Russia and Putin, the Nonexistent Threat

Russia is fast becoming our latest bogyman with neocons, war hawks, and a complicit corporate media, all beating the preliminary war drums, rapidly convincing a duped public that the Russian threat is real.  The record shows the Russian threat is nonsense, but the record also shows there is a threat, not from Russia, but from the US.

A couple of years ago the US was foaming at the mouth anticipating being able to bomb Syria into oblivion, claiming as pretext Assad was using chemical weapons.  Once again the US was using the tired argument that it was necessary to save the people by bombing them.  Ask the “people” of Libya, and Iraq, and Yemen, if they felt saved by being bombed?  We laid waste to Libya with 77 days of bombing and devastated that country, along with the complete destruction of Iraq, and now, with our invaluable assistance and weapons, we are doing likewise to “save” the people of Yemen.

Our thirst to bomb Syria a few years ago was foiled by those evil Russians, who stepped in diplomatically and got Assad to get rid of all Syria’s chemical weapons.  Those nasty Russians would not let us have our bombing and prevented it by using diplomacy. Is that why they now are our enemy?

Naturally we would not be stopped, and found the pretext to bomb Syria anyway.  Using ISIS as an excuse, we are currently bombing Syria trying to usher in the same kind of anarchy we brought to Iraq and Libya. Corporate media, shill mouthpiece of the US government, would have you believe that the US is part of a world coalition that is bombing Syria, when the fact is 99% of the bombing is done by the US alone. In any case the end game is to reduce Syria to chaos, death, destruction, and violence, which is well under way.  Those nasty Russians are again interfering by sending weapons to support the Assad regime.  It appears that our thirst to bomb, has forced the nasty Russians to draw a line in the sand.  They will support Assad and not tolerate his overthrow by the US.

We now know, thanks to the Guardian and other UK news outlets, but relatively unreported in the US, that apparently the Russians had negotiated a deal in 2012, in which Assad would either share power or would step down, but the deal was ignored and brushed aside by the US.  Why?  Because we wanted to rain down anarchy on Syria by bombing it to oblivion. We did not want a diplomatic solution, we wanted to bomb and cause pure anarchy, which is what we are currently doing. Those nasty Russians were diplomatically trying to prevent this from happening for the second time. They could not stop our desire to bomb.

The US orchestrated a coup of a democratically elected leader of the Ukraine and installed a US puppet, but blamed the next door neighbor Russia for the troubles in the Ukraine. We also inflamed the US public by accusing Russia of expanding by taking the Crimea by force, even though 99% of Crimeans wanted to belong to Russia, and this was achieved not by invasion, and not one single death in the Crimea.  Corporate media convinced the US public that Russia had invaded militarily, and taken over the Crimea.  Not so; there was no invasion and not one person died in a popular turn to Russia by the people of Crimea.

There are now various news reports that have the US planning to place nuclear weapons to Germany. That’s right, nuclear weapons on Russia’s front doorstep! First, how would you like it as a German citizen, and then how you like it as a Russian living next door?  This is a provocative, foolish, dangerous, militarily aggressive act by the US, but the media shills will depict the Russians as the bad guys.

So who is the aggressor nation? How many nations has Russia bombed in the past 25 years?  How many nations has the US bombed in the past 25 years? Russia has 2 military bases outside its borders, while the US has over 700. So which nation is the most aggressive? The US has killed approximately 4-5 million people since 1963. How many innocents has Russia killed during that time? The annual US military budget is 10 times higher than Russia’s, so who is the aggressor nation? There are US Special Forces operating in 81 foreign nations. Special Forces budget has increased fivefold since 2001 and their numbers have doubled.  So who is the aggressor nation? The US is planning to deploy nuclear weapons to Germany, and since 1776 the US has been at war for 93% of its history. The US with its bombings of 14 nations in the Middle East, has unleashed one of the biggest refugee crises in human history as people flee from US bombs and destruction.  So who is the aggressor; the US or Russia? Pay no attention to corporate media, get your own facts.

