I wonder if the Chinese waited almost 2 centuries to pay back Mr West for the 'Opium Wars' with the 'Fentanyl Wars'. I know it was Jardine & Matheson, 2 Jocks I'm embarrassed to say who were the frontrunners, them and the East India Company.
If Trump and his Zionist clan think Iran and Ansar-Allah will sit back and allow further genocide then it'll be his first major wrong move. Also that Russia will betray Iran & China for the lifting of sanctions and the reconstruction of Nordstream 1/2 then it's another miscalculation.
Brian Berletic over at the New Atlas is ahead of the curve on the new Administration's shenanigans.
That Col. Douglas Macgregor, Trump's former advisor hasn't been recalled is a worry.
China has responde to Trumps call to block Fentanyl coming into the Us and is pretty pissed
that Trump has gone ahead with the sanctions. They even went as far as saying but in nicer terms that Trump and the US can go f@*k itself as they aren't worried about anything that the US does.
I think that Vlad doesn't mind being adored by Trump, but is playing Trump big time. The west still insists on a ceasefire while Russia has said time and again NYET. Trump might be playing for divvying up the world in 3 but neither China nor Russia will play that game
I was going to write about the Fentanyl issue today as Globa Times issued a very strong editorial and a regular article that mentioned its newest White Paper on the topic, which has yet to be posted to China's White Paper Archive. All of that will serve as further motivation for the Two Sessions event that will take the rest of this week.
All the headlines say US stop ALL weapons deliveries to Ukraine. I say prove it!
The Iskander -M that took out the supposed British delivery of maritime vessels/drones + in Odessa was loaded in Turkiye. Who knows what goes on in 5 Eye/NATOland? It's not like you can trust anything they say, plausible deniability.
Now let Musk state that he's removed all Starlink/satellite services to Ukraine. Now this is easily proven. Otherwise Trumplethinskin is a lying sack or maybe he's lost Elon's number.
You are absolutely right on nato: you cannot trust anything they say.
As for your last paragraph: you are way too kind. But it is Adelson and Thiel numbers that Trump can never lose as they likely call him every day.
The good news is that by the end of 2025 there will be a bigger Chinese satellite network than Musk's (ie USA MIC). I see that their launch rate is forecast at one rocket per week for the year ahead and each contains many satellites.
I think the "or" in the title could be replaced by "and": "Peacemaker" with Russia, but "Genocide Facilitator" in Palestine, where the Zionists are going on a rampage, as I wrote in my latest article: https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/zionists-on-a-rampage?r=25fc37
Trump may be the least bellicose of recent US presidents, but there is a long way to go from there to being considered a "peacemaker." Trump does not seek peace with Russia, he wants to end the conflict in Ukraine simply because he cannot win it, and in fact, he (the US) has already lost it.
If Trump were a true man of peace, he would stop the genocide in Gaza. You either have principles or you don't have them. Trump lacks them. Paradoxically, it will be the Special Military Operation launched by Russia that, once completed, will bring about lasting peace. The military actions of the US seek to perpetuate themselves, they sow chaos. Not so those of Russia. So, we can say that the true peacemaker is Putin.
I believe the only reason he is doing this is to increase his chances in winning Nobel Peace prize. It has nothing to do with anything else. Is he jealous of obomber you bet;-)
I'd say it's unclear what Trump will do regarding Israel and the China/Russia duo. That's because Trump says many things and often does another. Judging by his comments prior to getting elected you'd reasonably expect Trump to green light Israel's displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. However there is no evidence to suggest that Trump would condone genocide as did his predecessor. In fact there is much evidence that Trump sincerely dislikes war and killing.
Just like many other politicians, Trump will say anything to get elected. He had to appear to be on board with the Zionists for their votes, and due to the massive infusion of cash he received from them for his election. But I'm not certain he has any love for them. His Secretary of State and Defense Secretary have repeatedly traveled abroad, but Israel was not on the itinerary. So there's no early signs of him unleashing Israel to do whatever it wants.
Bottom line 1: Trump is unlikely to condone genocide in Gaza or the West Bank. However he may look away for other crimes against humanity, such as ethnic cleansing. Call it 50/50.
