Wake Up From Your Slumber has posted an article regarding more doublespeak disguised as good legislation - Goodbye bloggers, it was a nice run - thanks to WRH for the heads-up.
I want to reference, quickly, the brouhaha regarding the “Craigslist Killer”.
First of all, calling him the Craiglist Killer is an insult to Craig’s List. I, and many others, have found it to be a valuable resource for a number of things. I have found gainful employment using Craig's List; I have gone on a number of dates with people on Craig's List; I have found lots of free and other useful items on Craig's List.
This idiot could have easily used FaceBook, MySpace, Match or any of the social networking sites to find victims. Maligning Craig’s List, then, in my opinion, is a way for the “distraction media”, also known as our print and television companies, to cast the internet and its resources as something to be avoided, to be shunned.
This is inherently false.
Finding fault with Craig's List because of what someone did with it is like calling for the closing of Dunkin Donuts because someone choked their wife to death with a cruller.
The truth is that WE THE PEOPLE have been lied to incessantly in regards to the “news”, and this is because of the stranglehold on these industries by the scumbags-that-be, and you idiots can whine “conspiracy” and “anti-semitism” until your frog-like throats run dry, but in the end, a glance at the ethnicities occupying the corporate structure tells the whole story.
That, and this very helpful link from my bud, Greg: The LOBBY's 1962 Blueprint for Taking over America.
The big trick is to equate the internet with rape and murder, as evidenced by the loudly publicized and politicized events, such as the "Craigslist Killer" and now the new "MySpace Murder"...let's not forget WABC broadcaster George Weber's murder.
The "Distraction Media" has, up until now, gotten away with murder in regards to lying bold-facedly to WE THE PEOPLE about lies intended to embroil us into wars; war crimes; financial malfeasance; in short, they have been stenographers for the corrupt in government ever since the Watergate scandal.
1913 was the beginning of the end of America as the "land of the free and the home of the brave"; what we have now are dullards waving flags, muttering "Mah Amurika, raht er wrong!", while our freedoms are eroded step by step with legislation such as HR 1913.
You're absolutely right - this is a slap in our faces. I, for one, will not turn the other cheek.
Meanwhile, we will continue to be distracted by shite like this video offered up by MEMRI:
Showing posts with label fear-mongering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear-mongering. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic - wcbstv.com/Fraudonomics

Found a new blog to add to the list: Fraudonomics.
Their posting can be read here: FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic
I was listening to 1010WINS yesterday morning, before I had to deal with some personal business. I heard the newscast, and it is nothing more than part of a psychological operation. As I posted at this page, this is what we should have seen on the morning of September 11th, 2001; but instead, we were witness to a prior psy-op; the story of how 19 "Arabs" completely outwitted our military and were able to countermand the fundamental forces of physics and chemistry to disintegrate three buildings with naught but two planes.
Read that again...and think about how ridiculous that notion is...but you have been told that this is what happened.
Fighter jets were dispatched (albeit too late and haphazardly) to catch up to the passenger jets, even though their top speed triple what a passenger jet can achieve.
Jet fuel has a maximum burning temperature that cannot approach the melting point of construction steel, much less the amounts of steel used to construct WTC towers 1 & 2, yet they purportedly were the main force in the "collapse". Of course, the buildings did much more than simply collapse, didn't they?
Whoop...I did say three buildings, didn't I? How in the heck did that third building go? What...you say that NIST never checked for thermite, or any of its derivatives; and yet, peer-reviewed documentation exists that proves the presence of nano-thermite?
Oh, for shame.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
1010WINS PsyOp; Where Is The Law That States WE THE PEOPLE Must Pay Taxes?
This morning, 1010WINS ran a story regarding the individual who piloted a Cessna over the US today...they made a huge point of indicating that the individual's nationality was Turkish.
This followed a story about the fellow who purportedly threatened the life of President Obama while on his World Tour...whoa! Not only did he have a fraudulent press pass from Al-Jazeera (thereby invoking a non-status upon its journalistic efforts), he was from TURKEY!
So...not so much, right? Well...this was then followed by an AIRLINE COMMERCIAL...shades of 9/11!
Let's face it...America's currency, the dollar, is in dire straits, and our administration (and more importantly, the scumbags behind the scenes) needs a distraction; Bill Clinton getting hummers just won't do anymore.
