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Iranian Chill Thread

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1518945757067456513

https://twitter.com/x/status/1518798954858700802

One F-4 fully loaded and that entire outpost is gone.

Or one Ababil-5 loaded with 6 missiles

1651107929558.png
 
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_Nabil_ said:
I think, you are pointing well the reason of problems between @TheImmortal and @SalarHaqq

It's a deep and problematic issue for Iran, that needs to be discussed and debated, just keep it decent and civilized.
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Actually this isn't the case. The user you mentioned isn't your typical secular nationalist. Behold in what manner the user utilizes the word "nationalist":

3.jpg


Furthermore, how many "nationalists" do you know who will talk ill of their country's women, labeling them in a generalized fashion as, I quote, "the biggest whores they've ever seen"? Apart from the fact that keyboard warriors wouldn't dare say out loud such a thing in Iran, females who transgress norms of decency are very much in the minority of course, which makes it particularly preposterous for someone living in the USA to try and suggest that this sort of conduct is even remotely as widespread in Iran as it is in America or in the west in general. Secondly, whatever issues exist in this area, they largely stem from western cultural imperialism. Thirdly, you just don't use insulting generic terms when it's merely a compromised minority you're talking about.

I take offense at any verbal abuse against Iranian women as a whole, not least because this would be insulting my own female relatives.

In fact, the user in question repeatedly claimed that their motivation is to dampen the enthusiasm of what they refer to as "blindly nationalistic" Iranians who to the user's taste, are "too" confident in Iran's capabilities.

So contrary to what you assumed, my issue with this subject has nothing to do with the interplay of religion and nationalism, but with the user's general posting behavior, which if studied carefully, will reveal a recurrent tendency to try and minimize Iranian achievements, not shying away from ridiculing and even insulting Iranian armed forces at times under the pretext that "blind nationalism" (as the user calls it) is "not constructive".

But in parallel, the same user will show themselves to be curiously apologetic vis à vis the US regime, in particular by trying to cover up Washington's role in propping up takfiri terrorists and by systematically portraying the US as superior to its major geostrategic rival such as Russia and China. Furthermore, the user will resort to discursive figures typical of zionists, such as the gratuitous accusations of "antisemitic" and "nazism" they routinely throw at opponents.

Pay attention to the terms used ("jende" means "whore"):

1.jpg


- - - - -

_Nabil_ said:
Sorry didn't seen those posts, I consider myself a Muslim not a Sunni or whatever Madhab, I'll surely stand against any unjustified attacks against any Muslim Madhab (see my replies in the thread about Morsi), and even wahabies should be dealt with reasoning and Hujja.
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Nice. However, this doesn't imply you should be indifferent to this user insulting Sunni Muslims after you rightly confronted a sectarianist who was attacking Shia Muslims. Sectarianist drivel is wrong by essence, regardless of which community it directed at, I'm sure you will second that.

You didn't see these posts, here you go:

1.jpg


Hope this helps. Now I'm very much looking forward to your reaction to the above.

To be perfectly honest, recent comments by this user were quite noticeable where they attempted to depict the terrorist knife attack at the Holy Shrine in Mashhad as part of a broader, imaginary "Shia versus Sunni" conflict, rather than distinguishing takfiri terrorists from regular Sunnis like our martyr Qasem Soleimani always did, like our Supreme Leader instructs us to do, and like the founder of the Islamic Republic taught us.

Stoking the spread of provocative narratives about a supposed, historically rooted "Shia-Sunni" conflict, as well sectarian readings of current conflicts is a cornerstone of the NATO-zionist divide & conquer tactics in West Asia, believe it or not, like it or not. And, there's ample documentation showing how groups that adopt such a sectarianist line, are being backed by the zionists and western powers, ostensibly or covertly.

- - - - -

_Nabil_ said:
never seen someone defending Iran against the multiple trolls from all countries like he do.
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✊✊✊

_Nabil_ said:
But I will understand and feel @Cthulhu and @TheImmortal going mad at him for even insinuating that their are Zio, I won't accept it, never .... @SalarHaqq
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In that case I should ask, is the following comment reflective of an anti-zionist stance? :

( edit )

I already pointed to the zionist-style rhetoric resorted to by the other user you cited.

Additionally, there are certain things you might not have come to think of given that you're perhaps not entirely familiar with the political context of Iran.

See, a recurrent common theme uniting the whole spectrum of anti-IR opposition in exile, which happens to be backed in every possible way by the US regime and its NATO allies, by the zionists and more recently by their PGCC clients, as well as the domestic fifth column of liberals (reformist and moderate factions), is their hostility towards the Islamic Republic's principled support for the Resistance in Palestine and Lebanon. One of the slogans oppositionists have been shouting at every anti-IR rally in Iran for the past 15 years, is "no to Gaza, no to Lebanon, I shall give my life for Iran".

