlous domestic position.

Negotiations continue under the all but defunct Minsk agreement in what seems to have become a game of bluff. The most likely outcome is a continuation of the status quo but miscalculation or deliberate escalation cannot be ruled out.

Australia would be well advised to stay out of this mess but the government will be tempted to please the US by statements which have no effect on events. So far, we have been cautious as have most Europeans except for statements by the British foreign secretary which should be treated with the contempt they deserve.

Cavan Hogue was ambassador to Russia and dually accredited to Ukraine.

Read more:

https://johnmenadue.com/cavan-hogue-ukraine-is-not-just-about-goodies-and-baddies/

Please note that most Western media present Ukraine as a "united" country. It's not. Those who are enforcing these views are the minority, the NAZIS... See toon at top... It's important.

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How a few Washington firms are seeking to put the U.S. on collision course with Russia.

As tensions continue to escalate between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian government’s actors in Washington have kicked their influence efforts into overdrive.

New analysis from the Quincy Institute’s Ben Freeman found the Ukrainian government hired just under a dozen firms registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), shelling out about $2 million last year to firms who lobbied on their behalf. Freeman described the Ukrainian lobby as “small but mighty” in a phone interview with The American Conservative, and said their efforts to influence Washington and America’s political apparatus are intense relative to their modest budget.

While Ukraine’s lobbyists have primarily focused on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline given Russia’s buildup along the Ukrainian borders, they have also spent time on Ukrainian security issues and promoting support for Ukraine’s political system. The completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would allow Russia to export natural gas directly to the core of Europe via Germany. The pipeline would cut out Ukrainian middlemen, who would continue to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars annually in energy-transit fees if the pipeline’s completion were prevented. In the beginning of his tenure, Biden waived sanctions against Nord Stream 2 construction.

FARA disclosures show Yorktown Solutions, one of the lobbying firms hired by the Ukrainian government to work behind the scenes, received nearly $1 million from the Ukraine Federation of the Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry (UFEOGI) between Dec. 1, 2020 and Nov. 30, 2021. UFEOGI members include the state-owned Naftogaz and several other joint-stock and subsidiary energy enterprises. In that same period of time, UFEOGI’s Yorktown lobbyists made more than 11,000 connections—meetings, emails, and phone calls—with representatives in government (from Congress to the State Department and the National Security Council), think tanks (such as the Atlantic Council and the Heritage Foundation), and media outlets (like Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and NBC News). Freeman told TAC he’s “never seen something so expansive” as Yorktown’s efforts in his decade-plus of analyzing FARA disclosures.

Yorktown’s FARA reporting shows that its lobbyists met with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and at least two of his staffers, national security advisor Omri Ceren and senior legislative assistant Samantha Leahy, on July 20, 2021. Yorktown’s president and signatory of the firm’s FARA disclosures, Daniel Vajdich, served on Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign as the senior national security advisor and chairman of the Russia working group.

In light of recent developments near the Ukrainian border, Cruz introduced a bill to reinstate sanctions on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

When Cruz’s bill started heading for a vote on the Senate floor, Yorktown sent a brief titled “Nord Stream 2 pipeline–Facts on the Ground,” according to Politico’s national security newsletter on Jan. 12. Vajdich told Politico the brief had been emailed to about half of the Senate’s Republican caucus, and nearly every Democratic member.

A subsequent edition of Politico’s National Security Daily, dated Jan. 21, featured Ceren in its “Drinks with Natsec Daily” section. “When he’s not working with his boss to reimpose sanctions on Nord Stream 2, you can find Ceren on the patio at Morton’s Steakhouse drinking a vodka soda. In a pinch, or simply to hydrate, Ceren will take a Diet Coke, but that’s clearly not his preferred option,” the Lockheed Martin-sponsored newsletter read. “Cheers, Omri!” it added.

While Cruz was able to negotiate with Democratic leaders in the Senate to bring the bill to a vote, the legislation ultimately failed to garner the 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate filibuster. The vote tally was 55 in favor, 44 against. Prior to the vote, the bill was already expected to fail given the Senate’s partisan divisions.

Though they were unable to get Cruz’s bill across the line, UFEOGI’s efforts in Washington continue apace. On July 16, 2021, UFEOGI signed a new contract with the lobbying firm Arent Fox worth $1.26 million to lobby on behalf of Nord Stream 2 sanctions, among other Ukrainian energy issues. FARA documents show Arent Fox was prepaid $315,000 “for legal advisory services,” though the contract was severed just over three months after its signing.