In other news...it's tax time! Here's a posting regarding that subject:
This was too good not to repost...
This followed a story about the fellow who purportedly threatened the life of President Obama while on his World Tour...whoa! Not only did he have a fraudulent press pass from Al-Jazeera (thereby invoking a non-status upon its journalistic efforts), he was from TURKEY!
So...not so much, right? Well...this was then followed by an AIRLINE COMMERCIAL...shades of 9/11!
Let's face it...America's currency, the dollar, is in dire straits, and our administration (and more importantly, the scumbags behind the scenes) needs a distraction; Bill Clinton getting hummers just won't do anymore.
In other news...it's tax time! Here's a posting regarding that subject:
From: Wake up America !
To:
Date: Apr 7, 2009 12:39 PM
Subject: $50,000 for you, Just show the law that you must pay taxes...
For the last 2 months I have been trying to make one of my friends happy with $50,000, most people don't make that much in a year. The money is still available.
No shit - $50.000 dollar can be yours just for showing in the constitution, tax code or anywhere else, where it is written that citizens MUST pay taxes. Watch the video and she will tell how. First you must know this reward has been available for years and not one person has been able to prove it. Seems a relatively simple task to make a quick 50K ,doesn't it? Well, what the hell you waiting for? People are murdered these days over a 100 dollars, so imagine what the average person would do for 50k. What does this say for the fact the money has never been claimed?
I challenge you to go get the money!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
show any law that makes the average American liable for the income tax, and the IRS cannot show us any law allowing it to take the fruits of our hard labor!!
FOR YEARS we’ve sat meekly by watching the IRS, its DOJ, cronies and sock-puppet courts and federal bureaucrats thumb their noses and chop away at our numbers, punishing any who dare to ask and gagging any who dare to tell the truth about the strict limitations!!
FOR YEARS We’ve seen the IRS grow more arrogant, aggressive and abusive while our elected representatives ignore our demands for true accountability of these public servants!!
FOR YEARS WE’VE TALKED THE TALK! BUT NOW IT’S TIME TO WALK THE WALK!!!
Today, hundreds of thousands of patriotic Americans have been asking and waiting for the answer and now it’s time for every American to demand that our public servants admit the TRUTH…
TruthAttack.org
Of course, everyone knows there is an income tax, but now it’s time for us to let everyone know the TRUTH:
THERE IS NO LAW!!!
Making the average American liable for the income tax!
It’s time to stop asking and waiting and START TELLING every American the TRUTH!! America has the right to know it is being mugged by a ruthless and amoral band of lawless bureaucrats while those we have elected and those we have placed on our court benches to protect us merely look away.
It’s time to stop talking about it and START DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!
It’s time to stop fearing our own government servants and to RESTORE THE RULE OF LAW!!
For the first time ever, the many groups of Patriots across the country are united into one huge force and for the first time ever their message is the same, ringing out the TRUTH:
THERE IS NO LAW!!!
Alone we are easy prey for the rogue federal government, but together we are INVINCIBLE and we can and will overwhelm and expose the IRS’s BIG LIE!
IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO RAISE YOUR VOICE AND JOIN ALL THE OTHER PATRIOTIC AND FREEDOM-LOVING TRUTH TROOPERS ACROSS THIS GREAT NATION TO RESTORE THE RULE OF LAW, OUR CONSTITUTION AND OUR REPUBLIC!!
YOUR TRUTH-TROOPER KOMBAT KIT WILL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO
BRING AN END TO THE WORLD’S BIGGEST RIP-OFF!!
ENLIST TODAY!! BEGIN TO FIGHT TODAY!! NO MORE WAITING!!
IT IS TIME TO GIVE THE IRS HOODLUMS A
TRUTH ATTACK!!
see more videos @ www.myspace.com/opnurisc4u
This was too good not to repost...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Calling Kreskin...Calling Kreskin
As Howard Stern's mother Rae would say..."What What WHAT?!?"
Or, maybe Goldfarb is part French, and the "we" was actually "oui"!
At any rate...the silence at those moments was DEAFENING.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Okay...Now It's Time To Get Ugly!

Yeah...this is a real piece of propaganda being passed out in California...I found it in seconds.