Likewise, one of the main neuro-linguistic programming tropes that foreign-sponsored "regime change" media have been bombarding Iranians with 24/7, is the suggestion that the Islamic Republic is squandering huge amounts of public funds to support Hamas and Hezbollah instead of spending these resources at home. To ordinary people, they'll sell the story that this is the main reason for their economic hardships. What shape would this narrative have to take when the audience consists of Iranian military enthusiasts? Well, something along the lines of "the Islamic Republic is supplying Hamas with everything they need but our own border guards don't even have armored cars". Guess who posted exactly that sort of rant a couple of days ago.

You might also be interested to know that in the Iranian context, if someone's angered about being called a zionist, that doesn't necessarily mean the person is a staunch opponent of zionism. In fact, an oppositionist who takes issue with the IR's support for the Palestinian cause, will also be irritated when called a zionist, but for different reasons: namely, because they cannot perceive the threat posed by the zionists and therefore resent the Islamic Republic's frequent denunciation of zionism. They believe that IR authorities and Iranian revolutionaries are unduly paranoid about zionists. So of course they'll react angrily if a revolutionary tells them they are serving the zionist enemy's agenda.

_Nabil_ said:
Was trying to reasoning them for 2 days, but it looks that fasting is making them very sensitive 😁
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The user does not come across as the practicing religious type.

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_Nabil_ said:
True

https://twitter.com/x/status/1519396715715088385


https://twitter.com/x/status/1519396125744185344
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There's still demand for Stingers, like for instance to arm US proxies with. So what we're witnessing here is a dysfunction of the US military industry, and it's not the only such case. The second "Tweet" you shared offers an illustration. Military aircraft production in the USA has decreased as well, and there are more examples.
 

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SalarHaqq said:
Don't buy into this NATO line echoed by the resident American zionist, who tries to downplay Russian might on purpose so as to put the breaks on any enthusiasm Iranians here might develop for Russia. This is and has always been the user's agenda.

Ukraine is losing manpower at a rapid pace. Also, Russia has started targeting the transportation infrastructure of Ukraine, namely their railway system, with connections between the eastern and western halves of Ukraine soon to be entirely severed. Lastly, Russia has far greater numbers of troops to rely on than Ukraine will ever be able to mobilize. Whatever the west may realistically supply the Ukrainians with in terms of armaments, it's not going to give them the technological edge over Russia.

So it's pretty clear: Russia trumps Ukraine in manpower. Russia trumps Ukraine in technology and firepower. And this will not change, no matter what NATO does. Russia is going to be victorious, and it will be a decisive victory, a huge historic setback for western imperialism. NATO's not going to intervene directly either, it's been almost 40 years that they've had zero training in large scale combined arms maneuver warfare given how they spent their time fighting third tier military forces in the south and destroying helpless nations, so they'd get crushed by Russia in any conventional confrontation. No chance for Ukraine or NATO.
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I wonder if the Russian Federation will ever feel the need to call for full mobilization of their forces as the collective West/NATO incessantly continues this conflict at the cost of young Ukrainian lives.

Transnistria seems to be a possible new front that might be opening up in this conflict.
 
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SalarHaqq said:
Actually this isn't the case. The user you mentioned isn't your typical secular nationalist. Behold in what manner the user employs that latter term:

View attachment 838610

Furthermore, how many "nationalists" do you know who will talk ill of their country's women, labeling them in a generalized fashion as, I quote, "the biggest whores they've ever seen"? Apart from the fact that keyboard warriors wouldn't dare say out loud such a thing in Iran, females who transgress norms of decency are very much in the minority of course, which makes it particularly preposterous for someone living in the USA to try and suggest this sort of conduct is even remotely as widespread in Iran as it is in America or more generally in the west. Secondly, whatever issues exist in this area, they largely stem from western cultural imperialism. Thirdly, you just don't use insulting generic terms when it is merely a compromised minority you're talking about.

I take offense at any verbal abuse against Iranian women sui generis, not least because this would be insulting my own female relatives.

In fact, the user in question repeatedly claimed that their motivation is to dampen the enthusiasm of what they refer to as "blindly nationalistic" Iranians who to the user's taste, are "too" confident in Iran's capabilities.

So contrary to what you assumed, my issue with this subject has nothing to do with the interplay of religion and nationalism, but with the user's general posting behavior, which if studied carefully, will reveal a recurrent tendency to try and minimize Iranian achievements, not shying away from ridiculing and even insulting Iranian armed forces at times under the pretext that "blind nationalism" (as the user calls it) is "not constructive".

But in parallel, the same user will show themselves to be curiously apologetic vis à vis the US regime, in particular by trying to cover up Washington's role in propping up takfiri terrorists, in cultivating "I"SIS, terrorist insurgents in Syrian and elsewhere, and by portraying the US as much more powerful than major geostrategic rival such as Russia and China. Furthermore, the user will resort to discursive figures typical of zionists, such as the gratuitous accusations of "antisemitic" and "nazism" they routinely throw at opponents.

Pay attention to the terms used ("jende" means "whore"):

View attachment 838608

- - - - -



Nice. However, this doesn't imply you shouldn't be bothered by this user insulting Sunni Muslims after you rightly confronted a sectarianist who was attacking Shia Muslims. Sectarianist drivel is wrong by essence, regardless of which group it is targeting, I'm sure you will second that.