The Truth of US Foreign Policy is a Bitter Pill to Swallow

As we watch countless immigrants make their way from war torn countries to find a safe haven in Europe, media and nation states only focus on how to stop it, and never the cause.  So countless immigrants are meeting death while trying to get out of harm’s way, as boats sink, fleeing immigrants die, babies wash up on beaches, a truckload of fleeing people suffocates, and daily the carnage goes on. All this and no serious discussion of the cause for the migration, perhaps because we don’t want to face the truth. 

While we might not like to admit it, much of the blame lies with the US and its foreign policy. We have completely destroyed Iraq, reducing it to rubble and outright anarchy. Well over one million have died since our initial involvement with Iraq, and about 4 million have been displaced by the horrors of war, with Iraq now a quagmire of endless death and violence. The US bombed Iraq for years, starved it with brutal sanctions for years, invaded and occupied it for years, set the stage for sectarian violence and civil war, set up a puppet government, and then left, to watch the country totally disintegrate. Try to answer: why?

Afghanistan has been subjected to a US invasion and war for more than 13 years, and that country has been devastated and reduced to tribal wars. This is an ongoing civil war between the Taliban and a puppet government installed and propped up by the US government, so the war has raged for many years because of undue US interference and military support for an unpopular government.  That civil war would end in weeks if the US left, but we would rather stay to insure total devastation and then leave, but maintain military bases.  US drones have only escalated the anti-US hatred as we continue to kill innocents by wiping out wedding parties and the like in the name of fighting a bogus “war on terror”. This civil war has nothing to do with terrorism.  The initial reason given for the invasion and devastation of Afghanistan was to get Bin Laden, even though the Taliban had agreed to give him to us, the US President at the time, George macho Bush, said he would not negotiate with anyone and invaded.  So we invaded, devastated, and continue to do so, even though Bin Laden is now, according to the US government, dead.  So why is the US still in Afghanistan? Why did we enter in the first place?

The US turned on its former friend, Muammar Gaddafi, and decided he had to go, so the US and its complicit media propaganda machine led the public to believe we had to save Libyans by a “humanitarian bombing”, an oxymoron if there ever was one. For over 7 months the US and its allies laid complete waste to the once nation of Libya.  Gaddafi of course was killed, and Libya has been turned into a failed state characterized by absolute chaos. Guns and weapons from Libya have made their way to nearby North African nations, and are being used in local wars, so the devastation of Libya has caused turmoil throughout North Africa. Libya, like Iraq, and soon to be Afghanistan, are, and will be, characterized by absolute chaos. Why did we really choose to destroy Libya?

Next on the US hit list was Syria, after we decided that their leader also had to go.  So once again, in the name of humanitarian bombing, we have wrought total devastation in Syria, and that nation now exemplifies the true meaning of anarchy.  In Syria we are helping our former enemies, while Israel, an alleged ally of the US, is helping al-Qaeda, our most bitter enemy.  Turkey has now attacked the Kurds and the country of Iraq, so there is a total free for all in that part of the world. The only thing we seem to care about is the overthrow of the Assad regime and the total destruction and breakup of the nation of Syria. Why do we want to bring anarchy to Syria?  Cui Bono?

Saudi Arabia illegally attacked neighboring Yemen because the Saudis feared the democratic movement led by the Houthis might succeed in Yemen, and then spread to the most autocratic nation in the world, Saudi Arabia.  The last thing in the world the Saudis want is a democratic movement to succeed in a neighboring nation, so that war is on, and the US has turned a blind eye to that illegal war by the Saudis on the Houthis, and has assisted Saudi Arabia by providing satellite images and weapons to the invading Saudis.  Strangely the Houthis were bitter enemies of Al Qaeda and until the Saudi attack had managed to keep al-Qaeda at bay.  Now we are siding with the Saudis, and therefore helping al-Qaeda, by supplying the Saudi’s with the killing weapons they need to kill innocents in Yemen and destroy the county.  During a recent cease fire in Yemen, we used the peace to re-arm the Saudi military, just as we re-armed Israel during their illegal slaughter of civilians in their last “mowing the lawn” excursion in Gaza. Israel, never missing the opportunity to bomb someone, has joined the fray in Syria by helping al-Qaeda and dropping bombs on Syria.