Regarding China and Russia, here again it's not easy to read where Trump is going. His rhetoric is characteristically all over the map. But the 100% logical choice is for him to avoid armed conflict at all costs. America is simply too vulnerable to do otherwise. If he wants to reestablish the US as the world's dominant hegemon, he will need to absorb Canada and Mexico first. But that's an option that's unlikely to happen in his final term. But then, perhaps the new republic would abolish term limits. :)
Bottom line 2: Some degree of rapprochement with Russia is likely, as is a trade war with China. But trade wars and sanctions hurt both sides as we've recently seen. A real war with China, including over Taiwan, is off the table in my opinion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is the only thing in Taiwan that America needs, and yesterday TSMC agreed to build 3(!) new fab plants in the USA - cost $100 billion. If Trump can onshore that tech he could probably care less about Taiwan.
You say "Judging by his comments prior to getting elected you'd reasonably expect Trump to green light Israel's displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. However there is no evidence to suggest that Trump would condone genocide as did his predecessor. In fact there is much evidence that Trump sincerely dislikes war and killing."
Not enough evidence to do something about it in the case of the illegal occupier of Palestine though. Enough evidence for the ukraine yet insufficient for the indicted war criminal of Gaza. No evidence whatsoever to respect Syrian lands and act against ISIS wars against that state either. Evidence to suggest Trump likes the war waged by Kurds against the tribal Arab people of Iraq and Syria.
There is an abundance of evidence that Trump likes only wars where he can smell an easy win, a weak enemy, a cruelly suffering people. "Bully" comes to mind.
He can withhold weapons from the unconvicted ukraine SS today but not the convicted genociders in Gaza and now Lebanon and now Syria. He can allow his crusader proxy in the Levant to attack Yemenis and supply all munitions and targetting data not because he dislikes war and killing, indeed because he rejoices in slaughter just like his predecessor and every other warmonger.
So far he has not reached the depths of depravity of Blinken/Biden/Sullivan but I suggest he only a millimeter behind them.
Trump blusters a lot and on occasion gets smacked in the face by reality. He will even reverse himself. The tariff wars are likely to go through a few changes. His Gaza stance is not good.
I thought that he has lived up to his November 18 speech on Ukraine although he likes to keep everyone guessing about his next steps. NATO might be moving on to the status of endangered species.
He and Putin have some abuse in common, russiagate and vilification, and he has expressed sympathy for Putin on multiple occasions.
We know words are merely words and are often altered. Deeds are what they are and far harder to undo. So far all we’ve had are lots of words and only a few minor deeds to repair relations.
I think Trump sees Balkanizing Russian Federation as too close to tripping MAD. The soft side of that view he brings up kids dying in vain. He said Ze is losing, neaning Balkanizing is not progressing RF is successfully pushing back. No one thought RF would stand! Intel fail, understandable looking at the neocons and their liberal allies in US.
Genocide of Muslims for Zion is no big deal for the acolyte's of the Book of Revelations!
Nearest thing Trump can do now to NATO is proclaiming the line for US to adhere to Art 5 is now very high and nothing in view would get US response.
I suggest to Balkanize RF needs US air power near the Dneiper bigger than it deployed for BVietnam, a logistic nightmare that could be attacked!
When the SMO began in 2022, I said NATO had no weapons capable of defeating Russia, including its nukes. I was 100% correct. Me, a penniless analyst, knew more than billion dollar think tanks. Now, I could say the same about China. he way the US system is structured means it will continue to fall behind Russia, China, and eventually most of the world as the Rent Seekers running it are draining the nation of its vibrance. Soon, except for the top 10%, the USA will become a second-tier nation if the current direction isn’t drastically altered. The Imperialist faction of the Deep State isn’t the most dangerous; rather, it’s the faction Trump belongs to—the FIRE sector and its many allies in Wall Street and globally.
Today US could not deploy airpower it deployed in Southeast Asia. worse it has no facilities close, and support aircraft would be over taxed.
Its current jets are 40 (KC 135 more useful than KC 46 is 65) years old in 1965 the majority of jets were less than 15 years old...... Symptom of "rent seeking " arsenal system.