Freeman speculated to TAC that Arent Fox was not meeting UFEOGI’s expectations, given the number of FARA-disclosed contacts made by other firms lobbying on behalf of Ukraine, like Yorktown Solution’s hundreds of pages of contacts, in comparison to Arent Fox, which reported merely ten contacts over the three month period.  It appears, then, that UFEOGI gave Arent Fox at least $30,000 for each political connection the firm made on its behalf.

But the unfruitful relationship between UFEOGI and Arent Fox, Freeman told TAC, is atypical for the Ukraine lobby. “I’m not exactly sure how the Ukrainians are getting such a good bang for their buck when it comes to hiring these lobbyists, but whatever they’re doing it’s working because these foreign agents are just working overtime for Ukrainian interests,” he said.

Another lobbying firm, Karv Communications, received nearly $120,000 from UFEOGI between July 9, 2021, the day the two entered into contract, through Oct. 31, 2021. The focus of Karv Communications’ outreach efforts, according to FARA disclosures, was to reach out to prominent news outlets—the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, CNN, and many more—to interview members of UFEOGI leadership, place opinion pieces, and discuss Ukrainian energy policies.

Since shedding light on foreign lobbyists’ activities may curb their influence, Freeman said lobbyists’ “goal is the opposite of that. They know that they can have the greatest success for their clients the less the public is aware of what’s going on with these issues, and the less the media is writing stories about what they’re doing.” Freeman plans on releasing a full report outlining the extent of Ukraine’s lobbying efforts later this spring.

Though Ukraine’s lobbying force is rather small compared to those of major lobbying nations like Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian lobby is a good reminder that foreign governments and their agents devote vast amounts of time and money to influence the making of the sausage in Washington. Narratives are massaged, tested by focus groups, and massaged some more. Policies are packaged and pushed through Congress (sometimes unsuccessfully) and shipped overnight in print to Americans’ doorsteps. Unpalatable positions, like a hot war with Russia over Ukraine, are force-fed to the public via social media or cable news. Best not to take a bite.

Read more: 

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/congress-and-ukraines-relentless-lobbyists/

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The drama currently unfolding in which the Biden Administration is doing everything it can to provoke a war with Russia over Ukraine is possibly the most frightening foreign policy misadventure since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the 1967 Lyndon Johnson attempt to sink the USS Liberty and blame it on Egypt, either of which could have gone nuclear. I can well recall the Robert Heinlein sci-fi book The Puppet Masters, later made into a movie, which described how alien-slugs, arriving by way of a flying saucer landing in Iowa, invaded the earth and parasitically attached themselves to the central nervous systems of humans and became able to completely control their minds.

What the humans know, they know. What the slugs want, no matter what, the human will do. And the tale gets really scary in geopolitical terms when some Secret Service Agents are “occupied” by the invaders and they are thereby poised to capture the President of the United States. I would point out that the movie came out when Bill Clinton was president, which should have provoked some concerns about whether it was fact or fiction.

Well, does anyone currently wonder why I think of The Puppet Masters when an incoherent Joe Biden in particular makes a speech? And also consider the befuddled look of Secretary of State Tony Blinken or the bewildered expressions of Vice President Kamala Harris or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, all of which might also suggest that the slugs now completely control the Administration.

The Biden and Blinken possibly slug-controlled automatons are now stating their conviction, based on no evidence whatsoever, that Russia is about to invade Ukraine and they are threatening sanctions like Putin “has never seen before.” There will no doubt be more slug-derived pronouncements to reinforce that warning in the next few days after the latest round of talks breaks down. Evacuation of US Embassy staff families in Kiev is already underway, deliberately escalating rather than attempting to defuse the crisis which could lead to nuclear war, destroying the human race and replacing it with the alien slugs.

Consider for a moment the inconsistencies and sheer contradictions in US foreign policy, which might support the credibility of the alien slug theory. The State Department’s management of foreign relations is supposed to serve the interests of the American people, but has not actually done so for decades. Can anyone explain why Washington’s foreign policy during the decade 2010 to 2020 constantly hammered at Russia, which, if anything, should have been the one country with which the US would seek to have a respectful relationship. Where is the logic in condemnation of Russia’s non-violent annexation of the Crimea, which was carried out based on a long-term historic relationship and a popular referendum, while also enabling “allies” like Israel’s illegal occupation and annexation of both Palestinian and Syrian land which has relied on force majeure to drive hundreds of thousands of local inhabitants from their homes.

