The Dissenting Voice

[russianreview]

UKRAINE: ITS RECENT HISTORY, CURRENT REALITY & CONCLUSION

The Ukraine war is reaching a critical stage. Crucial aspects of western narratives are now being questioned. The reality is at last being discussed rather than western propaganda fantasies.

The West, through the agency of the Ukrainian regime, manipulated the Russian Federation president and administration into beginning its special military operation on February 24th 2022.

The operation to take the Donbass was in order to safeguard the Russian-speaking population there from the then eight year attacks upon them by the Ukrainian military and associated militias.

The special military operation was initiated with great reluctance, with Russia attempting to resolve the situation between the nations diplomatically. The object of the operation was to have the Ukrainian regime fulfill its agreed obligations according to the protocols the Ukrainian authorities signed in Minsk which were subsequently ratified at the United Nations. The Ukrainians reneged on this diplomatic initiative and foreswore the road to peace, choosing war instead.

Russia’s special military operation sought to bring the Ukrainians back to the negotiating table and implement the obligations it had signed up to. As well as preserving the rights of the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass region to live in autonomy as they wished, Russia’s campaign also had the goal of preventing Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO and thus a permanent threat to the Russian state and to the people of Russia.

Every effort was made by the Russian authorities for over almost a decade to find a peaceful resolution to the situation that began, at western insistence in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital in the winter of 2013-14. All efforts by Russia to find a peaceful, diplomatic pathway to a peaceful resolution were thwarted by the western powers who saw an opportunity to weaken Russia, possibly bring about regime change there and break the Russian Federation into pieces divided by ethnic differences.

The western powers believed that their economic sanctions regime along with the large amount of financial and human resources Russia would need in its war against the Ukrainian regime would break Russia. Instead, across all areas, military and economic Russia has grown stronger. Russia is now pressing forward faster than at any time since the initial months of its special military operation, Ukrainian military forces are buckling, desertions are becoming ever more frequent and the number deserting is steadily increasing.

Russia cannot now be stopped from attaining her goals. Russia is achieving those goals and will be the ultimate winner of this war that it never wished to wage. Attempts to freeze the conflict with a view to re-arming and re-constituting Ukraine's armed forces will not be accepted by Russia. Russia will instead press forward with its advantageous military campaign, moving ever closer to the Dnieper River and outright victory followed by a permanent peace with a new president and government elected in what remains of Ukraine.

Some question why it has taken Russia so long to gain a conclusive victory in Ukraine. This question emanates from an ignorance of the realities on the ground that existed on February 24th 2022 when Russia began its special military operation in Ukraine.

The two Ukrainian regimes since the Maidan coup in winter 2013-14 were given every possible technical, economic and military assistance to build the most hardened defense systems ever seen. These stretched over 1,000 kilometers in serried ranks using the super-hard structures built during Soviet times along with extensive new trench systems. The combined effect was an ultra-strong barrier from which to attack the Russian-speaking people of the Donbass region who they sought to ethnically cleanse or commit outright genocide upon.

It has taken to now, almost three years of war, to break the massive Ukrainian defenses partly because Russia, unlike the USA and its allies, does not use maximal attack methods that inevitably result in large civilian casualties.

Those on the other side of the border from Russia, in Ukraine are considered by Russians brother and sister Slavs and there is no wish on any Russian's part to harm them if this can possibly be avoided. Hence the movement of Russian forces has been characterised by a slow forward process using a careful attritional approach. This saves lives and while doing so means that supply line logistics can be brought forward with a consistently safeguarded approach.

The Near Future.

Ukraine:

Slowly, consistently, and with great care Russia moves forward to an inevitable, final, and conclusive victory where a permanent peace settlement between the two nations will be finally agreed. At that point the road to recovering some semblance of stability in the region will begin.

Those in what remains of Ukraine will elect a president and government that seeks peace and reconciliation with Russia rather than one that continually beats the drums of war. A fresh start for Ukraine will begin with economic help from all sides. Slowly but surely it will emerge as a peaceful neighbour for Russia as she once was before the Maidan coup of 2014.

Novorossiya:

The Russian population of the new territories now stably and permanently within the Russian Federation will steadily experience the life of peace they have long sought. Conditions will be seen to be increasingly positive with the population there receiving all the many benefits of Russian citizenship. Infrastructure, already being massively improved will improve still further all across the new regions. Those living in the areas previously devastated by Ukrainian shelling will rise anew, all eagerly greeting the new Russian dawn rising before them.

Conclusion:

The nightmare of the Russo-Ukrainian war is ending. Whatever plans Trump may have when he takes office in January 2025 this war will be settled on the battlefield. It is a war Russia never wanted and which it has reluctantly engaged in. But it is a war it most certainly will win.

[russianreview]

IS THERE HOPE FOR ANY SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM SOLUTION TO THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE?

The enmity & willingness to escalate on both sides provides little hope for negotiations seeking peace taking place any time soon. But what hope might there still be however?

In my view the answer to the situation in Ukraine would resolve itself, in anything approaching the short to medium term, with one single major change. That change (hard to swallow as it may be for the Kiev regime) would be to agree to what the winning side has sought from the outset. Russia of course, is the winning side and has said multiple times what its primary concerns and goals were and are.

The two primary goals Russia has had from the beginning are that Ukraine stays independent of NATO, and two, that the Russian-speaking majority in the Donbass be left alone to organise themselves as they see fit without being militarily attacked.

Russia’s other goals, demilitarisation and denazification, I believe would follow on gradually from the solution I speak of whereby we first have a ceasefire, then a comprehensive peace agreement.

What is that route to that solution?

First and foremost we must look at what must be established before it can be effected.

The most important factor without which nothing at all can be achieved in either short or medium term: Russia has to trust that both the Kiev regime and its western sponsors will abide by any agreements they make.

The second most important factor for this solution to move forward is that the Kiev regime must fully realise that they cannot win (and, as we have heard from Zelensky yesterday) that it is also willing therefore to agree to Russia retaining the territory it has taken to date.

Both are sticking points but if they can be successfully resolved then the solution comes into play. Without them there is zero hope of ANY progress and all will be resolved on the battlefield.

Naturally, if Russia has no trust that the Ukrainians will abide by any agreed ceasefire stipulations regarding not re-arming then the ceasefire will simply not happen. If Russia manages to trust sufficiently that Ukraine will not re-arm then finds exactly this is taking place, then the ceasefire will collapse immediately. As I say, the key, indispensable factor n the Russian side is trust. The Russians have trusted before (Minsk/Istanbul) and have seen that trust cynically abused. So, any pledges the Ukrainians make will most probably have to be supervised on the ground by personnel of third party forces from NEUTRAL nations.

If the resulting ceasefire, in general, is successful, then we move to the second stage, presidential and general elections and the subsequent agreement on a permanent solution.

The only solution which can bring peace (keeping in mind that Russia is the winner of this war) is firstly, for the regime to change the Ukrainian constitution from the goal of joining NATO to a pledge NEVER to do so. Secondly, the Kiev regime must be willing to give up all territory Russia has gained over the last almost three years of war. If the Ukrainian president and the authorities under his command cannot do these two things (leaving aside the question of demilitarisation and denazification for much later) then there is no point starting negotiations, even for a ceasefire, for all will come to naught.

Russia cannot achieve its goals merely through the acquisition of more territory. Russia would have to progress all the way into the heart of Ukraine, far, far beyond the banks of the Dnieper, to attain the level of security for the new, expanded Russian Federation it seeks. (In order to so weaken the Ukrainian economy that no matter how many weapons it receives from the West it has no chance then of defeating the Russians.)

Given the size of the land mass of Ukraine Russia would be required to take this, nigh on impossible task of fighting all the way across at least 50% of Ukraine. I see this as an insurmountable barrier for the Russian military, a task that, in my view, is clearly beyond them.

This leaves Russia with having to make do with some set borders on the other side of which the Ukrainians would certainly still pose a grave danger. In my view Russia cannot go all the way into central Ukraine, therefore the fighting for ever more territory now will avail it little to nothing. The limited amount taken (not enough to wreck Ukraine to the level of being impotent) now or in 6 months, will avail Russia little regarding security guarantees if Russia insists on fighting. I see no security for Russia in battling on and on simply to get more territory when that is not going to materially help in achieving the necessary goal of security for all lands taken once this is all over. It can’t possibly take enough of Ukraine to render it as weak as would be required. So, I would recommend Russia seeks a solution based on the land it currently holds under its control and no more and through agreeing this work out an agreement of understanding that at lest brings about the first step, a stable and lasting ceasefire.

The problem of course will be the extremely thorny one mentioned at the beginning, Russia trusting that Ukraine will not re-arm and that the regime has truly resigned itself to ceasing its fight against Russia seeking to regain lost territory (even if it continues to fight for this through diplomatic means).

If the level of trust can be achieved (a very big if), with Ukraine and its sponsors able somehow to demonstrate to Russia that it can indeed fully trust what it has agreed to, then an extended ceasefire could very well be agreed, one long enough for presidential and general elections to take place. I have no doubt that the massively war-weary Ukrainians would elect representatives who would promise an end to the fighting and instead seek to find ways to bring about a renewed, stable peace.

With a new president and government in place, the ceasefire agreements can be built upon with time (and crucially, trust) to ultimately agree and fix a permanent border between the Russian federation and Ukraine. This in conjunction with a comprehensive peace treaty between the two nations that ultimately allows the free flow of civilians across the agreed borders, primarily agreed on for the uniting of families separated by the war.

Ultimately I believe that, over time (admittedly perhaps much time) a normalisation of relations, at least by the everyday folk on both sides, can be achieved.

All hangs on the election of a new Ukrainian president and government that want peace, not war. This of course hangs on enough trust and agreement being built between both sides for a ceasefire to be feasible, reliable and kept stably in place. If these vital elements are realised and held in place for a protracted, hopefully permanent basis, I would foresee a gradual forward movement to resolving ALL other issues (such as demilitarisation and denazification) over the several years following, given good faith on both sides.

This outlines the basis of my solution to this tragic, brutal and bloody war. Due to the extreme nature of the diverse fierce negativity of all that has transpired during this conflict none of this will be at all easy. After any war down the ages reconciliation in the aftermath can never be said to be an easy task. But with the required political will with the force of majority public opinion behind it, it can be done, as we have seen many times before in history. In fact it MUST be done for there to be any prospect of normal life returning at all.

[russianreview]

WOULD PUTIN STOP THE WAR RIGHT NOW IF CONDITIONS WERE RIGHT? I BELIEVE SO.

This is my longest commentary by far to date after many years of writing them with approximately 1,250 of them written to date. It is very likely to be one of my last however....

Being my longest commentary to date, it is my honest appraisal of the best chance both Russia and Ukraine have of coming out of the tragedy of the past few years and finally reaching the peace I am sure both sides long for. I would humbly ask therefore if you could please bear with me, hear me out and do all you personally can to advocate for a renewed peace…

I believe there is now some hope that the awful tragedy of the Ukraine war will end before many more months pass. Partly due to Trump, but only peripherally. I believe only the everyday Ukrainian man and woman in the street will ultimately be the vital factor in bringing the peace that both they and the Russian people, by majority, have been wishing, hoping and longing for ever since their mutual tragedy began..

It should be remembered that in 2014 Putin refused the request of the new republics, at that time within the boundaries of Ukraine, that they could not join the Russian Federation but must remain right where they were, as an integral part of Ukraine’s sovereign boundaries. What he did agree to do was work tirelessly in negotiation with the new Ukrainian authorities to get the Russian-speaking people of the Donbass a degree of autonomy within Ukraine that would guarantee their security in terms of language, ability to retain their pro-Russian attitudes and culture and, most importantly freedom from the daily bombardment by the Ukrainian army and associated militias they were now under.

Putin then took part in the Minsk process where he sought to bring the above about. For over six years he tried to do this. He worked with both Ukrainian presidents, first Poroshenko and later Zelensky to do this, or at least this is what he thought was happening. The process, apart from Putin and the leadership in Ukraine also included Angela Merkel of Germany and Francoise Hollande, later Emmanuel Macron. There is nothing to indicate that Putin was not sincere in his efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation through Minsk and, through this, maintain the status quo where the boundaries between Russia and Ukraine remained unchanged.