As a dyed in the wool perfectionist for leftwing terminology, I think you misuse the term “imperialism.” There were mercantile and settler-colonial versions of colonialism. These were both subsumed by the control of the finance sector, with the claim that this would be the final stage of capital, which remains to be seen. We could argue whether or not the neocons behind the Ukraine fiasco are some kind of retro mercantile capitalists, but I think we just have strategic/tactical differences between different groups of finance capital. I mean, BlackRock is using finance capital methods for its heavy involvement in Ukraine. I don’t know what we should call the two groups, but I agree there is tactical difference among them…
The Wolfowitz neocon branch were imperialists and do recall that financial tools are used for imperialist goals as Hudson explained in "Super Imperialism." It's also likely there're more than two factions, although they do share one commonality: They don't give a damn about the common good.
Fair enough. Usually it’s an epistemological error when we reduce things to having only two components. Life /reality is complex.
But not for Trump who reduces everything to USA(meaning DJT) good, every other country bad until they kowtow/acquiesce. I was watching basketball but switched to the Trump speech during commercials. I had to stop doing that after hearing him heaping plaudits on “our forebears” who immigrated here and conquered the frontier—that was the final straw for me. It occurs to me that the strong arming of Ukraine for its mineral rights parallels the extortionist treaties forced on indigenous peoples. Ukraine will get beads and a century of debt.
And it seems to me that rapid discarding of even beneficial parts of the administrative state is reminiscent of a hedge fund’s rapid dismantling, shutting down, and dispersion of all the parts of a newly acquired formerly profitable corporation…..
Yes, there are signs of a hostile takeover, a term that isn’t used much anymore although they continually occur. I found a transcript of the speech and it reads like a pep rally. There was even a short portion where he threw some alms at the poor working class that would need to be passed by Congress, but those remarks weren’t preceded by saying we must do these things to help and enact them ASAP.
The only two modern US presidents that advanced legislation to help the poor and lower-middle classes were FDR and LBJ, both because they needed to respond to their demands that if not responded to positively would have caused even greater political upheaval than what was already happening in their Eras. The 19th Century had a term for Trump—Nativist. He seeks to reestablish US Primacy, and he needs to increase revenues for that goal. His choice is to bypass Congress using the “emergency” ruse to increase taxes, which is what Tariffs are, and they’re regressive.
"Me, a penniless analyst, knew more than billion dollar think tanks"
But did you Karl? Methinks they also knew the truth (how could they not?) but they trade in the lies supplied by the oxymoroned "Intelligence" Agencies to further the political narrative.
It’s all about the Benjamins and their circulation. Every so often I ask myself if I’d sell myself out. I answer that until I’m presented with an offer, there’s no way for me to know. Until then, I’ll continue to adhere to my values.
Article 5 is always misunderstood. It only calls for NATO allies to have a meeting and decide what to do in the event of an attack on one. Or what not to do.
And now with NATO members squabbling there was no way a consensus on a joint military expedition would have been made (even if they had the means to do so).
Not quite. “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force..." - Article 5
NATO is a very effective defensive alliance (wink wink) because it's very flexible in what it expects of each member nation in a time of crisis. If they want, NATO members may take unilateral steps to help another member nation. They don't have to wait for a collective decision for it. Or a member nation can choose to do nothing. The latter would be politically fraught though as it obviously isn't in the spirit of the treaty.
I'll begin by saying this comment won't be popular. Nevertheless it's based on my careful reading of the law concerning genocide. The critical issue that defines genocide is intent. Simply killing many innocent people, as in a war, does not itself constitute genocide. For genocide to occur, what has to be present is an INTENT on the part of the perpetrators to ERADICATE a people, in whole or part. Perpetrators may still inflict great suffering without it being a genocide, sadly.
As of today, Israel will deny the accusation of genocide on self-evident grounds: they didn't kill all the people in Gaza even though it was probably within their power to do so.
The bar to commit, and be found guilty of, genocide is set very high indeed. But there are any number of 'lesser' crimes against humanity which are still heinous and that warrant no less censure. Those crimes against humanity don't require proof of intent. Simply committing them is the crime.
What the Zionists are doing and what the Nazis installed by the Outlaw US Empire in Ukraine tried to do are both genocide. Both have publicly confessed to intent.
There's a practical drawback to accusing a group or country of genocide under less-than-clear circumstances: you have no greater accusation left. Moreover as you've already accused them of the worst, they know that doing even more can't bring greater censure.