This is in accordance with the current "Republican" regime's efforts to SCARE you into voting for their candidate, rather than weighing the pros and cons on both candidates; and making an informed decision.
Apparently, clear-thinking voters are NOT on the current "Republican" regime's agenda.
Fear-mongering is, however.
One of my co-workers even informed me that his in-laws spoke of two "very important" issues that barred them from voting for Barack Hussein Obama - they are:
He might wear one of those African hats...and...Michelle Obama is not "pretty enough" to be the First Lady.
And Barbara Bush was an eyeful, eh?
Where's the America-sized handbasket...because we're all going express to HELL, if shite like this dominates the national debate.
Don't believe me?
Top Tampa GOP Figure Circulates Joke About Killing Obama
By William March / Tampa Tribune
Al Austin, a longtime, high-level Republican fundraiser from Tampa, today sent to his list of political contacts an e-mail containing a joke that refers to the assassination of Barack Obama.
When asked about the e-mail, Austin said it was a mistake and apologized and that he wouldn’t knowingly have circulated it. He said he planned to send an apology and retraction to the same e-mail list.
The joke concerns a group of schoolchildren discussing the definition of “tragedy” as opposed to “great loss” or “accident.” The punch line comes when one child says that if an airplane carrying Obama and his wife, Michelle, “was struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens,” the event might be a tragedy “because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss, and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”
Austin acknowledged sending the e-mail to his list of political contacts but said he forwarded it without fully reading it and didn’t know what it said. That list included at least two reporters.
According to the forwarding history on the e-mail, it had gone through at least two other individuals before being sent to Austin on Tuesday.
Austin, a prominent real estate developer long known as one of the state’s leading Republican campaign fundraisers, has served in recent years as finance chairman for both the national and state Republican parties.
Try this link, also - the comments are quite telling...
Or how about this sweet little quote from T. Garrett, a member of Vanguard New Network forums: "[Talking] har har
If NObama was characterized as a simian instead of a donkey (the obnoxious Dem party mascot) on this fake sawbuck it would kinda look like something produced by a member of VNN forum wouldn't it?
niggers cant take it when the joke's on them can they? That's because mother nature herself has been laughing at them since they first came down from the trees."
Dear readers, detractors, schmendricks...think about your bottom line when you vote on November 4th, 2008.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Georgia / S.Ossetia / Russia / US Crisis
Georgia/S.Ossetia/Russia/US Crisis
August 19, 2008
Dear CCI friends and funders,
Many of you have called and emailed regarding the Georgia/S.Ossetia/Russia debacle. We've followed the happenings day and night - at times over a hundred emails a day arrived from analysts and experts on Russia. These events occurred right after I arrived from Russia, so this is the first time I've had to write - though I hope you have checked our blog, www.russiaotherpointsofview.com for analyses of NYT, WP, and other articles on these issues.
This following piece is unforgivably long. If you have little time to read, please just scan the following bullets.
UNDENIABLE FACTS REGARDING THE GEORGIAN/S. OSSETIAN/RUSSIAN CRISIS:
* Georgia made an unprovoked military attack on S. Ossetia on August 7 - a fact which is virtually ignored by U.S. media - most reference it as the "invasion by Russia into Georgian territory." This tells us something. Why is the invading country not being faulted? Bush/Rice have castigated Russia for a "disproportionate" response. Can you think of a response to any invasion which has been "proportionate"?
* Russia counter attacked on August 8 after 1400 civilians and Russian peace keepers had been killed. The city was in shambles, with refugees streaming toward Russia to seek refuge.
* Since Georgia became a free state in 1991, S. Ossetia has had de facto independence and have operated as an autonomous area. Our media reports as though these facts don't matter.
* Josef Stalin drew the dividing lines between the two Ossetian communities and placed half of the Ossetians in Georgia, and the other half in Russia. It made no sense. What need is there today to honor Stalin's whim about carving up ethnic groups.
* Ossetians are a totally different ethnic group, they are not Georgian. Many Ossetians are Russians - and many hold Russian passports.
* Ossetians despise and distrust Georgians and want nothing to do with them.
* The South Ossetians fought a vicious war with Georgia in 1991-93 after first Georgian President Gamsakhurdia, a rabid nationalist, stripped them of their autonomy and sent militia in to establish Georgian dominance. The Ossetians finally won and since then have governed themselves with a president and a constitution.