You didn't see those posts, here you go:

View attachment 838570

Hope this helps. Now I'm very much looking forward to your reaction to the above.

To be perfectly honest, recent comments by this user were quite noticeable where they attempted to depict the terrorist knife attack at the Holy Shrine in Mashhad as part of a broader, imaginary "Shia versus Sunni" conflict, rather than distinguishing takfiri terrorists from regular Sunnis like our martyr Qasem Soleimani always did, like our Supreme Leader instructs us to do, and like the founder of the Islamic Republic taught us.

Stoking narratives about a historically rooted "Shia-Sunni" conflict, as well sectarian readings of current conflicts is a cornerstone of the NATO-zionist divide & conquer tactics in West Asia, believe it or not, like it or not. And, there is ample documentation showing how those groups that actually adopt such a line are being backed ostensibly or covertly by the zionists and western powers.

- - - - -



✊✊✊



In that case I should ask, is the following comment reflective of an anti-zionist stance? :

View attachment 838576

I already pointed to the zionist-style rhetoric resorted to by the other user you cited.

Additionally, there are certain things you might not have come to think of given that you're perhaps not entirely familiar yet with the political context of Iran.

See, a recurrent common theme uniting the entire anti-IR opposition in exile, all of which is backed in every possible way by the US regime and its NATO allies, by the zionists and more recently by their PGCC clients, as well as the domestic fifth column of liberals (reformist and moderate factions), is their staunch opposition to the Islamic Republic's principled support for the Resistance in Palestine and Lebanon. One of the slogans shouted by oppositionists at every anti-IR rally in Iran for the past 15 years, has been "no to Gaza, no to Lebanon, I shall give my life for Iran".

Likewise, one of the main neuro-linguistic programming themes that foreign-sponsored "regime change" media have been bombarding Iranians with 24/7, is the suggestion that the Islamic Republic is squandering huge amounts of public funds to support Hamas and Hezbollah instead of spending the money at home. To ordinary people, they'll sell the story that this is the main reason for their economic hardships. What shape would this narrative have to take when the audience consists of Iranian military enthusiasts? Well, something along the lines of "the Islamic Republic is supplying Hamas with everything they need but our own border troops don't even have armored vehicles etc". Guess who posted exactly that a couple of days ago.

You might also be interested in knowing that in the Iranian context, if someone's angered of being called a zionist, that doesn't necessarily mean the person is a staunch opponent of zionism. In fact, an oppositionist to the IR who takes issue with the latter's policy of support for the Palestinian cause, will be react in an equally sensitive manner when called a zionist, but for different reasons: namely, because they resent the Islamic Republic's frequent denunciation of zionism, and actually cannot perceive the immense threat posed by the zionists to Iran and more broadly to independent nations; thus, they will deny the threat, fail to perceive the hostility of zionists against Iran, and adopt the belief that IR authorities and Islamic Iranian revolutionaries are in fact unduly paranoid about zionists, that they're seeing zionists everywhere etc. Therefore, they'll react with bitterness if a revolutionary tells them they are serving the zionist enemy's agenda.



The user does not come across as the practicing religious type.

- - - - -



There's still demand for Stingers, such as for instance from US regime proxies. So what we're seeing here is a dysfunction of the US military industry, and it's not the only one in recent years. The second "Tweet" you shared offers an illustration. Military aircraft production rate in the USA has diminished as well, and there are various other examples.
Click to expand...

I hope I haven't offended you with my own sentiments Salar-jan. I do sincerely appreciate your input here on PDF and I wish for you to continue to stay here and provide your analysis/perspective on various topics!

That being said, I myself have had a rather sorry history here. My earlier days (around 2016) were filled with very childish and disgusting comments made towards anyone I had angst towards during an exchange often leading to very inappropriate remarks that I now regret ever saying (I was considerably younger then). One time my own anger had lead to me saying something similar to the effect that "Iranian women are all whores", idk what triggered that since it was so long ago but I grew up and changed from that point learning just how stupid of a comment it was that I made. No longer do I let my emotions get the better of me when engaging in a discussion with my peers here on PDF as resorting to character assassination or insults is a clear sign of immaturity and a lack of genuine want to participate in a mutual discussion. -- I've always wanted to apologize to anyone here who has been turned off or offended by my own previous remarks. I'm no longer that person I deeply regret ever saying such idiotic things.

That being said, I've had my own disagreements and back-and-forths with TheImmortal in the past but I do think he sincerely cares for Iran and Iranian related subjects since he is very active here and always has some interesting points to add to the discussion. Yes, he is rather condescing about it (when he wants to be) but overall I think he means well. Whether or not that invalidates or validates him as a "Zionist" PR pusher, I can't say. My perspective on TheImmortal has always been that he takes a more pessimistic/realistic/grounded approach to a topic rather than an overtly rose-tinted one.

But my position on all dear members here hasn't changed. I like this section and this little group of ours so I hope we can all continue to exchange thoughts and opinions on what's going on in the world!
 