 Unfortunately, we know now that neither Merkel not Poroshenko nor Zelensky had the same ambition as Putin. Merkel has confessed that the entire Minsk process was simply used as a stalling technique so that Ukraine could rebuild its army. Poroshenk has admitted to this similarly. When, after over six years of going every extra mile in hope of a successful outcome Putin heard these statements from Merkel and Poroshenko you can perhaps imagine how he felt. Duped. Betrayed. Tricked. In February 2023 Zelensky too finally admitted to more or less the same thing. They had collectively and cynically worked together to fool Putin into thinking peace was a possible.

Zelensky admits he never intended to implement Minsk agreement.

9 Feb 2023

‘Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admits that he never thought about implementing the pivotal Minsk agreements reached with the Donbass.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted on Thursday that he had previously told German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron that the Minsk agreements were "impossible", and he did not plan on implementing them.’

______________________________________________________________

Back in late 2021, early 2022 Zelensky stated that he no longer saw the Minsk Agreements (ratified at the United Nations) as they way forward any more. Just to add insult to injury so to speak, he added that he was now interested in re-acquiring Ukraine’s nuclear weapon capacity and status. While the Minsk process was ongoing, from 2015 to 2022 the Ukrainian army was indeed being beefed up with NATO heavily involved. In addition a 1,000+ km multi-line series of fortifications and trench systems were built facing the border with the two republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. But it appears that it was Zelensky saying he wanted nukes back on Ukrainian soil that was the very last straw for Putin.

Talk about a red rag to a bul!  Zelensky at this stage was taunting Putin and Russia. If a peaceful resolution of the situation in the Donbass (where 15,000 had already died) was not in prospect you should ask yourself what did Zelensky see as the solution at that point? We can gain a clue from the records of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) who had been monitoring things in the Donbass for many years previously. Their records show a large increase in the use of missiles and artillery in January and early February 2022. The records also show that the majority of these were from the Ukrainian army positions. Then, also in those early months of 2022 Russian secret service discovered Ukrainian plans for a ground invasion of the Donbass. At that point it became very clear what Zelensky’s intentions were.

Meanwhile, Russia had made one last attempt to bring some sanity into the proceedings and avoid a war. A detailed document was sent to both NATO’s European HQ and Joe Biden in the White House. It asked that both consider joining with others including Russia to thrash out a new security architecture for Europe where each and every nation could rely on being sheltered more effectively from any circumstance that could lead to war. This idea was rejected by both NATO and the White House.

Putin, regarding the cumulative levels of obvious bad faith and malign intentions he was faced with was left with no good options and only a single option he knew he now had to take. With without doubt extreme reluctance he initiated Russia’s special military operation on February 24th 2022. It was surely absolutely clear to him that if he did not then Russia’s security would be severely and without doubt permanently, compromised. 

Putin’s hope seems to have continued to spring eternal for in the first months of the conflict he sent a delegation to meet with one from Ukraine to try to end the bloodshed and come to an agreement to settle things so that peace between the two nations could resume. This began, once again in Minsk, then continued in Istanbul where, much to everyone’s surprise much progress was made. One of the chief negotiators on the Ukrainian side has expressed his surprise at how modest Russia’s demands were; Ukraine to remain neutral, outside NATO and have an army of only 30,000 or so, all other issues to be resolved by the leaders of the two nations at a later date. The document stating these agreements was duly initialed by both sides.

Everyone who takes any interest in this conflict knows well what happened next. Boris Johnson arrived in Kiev with a message for Zelensky. The West would back him to the hilt with everything he needed to defeat Russia, abandon these negotiations right away and begin pushing Russia completely out of all Ukrainian territory including Crimea. So began the stage of the conflict we remain in now. A conflict that Russia is steadily winning against the entire firepower and financial muscle of the West.

______________________________________________________________

The above is but a preamble to the main topic of this commentary, why must Russia continue its operation in Ukraine until it reaches a point where Russia’s future security is secured and what is stopping Putin from calling a halt right now?

First off, we can see from the first part of this commentary one very obvious and conspicuous fact, that only one person was seeking to find a peaceful resolution to the situation that existed in Ukraine and the Russian-speaking Donbass.That person is very obviously Vladimir Putin. The constant assertion by political and media elites in the West that Putin and Russia wer “unprovoked”... well, this is false ‘on its face’ as they say. 

But having said all this can’t Putin, having taken a fair chunk of the Donbass now call a halt? With the way this conflict has been fought, with a slow grinding war of attrition, all that is being gained in most part is a battlefield of ruined towns and villages. Yes, there remain some cities in the Donbass such as Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Odessa, Kherson and Kharkiv that have majority Russian-speaking populations that it would be ideal to have within the Russian Federation… but at what cost and is this REALLY necessary?

Think of how things could be in Ukraine without the Zelensky regime in power. The odds must be very good that the people of western and central Ukraine must be heartsick of the conflict. It is clear they already were when they gave the peace candidate Volodomyr Zelensky a landslide win against Poroshenko in 2019. They were hungry for peace then. Can you imagine how hungry they are now? And can you imagine also then what kind of president and government they would wish to elect NOW? One that takes a bellicose stance toward Russia, advocating even more war? I very much doubt it. So, knowing what lengths Putin went to to avoid war and to instead seek peace and reconciliation don’t you think some compromise situation could be worked out in these circumstances?

Now, the narrative across western political and media elites is that Putin is hellbent on recreating the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact. And of course as I said earlier, that both he and Russia were unprovoked and there can be no ameliorating justification or excuses for his heinous action in wishing to take Ukraine and thus destroy it. He is simply a thoroughly bad man, a dictator, murderer and thief. Does this fit what we know of Putin’s several attempts to close this thing down before it got started and even after it got started? Clearly not.

But let’s get to the main point I want to make with this commentary. I think you’ll agree that the evidence of Putin’s actions throughout pretty firmly establishes the fact that 1, he never wanted this conflict/war and 2. that when it became inevitable he tried hard to end it as soon as possible. So why not stop it now? Call a halt unilaterally. Send out the command to the Russian hierarchy that enough is enough. That Russia has gained the vast majority of territory that it needed to in light of the prospect that ending the fighting would bring elections in Ukraine and that those elections would bring to power a moderate president and government that Russia could negotiate with and make the peace permanent?

After all, there can be no doubt that Russia will set to work in all its new territories to make life much better than before for those who had to move out and also for those who can now be attracted in. Imagine the situation. The war is well and truly over (except for a few skirmishes with the more radical elements that refuse to lay down their arms and accept the new circumstances). The border between Ukraine and Russia is now open for relatives on both sides to visit, work and settle down if they wish to. This can go in both directions obviously. Everyone is incredibly glad the whole nightmarish and thoroughly hellish era of war is over. Rebuilding is going on everywhere. New roads, new schools, hospitals and culture centres are springing up along with shopping malls, swimming pool complexes and much else besides. It’s all good and who anymore feels the burning need to say this area, hamlet, village or town MUST belong to Ukraine or Russia? The new border will be set and agreed to, yes, but does Russia need to get to the eastern bank of the Dneiper before the conditions of peace and stability where people on both sides feel secure. No. Not if things work out as above.

But here is the catch, the snag, the devil in the detail. There are players involved here other than the everyday man and woman on the street. THEY may long for peace and they too may well recognise the Russian or Ukrainian population as just as human and very similar to hoy they and their own families are. The way it was pretty much before the Maidan insurrection backed wholeheartedly by the West divided the nation into two. These other players, Zelensky of course with his newfound hatred of Russia (he once said how much he loved Russians and had “thousands of Russian friends”. Then there are those of an ultranationalist nature who see modern day Russia in the very same light as those they followed on from saw the Russians of Stalin’s era. Then too we have the western powers who have found that the conflict in Ukraine is very useful in its ability to forward their ambitious regarding achieving a weakened Russia, preferably one without Putin as president where they can start to bring their own people in Russia to bear and ultimately perhaps carve it up into ethnically-divided pieces. NATO of course is the final player in this cabal of those who would wish this conflict to continue.

If not for the players above, and recognising that Putin was totally averse to conflict with the Ukrainian people and was constantly trying to get the characters above to relent and seek some kind of compromise where peace could reappear, this war could end tomorrow. And it would certainly be Putin who would end it. If he knew that it would be just the people of Ukraine who were calling the shots, I am sure he would have no qualms about doing just that, he would announce the peace. But, as things stand, with all these other players now hellbent on undermining the Russian state using the Ukrainian people as the tool to do it, via Zelensky regime, he cannot.

Putin initially sent an extremely small force into Ukraine. Ukraine is an enormous country and, if Putin had wanted to take and occupy it this would have required a minimum of some two to three million troops. Instead he sent some 150,000. The object was clearly not to take over the entire country but instead to give Zelensky a fright, a big enough fright so that he implemented what he and his predecessor had signed up to in Minsk. Putin’s plan failed due to the reason stated earlier, Boris Johnson brought the most powerful outside players in to stymie Russia’s search for peace. Without the intervention by the western powers I have no doubt that Zelensky would have caved and signed up to the peace. Remember, Russia didn’t want much back then, for Ukraine to stay neutral, to reduce its armed forces and to move to a federalized system of decentralized power where each region would have a ‘special status’ whereby they were self-governing to a degree. It could have been as simple as that. But those with power seldom agree to give any of it away. And those who see the possibility to grab power through chaos will tend to eye their opportunity to maximize their own power and influence and use that increased power against those they conceive are their enemies, rival powers.

This has been very long, my apologies. Thank you and congratulations if you have come this far.

Even if Russia reached the Dneiper, how safe will its new lands be? If conditions remain as they are now isn’t it inevitable that the West will still want to do what it is doing now, attempting to subvert, undermine and seek to weaken Russia and anything she wants to achieve? This may continue to be the general western stance. Trump may or may not put a dent in these ambitions, but left to most EU states this appears to be what they wish to see continue ad infinitum, or until they are completely defeated. How things will turn out, when we will see at least some temporary peace through negotiations, who knows? But sooner or later there WILL be negotiations and sooner or later also, the people of Ukraine will get to vote for the kind of president and government they want and I cannot believe they will want more of the same and this is what gives me hope that the future for all those except those who seek war will have much to look forward to.

[russianreview]

THE TRAGEDIES OF UKRAINE FAIL TO TOUCH ICE-COLD NEOCON HEARTS

How long will the suffering & dying go on in Ukraine? It seems it will go on as long as a majority of western leaders have hearts cold as ice. Until now the thaw has been excruciatingly slow.

Even if by some miracle the regime in Kiev could gather a few hundred thousand more hapless conscripts together it must be in doubt how long they would last on the battlefield with the few weeks of basic training they now receive. These final conscripts must surely be the least experienced and least motivated yet. All that could be expected of them perhaps is that they hold a gun and don a uniform before they are blown away without firing a shot.

This conflict is clearly lost. While Russia can make widespread missile attacks time after time, what earthly chance does the Kiev regime have of mounting anything approaching an effective challenge? This whole thing has developed into a West-sponsored, long-drawn-out mass suicide for Ukraine. It is long overdue that a halt was called and the modest Russian demands are acceded to.

To observe this ongoing tragedy for any length of time is excruciating for anyone not completely caught up within a partisan mania filling them with hatred for whoever they conceive their enemy to be. This cold-blooded perspective can only be maintained at a distance where the grotesque daily horrors of the battlefield are viewed almost as if they were onscreen features of a computer game. No blood, no screams of pain, no bodies ripped apart. No loved ones back home grieving considered. A sanguine gazing at a screen with only the occasional thought of satisfaction that others and not ourselves are doing the suffering and dying.

There are those however who feel nothing at all for any of the combatants in this war that never should have been. Those who continue to promote the Ukraine war, urging its continuation into some unseen and uncertain future. People such as Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State along with the coterie of U.S. Neocons that have similarly cauterized emotions. They clearly manage the task of compartmentalizing their foreign policy ambitions from the heart-wrenching realities of the battlefield. The same clearly goes for Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commision and the majority of EU nation leaders and officials. At every turn they resist any and all calls for the abomination of this war to be brought to a close.