* Russia to date has insured their autonomy for which South Ossetians are grateful.
* Russia has kept a "peace force" in Ossetia for years which was originally approved by Georgia, the US and others, to keep peace in the micro-region where tempers flare frequently.
* Ossetia's autonomy was approved in 1993 by presidents Yeltsin and by Shevardnadze, the then head of state of Georgia. Nothing about this fact has changed since.
* There has been continuous low-level sniping and firing between both Ossetian and Georgian villagers for decades.
* It would be impossible for Georgia to manage a successful takeover of the Ossetians. They would have to raze Ossetia to the ground to beat them into submission.
* U.S. and Israeli military have been stationed in Georgia, providing military hardware and training Georgians in battlefield tactics for some time now.
Despite US media coverage, this situation is not about a "big bad nation" (Russia) beating up on an "innocent little nation" (Georgia). Georgia initiated this all-out war, which they and US advisors could have predicted would turn ugly in a hurry.
~~~~~~~~~~
The question is: why would Georgia's president Saakashvili invade a sworn enemy which has a Russian peace keeping force stationed there to defend Ossetia's autonomy? It would appear to be a suicide mission.
Likely reasons: Either Saakashvili was totally deluded, and/or he gambled that Russia would not stand behind their word to the Ossetians, and/or he believed that the U.S. would support him and Georgia in a war against S. Ossetia and possibly Russia.
POLITICAL REALITIES WHICH COMPLICATE THIS PICTURE:
Since the implosion of the USSR in 1990, elements in Washington have encouraged and financially supported the independent states of the former USSR, to align with the the U.S. and Europe, and to forego their former relations with Russia. Some states welcomed this support, since they bristled under USSR rule (Baltic states, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Georgia). Others, part of the Russian Empire, weren't interested in breaking relations. Russia provided incentives to these states and they remain in good political and trade relations.
Why has the U.S. been interested in dividing Russia's neighboring states from Russia? To: 1) to insure that collectively they wouldn't get strong again and become a threat; 2) to help bolster America's hegemony and dominance in the world; and 3) to insure America's energy future - oil and gas supplies along with the pipelines that carry it out to the west. Georgia, one part of this strategy, doesn't have oil or gas, but they do have pipelines, rails and ports and are considered strategically located.
A CURSORY RUNDOWN OF RUSSIA'S RESPONSES TO THIS POLITICAL REALITY:
1. In the 1990's when Russia underwent their debilitating transition to a private economy, the country was in massive debt to international lending institutions, and had no choice but to tolerate whatever major powers did, including the beginning of the bitterly resented NATO expansion. Russian leaders and citizens suffered this fate at the time, but not gladly.
2. After 2001 when Putin emerged as Russia's new leader, Russia became stronger by the year, paid off her debts, essentially nationalized the oil and gas industry and became more active in rebuilding Russia's economic interests.
3. By 2003 Putin's power was felt in internal politics and nation rebuilding. Khodorkovsky was imprisoned on tax evasion, but more because of his anti-Putin political ambitions. His incarceration helped rein in other oligarchs. Elements in Washington and US media were hyper critical and into actions seeming to Russia to destabilize her internal interests. U.S. money supported "opposition" politics in Russia and other states of the former USSR, which bristled the Russians. They began to push back.
4. By 2004/5, Georgia's Rose Revolution and Ukraine's Orange Revolution occurred (due to support from American NGOs and exiled oligarchs) which galled Russians since they were increasingly 'encircled by unfriendly nations.'
5. Russia became predictably reactive, clamped down on media, visas and in other spheres. They stopped subsidizing oil and gas to former USSR republics who joined the west, turned their 'portion' off when they refused to pay market prices. Ukrainians pilfered gas for themselves from the pipelines - but cut off contents destined for Europe. This created a squall of "oil politics."
6. By 2007, Putin, at a Munich meeting of heads of states, unveiled Russia's position on the U.S.' unipolar role in global politics - and made Russia's case for a multipolar world. This was a turning point in US-Russia relations - it alerted Washington that Russia no longer accepted their concept of sole superpower status (geopolitically, not militarily). Elements in DC next initiated the effort to put missile systems and monitoring devices on Russia's borders in Poland and the Czech Republic. This was the next-to-last straw for Russia.