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سالار جان
قبل تو من بحثی رو با ایمورتال سر این مسایل داشتم چون اون رو ضعیف میدونستم و هنوز میدونم

اما واقعیت اینه که کسی بی عشق و علاقه به وطن این سایت یا آی ام اف نمیاد​
 
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I'm glad to see that Iran is finally beefing up the border. Realistically ground forces should always be accompanied by drones with other assets (kamikaze drones, special forces, missiles on high alert) nearby.

Iranian border guards should always travel in convoys but each truck / APC / tank/ MRAP should keep their distance from each other to avoid being ambushed and stuck in a jam. The classic ambush method is to hit the first and last APC/truck/tank/etc in a convoy so that all the ones in the middle get stuck with no room to move. It takes discipline but to avoid such a trap they should keep their distance.

Anyways if the Taliban really want to mess around then they need to be taught a very harsh lesson. If these orders are coming from the top and there is an incident where even one Iranian soldier / border guard is injured, then Iran should not hesitate to unleash a few dozen missiles, drone strikes on vital Taliban positions including weapons storage facilities, barracks, fuel facilities and even target their most senior leadership. Show them who's boss

If Iran doesn't I'm pretty sure that Pakistan will sooner or later since these scum bags have also been acting pretty arrogantly towards Pakistan as well.

If these scum bags continue acting arrogantly, another option is to incite an uprising inside Afghanistan. Iranians are experts in waging proxy wars and it's not like the Taliban lack enemies anyways.

I really hope that it doesn't come down to this because the people of Afghanistan have suffered enough and deserve some peace in their lives but these rag tag bandits / cavemen need to know their place in the world.

TheImmortal said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1518945757067456513

https://twitter.com/x/status/1518798954858700802

One F-4 fully loaded and that entire outpost is gone.

Or one Ababil-5 loaded with 6 missiles

View attachment 838562
Click to expand...
 
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The American Empire self-destructs. But nobody thought that it would happen this fast​

by Michael Hudson posted by permission

91849 Views | March 08, 2022 | 190 Comments

Empires often follow the course of a Greek tragedy, bringing about precisely the fate that they sought to avoid. That certainly is the case with the American Empire as it dismantles itself in not-so-slow motion.

The basic assumption of economic and diplomatic forecasting is that every country will act in its own self-interest. Such reasoning is of no help in today’s world. Observers across the political spectrum are using phrases like “shooting themselves in their own foot” to describe U.S. diplomatic confrontation with Russia and allies alike. But nobody thought that The American Empire would self-destruct this fast.

For more than a generation the most prominent U.S. diplomats have warned about what they thought would represent the ultimate external threat: an alliance of Russia and China dominating Eurasia. America’s economic sanctions and military confrontation have driven these two countries together, and are driving other countries into their emerging Eurasian orbit.

American economic and financial power was expected to avert this fate. During the half-century since the United States went off gold in 1971, the world’s central banks have operated on the Dollar Standard, holding their international monetary reserves in the form of U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. bank deposits and U.S. stocks and bonds. The resulting Treasury-bill Standard has enabled America to finance its foreign military spending and investment takeover of other countries simply by creating dollar IOUs. U.S. balance-of-payments deficits end up in the central banks of payments-surplus countries as their reserves, while Global South debtors need dollars to pay their bondholders and conduct their foreign trade.

This monetary privilege – dollar seignorage – has enabled U.S. diplomacy to impose neoliberal policies on the rest of the world, without having to use much military force of its own except to grab Near Eastern oil.

The recent escalation of U.S. sanctions blocking Europe, Asia and other countries from trade and investment with Russia, Iran and China has imposed enormous opportunity costs – the cost of lost opportunities – on U.S. allies. And the recent confiscation of the gold and foreign reserves of Venezuela, Afghanistan and now Russia,[1] along with the targeted grabbing of bank accounts of wealthy foreigners (hoping to win their hearts and minds, enticed by the hope for the return of their sequestered accounts), has ended the idea that dollar holdings – or now also assets in sterling and euro NATO satellites of the dollar – are a safe investment haven when world economic conditions become shaky.

So I am somewhat chagrined as I watch the speed at which this U.S.-centered financialized system has de-dollarized over the span of just a year or two. The basic theme of my Super Imperialism has been how, for the past fifty years, the U.S. Treasury-bill standard has channeled foreign savings to U.S. financial markets and banks, giving Dollar Diplomacy a free ride. I thought that de-dollarization would be led by China and Russia moving to take control of their economies to avoid the kind of financial polarization that is imposing austerity on the United States.[2] But U.S. officials are forcing Russia, China and other nations not locked into the U.S. orbit to see the writing on the wall and overcome whatever hesitancy they had to de-dollarize.

I had expected that the end of the dollarized imperial economy would come about by other countries breaking away. But that is not what has happened. U.S. diplomats themselves have chosen to end international dollarization, while helping Russia build up its own means of self-reliant agricultural and industrial production.

This global fracture process actually has been going on for some years, starting with the sanctions blocking America’s NATO allies and other economic satellites from trading with Russia. For Russia, these sanctions had the same effect that protective tariffs would have had.