In the USA and in Europe however, there are a growing number of politicians who recognise the utter tragedy of the war and are determined to stand against the tide and call for it to be ended through negotiations and a permanent settlement. No one doubts that the war will end in negotiations sometime in the future, however on the Blinken/Von der Leyen side that time is never now. Politicians in Europe such as Victor Orban of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia have long called for negotiations to begin immediately and for an end to the fuelling of the war by both the USA and EU. They have been joined in recent times by the U.S. president-to-be, Donald Trump and many who he has picked to be in his administration.

With somewhere between two and three thousand deaths/injuries occurring per day it is clear that this monstrous conflict is inflicting a monstrous on all sides, Ukrainians, Russians, Poles, U.S. and UK troops, and those of many other nations, who are fighting on the front lines. The trauma involved stretches out from the battlefield to involve an increasing number who look on in horror. The fighting in Ukraine and the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank is traumatising and dividing the entire world. We have never been as divided as a species in the way we view the wars we have been in recently and on those raging now.

The attitude of the Biden administration, following on from previous U.S. administrations, is that where nations differ substantially from those in the West in regard to governance then they are fair game for covert or overt destabilization, even to the extent of fomenting war within them. Using non-governmental organizations (NGOs) societies are split apart and elements within them weaponized against their governments. In addition, punitive sanctions are applied affecting the poorest in those societies in the hope of making them rise up and bring down their national leaders. This was effected most dramatically during the Maidan insurrection against Ukraine’s democratically-elected president and government in 2014.

There are those in leadership positions across the western world who clearly find it easy to ignore the suffering of millions when it comes to the achievement of their most fervent goals regarding regime change and their desire to achieve full global domination in perpetuity. This latter goal is in truth what the wars fragmenting our world are all about. The western powers are fighting to retain their geopolitical pole position that they have held for so very long now. Since 9/11 they have been motivated not only to shore this domination up wherever it is at risk of being weakened, but to push ever forward to an unassailable position of what they call, ‘full spectrum dominance’ ie. total global control.

No amount of suffering, death, destruction, chaos or fragmentation of nations can emotionally touch those who believe that the ends, in every case, always justify the means. They will use whatever tools that come to hand in their project to reach a position where they exercise total control. No ethical, moral or legal barrier will restrict them. No plea to their collective conscience will affect them. For them war is an effective tool whereby they can disrupt the status quo and create the chaos they need in order to bring down their target leaders and raise their choices to power. This was seen most clearly after the Maidan riots where the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt  and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland decided who would be the new government of Ukraine.

Those who see their role in the world as regime change warriors cannot afford a conscience. They have risen to the positions they currently hold due to the ability they have to eye events only with the coldest, analytical and tactical thoughts in mind. On the global chessboard they visualize only their next moves. The blood-strewn chessboard is never in sight. These are quite unique individuals whose latent compassion and capacity for fellow-feeling regarding those they disagree with has been long excised from them. They gaze down from on high, completely convinced of their being exceptional and all-knowing, wise beyond any need for advice, coldly manipulating our world in supreme arrogance. These are the sociopaths whose work we now see in both Ukraine and the Middle East. Their ice-cold hearts can devastate every last one of us if we do not remove them from power… and soon.

[russianreview]

PUTIN, THE GEOPOLITICAL MAGICIAN

Ask 1,000 people anywhere which politician they admire most & there's one name that will come up again & again…that of Vladimir Putin. This despite all that western propaganda has claimed about him.

Russia is on the verge of a momentous victory in Ukraine. The ramifications of this victory will reverberate down every decade to come. The scale of the victory is enormous, defeating a Ukrainian army brought to NATO standards since 2014 and not only them, the entirety of the western world that poured finance and weaponry into Ukraine nonstop. This was an amazing feat led by the man the world is increasingly recognising as the greatest statesman of our day, Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation. Not only has Putin delivered the most incredible change in world affairs since the second world war, he has at the same time guided Russia through the greatest economic onslaught on any nation ever seen and come out smiling with year on year economic growth. In addition Putin has ensured friends stay close by and aiding in all of the above, simultaneously building the BRICS group to ever greater heights. Putin deserves the title of geopolitical magician for his track record in steering Russia not only to a recovery many consider an economic miracle since the catastrophic Yeltsin years but has fully modernised the Russian army at the same time, bringing a totally new range of security assets to Russia’s arsenal, hypersonic missiles, concurrently with all else. There has arguably never been a more successful leader bringing both internal and external success with such consistent aplomb, tactical mastery and delivery of uniformly superb communication skills.

First published 19th August 2022:

PUTIN PULLED OFF A MAGICAL TRICK ANY MAGICIAN WOULD BE PROUD OF

Two decades and more ago Russia was struggling to climb up from the state of chaos and downward plummeting that was the Yeltsin era. Of all the candidates to replace him that Yeltsin investigated there was one that though diminutive in physical size more than made up for that in terms of his character.

Putin was known by friends and possible foes alike as a rare thing within the St. Petersburg bureaucracy at the time, a person of integrity who did not abuse his position. The experience of most staffers at the U.S. embassy there chose to see Putin rather than others due to his straight dealing. These plus other qualities he had built up during his time in the Soviet Union’s intelligence agency made him Yeltsin’s choice.

Putin was strong but fair, a graduate of law school who had gone through several baptisms of fire through his career, including the fall of the system he had been charged to preserve. Though somewhat introverted and serious-minded he was not incapable of dry wit at times and was certainly not naive, not one to suffer fools or incompetence easily… and Putin also had one pet hate, betrayal. All in all Yeltsin knew he had found his man.

So Putin set to work attempting to raise Russia up by its bootstraps. The Russian mafia was having a field day and the potential to make a mint by all manner of means with no comeback from the law made bringing order to that society an immense challenge. As did the oligarchs who had arisen during Yeltsin’s time. They had used every opportunity to bring themselves wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. And they were quite averse to paying taxes.

Putin was charged with more or less single-handedly doing the equivalent of herding cats with one arm tied behind his back through a soggy marshland. Yet he accomplished this task despite the expectations of just about everyone. Could anyone else have done it? Looking at the task facing Putin at that time it must surely be very unlikely. Using all his intuitive skills he first set about making the oligarchs pay taxes. This was desperately needed as Russia had defaulted on all its loans and was in economic and financial free fall.

Putin decided on a step by step process. He called all the main oligarchs into the Kremlin for a meeting. It is said they were so cocky in that meeting that they threatened that they would destroy him if he acted against them. Putin perceived that they were scared he’d take from them the money or properties they had gained in the preceding years. In the next meeting he had worked out his step by step strategy. He told them they could keep whatever they had and that he would not act against them… but on two conditions, they would begin to pay taxes and they would not use their fabulous wealth to try to win political power.

Putin’s plan worked and Russia’s fortunes began to improve. Without the kind of threats others might have tried against the oligarchs heralding an all-out war where both sides would lose, Putin had used his well-known qualities of patience and incisive intelligence to create a solution where each side won… and of course his primary concern, that Russia should win.

Over the next many years Putin insisted on each and every department of government, the security sector and the military be imbued with something of his own determination to do the right thing, to act with integrity, to deny the seductions of corruption a victim and along with him work hard for the benefit of all Russia. Right up to today he proffers the benefits of patriotism at every level. As a young man he had joined the KGB with this in mind and now as a middle-aged man his dedication to country and honour was everything to him.

The transformation of Russia is truly something to see. If you wish to compare then and now simply go to YouTube and find the Soviet era film ‘Brat’. It shows just how things were in Russia and in St. Petersburg in the Yeltsin era. And, if you can, find a friend or neighbour who has seen something of modern day Russia. You will be astonished that virtually one man with a mission was responsible. Putin performed an absolutely astonishing, almost magical trick that defies all understanding. But the proof is there if you only look. The spirit of Putin lives and abides there and none of what transpired could have possibly been done without him.

[russianreview]

UKRAINE: KEEP THOSE BLINKERS ON TIGHT AND STRAP YOURSELF IN, A STORM IS BREWING

‘A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind horse.’

What I would portray as an attack on the minds of western populations on the Ukraine war has been two-pronged and has been ongoing since 2014, and even now shows hardly any sign of ending.

1. Reflect nothing positive about the other side. Zero. Report only positive facts if at all possible regarding our side.

2. Maintain blinkers at all times and exercise wishful thinking at every juncture to maintain morale.

From winter 2013 to now this is virtually all I have seen from the western news media and political elites. Neither has any stomach for reflecting actuality. The modus operandi is to keep one side of the equation constantly mind, screen, print-redacted while talking among themselves about how Ukraine, will, is and can win.

The calculation seems to be that it is far better to do this and then only gradually find things have gone awry and Russia is winning/has won, than spoil everyone’s day and damage morale by reflecting how things truly are.

Perhaps those in this ‘war mode’ type of thinking are correct to do things this way. Who likes to hear bad news? Almost no one, especially when there is very, very near nothing you can do to change things. Only a very small minority among us have a burning desire to know the whole truth. They say ignorance is bliss. Well, maybe so. But there is a side to that ignorance which, for the last almost three years, has had consequences that fall very short of being blissful. 

It could be argued that the Ukrainians had a chance at the beginning. While Zelensky and co. had been thoroughly spooked by the surge of Russian troops into Ukraine including very near to the capital and had sent a delegation to engage in peace talks, Boris Johnson arrived in Kiev with a join message from the western powers. That message was that the regime should abandon those peace talks and that if it did so the West would back it with all the financial and military support it would need and provide it all the way to the certain victory it would then win. As we  know, Zelensky took the offer, abandoned the peace talks and proceeded to wage war against Russia confident he had the West’s full backing.

Foolishly in retrospect, Russia had withdrawn its troops from the vicinity of Kiev as a goodwill gesture when peace talks began. Those troops were there only to intimidate Zelensky and co. into fulfilling Ukraine’s obligations as agreed in the UN-ratified Minsk Accords. So, with Zelensky’s team having initialled a working document the Russians decided on this reciprocal gesture. A big mistake as things turned out. It appears that Putin and his closest advisers had not calculated on the western powers caring enough about the Donbass region to be willing to wage war over it. Hadn’t Merkel, Hollande, Macron, Poroshenko and Zelensky all agreed via the Minsk Accords that they were the only peaceful way forward and wasn’t Russia entitled to force the issue when Zelensky, after six years of the process with an agreed, UN-ratified outcome suddenly said he was no longer interested in it?

Anyway, war it was. Not chosen by Russia. Except extremely reluctantly and even then halting within a couple of months to stop and try to agree to peace. Russia never wanted things to turn out this way. The idea was to see the Russian-speaking majority in the Donbass free of the shelling they were under and had, by 2022, been under for eight solid years. Zelensky’s shrug of the shoulders and goodbye to all that regarding the Minsk Accords, so hard won over the previous six plus years, and then a couple of weeks before Russia invaded saying he had a mind to regain Ukraine’s nuclear status, did it for Putin it seems. Having NATO on Russia’s doorstep would be intolerable causing endless disquiet and without doubt campaigns designed to disrupt, destabilise, divide and fragment Russia from close quarters. What do you think Russia saw in the encroachment of NATO, a NATO that relatively recently bombed the hell out of Libya and that during the Cold War had been the Soviet Union’s biggest threat? Not to mention that the Cold War mentality within not only NATO but the entire military-intelligence-political infrastructure of the West could hardly be trusted to have melted away when that war was supposedly over?

But none of the above plays any part in the narratives heard from official sources in the West. Instead we heard the same phrase repeated over and over, “Russia made an unprovoked attack on Ukraine”. Unprovoked? Yeah, right. Putin, the evil Putin, just woke up one morning, mind filled with his latest dream of a resurrected Soviet Union, back in all its glory, immediately reached for a map and focused his demonic eyes on Ukraine. Again, yeah right. But this kind of image works well, as George W. Bush found out after 9/11 in creating a believable, simplistic narrative, “They’re jealous of our freedoms”. How many new Hitlers has this methodology created over the years? You know their names. No need to mention them again here. This while the automatic opposite is conferred on us, the spotless heroes, the guys with the ‘right stuff’, modern day real life honest-to-goodness heroes who wouldn’t normally hurt a fly, believe in democracy, freedom and human rights and never do anything wrong on purpose. Ever.