7. August 7, 2008 Georgia attacked S. Ossetia's capital with full force. This was the last straw. Russian military responded to the attack within 15 hours, quickly moved down into Georgia proper to destroy military caches, cut off bridges and interrupt transit routes - to the shock of western media.
Ignoring who started the war, who was behind it, the devastation that occurred in S. Ossetia, and the history between the two ethnic groups, western media has spun a story line that looked convincing at first, but doesn't hold water once the facts are known.
Unfortunately, it is clear now that a resurgent Russia is back - and that they will do what is in Russia's best interests in the future - as any country in control of its destiny would.
IT DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN THIS WAY
In the 1990s and even up to 2007, Russia and Russians, more than anything, wanted to be friends with America and to be accepted into the trans-Atlantic world community. As a country, we missed thousands of opportunities by being amazingly arrogant, pushy, resistant and totally insensitive to Russia's plight as it dug out of communism and tried to form a new nation. We at CCI were on the scene ad intimately involved with these years. We watched every little detail and rankled at the behaviors and attitudes we were observing.
The second Cold War really started years ago. In 2001 I began a folder of US newspaper articles which was labeled "The Rebuilding the Cold War" - articles that were demeaning to Russia, forcing them into situations that were "salt in the wounds." Why???? I asked myself, why would we go there again? Surely, we wouldn't! But we did.
It appears that elements of U.S. foreign policy makers and the U.S. media, were never able to let go of 'cold war mentality' and instinctively distorted any situation related to Russia - and often used standards to which they didn't hold other countries and trading partners around the world.
MEDIA - HYPE AND THE LACK OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM - an example:
On Sunday I watched CNN reporting on the Georgian/S. Ossetia crisis. They did a terrific piece on CCI in 2007 when we brought 100 Russians to DC to talk with Congress members re the US-Russia policy. But this morning I was stunned and disappointed to see how CNN sidestepped the evidence surrounding the Georgia/S.Ossetia/Russia events in subtle nuanced ways the audience would not normally register. For instance:
1. CNN chose only on-ground reporters sitting in the capital of Georgia - none sitting in South Ossetia - where on-ground newscasters reported the worst damage to have occurred. Footage of grim Georgian victims were shown, but no Ossetian tragedies mentioned. Would Russians have let CNN into S. Ossetia's capital city? With pleasure, to show the damage sustained there.
2. CNN chose Zbigniew Brzezinski as the hour's lead foreign policy specialist. This anti-Russia, Polish-American foreign policy specialist can be safely predicted to produce negatively-skewed opinions on anything Russian. Other similar choices of interviewees followed throughout the hour. There are dozens of equally or better-known Russian experts which could have been chosen for interview had facts and balance been of interest (Ambassadors to Russia, National Security Advisors on Russia, high-level academicians).
3. CNN chose for their last interview, Richard Holbrooke, who always has a one-sided view against Russia. He has been used extensively by the networks over the past ten days. At this point I turned off the television.
~~~~~~~~~
Friends, it seems not long ago that I wrote thousands of you during the build up to the Iraq War. I warned that the hype we were hearing day and night was based more on fiction and lies than reality. In January of 2001, I went to Washington to try to get an open ear. Options to war were offered, such as sending neutral Rotary or other American delegations to Iraq to learn if there were ways we could deal with them, rather than war. It was useless - the momentum for war, on both sides of the aisle, was too great by that time. The media bombardment, truthful or not, had been overly successful. For my efforts and strange thinking, I was labeled "unpatriotic." Months and now years have passed. We have slowly faced the truth about how we were taken into that war. And again in 2008, I am registering panic that we are going in that same dangerous direction again.
I fear the underlying intentions of this current situation are all about oil and gas, global dominance and hegemony - which means a show-down for any who might get in the way. Russia is in the way.
Unfortunately for us, Russia will no longer back down - like she was forced to in the 90s. Today she will go toe-to-toe if pushed; and will probably "over react" due to years of having had NATO shoved up to her borders; neighboring states turned against her; missiles and hi-tech invasive monitoring placed on her periphery; years of having been refused Jackson Vanik trade advantages; living with the endless info-war leveled at her; on and on and on.