Better, I believe, to use the correct terminology for the crime. Mass murder for example is a crime against humanity, and as an accusation it certainly conveys all the gravity and horror of such acts. I say this with the greatest respect to all victims of crimes against humanity.
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
BTW you should hang your head in shame. What a disgusting act, denying genocide the Zionist sub-human animals are perpetrating.
"In this unique discussion held yesterday, two senior Indian strategists spell out how they see the current European and US debate over how the Ukraine war may end.
Indian Army Brigadier (retired) Arun Saghal is one of the leading intelligence analysts in India. With a PhD from Allahabad University, he was the founding Director of the Office of Net Assessment, a unit of the Indian Integrated Defence Staff for preparing long-term strategic analyses and forecasts. He has also served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the principal advisor to the Prime Ministry on military and security policy. Dr Saghal has also played leading roles in the Indian Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (Cs3) and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses."
Hi Karl. I was thinking to myself tonight that just maybe Trump has plans to not go to War with either China nor Iran. Wishful thinking perhaps but since he's just 4 years to build a legacy it's a better bet to build a Legacy of Peace President rather than a War One.
Good questions in this essay. Seems we are asking, why can’t these political leaders base their actions on the objectively measurable changed realities in relative national economic, technological and military strength of nations? I think we all agree everything changes, including ideas. It seems prevailing ideas often change only long after the new realities should have been obvious. The seminal work of Thomas Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions, demonstrates that the leading ideas of science, the paradigms, are not easily altered, despite the accumulation of new findings. Despite overwhelming relevance, new ideas are initially derided, then doubted, and only after sometimes long periods of “violent” intellectual debate “one conceptual world view is replaced by another", says the Amazon review. I’ve read the book and it has good examples from numerous science fields. Humans are creatures of habit, reluctant to change our ways, clinging to cognitive dissonant beliefs to our detriment…
I prefer Trump to stay in nato just to keep UK/EU off balance, utterly contradictory and with a drifting anchor. I will be happy when USA storms out of the UN and takes its tentacles with it. The latter is looking highly likely with the new US ambassador to the UN. Trump is full tilt in with the illegal occupier of Palestine and perhaps leading it further to the east through the ziocrazies in the USA. It is Israel that has demonstrated absolute disregard for International Law and finds itself in court and that situation could well end in their going all the way against Yemen or Iran.
The blather about China masks the Crusader evil in the holy land. This is what Trump is holding back the weapons for.
"There’s a very strong rumor that Egypt will engage the Zionists to retake the so-called Philadelphia Corridor which is on Egyptian land"
Is this rumor at all stemming from anything Col MacGregors said on Monday afternoon on Napolitano? Or...? I didn't get any kind of a read on this from todays 'neutered' Cairo statements, but that was half expected.
thanks karl... his speech tonight will be very interesting to watch/listen to for all the reasons you cite and more.. your title sums it up and the clear conflict in people's minds of just where trump stands on a number of issues especially with regard to china..
as for kaja kallas - her words are truly disturbing for what they say about european diplomacy and it's lack at present... when does europe get a wake up call?? it is coming one way or another..
I wonder if the Chinese waited almost 2 centuries to pay back Mr West for the 'Opium Wars' with the 'Fentanyl Wars'. I know it was Jardine & Matheson, 2 Jocks I'm embarrassed to say who were the frontrunners, them and the East India Company.
If Trump and his Zionist clan think Iran and Ansar-Allah will sit back and allow further genocide then it'll be his first major wrong move. Also that Russia will betray Iran & China for the lifting of sanctions and the reconstruction of Nordstream 1/2 then it's another miscalculation.
Brian Berletic over at the New Atlas is ahead of the curve on the new Administration's shenanigans.
That Col. Douglas Macgregor, Trump's former advisor hasn't been recalled is a worry.
China has responde to Trumps call to block Fentanyl coming into the Us and is pretty pissed
that Trump has gone ahead with the sanctions. They even went as far as saying but in nicer terms that Trump and the US can go f@*k itself as they aren't worried about anything that the US does.
I think that Vlad doesn't mind being adored by Trump, but is playing Trump big time. The west still insists on a ceasefire while Russia has said time and again NYET. Trump might be playing for divvying up the world in 3 but neither China nor Russia will play that game
I was going to write about the Fentanyl issue today as Globa Times issued a very strong editorial and a regular article that mentioned its newest White Paper on the topic, which has yet to be posted to China's White Paper Archive. All of that will serve as further motivation for the Two Sessions event that will take the rest of this week.
