Russian Intervention: Impetus Behind Enemy Targets?

“It’s an old trick I learned from LBJ. Heap so Goddamn much praise on an enemy that no one will believe it.” – Joseph A. Califano, Jr.

From the beginning, no one seems to have praised Putin as Trump. But follow these lines and you will find the beginning of the end of that praise.

Looking at the current conflict between Ukraine-Russia, if one considers their history and proximity, it seems unnatural to want to “decouple.” Then again, one hears of States in the Americas looking to do the same from each other and China, their biggest trading partner. 

But who really has a vested interest to go against Russia? Are we looking at the reaping of past Russian sowed seeds?

Or, is it the beginning of a “New Order” as Fadi F. Elhusseini previously points to “Russia’s intervention as part of its new maritime strategy, that was publish on 26 July 2015. The new maritime doctrine of the Russian Federation to 2020 is a comprehensive state policy for governing all of Russia’s maritime assets, military fleets, the civilian fleet, merchant marine, and naval infrastructure.”

Russia’s omnipresence in Ukraine and the Middle East is steadfast. Says Elhusseini, Russia’s intervention in Syria has some linking it “to the Ukrainian crisis as well as the desire for increased leverage in the Middle East and more power at the negotiating table.” But what’s NATOs connection to Ukraine, a country they continue to deny membership?

Well, looky here, this sudden want to help the Kraines had a purpose. It appears to go back to Obama and his “red lines.” But unlike his predecessor, Trump’s decision to target Major General Qassem Soleimani appears to have had ulterior motives.

“In July 2015 Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani visited Moscow to coordinate the Russian military intervention and thus forging the new Iranian-Russian alliance in Syria…Two months later, Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria agreed to set up an intelligence-sharing committee in Baghdad in order to harmonize efforts in fighting ISIS.”

So it seems, Obama could not or would not give the order to take out Major General Soleimani. Enter Trump four years later and the likely support by the then Israeli leader, and as they say in the West, the rest is history.

Seems the apparent comradeship between Trump and Putin misdirected the public of both leaders’ ulterior motives: A Western smashed deal and new Middle Eastern “deals of the century.”

Looks like the Ruski’s playbook list started in the Middle East. But will it end with Ukraine?

“Russia is now building two nuclear facilities in southern Iran and in February Russia agreed to build nuclear reactors in Egypt. Moscow is negotiating as well with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Jordan for deals to develop nuclear power, the largest deal was on 19 June 2015 when Moscow agreed to establish 16 nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.”

Israel, is this when and whom you got your idea for the Accords?

But the U.S. had to know, right? And give the greenlight. As I mentioned before, among U.S. contractors, the Kingdom’s recruits include some of the best California City and Urban Master planners for housing.

I imagine when it came to nuclear projects some of those Master Planners had DOD Secret Clearance and were under the auspices and in communique with NATO and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) partners.

Real or Imagined Borders, Enemies, and Bogeymen

Enemies at its borders have long been the subject of contention for Western powers. U.S. likes to have the final say on who to befriend and who to bully. Reports of corruption surrounding Ukraine do not seem to faze Joe sending billions. But then again, what country isn’t corrupt?

Freedom is on the lips of Ukrainians. In the previous decade, Fighting to stay alive was on the teared and bloodied faces of millions of Syrians. One image was unforgettable. Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year-old boy’s dead body was found washed ashore.

Joe, you Americans have a saying, “Charity begins at home.” Take a look at your neighbor, Mexico. It has reported hundreds of journalists and politicians murdered. Hell, dozens of college students were massacred.

And yet U.S. stands at its borders choosing between migrants and refugees from all over Latin America while picking up dead bodies in “no man’s land” of poor souls seeking to escape it all.   

Efrén C. Olivares, author of My Boy Will Die of Sorrow: A Memoir of Immigration from the Front Lines, asks that for those not bearing witness to such appalling scenes, take note and “listen to the child cry.” I imagine, like young Aylan from Syria, you will find the crying voices of children unforgettable.

For Latinos y Latinas seeking to stay alive, it seems the only way to get your trade deal partner to help you fight crime-corruption is for your country to be invaded by one of their real or imagined enemies.

Meantime, organizations are running ads asking for donations for Ukrainians. Imagine a “United for Latinos” program? Sorry, not for you. But Joe and friends launched a “United for Ukraine” program last year where American sponsors have been welcoming Ukrainians allowing them a two year stay.

They say it’s a way to “reduce government costs.” I guess the current “inflationary” prices working people are paying for and the homeless across the nation will dig into their pockets for change to help. Of course it seems like a great ploy to get cheap labor and academic-gov staff.

Approved within days, over a 100,000 have reportedly been here since April and close to another 40,000 expected any day. Hmm, may explain those new Dental and Doctor assistants at your office visits. If so, chances are they won’t be there for long. They may be white, but in my experience, medical terms are lost in translation. Issues with your teeth or medical prescriptions? Good luck! Docs and Dents are saving a shit load in wages.