The specter today is extraordinarily dangerous. Russia still has thousands of nuclear weapons. With cowboy mentality and brinksmanship in vogue in international politics, it's not inconceivable that WWIII could be launched over such an insignificant little place on earth as South Ossetia.
The only light in this tunnel is that there will be new leadership in Washington in a few short months. Let us hope and pray that which ever candidate wins, they will assess the ominous writing on the wall and create a radically new type of American foreign policy - that they will realize that we are in a totally new 'world-in-the-making' - and that the warring politics of the 20th century won't work in the 21st century - and that we face either change... or extinction.
~~~~~~~~~~
I will greatly appreciate your comments on the above. If you are comfortable this point of view, I urge you to send this message to your e-lists.
All the best, --
PS: If you know a local newspaper editor, please ask them if they will print an OpEd on the Georgia/Ossetia/Russia crisis. If so, let me know quickly - I will send one.
PS: Do check our blog, www.russiaotherpointsofview.com for the latest in analyses of NYT, WP and other major papers on the Georgia/Ossetia/Russia issues. You will see the full articles as they appeared in our key newspapers, the criteria by which the contents are judged, and the factual information behind often slanted comments or paragraphs.'
*** Excuse rough writing, no editors are present....
--
Excuse me while I eat my tie...
August 19, 2008
Dear CCI friends and funders,
Many of you have called and emailed regarding the Georgia/S.Ossetia/Russia debacle. We've followed the happenings day and night - at times over a hundred emails a day arrived from analysts and experts on Russia. These events occurred right after I arrived from Russia, so this is the first time I've had to write - though I hope you have checked our blog, www.russiaotherpointsofview.com for analyses of NYT, WP, and other articles on these issues.
This following piece is unforgivably long. If you have little time to read, please just scan the following bullets.
UNDENIABLE FACTS REGARDING THE GEORGIAN/S. OSSETIAN/RUSSIAN CRISIS:
* Georgia made an unprovoked military attack on S. Ossetia on August 7 - a fact which is virtually ignored by U.S. media - most reference it as the "invasion by Russia into Georgian territory." This tells us something. Why is the invading country not being faulted? Bush/Rice have castigated Russia for a "disproportionate" response. Can you think of a response to any invasion which has been "proportionate"?
* Russia counter attacked on August 8 after 1400 civilians and Russian peace keepers had been killed. The city was in shambles, with refugees streaming toward Russia to seek refuge.
* Since Georgia became a free state in 1991, S. Ossetia has had de facto independence and have operated as an autonomous area. Our media reports as though these facts don't matter.
* Josef Stalin drew the dividing lines between the two Ossetian communities and placed half of the Ossetians in Georgia, and the other half in Russia. It made no sense. What need is there today to honor Stalin's whim about carving up ethnic groups.
* Ossetians are a totally different ethnic group, they are not Georgian. Many Ossetians are Russians - and many hold Russian passports.
* Ossetians despise and distrust Georgians and want nothing to do with them.
* The South Ossetians fought a vicious war with Georgia in 1991-93 after first Georgian President Gamsakhurdia, a rabid nationalist, stripped them of their autonomy and sent militia in to establish Georgian dominance. The Ossetians finally won and since then have governed themselves with a president and a constitution.
* Russia to date has insured their autonomy for which South Ossetians are grateful.
* Russia has kept a "peace force" in Ossetia for years which was originally approved by Georgia, the US and others, to keep peace in the micro-region where tempers flare frequently.
* Ossetia's autonomy was approved in 1993 by presidents Yeltsin and by Shevardnadze, the then head of state of Georgia. Nothing about this fact has changed since.
* There has been continuous low-level sniping and firing between both Ossetian and Georgian villagers for decades.
* It would be impossible for Georgia to manage a successful takeover of the Ossetians. They would have to raze Ossetia to the ground to beat them into submission.
* U.S. and Israeli military have been stationed in Georgia, providing military hardware and training Georgians in battlefield tactics for some time now.
Despite US media coverage, this situation is not about a "big bad nation" (Russia) beating up on an "innocent little nation" (Georgia). Georgia initiated this all-out war, which they and US advisors could have predicted would turn ugly in a hurry.
~~~~~~~~~~
The question is: why would Georgia's president Saakashvili invade a sworn enemy which has a Russian peace keeping force stationed there to defend Ossetia's autonomy? It would appear to be a suicide mission.