And then there are the Saudis using American made weapons to terrorize and kill the people of Yemen. Slug Biden is now considering aiding the murderous Saudi onslaught by declaring Yemen’s Houthis to be terrorists, legitimizing their slaughter.

Even if one rejects the alien slug theory, at a minimum, there has been a great deal of hypocrisy in terms of how Washington deals with the rest of the world and that has been increasingly the case under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Targeting and killing civilian populations and permanently driving them from their homes are, by the way, unambiguously war crimes and the United States is signatory to the Geneva Conventions that define the Israeli and Saudi actions as such. Israel, which claims a form of perpetual victimhood thanks to the so-called holocaust narrative, is the only nuclear power in the Middle East, though its arsenal is regarded as so secret that US government officials are not allowed to mention it, possibly another indication of alien slug control. It uses that advantage to carry out undeclared open and covert warfare against its neighbors, most notably targeting Syria and Lebanon as presumed proxies for its number one designated enemy Iran. Saudi Arabia for its part does not seem to care at all regarding the devastation it is delivering on the largely defenseless Yemenis.

Israel goes far beyond the actions of any other belligerent nation in the world, and the US is the only nation that even comes close, as recent reports regarding a particularly reckless bombing in Syria suggest. Israel, often with American complicity, engages in covert sabotage and assassination operations inside Iran, which have been sometimes reported, though hardly condemned, in the mainstream Western media.

Less well covered are the more-or-less routine bombing attacks conducted against Syria, frequently also violating Lebanese airspace when the Israeli jets stand off in the Mediterranean Sea to fire their missiles at the Syrian targets. It should be noted that attacking a nation with which one is not at war and which poses no direct threat is also a war crime, in this case a war crime that the Israeli and Saudi governments repeat on a regular basis without any objection coming from Washington, which itself has attacked Syria on at least four occasions while also illegally stationing troops inside the country to “protect” its oilfields.

A recent devastating attack by Israel on Syrian targets consisted of a missile strike launched by Israeli air force planes against the Mediterranean port of Latakia on December 28th. Israel’s attack on Latakia has to a certain extent shifted the focus of the war on Syria being conducted by Israel and the United States and their Gulf allies including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the past, the port was protected by its proximity to the major Russian base at Tartus in Syria and the actual presence of some Russian personnel assisting in Latakia ship cargo unloading operations, which threatens to bring Moscow more directly into the conflict. And as Washington is Israel’s enabler that will no doubt lead to US involvement in the UN and other fora if any attempts are made to limit or even condemn the Israeli actions. The situation is nasty and threatens to explode if Israel stages a false flag attack intended to lead to demands for direct military action by the US, a concern that some outside the Biden Administration have expressed.

What is particularly disturbing is the fact that while Israel and the Saudis continue to do their best to engage the United States in their own quarrels in the Middle East, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken do nothing but look the other way so as not to annoy the Israeli leaders and their powerful domestic lobby in the US.

At the same time, they unnecessarily provoke a nuclear armed and capable Russia and an emerging superpower China, both of which are regularly demonized both in the media and by leading politicians from both parties. The actions taken together are so irrational as to suggest that Robert Heinlein knew what he was writing about.

And then there is what might be described as the “hidden hand.” It should be observed that many of those US politicians and government officials most keen on baiting Russia are strong and vocal supporters of Israel. Many are neocons, who have penetrated the foreign and national security teams of both political parties and are dominant in the media while also having close ties to the Israeli government.

Most of them are Jewish, to include all four of the top officials in the Department of State, while prominent politicians in both political parties, to include the president, have self-described as Zionists. For various reasons, many in the Jewish diaspora have a visceral hatred of Russia, so Israel in an odd way is part of the war party machinations to provoke an armed conflict over Ukraine.

That America is Israel’s poodle and both Russia and China are considered fair game to score political points is really the crux of the matter and it makes Americans complicit in Israeli crimes as Washington provides both arms and money as well as political cover to Jerusalem. It also reduces major US national interests involving Moscow and Beijing to sideshows and in so doing turns American national security on its head, supporting the unspeakable to make political points and ignoring what is important.