War Mode

War mode is where you and your allies never do anything wrong and your enemy is constantly doing wrong for totally evil reasons and is so very bad, unrecoverably and irredeemably so that everyone should castigate, oppose him and never have anything whatsoever to do with him. It’s just as the Bible says, good and evil, light and dark, black and white, right and wrong… and nothing in between. This makes things nice and simple for those folks who want an easy answer to settle any confusion and then get right back to being blissfully ignorant. After perhaps giving their blessing to kill all those bad folks and make things better as soon as possible, will you? And oh yes, that Saint Zelensky and those pure as the driven snow Ukrainians, here’s a bunch of my hard-won currency for those poor vulnerable souls who are being cruelly victimised by those barbaric and Hell-bound Russians!

The Consequences

So, TV news, magazines, newspapers and books all tell the same story. Putin and his minions are all evil and here is the (evidence-free) storyline to prove it. Ukraine is winning. The Russian troops are badly trained, badly led, are dying in their thousands daily let down by a diminishing number of shells and artillery. More storylines depict valiant Ukrainian troops pushing the “meat wave” Russian attacks back and look at this burning tank and listen to how it’s all going wrong for the Russians. Except it wasn’t and hasn’t been for a long time now. Yet this can’t be said, remember? In ‘war mode’ you mustn’t mention the enemy’s gains. Keep those blinkers on tight. All is well. As in Afghanistan where reports up the line were always given a positive spin somehow or other… for twenty years or so until the truth could no longer be concealed, and then the panic-driven imperative was just to get the hell out of there.

The consequences for Ukraine of all the wishful thinking, deception, blatant mis- and disinformation, and blatant distortion of reality and war-mode morale-motivating was that ever more Ukrainians (and Russians) would die needlessly. By early 2023 at the very latest it had become clear that neither was the Russian economy imploding nor were its trading partners ostracising it. No Maidan II had taken place to oust the “evil” Putin. In fact his popularity was higher than ever, especially since the war was going well and Russia’s economic growth figures were excellent. At that point, whether it was toward the end of 2022 or sometime in 2023, that was when the western powers had to act to halt their project and deliver the extremely bad news to Zelensky that their calculations had been all wrong and that Russia was clearly NOT going to be beaten, no matter what they did now. But no, that was an uncomfortable thought. Anathema. Better to double down and hope something unexpected turns up. That unexpected thing never did turn up, no matter what “game changing” weapon they provided and no matter how many billions were provided.

So, the dying has gone on, the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands, the horrendous injury to many more. Without anything approaching real hope or realistic expectations. In Ukraine quite old men were sent, hardly trained to die as cannon-fodder on the front lines. Even in at least one case a young man with Down Syndrome. Women also have not been spared. And in recent times medics, pilots and air defence technicians. For a good six months Zelensky’s thugs in uniform have been dragging people bodily off the streets to be dragooned into the army given a few weeks training then sent to their deaths. (No son or daughter of the wealthier, or more elite members of western Ukraine society can be seen at the front, a point that has begun to rankle among those who have been.) Desertions are becoming ever more frequent and who can blame them? It’s not so easy, nor is it at all a guaranteed route back to family and friends. Death squads whose task is to capture and shoot such people and indeed those who refuse orders, even if those orders are suicidal, are never far away. These are composed of the ultrnationalists, often bearing swastika tattoos. No excuses are accepted by such as those.

War is a racket as Smedley D. Butler said and wrote. And never was there such an unconscionably callous, cynical and dishonest racket as this one. Western populations were treated to ‘The Mushroom Syndrome’ (Kept in the dark and fed a load of shit.) and a Ukrainian population treated as sheep to the slaughter… all for the sake of what? The unrelenting ambition of the western powers to remain top dogs and do whatever they deemed necessary to undermine those who might rival them in terms of power and influence. The full horror of what has happened and that is continuing to happen will not dawn on western populations for a while yet. But that day is coming. Nothing now can stop it. But meanwhile the mushrooms will continue to be fed in their dark domain. Even while Saint Zelensky behinds to lose his sheen and shows evidence of tarnish here and there, even when seen through Ukrainian eyes. The day of revelation is coming. Its arrival is certain. But the blissfully ignorant needn’t worry too much. A story of Ukrainian winning and saving Europe from Russia by preserving Ukraine will be spun, even when Russia never had the ambition of taking anything more than Crimea at first and even after, a few Russian-speaking regions of the east. But that WILL be the story. The Russians were defeated. They were unable to take the whole of Ukraine for themselves. We won. Zelensky won. The West won. Even Biden won. Ukraine survived. All is well.

We have made it safe for you to go back to your blissful sleep.

Goodnight and sleep well… while you can.

[russianreview]

TRUMP IS NOT AGAINST WAR PER SE, IT’S ONLY EXPENSIVE WARS HE DOESN’T LIKE

What is it called when you pursue a policy where you actively aim to weaken, subvert, undermine or achieve regime change in another nation if not 'war'?

Trump would like the Ukraine war to come to an end. Not due to his remorse concerning lives lost, solely due to the cost to the USA of that war which shows no sign of ending. He is, as we used to say in the Sixties, a Breadhead. He thinks in terms of the bottom line, of dollars and cents gained or spent. He sees that the Ukraine war is being lost but that the Europeans are determined to see it continue. If the Europeans get their way the U.S. cannot help but contribute still more billions to the Ukrainians. To leave the Europeans high and dry and having to carry the entire burden of continuing the war would bring significant risk to Trump’s reputation and the USA’s standing and interests in Europe. So, he wants to end this war.

Trump wants to end the war in Ukraine so he can concentrate on the other wars he has chiefly in mind, the economic war against China and Israel’s hot war against Iran. These two wars he finds very worth his time and some finance supporting. His cabinet is currently being filled with anti-China, anti-Iran and pro-Israel warmongers. If you thought Trump was anti-war per se you could not be more wrong. As well as the wars of various kinds against China and Iran you can add the war against Venezuela which he will undoubtedly pick up on again along with his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, one of the main regime change wannabes against Venezuela along with John Bolton in Trump’s previous term.

The Ukraine war has been massively expensive for the U.S. government even while it has been massively profitable for the USA’s military industrial complex. However, with a national debt just about to touch $36 trillion Trump can hardly afford to keep shelling out just for the sake of the burgeoning bank accounts of America’s merchants of death. He needs to do something for the folks at home who voted for him, those who have been suffering price hikes that have squeezed them hard for the last four years. He wants to spend money at home and improve things there, even if the Neocons who still hold major sway within the deep state still see foreign policy interference worldwide as a far higher priority. Having said this, just like last time, Trump has tapped Neocons like Rubio for some of the most important positions in his upcoming administration.

If Trump manages to cajole, threaten, wheedle, argue or bribe the two warring parties in Ukraine into having negotiations and this, just possibly (he hopes) leading to at least a temporary ceasefire, the conditions may then be set for a more favourable way to end U.S. payments to Ukraine. He surely can’t possibly believe his boasts about ending the war completely. Anyone who knows the fundamentals of how each of the sides sees this prospect in the most negative of terms sees how unobtainable this is in anything approaching the short term. Russia cannot afford to allow the regime in Kiev to rearm and bolster its fortifications readying itself for another counteroffensive. The Ukrainians cannot allow any suggestion that what they maintain to still be territory belonging to them be acknowledged to be Russian. No matter what Trump says, be it composed of threats or bribes, he can’t square this circle and at best can only hope for some modification of the circumstances that lets him off the hook regarding the constant draining away of U.S. finances.

Trump is desperate to help Israel pursue its genocidal policies against the Palestinians.He and his team will provide Israel with 100% support across all issues, no matter what new atrocities they commit. Likewise he and his team are lusting to hit Iran hard in whatever way short of outright war they can manage. This without doubt will be done via their unanimous and unending support of the Netanyahu regime in Jerusalem. Iran will be hit by every possible sanction the USA and its allies can through at it. On China the Trump policy of setting tariffs and bans on Chinese good, continued by Biden, will, without doubt, be ramped up to further heights while using semantic doublespeak with the Chinese over Taiwan. Trump will leverage the pressure on the Chinese regarding Taiwan to ever higher levels. Trump is very likely to use rhetoric against China that comes as close as he dares to instigating outright hostilities, but not quite. He will certainty wage economic war against China, that cannot possibly be in doubt.

Anyone who believed Trump would bring peace, sweetness and light, universal understanding and tolerance to the world and, who knows,  acknowledge the USA’s place as just another nation among many seeking to get by in a multipolar world will have their hopes dashed big time. No. ‘America First’ remains Trump’s aim. First and foremost, “democratic” dictator, global police force and ultimate arbiter of what should be, and what shouldn’t. Trump will not deviate from the external U.S. policy of protecting its interests and suborning all other nations to its will to do so. The sovereignty of others will continue to bow to the security and national interests of the USA under Trump, just as it has been for every U.S. administration in living memory. Whether you call what Trump and the USA does to others in order to achieve this ‘war’ or not… that is, if we are being completely honest about it, exactly what it is. 

[russianreview]

NO MORE MINSK BETRAYALS - NO CEASEFIRE - ONWARD TO VICTORY!

Trump will insist on trying to end the Ukraine war but will fail. This war must not end in anything but a total Russian victory. Nothing less will do in order to ensure Russia's future security.

It appears certain that ‘for show’ peace negotiations will begin between Ukrainian and Russian representatives within the next several months. Trump needs these to start for reasons such as his standing re. presidential campaign promises made. Ukraine and Russia, for public relations reasons and due to Trump pressure will agree to take part. Under no circumstances however should Russia agree to a ceasefire, the reason being that this would allow the Ukrainian military to regroup and rearm as well as reinforce its fortifications. 

Putin’s willingness to be reasonable was abused for years while he became enmeshed in a fruitless charade in Minsk. Betrayed by Merkel, Hollande and Poroshenko initially and later also by Macron and Zelensky, Putin must ensure no more such tricks are played. No matter how much he may desire peace and an end to this conflict he knows he cannot afford to put the security of Russia and of the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass at risk. To allow the western powers in combination with the Ukrainian regime to freeze the conflict would risk just that.

I suspect that both Ukrainian and Russian delegations at such a peace negotiation would be play-acting. I do not believe either side sees a stable and lasting peace being within reach as things stand currently. But to pacify their allies both must make a show of appearing to be engaged in delivering this impossible outcome. Meanwhile the war will continue with Russia continuing to win using the same slow-grinding attritional tactics as before though increasingly speeded through further collapses in Ukrainian troop morale, desertions and the taking of vital locations allowing faster advance.

Russia needs to take the fight all the way to the Dnieper River to ensure the maximum security of Russia as it will then stand, all the way from the eastern bank of the Dnieper to the most easterly town in Russia, Anadyr. I believe Putin and the Russian higher command know this now, and have for some time, ever since it became clear that the Kiev regime and its western sponsors had no intention of coming to a peaceful settlement but were determined to use the situation as a means to undermine and sufficiently weaken Russia to then break her apart. There is precisely nothing to be gained and everything to lose for Russia in freezing things as they stand now. It would only result in a permanent state of danger for Russia.

If a ceasefire was agreed before, during or after negotiations between the sides we would see an immediate influx of NATO troops greatly boosting the regime’s armed forces. Every opportunity would be taken to deliver and position NATO weaponry also. Every advantageous option would be maximised to thwart Russia’s required goal of reaching the Dnieper. The theatre of upcoming pseudo negotiations will be played in similar style as those which concluded in Istanbul just a few short months after Russia’s operation in Ukraine began. It is very likely that it will once again be the Ukrainians who break them off. Finding some fraudulent justification for this will not be a problem and western news media and political elites will mirror whatever Kiev says. At that point Trump will have to cook up some excuse of his own which he too will not find too onerous. 