All the headlines say US stop ALL weapons deliveries to Ukraine. I say prove it!
The Iskander -M that took out the supposed British delivery of maritime vessels/drones + in Odessa was loaded in Turkiye. Who knows what goes on in 5 Eye/NATOland? It's not like you can trust anything they say, plausible deniability.
Now let Musk state that he's removed all Starlink/satellite services to Ukraine. Now this is easily proven. Otherwise Trumplethinskin is a lying sack or maybe he's lost Elon's number.
You are absolutely right on nato: you cannot trust anything they say.
As for your last paragraph: you are way too kind. But it is Adelson and Thiel numbers that Trump can never lose as they likely call him every day.
The good news is that by the end of 2025 there will be a bigger Chinese satellite network than Musk's (ie USA MIC). I see that their launch rate is forecast at one rocket per week for the year ahead and each contains many satellites.
Methinks you dost hyperventilate too much.
At my age if I hyperventilate, I couldn't comment, try again
Col McGregor is now a conspiracy theorist
I think the "or" in the title could be replaced by "and": "Peacemaker" with Russia, but "Genocide Facilitator" in Palestine, where the Zionists are going on a rampage, as I wrote in my latest article: https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/zionists-on-a-rampage?r=25fc37
I chose or because that’s how Napolitano framed it as he clearly wants Trump to be 100% peacemaker as wars aren’t in the nation’s interest.
yes - and now there's more funds aviailable to enforce Gaza Plaza
Trump may be the least bellicose of recent US presidents, but there is a long way to go from there to being considered a "peacemaker." Trump does not seek peace with Russia, he wants to end the conflict in Ukraine simply because he cannot win it, and in fact, he (the US) has already lost it.
If Trump were a true man of peace, he would stop the genocide in Gaza. You either have principles or you don't have them. Trump lacks them. Paradoxically, it will be the Special Military Operation launched by Russia that, once completed, will bring about lasting peace. The military actions of the US seek to perpetuate themselves, they sow chaos. Not so those of Russia. So, we can say that the true peacemaker is Putin.
I agree 100% with your POV. I don’t know what Trump’s saying to Congress at the moment. I’ll read it later.
I believe the only reason he is doing this is to increase his chances in winning Nobel Peace prize. It has nothing to do with anything else. Is he jealous of obomber you bet;-)
"We'll se what happens", to use his own phrase, when he speaks tonight.
I tend to look at the people and interests he serves.
I'd say it's unclear what Trump will do regarding Israel and the China/Russia duo. That's because Trump says many things and often does another. Judging by his comments prior to getting elected you'd reasonably expect Trump to green light Israel's displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. However there is no evidence to suggest that Trump would condone genocide as did his predecessor. In fact there is much evidence that Trump sincerely dislikes war and killing.
Just like many other politicians, Trump will say anything to get elected. He had to appear to be on board with the Zionists for their votes, and due to the massive infusion of cash he received from them for his election. But I'm not certain he has any love for them. His Secretary of State and Defense Secretary have repeatedly traveled abroad, but Israel was not on the itinerary. So there's no early signs of him unleashing Israel to do whatever it wants.
Bottom line 1: Trump is unlikely to condone genocide in Gaza or the West Bank. However he may look away for other crimes against humanity, such as ethnic cleansing. Call it 50/50.
Regarding China and Russia, here again it's not easy to read where Trump is going. His rhetoric is characteristically all over the map. But the 100% logical choice is for him to avoid armed conflict at all costs. America is simply too vulnerable to do otherwise. If he wants to reestablish the US as the world's dominant hegemon, he will need to absorb Canada and Mexico first. But that's an option that's unlikely to happen in his final term. But then, perhaps the new republic would abolish term limits. :)
Bottom line 2: Some degree of rapprochement with Russia is likely, as is a trade war with China. But trade wars and sanctions hurt both sides as we've recently seen. A real war with China, including over Taiwan, is off the table in my opinion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is the only thing in Taiwan that America needs, and yesterday TSMC agreed to build 3(!) new fab plants in the USA - cost $100 billion. If Trump can onshore that tech he could probably care less about Taiwan.