Russia had remained too enthralled by free-market neoliberal ideology to take steps to protect its own agriculture and industry. The United States provided the help that was needed by imposing domestic self-reliance on Russia. When the Baltic states obeyed American sanctions and lost the Russian market for their cheese and other farm products, Russia quickly created its own cheese and dairy sector – while becoming the world’s leading grain exporter.

Russia is discovering (or is on the verge of discovering) that it does not need U.S. dollars as backing for the ruble’s exchange rate. Its central bank can create the rubles needed to pay domestic wages and finance capital formation. The U.S. confiscations of its dollar and euro reserves may finally lead Russia to end its adherence to neoliberal monetary philosophy, as Sergei Glaziev has long been advocating, in favor of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).

The same dynamic of undercutting ostensible U.S aims has occurred with U.S. sanctions against the leading Russian billionaires. The neoliberal shock therapy and privatizations of the 1990s left Russian kleptocrats with only one way to cash out on the assets they had grabbed from the public domain. That was to incorporate their takings and sell their shares in London and New York. Domestic savings had been wiped out, and U.S. advisors persuaded Russia’s central bank not to create its own ruble money.

The result was that Russia’s national oil, gas and mineral patrimony was not used to finance a rationalization of Russian industry and housing. Instead of the revenue from privatization being invested to create new Russian means of protection, it was burned up on nouveau-riche acquisitions of luxury British real estate, yachts and other global flight-capital assets. But the effect of sanctions making the dollar, sterling and euro holdings of Russian billionaires hostage has been to make the City of London too risky a venue in which to hold their assets – and for the wealthy of any other nation potentially subject to U.S. sanctions. By imposing sanctions on the richest Russians closest to Putin, U.S. officials hoped to induce them to oppose his breakaway from the West, and thus to serve effectively as NATO agents-of-influence. But for Russian billionaires, their own country is starting to look safest.

For many decades now, the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury have fought against gold recovering its role in international reserves. But how will India and Saudi Arabia view their dollar holdings as Biden and Blinken try to strong-arm them into following the U.S. “rules-based order” instead of their own national self-interest?

The recent U.S. dictates have left little alternative but to start protecting their own political autonomy by converting dollar and euro holdings into gold as an asset free from political liability of being held hostage to the increasingly costly and disruptive U.S. demands.

U.S. diplomacy has rubbed Europe’s nose in its abject subservience by telling its governments to have their companies dump their Russian assets for pennies on the dollar after Russia’s foreign reserves were blocked and the ruble’s exchange rate plunged. Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and other U.S. investors moved quickly to buy up what Shell Oil and other foreign companies were unloading.

Nobody thought that the postwar 1945-2020 world order would give way this fast. A truly new international economic order is emerging, although it is not yet clear just what form it will take. But the confrontations resulting from “prodding the Bear” with the U.S./NATO aggression against Russia has passed critical-mass level. It no longer is just about Ukraine. That is merely the trigger, a catalyst for driving much of the world away from the US/NATO orbit.

The next showdown may come within Europe itself as nationalist politicians seek to lead a break-away from the over-reaching U.S. power-grab over its European and other allies to keep them dependent on U.S.-based trade and investment. The price of their continuing obedience is to impose cost-inflation on their industry while subordinating their democratic electoral politics to America’s NATO proconsuls.

These consequences cannot really be deemed “unintended.” Too many observers have pointed out exactly what would happen – headed by President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov explaining just what their response would be if NATO insisted on backing them into a corner while attacking Eastern Ukrainian Russian-speakers and moving heavy weaponry to Russia’s Western border. The consequences were anticipated. The neocons in control of U.S. foreign policy simply didn’t care. Recognizing Russian concerns was deemed to make one a Putinversteher.

European officials did not feel uncomfortable in telling the world about their worries that Donald Trump was crazy and upsetting the apple cart of international diplomacy. But they seem to have been blindsided by the Biden Administration’s resurgence of visceral Russia-hatred via Secretary of State Blinken and Victoria Nuland-Kagan. Trump’s mode of expression and mannerisms may have been uncouth, but America’s neocon gang have much more globally threatening confrontation obsessions. For them, it was a question of whose reality would emerge victorious: the “reality” that they believed they could make, or economic reality outside of U.S. control.

What foreign countries have not done for themselves to replace the IMF, World Bank and other strongarms of U.S. diplomacy, American politicians are forcing them to do. Instead of European, Near Eastern and Global South countries breaking away as they calculate their own long-term economic interests, America is driving them away, as it has done with Russia and China. More politicians are seeking voter support by asking whether their countries would be better served by new monetary arrangements to replace dollarized trade, investment and even foreign debt service.

The energy and food price squeeze is hitting Global South countries especially hard, coinciding with their own Covid-19 problems and the looming dollarized debt service coming due. Something must give. How long will these countries impose austerity to pay foreign bondholders?

How will the U.S. and European economies cope in the face of their sanctions against imports of Russian gas and oil, cobalt, aluminum, palladium and other basic materials. American diplomats have made a list of raw materials that their economy desperately needs and which therefore are exempt from the trade sanctions being imposed. This provides Mr. Putin a handy list of U.S. pressure points to use in reshaping world diplomacy and helping European and other countries break away from the Iron Curtain that America has imposed to lock its satellites into dependence on high-priced U.S. supplies?