Look, this is not about which country has it worse. Danger is clear and present for most across the globe. Difference is Media’s constant coverage of Ukraine’s government, military and people with countless images of bombed or crash sites. But where are the headlines and images of dead bodies found at the border and in vehicles? Why is media not at the doorstep of Latin American politicians and authorities for answers?

But don’t feel so left out amigos. No matter how white or self-professed Democratic the Kraines say they are, they’re still not wanted by the gringo’s NATO country club. And yet, Ukraine sees Russia as the enemy? Could they be imagining it? Ukraine, as you face yet another deadly winter, NATO feasts in Davos. “With friends like these, who needs enemies.”

Stephen Kinzer does not see Russia as the enemy. For Kinzer, “REAL ENEMIES ARE a threat to any country, but imagined enemies can be even more dangerous. They sap resources, provoke needless conflicts, and divert attention from true challenges. The United States has constructed such a fantasy by turning Russia into an enemy.”

Ukraine and Europe, sound familiar? Seems you’re “biting the hand that feeds you,” and warms you and provides energy. Sure, you want to follow in the U.S. steps?

Of course, this all goes back to the days that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having the upper hand, U.S. and Europe leveraged their power over the Russian people. “Russians had to watch helplessly as NATO, their longtime enemy, established bases directly on their borders.”Japan, sound familiar?  Tell us, best to attack your enemy all the way or mid way?

Ukraine, is U.S. using you as a shield to fight this dirty war as they strategically reap the many opportunities of this crisis? Taiwan, bet you’re paying close attention as you’re holding on tightly to your “silicon” shield. As with Iraq, U.S. appears to have scared the public pointing to yet another “bogeyman.” But will it finally send its own WMDs and in time?

Kinzer points out, “Having Russia as an enemy is strangely comforting to Americans. It reassures us that the world has not really changed…allows us to pull out our dusty Cold War playbook.” Turn on your TV set and you’re bound to find a Hollywood film playing off this “playbook.”

 “In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.” –Leo Tolstoy 

“Russia Against Ukraine?” Ask the CIA

Monsters under our bed we feared as children were imagined.  As adults, parents no longer hold these threats over us to be good. Leaders, on the other hand, leverage these threats for compliance and conscription. Now we’ve learned who are the actual monsters and bogeymen.

West forgets the bourgeois ‘bogeyman’, Napoleon. As Kinzer points out, “France was the villain. French armies under Napoleon had ravaged much of Europe.” But as the world turns, misfortune and luck of yesteryear circles back.

In the Patriotic War of 1812 or the Russian Campaign, armies faced unforgiving freezing terrain. Dominic Lieven points out in his 2009 book, Russia Against Napoleon, “The horse was a crucial…factor in Russia’s defeat of Napoleon.” In essence, France’s defeat was attributed to how “Napoleon destroyed his army in 1812 in large part because of logistical failures.”

Fast forward two centuries, it’s no surprise the French offered Ukraine the AMX-10 RC, and a year later to boot. However, their choppers may not inspire confidence.

Reportedly, the French-manufactured Super Puma helicopter “was sold to Ukraine before the war in 2019, a French defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be identified.” Hmm?

Wait a second, Puma as in “the operational readiness of 18 Puma infantry fighting vehicles deteriorated to the point where they were completely unusable, which Major von Butler described as a “total failure.”? Yes, I hear it was “Peinlich für Deutschland” [Embarrassing for Germany].

But, to hear the French tell it, stories of Napoleon were proudly passed to their children. But, if one wishes to hear “The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace,” let Lieven tell it. Likewise, I imagine in time we’ll read the true story of “Russia Against Ukraine.” Sadly, I find no leader comparable to Napoleon.

By sharp contrast I find a Lion At Russia’s Gate.  

Russia advanced from the frontlines finding its way in between soft and coarse spaces. What Cold War? U.S.-Russia relations have always been WARm. After President Trump’s 2016 election, who was the first leader he enthusiastically sat and spoke with in private?

Best to look at this from all angles. Brad Cabana suggests seeing it from the Matryoshka Complex:

“One can look at all these conflicts in isolation…However, you do so at your own peril. Just like the Matryoshka doll…All are hidden from sight without taking them apart piece by piece. If you wish to understand the Russians, you must correctly understand the doll they are building.”

Good luck keeping your eye on the moving mirrors and shadows in the Dollhouse. 😉

Speaking of shadows, “CIA Director Burns traveled in secret to Ukraine’s capital at the end of last week to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.” A week BEFORE the recent chopper crash?

Hmm, engaging in bilateral negotiations as you did with the Iranians a decade ago? I hear you were “in the driver’s seat.”  

Looks like we have a central intelligence affair of the “Fox guarding the hen house?”