One might even suggest that never before in history has a great nation so enthusiastically pursued policies that could easily lead to its own destruction. It is not in our interest, or even our survival, to continue along this path and it is past time that the politicians and bureaucrats begin to recognize that fact. Or maybe I should instead be addressing my advice to that alien-slug mothership hidden somewhere in a corn field in Iowa.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.

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US President Joe Biden says he will consider personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine, as Western leaders stepped up military preparations and made plans to shield Europe from a potential energy supply shock.

The rare sanctions threat on Tuesday came as NATO placed forces on standby and reinforces eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets in response to Russia’s troop build-up near its border with Ukraine.

Russia denies planning an attack and says the crisis is being driven by NATO and US actions. It is demanding security guarantees from the West, including a promise by NATO never to admit Ukraine. Moscow sees the former Soviet republic as a buffer between Russia and NATO countries.

Following multiple rounds of US-Russia talks over Ukraine that failed to reach a breakthrough, Mr Biden — who has long warned Moscow of economic consequences — upped the ante on Tuesday by saying Putin could personally face sanctions.

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https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2022/01/26/biden-warns-putin-of-personal-sanctions/

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The worst part of this isn't that Biden is an idiot, but that decent media promotes this shit...

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As the US threatens to send even more troops to Eastern Europe, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is reportedly trying to rush passage of a massive bill that would give more military aid to Ukraine and introduce punishing sanctions on Russia if it were to invade.

According to a Tuesday report by The Intercept, Pelosi told Democratic colleagues on a caucus call she wanted to skip marking up the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022, when amendments are added and debated, and bring the bill directly to the House floor. According to congressional sources who spoke with the outlet, a vote could happen as early as next week.

“This is how the space for nonmilitary options gets slowly closed off in Washington, without any real debate,” one Democratic aide told the Intercept.

The bill was introduced earlier this month by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), with a House companion bill following last week. The bill would impose “crippling” sanctions on Russia if it were to invade Ukraine, as many US leaders fear, as well as substantially increase military support for Ukraine and funding for US state-funding media outlets targeting Eastern Europe, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/20220126/pelosi-trying-to-rush-through-ukraine-defense-bill-with-crippling-anti-russia-sanctions---reports-1092517267.html

MEANWHILE, POCKETING MONEYS:

Another Pelosi is cheating the system. A DailyMail.com investigation revealed “Nancy Pelosi’s son was involved in five companies probed by federal agencies – but has never been charged himself.”

Specifically, the investigation found “a shocking paper trail shows Paul Pelosi Jr.’s connections to a host of fraudsters, rule-breakers and convicted criminals.” The 52-year-old son of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has gotten away with far too much for far too long.

Pelosi Jr. was “involved in five companies probed. By federal agencies before, during or after his time” at the companies. Key pieces of information reported by the Daily Mail include:

• He joined the board of a biofuel company after it defrauded investors, according to an SEC ruling, and whose CEO was convicted after bribing Georgia officials

• Paul was president of an environmental investment firm that turned out to be a front for two convicted fraudsters, documents reveal

• He served as vice president of a company previously embroiled in an investigation of scam calls that targeted senior citizens

• A medical company Pelosi Jr. worked for was accused of testing drugs on people without FDA authorization, DailyMail.com can reveal

• A source close to a firm Nancy’s son worked for told DailyMail.com that Pelosi Jr. received $2.8 million of shares allegedly issued as part of a massive $164 million fraud in July 2016

Nancy Pelosi has often bragged that her agenda was to lead “the most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history.” And sources “close to the Democrat power broker’s son- and even Pelosi Jr. himself” tell the Daily Mail “that some of his business dealings may have arisen from savvy entrepreneurs hiring him in an attempt to curry favor with his powerful family.”

READ MORE:

https://saraacarter.com/pelosis-son-connected-to-convicted-criminals-working-at-five-companies-probed-by-federal-agencies/

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See also:

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the beginning of a new reality: teaching others the lessons we never learnt...

salonrinsegate versus yellowhairgate... the state of politics in the USA today...

war is our business...

We are lived by powers we pretend to understand...

as bullshit flies from the western media and political US loonies, russia needs to be ready for more crap…

pelosi, the old bonkers woman, becomes mrs lash in an anti-rusky orgy...

SEE ALSO: https://theintercept.com/2022/01/25/ukraine-defense-bill-democrats/

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Now you can ask yourself: is it Biden-the-idiot or Pelosi-the-Bitch running the USA?

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