With the spurious “peace negotiations” out of the way all parties will resume their various strategies. The war, having continued throughout the farcical negotiations, will sooner or later bring about total collapse in Ukrainian military morale with almost every major Ukrainian-held city in the Donbass having been liberated. Russia, having broken through Ukraine’s fortification line in southern Donbass, will move speedily forward through the land beyond to finally arrive at the Dnieper. Shortly thereafter, even if Slavyansk (Sloviansk) and Kramatorsk have not yet been fully liberated, they will then quickly fall to Russia. Only Kiev will remain as a subject of negotiations to be held once a new president and government have been elected in what remains of Ukraine.

There must be no more debilitating delays initiated by untrustworthy Kiev regime or western sources. Nothing of this kind should be agreed to by Russia and not in Putin’s wildest dreams contemplated. Russia has been subject to enough abuse on this score. The war must continue no matter what ersatz diplomacy seems to be at play. Pretend negotiations? Fine. But never, under ANY circumstances must there be a ceasefire. Russia must hold firm to the task at hand, crush the enemy day on day until the Dnieper is reached and all land then held secured and made impregnable to attack. At that point Trump can say whatever he likes, it will have been Russia that ended the war. Then, with all taken and secured Russian troops right across the entire Russian Federation can proudly roar… “VICTORY IS OURS!”

[russianreview]

WHAT ARE RUSSIA’S GOALS IN UKRAINE & WHAT ARE NOT?

The media war accompanying Russia's invasion of Ukraine along w/ western politicians entering 'war mode' where words are used as weapons rather than to enlighten, has had highly negative consequences.

The war of words that came with the crisis in Ukraine have obscured more than they have revealed and I believe the evidence is that they have helped in extending this war and its casualties while constantly pushing back the time when peace negotiations could begin. This has resulted in an almost endless tragedy for Ukraine and the families on both sides who have lost loved ones who may not have died if the war of words had not been so fierce.

There has been a constant unwillingness by western news media and political spheres to honestly state the facts on both sides of this conflict and this since it began in 2014 with the Maidan insurrection. Brave men and women have died as a direct consequence of this unwillingness, an unwillingness that continues until today, though signs do now exist that a greater willingness to confront reality is at last emerging.

The crucial factor that lies at the heart of the issue described above is that of the conflict between rhetoric and reality which has had the effect, via the western news media and general political milieu concerning the war that has directly contributed to its prolongation. This factor is complemented, and to a degree explained, by yet another factor, the constant transmission of uninspected conclusions vs. known facts. 

One of the main uninspected conclusions around which much rhetoric is based is that Russia wishes to take all of Ukraine, thereby totally eliminating it as a state.

The notion that Russia wants to ‘eliminate’ Ukraine cannot be substantiated by anything the inspection of the historical record of the conflict shows us.

This conclusion, that Russia has the intention to totally eliminate the nation known as Ukraine is based upon suppositions largely based upon long-term Ukrainian rhetoric reflected within news media and political statements in the West.

If we look at the known facts that dispute this contention of Russia’s desire to eliminate Ukraine entirely they are these:

Russia worked within the Minsk process for over six years, a process whose goal was to maintain the Donbass region within Ukraine but with enough autonomy to guarantee the security of the Russian-speaking majority and their culture of choice.

Russia chose to engage in talks with the Ukrainians very soon after its invasion of Ukraine. As far as we know from an official Ukrainian source who attended the Minsk and Istanbul negotiations his team was surprised at the modesty of Russian demands, they sought a conclusion that would deliver Ukraine agreeing to remain outside the NATO alliance and little else. All other factors regarding Crimea and the two republics of Donetsk and Luhansk were to be negotiated by the respective leaders of each nation at a later date.

Russia’s initial goals for its operation in Ukraine were made clear right at its start:

a. Ukraine never to join NATO. b. The demilitarisation of Ukraine (max. 30,000 troops.) c. The denazification of Ukraine. d. Winning the future security of the Russian-speaking majority in the Donbass.

There was no goal that Ukraine was to be eliminated. Those who have come to this conclusion arrive at it through supposition only. It was certainly not a goal stated by any Russian authority. To call it a ‘maximalist’ goal is clearly an assertion based on factors other than observable evidence. It is at worst sloppy thinking and should not have any place in any truly reasoned analysis. The most likely source of such a conclusion lies in the general thrust of Ukrainian and western propaganda, not in any evidential factor.

In relation to point 4. above, Professor John J. Mearsheimer, expert in ‘Great Power Politics’ has, since 2016 talked of one major consequence of the push to have Ukraine join NATO, that being the destruction of Ukraine by Russia. This, he points out, is a likely consequence of Russia’s reaction to what it sees as the existential threat to it of NATO’s approach. However, points 1 and 2 above show that Russia’s intent for its operation was minimalist in nature. This is shown by several areas of fact:

The Minsk Process

Russia attempted to avoid conflict for at least six entire years and even after its invasion it sought to draw it to an early conclusion. With its intentions on both occasions clearly thwarted it is clear it had no other feasible choice but to continue its operation up to the point where the Ukrainians agreed to once again agree to negotiations with a view to ending the war.

Negotiations Immediately After Russia’s Operation Began

As spoken of in point 2. above Russia chose to engage the Ukrainians in peace negotiations soon after its invasion, first in Minsk then later in Istanbul. The modesty of its demands surprised the Ukrainian delegation according to one of its leading negotiators, this primarily being that Ukraine give up its aim to join NATO. Almost all else was to be negotiated between the two leaders at a later date.

Russia Constantly Playing Catch-up

It should be clear to all that Russia was in catch-up mode for almost the entire period of its operation, the intent of which I would argue is clearly merely to have the Ukrainians return to the negotiating table. Over time, as it became clear to all and sundry that the Ukrainians, in combination with the western powers, had committed to fight to the maximum of their combined potential, only then did Russia begin to slowly and incrementally enlarge its forces and the scope of their battle plans. 

Apart from all of the above it is inconceivable that Russia would want to take on itself the onerous task of governing the Ukrainian-speaking people of western Ukraine. By occupying the entirety of Ukraine (required for the elimination of the nation known as Ukraine) the Russian authorities know what kind of Pandora’s Box of horrors that would entail.

The evidence of our eyes and knowledge of events on the ground shows us that there was never a Russian goal to ‘eliminate’ Ukraine as a nation by occupying it in its entirety. At the very least it is clear that Russia certainly did not start this war with any conception that they could ‘eliminate’ Ukraine. If this was its desire it came extremely badly prepared to do this. A relatively small force went into Ukraine initially, it appears with the direct goal of intimidating the Ukrainian leadership to return to the negotiating table. Only when it became abundantly clear that this was not going to happen and that the West was now seeking to actively undermine Russia through the agency of Ukraine did Russia begin building its forces and even now is not anywhere near the size that would be required to occupy Ukraine completely in order to ‘eliminate’ it. This idea should be completely removed from all discourse and analysis on the subject in my view. 

Russia’s intent and the limits to that intent ought to be crystal clear and surely are for those with eyes to see. Those however, who remain committed to the project of undermining Russia through the agency of Ukraine will, without doubt, continue to try to muddy the waters of discourse through the use of distortions of reality. It appears that despite every indicator that their policy in Ukraine has utterly failed they will continue to do this to the bitter end and beyond. Such is the neocon mindset and such thereby is much of the essence that is the tragedy of Ukraine, a nation driven to virtual destruction through the blind ambition of non-Ukrainians determined to use them for their own geopolitical gain.

[russianreview]

THE WORLD WILL BE A SAFER PLACE WITH TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Talking only to friends, agreeing ever-more aggressive acts while shunning dialogue with those you consider adversaries or enemies, brings us all to a very dead end. Thankfully those years are over.

There is no chance whatever that this second Trump presidency will be an unmitigated blessing. However, amidst what will certainly be the same old insistence on making the USA dominant globally, there is one very hopeful sign that marks an enormous divergence from the Biden presidency. Trump clearly intends (as he did last time also) to open dialogue with others that were completely shunned over the last four years.

Trump will certainly engage Vladimir Putin in talks before too much longer. A report by the Washington Post today, 11th November 2024 that a phone call between the two men has already occurred has been criticised as never having happened by the Russian presidents press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. But sometime between now and Trump reentering the White House such a conversation is bound to take place.

As Winston Churchill famously said, “Better to jaw-jaw than war-war.” The last few years under Biden were arguably the most dangerous for humanity since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and in several significant ways worse than that extremely tense crisis. It was resolved through a channel of communication being opened between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. A deal was made that dissolved the tension that had reached fever pitch with the U.S. Chief’s of Staff urging Kennedy to target Cuba with missiles. In the end Khrushchev agreed to remove the Soviet Union’s missiles from Cuba if the USA removed its missiles situated in Turkey aimed at them. Kennedy agreed though the deal was that he would not announce this at the time but wait many months before doing so, to mitigate criticism of himself for agreeing to this.

We must be very glad and relieved that Trump is not a neocon. Even his fiercest critics will admit that though he did occasionally green light violent attacks (missiles fired into Syria and the killing of Soleimani of Iran) he did not start any new wars. His record on Ukraine cannot be said to be clean however. His predecessor, Barack Obama had refused the request of the Kiev regime that he send them lethal weaponry. When Trump entered the White House he quickly authorised these weapons to be provided. He is therefore quite obviously responsible for the deaths of many Russian troops who might otherwise have survived.

Still and all, we have entered a new and far safer phase of world history with Trump. Every last one of us ought to feel a sense of relief. The landslide victory Trump achieved over Kamala Harris shows the vast majority of Americans will certainly now be relieved also. The threat of a nuclear war between the United States and Russia is no more and there is now every prospect of an end to the Ukraine war, even if it is not achieved over a 24 hour period as Trump has bragged. The world is a far safer place now and will stay that way just as long as Trump does not make the same mistake as last time of tapping neoconservative war hawks for top positions in his coming administration.

How different from the Biden administration where from the top down there was a neocon dominance that threatened each and every one of us and demanded the juggernaut of war only speed on forever with zero dialogue between the warring sides.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Published 29th July 2020:

FROM DETENTE TO PERMANENT DIVISION

Who gains from a world divided into warring camps? Who would want such a thing with all its attendant dangers? Surely no one truly sane.

What happened to our world?

Only a few decades ago it seemed that significant differences had been reconciled and that we had learned to work together for the common good. Where did that vision, that hope, that fervent desire for the good of all go?

Why, after such a watershed moment, are we where we are now?

It cannot be any one factor as geopolitical changes of these magnitudes are inherently complex. But it cannot be denied that we are in a far more fear-ridden, accusatory and aggression-laden place than we were in recent memory. Why?

The Factors Denying Tolerance and any Hope for Future Peace:

That Fateful Day - 9/11

It is too simplistic to say 9/11 made all the difference but the events of that day certainly created waves of change that we still feel today and which show no sign of breaking to leave a new space for something more healing and unifying.

The Theater of Economic Warfare

Every nation is doing what it can to increase its economic growth. Many nations have little to play with, are poor and will doubtless remain poor. But others are making steady progress and whereas before they were extremely reliant upon western goods and services this is changing. The main change however has been the economic rise and rise of China with its command form of governance whereby many areas of potential red tape and planning restrictions simply do not exist. It can move quickly and, using huge cash resources it can plan for and initiate huge projects in prime industries and infrastructure to guarantee future success. This has come to a point where in the near future China will overtake the western world and the USA as the world’s primary economic driving force.

The Administrative Pushback Against Peace

An extremely large proportion of monetary and material resources are claimed by the intelligence, security and military echelons. Vast numbers of extremely well paid individuals depend upon continuing high levels of threat to maintain their jobs, status and career structures going forward. A coming together of nations to face the monumental challenges of humankind in years to come in an atmosphere of cooperation, compromise and peaceful coexistence endangers every aspect of their livelihoods. In addition it endangers the future income of those who own corporations within each nation’s military industrial complex. It cannot be a coincidence that the generation of fear has become an industry in and of itself... though those within that industry will claim they have no thought of self-interest.