Likely reasons: Either Saakashvili was totally deluded, and/or he gambled that Russia would not stand behind their word to the Ossetians, and/or he believed that the U.S. would support him and Georgia in a war against S. Ossetia and possibly Russia.
POLITICAL REALITIES WHICH COMPLICATE THIS PICTURE:
Since the implosion of the USSR in 1990, elements in Washington have encouraged and financially supported the independent states of the former USSR, to align with the the U.S. and Europe, and to forego their former relations with Russia. Some states welcomed this support, since they bristled under USSR rule (Baltic states, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Georgia). Others, part of the Russian Empire, weren't interested in breaking relations. Russia provided incentives to these states and they remain in good political and trade relations.
Why has the U.S. been interested in dividing Russia's neighboring states from Russia? To: 1) to insure that collectively they wouldn't get strong again and become a threat; 2) to help bolster America's hegemony and dominance in the world; and 3) to insure America's energy future - oil and gas supplies along with the pipelines that carry it out to the west. Georgia, one part of this strategy, doesn't have oil or gas, but they do have pipelines, rails and ports and are considered strategically located.
A CURSORY RUNDOWN OF RUSSIA'S RESPONSES TO THIS POLITICAL REALITY:
1. In the 1990's when Russia underwent their debilitating transition to a private economy, the country was in massive debt to international lending institutions, and had no choice but to tolerate whatever major powers did, including the beginning of the bitterly resented NATO expansion. Russian leaders and citizens suffered this fate at the time, but not gladly.
2. After 2001 when Putin emerged as Russia's new leader, Russia became stronger by the year, paid off her debts, essentially nationalized the oil and gas industry and became more active in rebuilding Russia's economic interests.
3. By 2003 Putin's power was felt in internal politics and nation rebuilding. Khodorkovsky was imprisoned on tax evasion, but more because of his anti-Putin political ambitions. His incarceration helped rein in other oligarchs. Elements in Washington and US media were hyper critical and into actions seeming to Russia to destabilize her internal interests. U.S. money supported "opposition" politics in Russia and other states of the former USSR, which bristled the Russians. They began to push back.
4. By 2004/5, Georgia's Rose Revolution and Ukraine's Orange Revolution occurred (due to support from American NGOs and exiled oligarchs) which galled Russians since they were increasingly 'encircled by unfriendly nations.'
5. Russia became predictably reactive, clamped down on media, visas and in other spheres. They stopped subsidizing oil and gas to former USSR republics who joined the west, turned their 'portion' off when they refused to pay market prices. Ukrainians pilfered gas for themselves from the pipelines - but cut off contents destined for Europe. This created a squall of "oil politics."
6. By 2007, Putin, at a Munich meeting of heads of states, unveiled Russia's position on the U.S.' unipolar role in global politics - and made Russia's case for a multipolar world. This was a turning point in US-Russia relations - it alerted Washington that Russia no longer accepted their concept of sole superpower status (geopolitically, not militarily). Elements in DC next initiated the effort to put missile systems and monitoring devices on Russia's borders in Poland and the Czech Republic. This was the next-to-last straw for Russia.
7. August 7, 2008 Georgia attacked S. Ossetia's capital with full force. This was the last straw. Russian military responded to the attack within 15 hours, quickly moved down into Georgia proper to destroy military caches, cut off bridges and interrupt transit routes - to the shock of western media.
Ignoring who started the war, who was behind it, the devastation that occurred in S. Ossetia, and the history between the two ethnic groups, western media has spun a story line that looked convincing at first, but doesn't hold water once the facts are known.
Unfortunately, it is clear now that a resurgent Russia is back - and that they will do what is in Russia's best interests in the future - as any country in control of its destiny would.
IT DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN THIS WAY
In the 1990s and even up to 2007, Russia and Russians, more than anything, wanted to be friends with America and to be accepted into the trans-Atlantic world community. As a country, we missed thousands of opportunities by being amazingly arrogant, pushy, resistant and totally insensitive to Russia's plight as it dug out of communism and tried to form a new nation. We at CCI were on the scene ad intimately involved with these years. We watched every little detail and rankled at the behaviors and attitudes we were observing.