Rubio lied to Congress today so $6.5 Billion in more weapons could be sent ASAP to Netanyahu.
Ah Rubio, the quisling Cuban that betrayed his own country and people. And he will betray his adopted country if the money is enough.
You say "Judging by his comments prior to getting elected you'd reasonably expect Trump to green light Israel's displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. However there is no evidence to suggest that Trump would condone genocide as did his predecessor. In fact there is much evidence that Trump sincerely dislikes war and killing."
Not enough evidence to do something about it in the case of the illegal occupier of Palestine though. Enough evidence for the ukraine yet insufficient for the indicted war criminal of Gaza. No evidence whatsoever to respect Syrian lands and act against ISIS wars against that state either. Evidence to suggest Trump likes the war waged by Kurds against the tribal Arab people of Iraq and Syria.
There is an abundance of evidence that Trump likes only wars where he can smell an easy win, a weak enemy, a cruelly suffering people. "Bully" comes to mind.
He can withhold weapons from the unconvicted ukraine SS today but not the convicted genociders in Gaza and now Lebanon and now Syria. He can allow his crusader proxy in the Levant to attack Yemenis and supply all munitions and targetting data not because he dislikes war and killing, indeed because he rejoices in slaughter just like his predecessor and every other warmonger.
So far he has not reached the depths of depravity of Blinken/Biden/Sullivan but I suggest he only a millimeter behind them.
Trump blusters a lot and on occasion gets smacked in the face by reality. He will even reverse himself. The tariff wars are likely to go through a few changes. His Gaza stance is not good.
I thought that he has lived up to his November 18 speech on Ukraine although he likes to keep everyone guessing about his next steps. NATO might be moving on to the status of endangered species.
He and Putin have some abuse in common, russiagate and vilification, and he has expressed sympathy for Putin on multiple occasions.
We know words are merely words and are often altered. Deeds are what they are and far harder to undo. So far all we’ve had are lots of words and only a few minor deeds to repair relations.
I think Trump sees Balkanizing Russian Federation as too close to tripping MAD. The soft side of that view he brings up kids dying in vain. He said Ze is losing, neaning Balkanizing is not progressing RF is successfully pushing back. No one thought RF would stand! Intel fail, understandable looking at the neocons and their liberal allies in US.
Genocide of Muslims for Zion is no big deal for the acolyte's of the Book of Revelations!
Nearest thing Trump can do now to NATO is proclaiming the line for US to adhere to Art 5 is now very high and nothing in view would get US response.
I suggest to Balkanize RF needs US air power near the Dneiper bigger than it deployed for BVietnam, a logistic nightmare that could be attacked!
When the SMO began in 2022, I said NATO had no weapons capable of defeating Russia, including its nukes. I was 100% correct. Me, a penniless analyst, knew more than billion dollar think tanks. Now, I could say the same about China. he way the US system is structured means it will continue to fall behind Russia, China, and eventually most of the world as the Rent Seekers running it are draining the nation of its vibrance. Soon, except for the top 10%, the USA will become a second-tier nation if the current direction isn’t drastically altered. The Imperialist faction of the Deep State isn’t the most dangerous; rather, it’s the faction Trump belongs to—the FIRE sector and its many allies in Wall Street and globally.
I agree.
Today US could not deploy airpower it deployed in Southeast Asia. worse it has no facilities close, and support aircraft would be over taxed.
Its current jets are 40 (KC 135 more useful than KC 46 is 65) years old in 1965 the majority of jets were less than 15 years old...... Symptom of "rent seeking " arsenal system.
Slow evolving corruption.
As a dyed in the wool perfectionist for leftwing terminology, I think you misuse the term “imperialism.” There were mercantile and settler-colonial versions of colonialism. These were both subsumed by the control of the finance sector, with the claim that this would be the final stage of capital, which remains to be seen. We could argue whether or not the neocons behind the Ukraine fiasco are some kind of retro mercantile capitalists, but I think we just have strategic/tactical differences between different groups of finance capital. I mean, BlackRock is using finance capital methods for its heavy involvement in Ukraine. I don’t know what we should call the two groups, but I agree there is tactical difference among them…
The Wolfowitz neocon branch were imperialists and do recall that financial tools are used for imperialist goals as Hudson explained in "Super Imperialism." It's also likely there're more than two factions, although they do share one commonality: They don't give a damn about the common good.