Political Expediency, Elite Protection and Self-Interest

Politicians in the USA require funding. This funding comes mostly from U.S. corporations, many of them high fliers on Wall Street within the Banking, Pharmaceutical and Defense industries. There is an incestuous relationship within Washington between these corporations, their lobbyists and both the permanent and transient elites within the U.S. governance establishment. The people of North America are largely left out of the equation due to having undefinable wishes in anything like certain terms. Both major parties pay lip service to what they think the U.S. population wants by majority but they know with a great deal of certainty what corporations and their lobbyists want. And, due to their financial symbiosis with those corporations it is in their self-interest to provide it while putting on a certain show for the general public based on their guess about the majority view.

Mass Media and its Self-Inflicted Limitations

The bought media, i.e. that which is owned by corporations and billionaires has a vested interest in keeping its owners happy. The censorship applied is self-censorship and will hardly ever be vocalized, it needn’t be... it is in the air, it is taken for granted. Certain myths, attitudes, beliefs and narratives are subsumed within its central ethos and the milieu within which the staffs of its organizations reside. True journalism is almost never seen due to the restrictions of the subconscious and barely conscious group thought agreement that exists within these entities. Almost no attention of any geopolitical nature is directed inward, only outward. Therefore, the controversies must be found overseas where geopolitics is concerned and so the inclination builds inexorably to find objections to other nations generating fears to fever pitch while the home team stays pure as driven snow in relation to its geopolitical intent.

The Self-Serving Inclinations of Intelligence Agencies

Due to the secrecy at the very heart and nature of their industry entities such as the CIA and MI6 have enormous power. To manipulate information that only increases their value, status and continuing expansion is child’s play for them. They can hardly be gainsaid as only they have the access required and all others have extremely limited oversight into any aspect of their structure, methods and data-gathering function or the analysis which filters it. What is known and known without any doubt is that the creation of lies (misinformation, propaganda, psychological operation narratives) are a primary part of any intelligence agency’s day to day work. All empires seek to maintain themselves. The empire of each intelligence agency is no different.

The Might of the Military Industrial Complex

Eisenhower was brave enough to speak his mind about the M.I.C. as he left office. No doubt while in office he found it impossible to do so and it is interesting to speculate on why not. The M.I.C. is hugely powerful. It employs hundreds of thousands and generates vast wealth for what must be a sizeable number of others. It’s highest ranking individuals are often given equally high positions within consecutive U.S. administrations. Its donations to politicians are the most reliable along with the banks and pharmaceutical companies of the USA. The M.I.C. is an integral part of the deepest structure of the U.S. state and what it wants would be extremely hard to resist if any politician wished to maintain his or her position, career path and hopes of still higher office. The M.I.C. needs war and the threat of war like any company selling a product. Both desire an ever-greater number of customers imbued with the unassailable conviction that the products on offer are a must-have accessory to life without which they would be subject to a mournful longing tinged with an abiding fear. The M.I.C. knows exactly how to ensure their products are always in demand. Along with all others above it generates the ever abiding fear of enemies and there must always be enemies. If not real, then imagined.

All of the factors above combine and conjoin to create the self-serving fear matrix that keeps all of its diverse individuals and entities cruising along in their upwardly mobile status, all working toward the same end of goal of self-interest above all else. It is exceedingly effective in this. From the Oval Office to the office of the lowliest clerical officer in Raytheon the self-serving, thoroughly cynical fear industry continues to thrive 24/7, all the while smoothed over with a facade of rectitude and patriotic myth duly channeled subliminally by its political and mass media mouthpieces.

[russianreview]

HOW TRUTHFUL IS PUTIN & WHAT IS RUSSIA’S INTENT REGARDING A MULTIPOLAR WORLD?

The crimes western MSM/politicians have attributed to Vladimir Putin have been legion. LIke other such targets he has been portrayed as 'evil incarnate'. But might all this be false?

The appropriate cynicism regarding geopolitical maneuvering in general causes many to read nefarious motives into Putin's words. Of course in regard to politicians in general, 95% of the time those who red and analyze politicians’ words are right to do so. However it is my belief that Putin is sincere and that his words can be taken at face value rather than looking for some negative intent behind them in regard to the West. Many would laugh in scorn at these words and say no politician alive now or who has ever lived has attempted to deliver his or her views with honest accuracy. I beg to disagree in the case of Putin while admitting this viewpoint to otherwise have great merit, and an observable fact that we have all seen demonstrated time and again in those who practice economy with the truth in their practice of the political arts.

Putin could hardly have gone further in showing his wished for relationship with the West ever since becoming Russian president in 2000. He retained his wish to have western leaders as "partners" (as he regularly called them) right up to very recently. Asking if Russia could join NATO, and the EU, agreeing to the 6-7 years of negotiations to see if peace and reconciliation of forces could be achieved in Ukraine, then agreeing negotiations with the Kiev regime to end the conflict that escalated in February of 2022. He sought also, prior to engaging with the Kiev regime militarily, to start negotiations with the West on agreeing a new security architecture for Europe including the Russian Federation. What more could Putin have done. And he is STILL saying much the same now, despite the entire war essentially waging war against Russia both militarily and economically.

So, I do not think Putin's consistent stance warrants the cynicism you apply to it Matthew. This goes for the Northern Sea Route ambitions also. Russia's approach is entirely consistent with China's both in the Arctic and in Africa, and what's more, if allowed, in Europe and toward the USA. The stance consists in being for expanded trade and development in concordance with tolerance toward diverse forms of government, accepting the world as is, as it is, rather than with the attitude exemplified by the USA and UK/EU that they have moral and ethical supremacy and others much conform to them before any relationship of a fundamental nature can be embarked upon. This is a foundational issue for the development of a multipolar world wherein BRICS comprises the main source of seedcorn for the project. A world where pragmatism will allow development and trade bringing (it is trusted) into being increases in beneficial areas of life. These beneficial areas of life (various freedoms, human rights observance, even a greater degree of democracy) that the USA and its allies seek to bring about by various acts of coercion, including governmental subversion and societal fracturing of those nations even including at times, outright war.

It is easy to be cynical about these matters, especially when parochial, wholly self-interested concerns appear to be at stake. A state of tribalism where 100% selfish motivations; personal and state interests; along with various mythologies concerning civilization, democracy, freedom, ‘western values’, exceptionalism, manifest destiny, religious beliefs and general, overall superiority combine with national interests then an adversarial stance becomes inevitable. At this point all statements voiced by those in nations outwish, or moving outwith, your area of control, are perceived as threats. Thus it is, in the current, tribal, ‘war mode’ of the western elites, desperate to retain their traditional dominance and to increase to total dominance due to what they perceive as an existential threat to them, Putin’s words will fall on completely deaf ears.

Only the continued rise of nations outwith western control will ameliorate the tribal stance of western political elites, however, not through their gaining a true or complete understanding of the motivations of the nations they have fought, but through an epiphany relating to the point at which their goal of global dominance in perpetuity is recognized as utterly and completely defeated and hopeless. At that point I believe the gradual awareness will grow among the western powers of the genuine intent of Putin and those working with him (within BRICS, SCO et al) to in fact, not merely in words or with hidden intent, create a truly civilized world. A world where tolerance of diverse systems of governance enables a reliable continuance of trade and cooperation bringing in turn greater understanding underpinning stability necessary for development where greater levels of global peace can be established. These are the benefits that humanity needs and has striven for, but hindered by the tribal attitudes. Now a dedicated effort is being made to rise above such attitudes by the creation of a truly multipolar world.

[russianreview]

THE CHALLENGE TRUMP WILL FACE FROM THE DEEP STATE

The view of most people is that a U.S. president has immense power. However, there are others who are more powerful still and they are never required to face election or reelection. They are chosen.

For all the PR, hype, spin, blood, sweat, tears and vast amounts of cash that a presidential campaign requires you might think that whoever gains that position at such expense would wield immense power. Yet unelected officials, those who are chosen rather than voted for, are more powerful still. These ever-present individuals, in one form or another comprise what in the USA is often referred to as ‘The Blob’, the foreign policy establishment. Otherwise known as #The Deep State’.

‘The Blob, slang for a largely interventionist policy stance that dominates the foreign policy of the United States'.’

- Wikipedia

It is impossible to overestimate the power of ‘The Blob’/’Deep State’. It’s influence was seen throughout Donald Trump’s first term of office as president and it will most certainly be seen in his second. You will recall how apparently all seventeen U.S. intelligence agencies clubbed together to lie about Trump’s connections to Russia. This is a prime example of the power of ‘The Blob#/’Deep State’.

Can Trump beat ‘The Blob’ this time? Did he learn all the lessons required this time around from his last, extremely painful, four years in which his foreign policy intentions were stymied time after time and during which he was harried from pillar to post in an effort to nullify everything he stood for in the field of foreign policy? What odds would a bookmaker give on him being able to achieve that? Without doubt they would be extremely long odds indeed. These people have been playing this “game” consistently for a VERY long time and have it sewn up to a remarkable extent. Donald Trump is going to have his work cut out for him in any attempt to stand up to them successfully to any degree.

At least last time he started no new wars. Will he manage this trick once again? The neocons who have been FULLY in charge of ‘The Blob’/’Deep State’ since 9/11 and had partial charge of it since the time of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The people who comprise ‘The Blob’/’Deep State’ believe in their foreign policy goals as if they were religious commands from God Himself.. They would no sooner abandon them, or let anyone interfere with them, than they would allow their children to be murdered. They believe these goals are unquestionably existential and no one and nothing will be allowed by them to weaken them in any way. Not if they can help it. And most of the time they can.

What are these goals? Why are they so important to these people, and why will they act without any moral or ethical scruples, to protect them at all costs? For them this is war, a war they wage with every fibre of their being, a war they are convinced they MUST win.

First posted in 2016. Revised and updated 30th April 2020:

WORLD WAR III: THE END GAME WAR

What are U.S. and UK elites seeking to gain through a diplomacy-free policy toward China, Russia and their allies?

What is the ultimate goal?

Where is their constant bellicosity leading?

What is the end game we are facing?

For just over two decades now a war has been waged in full view but totally unannounced.

It was never once declared but it is real enough. Many have been surprised at its ferocity & the fact that no diplomacy took place or was ever called for by the side waging it.

This unannounced, undeclared war has been fought not only by the US & European politicians. It has been fought also by the entirety of western mass media. These three powerful elites have fought side by side for twenty years against their primary targets, China and all her allies including Russia.

Western elites are in a relentless pursuit of multiple regime change targets to avoid their global patrician dominance being eclipsed by China and her allies.

The goal of the war far exceeds damaging/destroying China and Russia however. It has a far more ambitious goal than even this.

The goal is global U.S. and western elite control.

The USA won't stand alone at the apex of a new, controlled world. Its primary ally Britain will be there also, bowing low & taking commands as usual. The USA’s other allies will take somewhat lesser positions.

The rest of us?

We will be supervised VERY closely.

In the end game war there are to be no loose ends. No unaccounted for communications. All MUST be visible, known, supervised & certified safe within a milieu of full spectrum dominance by the USA and its allies.

If there is any gap in this dominance over all others it will be flagged for attention. The level of response will be applied rigorously.

9/11 bored deep into the traumatized skulls of all those who would enslave us, increasing an already existing demand that the world bow before U.S. elites.

The war against those not in full compliance with U.S. wishes has been ongoing since the events of 9/11 took place.

However, it was only in 2007 that the present level of urgency was felt & first seen via the initiation of persistent & ever-growing attacks by mass media on Vladimir Putin.

Ultimately the plan is to have everyone monitored 24/7. GPS positioning of the entire human race by satellite.

The USA has had a messianic desire to teach the world how good it is & urge its systems upon it almost since it was founded. A sense of superiority prevailed for various reasons & as time passed the sense of being exceptional rose to its present peak.

The western world is already monitored to a high degree.

It began with CCTV, continued with personal detail collection. It surged forward via the internet and the mobile phone. Now with seamless systems collecting each call, text, email with location visited, purchase made & so much more. Big data grows bigger daily.

Before 9/11 it appeared that the majority in the USA had more or less accepted the world as it was. The feeling of superiority continued, though the desire to transform the world in its image abated somewhat, assuaged by the "successful" conclusion of the Cold War.