The second Cold War really started years ago. In 2001 I began a folder of US newspaper articles which was labeled "The Rebuilding the Cold War" - articles that were demeaning to Russia, forcing them into situations that were "salt in the wounds." Why???? I asked myself, why would we go there again? Surely, we wouldn't! But we did.
It appears that elements of U.S. foreign policy makers and the U.S. media, were never able to let go of 'cold war mentality' and instinctively distorted any situation related to Russia - and often used standards to which they didn't hold other countries and trading partners around the world.
MEDIA - HYPE AND THE LACK OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM - an example:
On Sunday I watched CNN reporting on the Georgian/S. Ossetia crisis. They did a terrific piece on CCI in 2007 when we brought 100 Russians to DC to talk with Congress members re the US-Russia policy. But this morning I was stunned and disappointed to see how CNN sidestepped the evidence surrounding the Georgia/S.Ossetia/Russia events in subtle nuanced ways the audience would not normally register. For instance:
1. CNN chose only on-ground reporters sitting in the capital of Georgia - none sitting in South Ossetia - where on-ground newscasters reported the worst damage to have occurred. Footage of grim Georgian victims were shown, but no Ossetian tragedies mentioned. Would Russians have let CNN into S. Ossetia's capital city? With pleasure, to show the damage sustained there.
2. CNN chose Zbigniew Brzezinski as the hour's lead foreign policy specialist. This anti-Russia, Polish-American foreign policy specialist can be safely predicted to produce negatively-skewed opinions on anything Russian. Other similar choices of interviewees followed throughout the hour. There are dozens of equally or better-known Russian experts which could have been chosen for interview had facts and balance been of interest (Ambassadors to Russia, National Security Advisors on Russia, high-level academicians).
3. CNN chose for their last interview, Richard Holbrooke, who always has a one-sided view against Russia. He has been used extensively by the networks over the past ten days. At this point I turned off the television.
~~~~~~~~~
Friends, it seems not long ago that I wrote thousands of you during the build up to the Iraq War. I warned that the hype we were hearing day and night was based more on fiction and lies than reality. In January of 2001, I went to Washington to try to get an open ear. Options to war were offered, such as sending neutral Rotary or other American delegations to Iraq to learn if there were ways we could deal with them, rather than war. It was useless - the momentum for war, on both sides of the aisle, was too great by that time. The media bombardment, truthful or not, had been overly successful. For my efforts and strange thinking, I was labeled "unpatriotic." Months and now years have passed. We have slowly faced the truth about how we were taken into that war. And again in 2008, I am registering panic that we are going in that same dangerous direction again.
I fear the underlying intentions of this current situation are all about oil and gas, global dominance and hegemony - which means a show-down for any who might get in the way. Russia is in the way.
Unfortunately for us, Russia will no longer back down - like she was forced to in the 90s. Today she will go toe-to-toe if pushed; and will probably "over react" due to years of having had NATO shoved up to her borders; neighboring states turned against her; missiles and hi-tech invasive monitoring placed on her periphery; years of having been refused Jackson Vanik trade advantages; living with the endless info-war leveled at her; on and on and on.
The specter today is extraordinarily dangerous. Russia still has thousands of nuclear weapons. With cowboy mentality and brinksmanship in vogue in international politics, it's not inconceivable that WWIII could be launched over such an insignificant little place on earth as South Ossetia.
The only light in this tunnel is that there will be new leadership in Washington in a few short months. Let us hope and pray that which ever candidate wins, they will assess the ominous writing on the wall and create a radically new type of American foreign policy - that they will realize that we are in a totally new 'world-in-the-making' - and that the warring politics of the 20th century won't work in the 21st century - and that we face either change... or extinction.
~~~~~~~~~~
I will greatly appreciate your comments on the above. If you are comfortable this point of view, I urge you to send this message to your e-lists.
All the best, --
PS: If you know a local newspaper editor, please ask them if they will print an OpEd on the Georgia/Ossetia/Russia crisis. If so, let me know quickly - I will send one.
PS: Do check our blog, www.russiaotherpointsofview.com for the latest in analyses of NYT, WP and other major papers on the Georgia/Ossetia/Russia issues. You will see the full articles as they appeared in our key newspapers, the criteria by which the contents are judged, and the factual information behind often slanted comments or paragraphs.'
*** Excuse rough writing, no editors are present....
--
Excuse me while I eat my tie...
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