by Jorge Vilches for the Saker Blog
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 #2 https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-04-22/eu-says-gas-payments-may-be-possible-under-russian-roubles-proposal-without-breaching-sanctions – Ref # 3 https://www.rt.com/business/554534-eu-country-rejects-ruble-gas/
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-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/01/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-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
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 # 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 # 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
- complying with the Minsk agreements that Europeans actively pursued and endorsed, which would mean working with Russia, not 100% against it, nor
- finding a viable and reasonable European outcome for their nonsensical Russophobia – mission impossible
- 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/business/2022/apr/19/energy-chiefs-fear-40-of-britons-could-fall-into-fuel-poverty-in-truly-horrific-winter Ref #21 https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rabobank-when-food-system-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 # 24 https://www.rt.com/news/554494-uk-stormer-vehicles-ukraine/
- Why not follow German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on this topic ?????
Ref # 26 https://www.rt.com/news/554411-germany-needs-russia-schroeder/