9/11 changed EVERYTHING.

It's true Neocons existed before 9/11 along with their concept of overall US superiority & their goal & determination to ensure ultimate US control in perpetuity. However, it took 9/11 to make the crucial difference between a plan & action.

In the days after 9/11 it was agreed at the highest possible level that there could be no more ignoring potential threats.

Each statement indicating a less than positive view of the USA & US foreign policy was to be noted for present & ongoing future attention.

In those meetings after 9/11 it was decided that every single negative factor seen anywhere worldwide, any individual in authority & any government deigning to express negativity toward the U.S.A. was to be a target for undermining & eventual elimination.

There were to be no exceptions.

No targets too small, or too large. Meticulously detailed files were to be scrupulously kept. Programs of demonization & destabilization were to be carefully planned & executed. The 9/11 security project was to have highest priority.

Trump is a willing and highly amoral agent of the permanent U.S. state that holds these policies to be sacrosanct. He is Machiavellian to put it mildly. He knows little about geopolitics, it’s true. But what he knows a LOT about is survival. Trump is cunning. He knows from experience which people can protect him & help him and which he must attack and undermine. As a socialized psychopath/sociopath he is utterly ruthless on both counts. It is no accident he is surrounded by religious freaks and Neocons.

In any case Trump has no choice. The 9/11 protocols are set in stone till the day full spectrum dominance dawns. No president can alter them. They are sacrosanct, untouchable, immutable, inviolate. The backdrop to his slogan, ‘America First’ is the ultimate end game, the determination to make the USA the permanent global hegemon in an equally permanent unipolar world.

The phrase 'Full Spectrum Dominance' provides the key to the ultimate goal being pursued.

9/11 showed US elites they MUST have this level of control to ever feel secure again. It was imperative that not one single entity voicing negativity toward the U.S. remained.

Full Spectrum Dominance demands that ALL sources of power anywhere across the world be subject to US preeminence.

Every area of potential risk for the U.S. is required to be under its full control via deep & broad levels of surveillance & the ability to nullify all adverse entities quickly.

One of the first areas to come under the Full Spectrum Dominance umbrella was western mass media.

Its power to influence a majority of Americans & Europeans was & is enormous. It is a vital asset to smooth the path of the many regime change targets planned for. ‘Operation Mockingbird’, the CIA op to control U.S. and international media and to make it reflect U.S. state narratives is more active now than ever.

Manufacturing consent for U.S. aggression toward the rest of the world has become an industry.

The closest parallels are with public relations & propaganda. To achieve global domination with all it entails the masses have to be well groomed to demonstrate compliance.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya & Syria were only the first few of a longer list of nations. Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Somalia still await their full preliminary weakening and ultimate regime change fate.

All operations are ongoing simultaneously at different levels and stages. These operations are progressing consecutively in tandem as circumstances allow. The ultimate target is China however as it, far more than any other nation, presents the greatest challenge to U.S. and western elite hegemony.

Trump’s signaling that space is to be incorporated into global U.S. dominance will not have originated with him. He can hardly tie his geopolitical bootlaces. This has been part of the plan from day one.

The dominance planned for will be TOTAL if it is accomplished.

And for the U.S. and western elites this is a necessity which brooks no compromise. There will be no diplomacy, nothing which hinders the process. No barrier is to be countenanced, not even a worldwide pandemic. Sanctions and other means of financial terrorism are to be ongoing, even increased.

There is to be no mercy. For these elites are too high for any such considerations. In fact any pain suffered by China, Russia or any of their allies is to be enhanced by every means possible.

You see the power junkies are losing their fix. Western patrician dominance is centuries old. They can’t live without it.

The cold turkey involved would utterly destroy them. They know this.

Therefore they are determined to destroy whoever they need to, to avoid it.

[russianreview]

WILL DONALD TRUMP SUCCEED IN ENDING THE UKRAINE WAR AS HE BOASTED?

The Donald will need all the luck in the world & a great deal of savvy to make a difference. He has used charm in the past, but charm alone is unlikely to be effective. Will threats do the trick?

In geopolitics things rarely move along straight lines. Those who expect to be able to predict this or that national leader are likely to be disappointed. The election of Donald J. Trump is being welcomed by some on erroneous grounds on the belief that he will be predictable in supporting their way of thinking and forwarding their desires. Of course it may work out that way more than it does not but no one should fal for the idea that this will occur. Donald Trump is unpredictable other than on one single point. He will, at any particular moment, do what he perceives as benefiting both the United States of America and, also important this, himself.

Some believe he will shut the war in Ukraine down, almost immediately as he has sworn too. However, the word is currently that he intends, at least initially, to take a diametrically opposite path and commit further billions to a surge. This makes sense for him if not the USA as it gives him some political cover. After supplying the Kiev regime with a last, enormous weapons package he can, with some conviction, say that he went the extra mile for Ukraine, that this last enormous effort to “save” the country failed. He can say the USA (and he) did everything humanly possible… but it failed. The failure will eventually then be explained, after a shortish delay, to be the fault of Zelensky and his people.

After the big PR push/surge Trump will call upon Zelensky to face the fact of defeat, that the USA and its allies did all they could but due to whatever excuses they can find other than Russia’s military strength, the end goal envisaged was simply too hard to accomplish. Maximum pressure will then be applied to Zelensky to either engage with Russia to find terms of agreement or… to resign and let someone else perform this task. Will this work out and at least bring about a temporary ceasefire. Maybe. But I doubt it. Most likely Vladimir Putin will simply respond “Bring it on. Do your worst.” Russia has seen off all else Zelensky’s sponsors have come up with. He will be eminently confident he can see of all else.

No one should have any doubt that Donald J. Trump is perfectly capable of making bad calls and very bad decisions. One need only look at his picks for the most powerful positions in his cabinet last time; John Bolton and Mike Pompeo for instance. If he has learned nothing from that experience then he is quite capable of making the very same mistakes again. We will have to wait and see who he taps for the most prominent positions in his cabinet this time. I said in 2016 before he took office but before his inauguration that he would struggle to find the right people. Since 9/11 all the peacemakers have been shown the door while that same door was wide open for warmongers. How many peacemakers or bridge-builders have entered the ranks of Washington’s top dogs since Trump last entered the White House. Damn few if any.

No Trump will try to live up to his boast that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours. We can only hope that he has Plan B, C, D and E ready and waiting when Plan A fails as I am certain it will. Trump is not said to be interested in detail or nuance, he believes in gut feelings, spur of the moment decisions and more than anything, that which will bring a positive headline or two for him. With the Russo-Ukraine war he has arguably arrived at a problem too far where such off the cuff solutions require much more finessing than those he can think up off the top of his head. But try to solve this thing he will. He said he would and the media would just love to see him fail right off the bat. This would be about the worst start to his second try at being U.S. president and not a good look, not a good look at all. Wish him luck though, we must.

[russianreview]

TRUMP IS BACK FOR ANOTHER TERM AS U.S. PRESIDENT - WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR RUSSIA, CHINA, UKRAINE & THE REST OF US?

The man America's elites couldn't contain, corrupt or clamp in irons has beaten all expectations and elite efforts to return to the pinnacle of U.S. power. What will he do with that power this time?

The ogre so many among the wannabe intellectual, arty, academic, liberal and student circles love to hate, is back, brought back by the working class who those first mentioned look down upon as second-rate citizens. Those who conceive themselves to be of higher class, entitled to make the rules for all others have received a mighty shock. They believed they were in an unassailable position to perpetually govern those they regard as rather ‘ignorant’ and uncouth who they think were in fact born to serve them while knowing their place. They believed their rightful role was to govern, to discipline, control and punish those beneath them, keeping them from straying. This was the role envisioned by the so-called great and good for themselves, the intellectuals, academics and all the other high-flown and entitled liberal elites and they expected all lesser mortals to be content with this, for them convenient, status quo.

The ‘great unwashed’ horde were supposed to be quiet and consume the rightful edits, narratives and agendas from those who ‘know better’, to accept their wars, to fight their wars when necessary and to applaud their wars through the vehicle of legacy news media. All that is now totally undermined with the rise of those ‘Unwashed’ hordes, adamant they will be hears and that their loud-mouthed and aggressive mouthpiece will be their agent of revolution, tearing apart that entitled and conceited liberal consensus. We won’t support your wars anymore and less and less of the poorer in this society will fight them either! At least for four years. The new and by the liberal class unexpected, unwanted and EXTREMELY unwelcome new Trump years.

Though Trump will be in office, will he be in power? Will he this time deliver on his promises? Will that swamp that he totally failed to drain and which remains as bog-ridden as ever? Will he once again be overwhelmed by ‘The Blob’, the permanent residents of the U.S. deep state who love nothing more than to see the USA at war? Will he TRULY engage Russia this time round or will he once again only APPEAR to do so while figuratively applying the knife to Russia’s back as he did last time? In 2016 he overrode Obama’s decision to forbid the Kiev regime lethal weaponry and without any doubt caused the deaths of a great many Russians who would ot have died otherwise, in doing so. Will his instinct to do what is best for HIM override all other priorities? Will his instinct to ‘MAKE TRUMP GREAT AGAIN’ blind him to what might make the world once again more peaceful?

Clearly Trump will embark once again on an expanded economic war against China. In doing so he will attempt what he recently claimed he would do, tear Russia and China apart. Can there be any doubt that his warm words toward Vladimir Putin and Russia will be seen to be mere semantic shoe-shuffling when compared to his dedication to weakening and splitting those two allies apart? Trump may think he is amazing and has the power to effect great change but we must hope he concentrates on the enormous woes of his own country before trying to inflict them on others, namely on the BRICS nations and specifically upon Russia and China. On Ukraine he talks big, but what can he deliver? It must be strongly suspected that his campaign trail rhetoric, designed merely to strike a powerful pose will find the actuality quite impenetrable and intractable. No easy solution will come from some simplistic, unrealistic and woefully naive banging of Russian and Ukrainian heads together. Neither will threats work, especially not against Russia. Of all bets on Ukraine, telling Zelensky that the U.S. cupboard is now bare as far as he is concerned is the very best of them. No more handouts. Tell the Ukrainian beggars they can now go wanting, see what the paupers of Europe can offer, or better still, get the best deal you can from Russia that it is still willing to offer.

He’s back. He appears stronger than ever. But will a newfound wisdom and humility be seen due to his years in the political wilderness. Will humiliation have taught him some of that vital ingredient, the humility that can come from eating the worst of crow? We have to hope so, because bravado and mouthing off won’t cut it any more if it ever did. And asking neocons to come protect you won’t either. The stupidity of that first term in taking on ideological monsters such as John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and their ilk was about as wrongheaded as it gets. With this second chance there is at least the merest possibility that truly great things can be achieved. They won’t be achieved however by setting the USA against the BRICS and the idea of a multipolar world however. Take that avenue and you walk down a cul-de-sac Donald, a road to the various wars, economic or otherwise, that the entire planet is thoroughly sick of. Beware that pugilistic stance you love so much. In some humility, walk on and see what true good you can do… for ALL of us.

What will it be this time Donald…?

[russianreview]

WHICH PRESIDENT WILL BE ELECTED BY THE MOST PROPAGANDIZED PEOPLE ON THE PLANET?

Which way will the world's most deeply conditioned nation jump? Jump as they may, both choices offered by the infotainment networks will certainly be controlled by others.

Today the world’s self-appointed police chief, the USA, elects its next president. Its population will choose between two candidates who have received approximately 99% of all media attention. This reflects the so-called “democratic choice” available in America where 0.001% of the population, the elites of the corporate sector, set the framework for that choice. This is what passes for political freedom in the USA, freedom to view your choices largely via the lens of a TV screen. The choice is reduced (in this case) to him or her where whichever one is chosen, whether he or she, will certainly answer to others.

Since their post-9/11 regime change wars of relentless carnage, destruction, chaos and destabilization across the Middle East the political and military elites of the USA, and those of nations who assisted them, should properly be treated with utmost disdain. However, it is far from the case and in fact there is little sign, as yet, of any significant backlash against them. The neocons took power and are still in power. A change in the figurehead president will ultimately make not one whit of difference.