The Biden Inflation

But the final breakaway from NATO’s adventurism must come from within the United States itself. As this year’s midterm elections approach, politicians will find a fertile ground in showing U.S. voters that the price inflation led by gasoline and energy is a policy byproduct of the Biden Administration’s blocking of Russian oil and gas exports. (Bad news for owners of big SUV gas guzzlers!) Gas is needed not only for heating and energy production, but to make fertilizer, of which there already is a world shortage. This situation is exacerbated by blocking Russian and Ukrainian grain exports to the United States and Europe, causing food prices already to soar.

There already is a striking disconnect between the financial sector’s view of reality and that promoted in the mainstream NATO media. Europe’s stock markets plunged at their opening on Monday, March 7, while Brent oil soared to $130 a barrel. The BBC’s morning “Today” news broadcast featured Conservative MP Alan Duncan, an oil trader, warning that the near doubling of prices in natural gas futures threatened to bankrupt companies committed to supplying gas to Europe at the old rates. But returning to the military “Two Minutes of Hate” news, the BBC kept applauding the brave Ukrainian fighters and NATO politicians urging more military support. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 650 points, and gold soared to over $2,000 an ounce – reflecting the financial sector’s view of how the U.S. game is likely to play out. Nickel prices rose by even more – 40 percent.

Trying to force Russia to respond militarily and thereby look bad to the rest of the world is turning out to be a stunt aimed simply at ensuring Europe contribute more to NATO, buy more U.S. military hardware and lock itself deeper into trade and monetary dependence on the United States. The instability that this has caused is turning out to have the effect of making the United States look as threatening as Russia is claimed to be by the NATO West.
  1. Libya’s gold also disappeared after NATO’s overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. ↑
  2. See most recently Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson (2021), “Beyond Dollar Creditocracy: A Geopolitical Economy,” Valdai Club Paper No. 116. Moscow: Valdai Club, 7 July, repr. in Real World Economic Review (97), https://rwer.wordpress.com/2021/09/23. ↑

The American Empire self-destructs. But nobody thought that it would happen this fast | The Vineyard of the Saker

A bird's eye view of the vineyard
thesaker.is thesaker.is
 
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British FM Liz Truss says a 'Global NATO' needs to arm Taiwan, like Ukraine
6269e5cd85f5406c7a36ebfb.jpg

The world order created after the Second World War and the Cold War isn’t working anymore, so the West needs “a global NATO” to pursue geopolitics anew, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss argued, in a major foreign policy speech on Wednesday. Truss also urged the US-led bloc to send more “heavy weapons, tanks” and airplanes to Ukraine, and said China would face the same treatment as Russia if it doesn’t “play by the rules.”
 
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Russia has a PLAN… …the West does not​

by Jorge Vilches for the Saker Blog

22642 Views | April 26, 2022 | 91 Comments

Russia has a PLAN…

Like it or not, it is fairly obvious that Russia today is leading events and continues to affect reality mostly in the way that she believes is in her best strategic interests. In other words, cornered Russia had a Plan, a tangible, thought-out, thoroughly vetted – most probably in writing – articulate, fairly all-inclusive, flexible enough yet in-depth Plan that we now learn took years to conceive, develop and massage in multiple fronts. So today Russian leaders focus on the same page swiftly singing along agreed “choir book lyrics” so to speak. Militarily, in due time Russia will succeed per her own goals & terms, not ours. Second-guessing Russia´s Plan is now a blogosphere sport amongst commentariati, but really to no avail. Only “observer” status is granted if not a Russian national with deep involvement in its execution.

… the West does not

Meanwhile, Western “unfriendlies” respond flat-footed like disjointed cartoon characters angrily improvising piecemeal reactions sometimes doubling down on doubtful… if not plain dead-wrong… decisions which are later flip-flopped trying catch up with Russian-led events. Elmer Fudd comes to mind per Ref #5. All the sanctions imposed on Russia have been counter-productive and the Rouble today is stronger than ever. The underlying factor that governs the worldwide Big Bang Breton Woods III revolution (more on that later) is that, for better or for worse, Russia has a Plan and the West just reacts with hit-and-miss off-balance punches zig-zagging its way along without North or compass.

Ref #1 https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1...support-for-total-embargo-on-russian-oil-gas/
Ref #2 https://money.usnews.com/investing/...-roubles-proposal-without-breaching-sanctions – Ref # 3 https://www.rt.com/business/554534-eu-country-rejects-ruble-gas/
Ref # 4 https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...ng-nuclear-war-germany-approves-tanks-ukraine
Ref #5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Fudd

White House piracy

In his State of the Union world press opportunity days ago sitting US President Joseph Robinette Biden forever unable to get a grip on events had the nerve to propose an active US-Europe piracy program to “…find and seize [Russian owned] yachts, apartments and jets…”“Our goal is not to give them back” – officially and proudly declared US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan Ref #6 https://tass.com/world/1437923 + Ref # 7 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...iden-state-of-the-union-address-as-delivered/

So in order to remain coherent with the currently unconscionable US-European mad-house, one next step in the works — preferably under the supervision of surely knowledgeable stiff upper lip UK Royal Navy instructors – would be for Russian ships to be seized in international waters (cargo included) just like pirates in the 17th century British Caribbean. Don´t smile, as Argentina, Venezuela, Iran and Libya have already been through this not that long ago.