Fair enough. Usually it’s an epistemological error when we reduce things to having only two components. Life /reality is complex.
But not for Trump who reduces everything to USA(meaning DJT) good, every other country bad until they kowtow/acquiesce. I was watching basketball but switched to the Trump speech during commercials. I had to stop doing that after hearing him heaping plaudits on “our forebears” who immigrated here and conquered the frontier—that was the final straw for me. It occurs to me that the strong arming of Ukraine for its mineral rights parallels the extortionist treaties forced on indigenous peoples. Ukraine will get beads and a century of debt.
And it seems to me that rapid discarding of even beneficial parts of the administrative state is reminiscent of a hedge fund’s rapid dismantling, shutting down, and dispersion of all the parts of a newly acquired formerly profitable corporation…..
Yes, there are signs of a hostile takeover, a term that isn’t used much anymore although they continually occur. I found a transcript of the speech and it reads like a pep rally. There was even a short portion where he threw some alms at the poor working class that would need to be passed by Congress, but those remarks weren’t preceded by saying we must do these things to help and enact them ASAP.
The only two modern US presidents that advanced legislation to help the poor and lower-middle classes were FDR and LBJ, both because they needed to respond to their demands that if not responded to positively would have caused even greater political upheaval than what was already happening in their Eras. The 19th Century had a term for Trump—Nativist. He seeks to reestablish US Primacy, and he needs to increase revenues for that goal. His choice is to bypass Congress using the “emergency” ruse to increase taxes, which is what Tariffs are, and they’re regressive.
"Me, a penniless analyst, knew more than billion dollar think tanks"
But did you Karl? Methinks they also knew the truth (how could they not?) but they trade in the lies supplied by the oxymoroned "Intelligence" Agencies to further the political narrative.
It’s all about the Benjamins and their circulation. Every so often I ask myself if I’d sell myself out. I answer that until I’m presented with an offer, there’s no way for me to know. Until then, I’ll continue to adhere to my values.
Wendell Holmes - [... close enough ..]
#You fancy that lady then my boy ...?
# Oh Yes Sir Yes Sir I desire
#Is it her visage you admire
#While her visage is so bright it is her figure I admire
# What about her figure then my boy?
#One Hundred Thousand he replied.
Article 5 is always misunderstood. It only calls for NATO allies to have a meeting and decide what to do in the event of an attack on one. Or what not to do.
And now with NATO members squabbling there was no way a consensus on a joint military expedition would have been made (even if they had the means to do so).
Not quite. “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force..." - Article 5
NATO is a very effective defensive alliance (wink wink) because it's very flexible in what it expects of each member nation in a time of crisis. If they want, NATO members may take unilateral steps to help another member nation. They don't have to wait for a collective decision for it. Or a member nation can choose to do nothing. The latter would be politically fraught though as it obviously isn't in the spirit of the treaty.
Yes however military help is not a given.
They can offer support in the form of empty diplomatic platitudes; effectively do nothing .
I'll begin by saying this comment won't be popular. Nevertheless it's based on my careful reading of the law concerning genocide. The critical issue that defines genocide is intent. Simply killing many innocent people, as in a war, does not itself constitute genocide. For genocide to occur, what has to be present is an INTENT on the part of the perpetrators to ERADICATE a people, in whole or part. Perpetrators may still inflict great suffering without it being a genocide, sadly.
As of today, Israel will deny the accusation of genocide on self-evident grounds: they didn't kill all the people in Gaza even though it was probably within their power to do so.
The bar to commit, and be found guilty of, genocide is set very high indeed. But there are any number of 'lesser' crimes against humanity which are still heinous and that warrant no less censure. Those crimes against humanity don't require proof of intent. Simply committing them is the crime.
What the Zionists are doing and what the Nazis installed by the Outlaw US Empire in Ukraine tried to do are both genocide. Both have publicly confessed to intent.
There's a practical drawback to accusing a group or country of genocide under less-than-clear circumstances: you have no greater accusation left. Moreover as you've already accused them of the worst, they know that doing even more can't bring greater censure.