Perhaps out of a craven sense of loyalty, or else a notion that they are somehow protected from the enemies conjured up for them by those elites, the western tribe to all intents and purposes appears to stand behind and support their leaders. In Europe there is some fraying around the edges in this regard as the rise in popularity of politicians like Viktor Orban of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia gain and maintain power. But in the USA the same simplistic two choice system of presidential elections and the no choice deep state continues unabated.

The picture we can see, especially since 9/11, is of western populations by majority in the thrall of a continual, combined state and mass media cabal who corral them into a unified force that guarantees the provision of consent. Consent easily then gained by the deep state to attack whoever it wishes to at will regardless of the presidential figurehead nominally in charge. International law can then be disregarded, with the presidential figurehead easily manipulated into providing every false justification required for the maintenance of consent.

The use of torture was an early example of the disdain with which the neocons regarded both international law and the UN post 9/11 as revealed after the illegal attack upon and occupation of Iraq. Bagram Airbase and Abu Ghraib along with Guantanamo in Cuba were locations, along with ‘black sites’ across the world where the western allies rendered prisoners so their torture could be better hidden.

The various disastrous interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria have all demonstrated beyond doubt which region of the world was using war as its primary “solution” to furthering its interests. Millions have died, millions more displaced. As in the current case where the Israeli regime slaughters tens of thousands, a great many of them women and children, so it was before the West’s war on Iraq. The pre-war sanctions on that country are estimated to have cost the lives of some half a million such children.

All the above has the quite mysterious capacity to pass western populations by with attitudes seemingly hardly to change at all. It still remains quite easy to demonize the leaders the West wishes to dispose of. They can still, through mass med, be convincingly be painted as the new Hitler, portrayed as the latest ultimate threat to the western way of life and all it stands for, and be widely believed. The same trick works time after time without fail. The insidious, constantly promulgated conditioning at work from every media source on every subconscious mind is arguably as effective as hypnosis. Thus choosing a president simply another exercise in this art.

All this takes place when the fundamental and constant geopolitical reality is that the purpose of the deep state is constantly to shore up and expand U.S. and western elite power and influence by using every means deemed necessary. It is all quite observable and there have been a great many erudite sources over the years pointing exactly this out, Noam Chomsky being one of the most influential and well-informed on the subject. Yet does the mass western mind alter after having the most recent opportunities afforded it via the various murderous campaigns of the West? It does not. The power of the constant assertions of western “goodness” and probity made by agents of the deep state via mass media overcome all the myriad facts to the contrary.

What is the primary reason for what appears to be a case of mass amnesia/denial regarding an obvious reality? Two were posited at the outset of this commentary ; a craven sense of loyalty, or else a notion that they are somehow protected from the enemies conjured up for them by those elites. But none of this would have been possible without the help of western mainstream news media. This alongside long-held and incessantly reinforced myths about western civilization and its superiority over all others. These two in combination, the concepts of innate superiority and ‘goodness of intent’, supposedly inherent in western civilization, along with consistent reinforcement of a ‘them and us’ attitude to state-named enemies has conditioned most western souls in depth.

Where we are now in the West we are EXPECTED to fall into line. Accepting state narratives sheep-like is demanded more and more to be our automatic response. The vast majority of us comply, but those who wish to maintain a degree of independence from generally accepted state narratives, are increasingly being regarded as potential, or actual criminals, virtual felons and traitors, those requiring constant censorship and warnings to shut up, punishment via lawfare and quite possibly if we persist in talking out, incarceration. The totalitarian world envisioned by George Orwell in ‘1984’ is being seen ever more comprehensively in the so-called “Free World” of the West. Those who fight back, attempting to maintain the freedom of speech our leaders say others envy so much, find themselves increasingly characterized as ‘enemies of the state’. People such as Scott Ritter, ex-marine and who was a lead weapons inspector in Iraq, and many others have found that free speech isn’t quite as free as we were told and are being targeted and harassed to make them shut up.

The conditioning of the people who live in nations loosely called ‘The West’ has been insidious and far reaching, especially so during the last few decades. It did not start with 9/11, though examining the situation before and after 9/11 reveals an immense expansion of the desire of the state to control geopolitical narratives post-9/11. For anyone who has lived long enough this hardly requires much effort  in order to convince them. It is so very obvious. Directing the great mass of people on how they should think has become a task that western news and televisual media took on with alacrity (and, in light of 9/11, with an obvious misguided sense of loyalty). In what meaningful sense then do the people of North America have freedom of choice in selecting their president? How can such a brainwashed population, transfixed by their TV-screen propagandists, exercise truly thoughtful and insightful choices?

Mainstream news media has previously, until relatively recently, been one of the very few powerful forces that had the potential to reign in the excesses of state power. Since 9/11 however all such safeguards ended with that same mass media aligning itself almost 100% with western state narratives. This is far and away the main reason why we are where we are now, within what is a very successfully-created, state and media supervised milieu of mind control. Those who have not educated themselves about this and have extricated themselves from it will certainly continue to be locked inside, inside an insidious and deeply cynical state and media trap where they are made constantly malleable due precisely to their conditioning. The results of which we will see in their choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledee as U.S. president today.

[russianreview]

UKRAINE WAR ENDING IN RUSSIAN VICTORY - ZELENSKY & HIS SPONSORS REMAIN IN DENIAL

A vicious egomaniac is the illegitimate president of Ukraine. How much longer can he hold onto power while a thousand of his ‘subjects’ die daily?

More and more signs of disarray in Ukrainian battle lines are becoming too obvious to ignore for western legacy news media. Though the effort to find a silver lining to the dark clouds increasingly seen over the Ukrainian armed forces remains, a certain sapping of that fervent wish is clearly evident. More and more articles are displaying an increasing level of alarm, even among the strongest mainstream supporters of Zelensky and his obnoxious regime. Nerves are fraying and patience for Zelensky’s constant demands for more looks set to expire very soon.

Endlessly repeating the same mantra has worked for Zelensky so far. If he was to stray from it and appear to countenance Russia succeeding in any way regarding keeping what it has fought for, he would be in immediate danger of overthrow and worse from Ukraine’s ultranationalist extremists. He dare not do that, therefore endlessly repeating his maximalist demands will likely continue to be heard from him until told in no uncertain terms by the western powers that his time is up.

The endgame in Ukraine is becoming ever clearer. No miracle “victory” by Ukraine is anywhere in sight. The truth is, once Russia beat the sanctions upon it, the global majority stayed in support of it and it defeated all western “gamechanger” weapons, no other outcome but a Russian victory was even a remote possibility. Only direct intervention by the West via NATO could have changed that outcome. And risking World War Three for Ukraine, no matter how strategic it was seen to be against Russia, was a war too far for the West.

Russia is now readying its forces for the final push that should deliver the final punch to a tottering Ukrainian army. It is only a matter of time before the collapsing Ukrainian military gives up the ghost on one or several fronts. For month after month for the past year and a half Russians have been volunteering to join the Russian military at a rate around 750 to 1,000 per day. This gives the Russian army strength in depth. In comparison the Ukrainian regime is having to drag men forcibly off the streets, some of them quite elderly, along with, in desperation, taking convicts from Ukrainian jails. All are given a couple of weeks training before sending them to die in the trenches of the front line.

The western powers keep throwing (admittedly smaller and smaller) amounts of money at a problem that has been growing worse day by day, especially over the last several months of increasingly rapid Russian advance. No amount of money, weapons or ammunition will help when the majority of the most highly trained in the Ukrainian army have left the battlefield over the last 34 months, dead and wounded. Russia has a constant supply of volunteers increasing the overall size of its army while Ukraine is scraping the bottom of the barrel failing to replace those of its troops leaving the battlefield dead and injured.

The magical thinking that continues among those paid to lie with the western media, along with the need to kick the can further down the road past November in the hope Harris reveals the desperation being felt by the neocons regarding the fast failing western plan regarding Ukraine. As we greet 2025 it must surely become clear to all and sundry that the hugely misguided venture to use Ukraine to weaken Russia has backfired in spectacular fashion. Russia is gaining in strength across the board and once its victory in Ukraine is fully acknowledged it will inevitably be stronger still. All that will be left for the western sponsors of this incredibly reckless, foolhardy and ultimately disastrous policy will be humiliation.

And Zelensky, what of him? Where can this rat who refuses to leave his sinking ship flee to? Israel perhaps? The USA? Who will have him? Will there be any among the hordes of misguided sycophants left to harbor this delusional individual, destroyer of his nation and now useless pawn of the West? That he will be a broken man cannot be in doubt. A man filled with regrets at every level. A man who threw away a career in entertainment that gained him the love and respect of the majority of Ukrainians. They trusted his election promise that he’d bring peace to the Donbass when all he brought was ever more war. His name, in Ukraine, will elicit nothing than a snarl of absolute hatred for the absolute catastrophe he brought down upon the heads of the Ukrainian people and on their nation.

[russianreview]

THE WESTERN WORLD IS IN DECLINE & NO LONGER ABLE TO DICTATE ITS TERMS

Empires rise and fall... but no empire ever fell willingly. This of course can result in that fall being even more catastrophic than it need be.

The regime change wars that the USA and its coalition of allies instigated in response to the events of 9/11 and which fell under the heading of ‘The War on Terror’, have been hugely counterproductive, producing a loss of influence for the entire West.

In addition to the above, by continuing an ultra-aggressive policy where it sought to make its global dominance unassailable the USA has brought into being the seeds of its future impotency.

The recent electoral results in both Georgia and Moldova strongly indicate that the writ of the West does not run as it once did and it no longer has the commanding power of past times. 

The ratio of western power to eastern/eurasian power has shifted massively in recent times and is accelerating. The old order where the West commanded (or else) and the rest of the world obeyed, are over. 

Whereas governments could be depended upon to condition their populations through compliant media regarding the positive aspects of siding always with western interests this is no longer the case in areas vital to the western powers. 

The West’s favored weapon of choice these days (rather than the CIA) the NGOs is now increasingly blunted through the adoption of foreign agent laws. This spells the further death knell of West domination and therefore too that of the use of aggression with impunity to get its way. 

Public opinion has turned against the western powers for many reasons, their bloody (and failed) regime change wars, the signs of degradation within their societies (plus increasing debt) along with the current situations in both Israel and Ukraine. 

By stoking an insurrection in Ukraine and being instrumental in undermining and removing both the democratically elected Ukrainian government and president the West has only succeeded in undermining itself. Further, by unconscionable, fulsome support for the genocidal regime in Israel it has sealed its fate as a malignant force in the world. Those who are now so enthusiastically supporting the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza are creating a pariah status for themselves in the minds of the global majority.

The West is, through its own actions, being subjected to increasing exposure to increasing levels of disapproval and outright loathing by its own hand. That internally western nations are seen to be in a state of advancing degradation regarding cultural mores, becoming increasingly burdened by massive debt and through being increasingly defeated across multiple battlegrounds and areas of western interest where prior to now it could expect an easy ride, world opinion has shifted enormously against it. 

The process of declining western power is accelerating for multiple reasons, the most important being the mounting and insistent desire for peace. Perceptions have been shaped in light of all recent West-fomented wars; due to the realization that Russia and China are ascendant and can provide a safe haven for nations under threat from the West and represent hope for a stable and peaceful future. 

A multipolar world where power is shared far more equally and where the West can no longer dominate, and is indeed effectively quarantined, is clearly on its way. The resistance now evident to a world dominated by the West and its allies is palpable across every major issue facing humanity currently. An end to the aggressive, interventionist West-dominated era is now quite obviously being demanded with a fearlessness not seen until now. 

Multipolarity is more than a momentary trend, the determination to move in this direction has a long history, stretching back to the Fifties at the very least… and will now no longer be denied. “An end to all that” is what the rest of the world, the global majority, is at last in a position to finally and boldly tell the West. Your era of domination is over. Live with that fact, or be gradually quarantined until you can be trusted to exert influence once more, but as an equal, no more as self-appointed global dictator.