And while they are at it, these ´special forces´ could also comply with the US President´s program by looking out for aircraft of any size, type or purpose – including drones and choppers – plus all fine cars & motorcycles, boats, real estate, embassies, consulates, works of art, jewelry, property at large either government or privately owned. They´ve already seized the Gazprom subsidiary Germania because of its sudden “violations to German trade law”, so…

Ref #8 https://worldview.stratfor.com/situation-report/germany-berlin-seizes-german-subsidiary-gazprom
Ref #9 https://www.rferl.org/a/germany-gazprom-subsidiary-takeover/31785610.html

word-image-19.jpg


145 million Martians – I kid you not

Constitutional Scholar US Judge Andrew Napolitano summarized it with eloquence : “As if to run even further away from US constitutional norms, a group of legal academics began arguing last week that the property seized from Russians is not really owned by human beings.” If not humans, what would 145 million Russians be then ? “As well, when the [US] feds interfere with contract rights by prohibiting compliance with lawful contracts, that, too, implicates due process and can only be done constitutionally after a jury verdict in the government’s favor, at a trial at which the [US] feds have been able to prove fault…Similarly, when they freeze Russian assets in American banks, they engage in a seizure, and seizures can only constitutionally be done with a search warrant based on probable cause of crime”

Can´t make this stuff up… Ref #10 https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/04/andrew-p-napolitano/using-war-to-assault-freedom/

Mad Max

So visualize high-tech policing forces mandated by the Western-world´s top leader with the mission of seizing Russian whatever anywhere international, including mid-flight. And ask yourself, why not ? It´d be consistent with other measures already taken along the same lines. Please recall that the Western “unfriendlies” — with absolutely no legal teeth — by means of a few keyboard strokes have already frozen (and will eventually “arrest”…) Russia´s international banking accounts to the tune of several hundreds of billions of dollars… that still are 100% “un-usable”, as in worth-less… and which our Western “unfriendlies” per US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan might even think of confiscating altogether, no ? So let´s not mince words and, as the Canadian truckers´ experience proved, today Western world property rights (dominium proprietas) as we have known them for many centuries have ceased to exist.

Harassment to nowhere

“The [Russian] embassy is essentially under a blockade by the US authorities. Bank of America has shut down the accounts of our general consulates in Houston and New York” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov added that diplomats are also receiving threats. How can the much-claimed diplomacy effort ever succeed if the Russian embassy in the US is under blockade with acts of vandalism on the building? Attacks on Russian missions also took place elsewhere, with vehicles rammed into the gates in Dublin and Bucharest. Activists defaced mission buildings with paint in Austria and Latvia. Ref # 11 https://www.rt.com/russia/554433-russian-embassy-blocked-washington/

Along the same lines, the West also has and keeps trying very hard to divide the Russians, to no avail.

The West just keeps sending weapons to Ukraine hoping to prolong the conflict and bleed out Russia.

“Statista” reports that the number of sanctions against Russian individuals and entities imposed by the US, the EU and select countries like Switzerland, the UK and Japan before 22 February was 2754 and between 22 February and 8 March was 2827, of which 366 on entities and remaining on individuals. Adding up both sums means a grand total of 5581 active sanctions today on Russia “the most sanctioned country in the world”. Full credit to T. Sabri Öncü per

Ref # 12 https://www.primeeconomics.org/arti...-ukraine-and-the-weaponisation-of-everything/
Ref # 13 https://www.statista.com/chart/27015/number-of-currently-active-sanctions-by-target-country/

A sixth package of sanctions against Russia would come as early as next week including a ban on Russian oil imports plus also targeting more Russian banks. Ref # 14 https://www.rt.com/business/554393-russia-oil-embargo-options-west/

More Guantanamos

And to be fully consistent, as the US did with Japanese communities during WW2, it would be expected for Russian-born individuals now in Western countries – tourists, students, children, researchers and diplomats included — to end up jailed in Guantanamos somewhere. Yet again, why not ? Because if the idea is to bother and “punish” Russia, the size and type of “seizure” would not matter much as long as it serves the stated purpose. So the philosophy may well be to just keep prodding the Russian bear until it slips… ( like with a nuclear slip a-la-9/11 ?) … once it gets fed up of so much terribly arbitrary and needless harm. The problem is that militarily speaking the Russians seem to be more than ready for such, Always.Being.Ahead.Of.Events. Apparently our civilized West does not have anything near a “Plan” other than provoking Russia as fast as possible as long as possible with the largest possible damage, right ?