The end result of all the US attacks and flooding the Middle East with the weapons of war, is the chaos that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people trying to flee to safety.  We did this, we turned the Middle East into a free for all, and reduced Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and in the near future Afghanistan, to anarchy; but media of course will not discuss the ramifications of the US bringing death and destruction to the entire Middle East.  The footprint of the US in the Middle East is quite pronounced.  Everywhere we go there is destruction, chaos, and failed states, which has resulted in millions trying to escape the total devastation of their country. You need not be a “rocket Scientist” to conclude that the intended policy of the US is anarchy, and that millions are fleeing from it due to US policy, you just need to admit to a very severe and harsh truth.

Should we Trust Iran? Yes. Should Iran Trust the US?? History says No Way!

Neocons, AIPAC, and war mongers, who want the US to fight a war with Iran, argue against the nuclear treaty hoping this might lead to their desired war. One nefarious argument they pose is that Iran cannot be trusted to abide by the treaty. Because this is an irrational argument, as Iran would be the most inspected nation on earth, let’s do a reversal and look at Iranian mistrust of the US.

The US and the CIA overthrew a democratically elected leader of Iran in 1953, and helped install a brutal dictator who ruled for 25 years. This is no secret, but naturally it has been unreported by corporate media.  In fact, for years the CIA even bragged about this overthrow, for it was their first “success”. The Shah of Iran ruled for years by oppression and terror, and was aided by his deeply feared brutal Secret Police called Savak, trained and funded by the CIA. Why did the US overthrow the democratically elected leader of Iran??  Because he wanted to nationalize the oil companies and turn the oil revenue over to the Iranian people via social programs.  Using oil revenues to help his people? Heaven forbid, we could not allow that!! The Iranian revolution was successful in that Iranians managed to rid themselves of the US backed and supported dictator, yet American’s were absolutely stunned when, during the Iranian Revolution Americans were taken as hostages and held for more than 400 days. Not having been told of the role of the CIA in restoring and maintaining a brutal dictator who killed thousands with the help of the CIA, Americans were puzzled by the taking of US hostages. It should be noted that the hostages were fairly well treated, with no one being water boarded, tortured, or subjected to infamous “enhanced interrogation techniques”.

Neighboring Iraq, was ruled by yet another US supported dictator Saddam Hussein, who decided to attack Iran, fearing the Iranian revolution might spread to his country. After helping overthrow a democracy and install a dictator in Iran, we supported the neighboring dictator Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran, resulting in approximately one million deaths. The US supplied our friendly dictator Saddam Hussein, who would later become Satan after his usefulness to the US no longer was worthwhile, with money, weapons, and satellite imagery in his war with Iran.  Gee, I wonder why those Iranians don’t trust us?

In 2010 President Obama asked for international help in getting Iran to renounce any attempt to develop nuclear weapons, by asking Brazil and Turkey to help. The two nations quietly went about their negotiations with Iran, found Iran very co-operative, and signed an agreement which in substance was exactly what the US had been demanding from Iran for years.  Hillary Clinton, chief architect and champion of the disastrous bombing of Libya, was instrumental in leading the charge to kill any agreement with Iran, which left the three countries totally mystified.  They were asked to do something, and to the great dismay of the US, the Iranians agreed, which the US had never really anticipated nor wanted. The US had hoped for failure, which would then have given some diplomatic cover for a possible attack on Iran.  Foiled again by those cooperative Iranians!!! Gee, I wonder why Iranians don’t trust the US government?

Next came years of brutal sanctions against the people of Iran because we wanted to overthrow their government.  US policy was to deprive Iranians the necessities of life, and they would rise up and overthrow their government.  We imposed brutal sanctions and severely punished the Iranian people, but they never did rise up and overthrow their government. Gee I wonder why the Iranians might not trust the US government? 

Now we have a treaty  the prevents Iran from becoming a nuclear power, which is a great thing for all  of mankind, but the warmongers and  supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu hate the treaty, and are trying to convince their congressional minions to vote down a treaty that prevents the spread of nuclear weapons.  Various presidential candidates have already stated, if elected they might not abide by the treaty, even if it passes, and despite the treaty, many politicians, including Obama, have said we still reserve the right to attack Iran.   Gee I wonder why those Iranians might not trust the US government?

Despite this history with Iran, neocons and warmongers argue against the treaty saying Iran cannot be trusted. To paraphrase a famous movie line: “You want the truth?? You can’t stand the truth!!”