Better, I believe, to use the correct terminology for the crime. Mass murder for example is a crime against humanity, and as an accusation it certainly conveys all the gravity and horror of such acts. I say this with the greatest respect to all victims of crimes against humanity.
Wrong.Nowhere is intent mentioned.
From the UN:
Definition
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
BTW you should hang your head in shame. What a disgusting act, denying genocide the Zionist sub-human animals are perpetrating.
John Helmer has some interesting economic perspective reporting here:
https://johnhelmer.net/ending-the-ukraine-war-the-indian-intelligence-assessment/#more-91214
"In this unique discussion held yesterday, two senior Indian strategists spell out how they see the current European and US debate over how the Ukraine war may end.
Indian Army Brigadier (retired) Arun Saghal is one of the leading intelligence analysts in India. With a PhD from Allahabad University, he was the founding Director of the Office of Net Assessment, a unit of the Indian Integrated Defence Staff for preparing long-term strategic analyses and forecasts. He has also served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the principal advisor to the Prime Ministry on military and security policy. Dr Saghal has also played leading roles in the Indian Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (Cs3) and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses."
Hi Karl. I was thinking to myself tonight that just maybe Trump has plans to not go to War with either China nor Iran. Wishful thinking perhaps but since he's just 4 years to build a legacy it's a better bet to build a Legacy of Peace President rather than a War One.
Good questions in this essay. Seems we are asking, why can’t these political leaders base their actions on the objectively measurable changed realities in relative national economic, technological and military strength of nations? I think we all agree everything changes, including ideas. It seems prevailing ideas often change only long after the new realities should have been obvious. The seminal work of Thomas Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions, demonstrates that the leading ideas of science, the paradigms, are not easily altered, despite the accumulation of new findings. Despite overwhelming relevance, new ideas are initially derided, then doubted, and only after sometimes long periods of “violent” intellectual debate “one conceptual world view is replaced by another", says the Amazon review. I’ve read the book and it has good examples from numerous science fields. Humans are creatures of habit, reluctant to change our ways, clinging to cognitive dissonant beliefs to our detriment…
I prefer Trump to stay in nato just to keep UK/EU off balance, utterly contradictory and with a drifting anchor. I will be happy when USA storms out of the UN and takes its tentacles with it. The latter is looking highly likely with the new US ambassador to the UN. Trump is full tilt in with the illegal occupier of Palestine and perhaps leading it further to the east through the ziocrazies in the USA. It is Israel that has demonstrated absolute disregard for International Law and finds itself in court and that situation could well end in their going all the way against Yemen or Iran.
The blather about China masks the Crusader evil in the holy land. This is what Trump is holding back the weapons for.
The USA is Israel's veto in the UN. The UN itself like all world institutions are
bought and paid for by the USA. Since Dubya announced that you're either
with us or against the Constitution no longer has any agency in how the
US is governed. The Trump family is but one family of the Mafia that now
rules over us.
The fact that we arm Israel with every armament known to us, we are complicit
in the genocide as well. R's enemy has always been China, while the D's prefer
to hate Russians
Hello Karl,
Quick question regarding-
"There’s a very strong rumor that Egypt will engage the Zionists to retake the so-called Philadelphia Corridor which is on Egyptian land"
Is this rumor at all stemming from anything Col MacGregors said on Monday afternoon on Napolitano? Or...? I didn't get any kind of a read on this from todays 'neutered' Cairo statements, but that was half expected.
That rumor’s two weeks old and arose with Netanyahu’s refusal to abide by the treaty he signed. IMO, Sissi is a sissy.
Worse still a US asset.
Egypt receives $2 billion on average per year from the US in military and economic aid.
cryptojewtoolikejordaniankingand MBS
Col McGregor is constistently wrong about Egypt. You need to read pro-Houthis to see what they think of Egypt
thanks karl... his speech tonight will be very interesting to watch/listen to for all the reasons you cite and more.. your title sums it up and the clear conflict in people's minds of just where trump stands on a number of issues especially with regard to china..
as for kaja kallas - her words are truly disturbing for what they say about european diplomacy and it's lack at present... when does europe get a wake up call?? it is coming one way or another..
I see our time as a schizophrenia written large! A lethal mixture of good, bad and in between!
The Who’s Quadrophenia is good medicine.