Over the cuckoos nest

If on New Year´s Eve 2022 – only 4 short months ago and with a splendid Nord Stream 2 Russia-Europe oil & gas shining pipeline 100% ready for commissioning — somebody had premonitioned anything anywhere close to the current European suicidal strategy… most probably such individual would have been readily admissioned in a mental care institution for careful evaluation of unavoidable experimental therapies for such unprecedented delusions.

As Russian officials have pretty much repeated in so many words: “We don´t have to be friends if you don´t want to, only arms-length trading partners and business associates. But don´t make us your enemies, we do not want or need to have enemies, and neither should you”. Mind you, under any jurisprudence self-defense is still 100% legitimate.

Nazi nightmares

Germans still endure a very deep shameful-guilt complex regarding what led to and happened during World War 2. Today, Europe at large is working and bullying very hard to eventually develop – or exceed — the very same guilt complex without ever stopping for one single minute to follow and understand what Europe – actively fostered by the US and UK – is doing to Russia for no reason or gain of its own, only self-damage. Plain unwarranted Russophobia.

[ hint: don´t love them, just do business… ]

“…there are 30-some right-wing extremist groups operating in Ukraine – (all numerous and US-trained) — that have been formally integrated into Ukraine’s armed forces…which promote an intolerant and illiberal ideology… ”

Ref # 15 https://www.newsweek.com/evidence-war-crimes-committed-ukrainian-nationalist-volunteers-grows-269604
Ref # 16 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cohen-ukraine-commentary-idUSKBN1GV2TY
Ref # 17 https://www.smh.com.au/business/how-bankers-helped-the-nazis-20130801-2r1fd.html

Russia AWOL

Europe has not yet understood the implications of Russia now going full speed ahead for import substitution policies with the 80% of the world that still trades and works hard on planet Earth. Russia has already well underway specific agendas for the immediate welcome and establishment of Chinese and Indian SMBs into Russia´s new Bretton Woods III economy leaving Western “unfriendlies” aside and strengthening ties with countries just as sick and tired of Western bullying nonsense as Russia is after being badly pushed around so much for so long. While Europe – and the Western world at large – badly needs Russian produce at any cost. Paraphrasing infamous US Treasury Secretary John Connally, smirking a Mona Lisa smile, Russians could now say “Sorry, our commodities, your problem”…

De-globalization for YOU, not us

True enough, consumer societies and globalized economies may soon be ending for the 20% of the Western world. But the remaining 80% of world population is currently undergoing a massive crowding-in process simply trying to join the unavoidable forces of history behind the Russia-led spanking new Big Bang. Those left out would have nowhere to hide, constituting the real ´pariahs on the global stage´ that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has been keenly looking for lately the poor soul.

In her Plan — not without difficulties — Russia already has huge fallback trading partners willing and able to join Russia´s Bretton Woods III arrangements, including no more and no less than bellwether China and India. The recent “no limits” agreement with China is simply fully unprecedented. This “New Yorker” article clearly explains why

Ref # 18 https://www.newyorker.com/news/dail...na-unveil-a-pact-against-america-and-the-west
Ref # 19 https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/14/why-is-istandwithputin-trending-in

quo vadis Europa ?

Europe, instead, has left itself deeply confused hanging idly high and dry in a vacuum chamber neither
  1. complying with the Minsk agreements that Europeans actively pursued and endorsed, which would mean working with Russia, not 100% against it, nor
  2. finding a viable and reasonable European outcome for their nonsensical Russophobia – mission impossible
  3. understanding how badly Europe needs sustained import of Russian + Ukraine commodities for years to come
The lack of sufficient current and future stable year-round supply of Russian unreplaceable produce will mean very bad news for Europe. This includes many other essentials besides the specific Russian oil & gas & coal grades without which in a matter of months if not weeks Europe will become un-livable chaos with rolling power black-outs, fuels and food very hard to find enough of… with migrants roaming and ´camping out´ in streets, parks or churchyards and cemeteries (yes, just like in North Africa…) without shelter, food, health care, schools, jobs or money… and with the tired European middle-classes inevitably joining the coming revolt sooner rather than later. Per The Guardian, “…come October, it’s going to get horrific, truly horrific … a scale beyond what we can deal with”.

Rabobank´s take on food security is that: “ When The ´Food System´ Breaks Down, Everything Will Break Down With It”.

Ref # 20 https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ll-into-fuel-poverty-in-truly-horrific-winter Ref #21 https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/r...tem-breaks-down-everything-will-break-down-it

5 short questions
  • Are there any adults left in the European room ?
  • Why the unwarranted tone-deaf Russophobia ??
  • Does Europe want to provoke Russia into war ???
  • Are Europeans willing to keep the US and UK as their belligerent handlers ????
Ref # 22 https://asiatimes.com/2022/04/us-a-co-belligerent-in-ukraine-war-legal-expert-says/
Ref # 23 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022...omise-ukraine-more-aid-return-of-us-diplomats
Ref # 24 https://www.rt.com/news/554494-uk-stormer-vehicles-ukraine/
Ref # 25 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...-and-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan/
  • Why not follow German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on this topic ?????
Ref # 26 https://www.rt.com/news/554411-germany-needs-russia-schroeder/

Russia has a PLAN… …the West does not | The Vineyard of the Saker

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