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Vader

Best of the Web: The American Empire slides into self-destruction

Michael Hudson
michael-hudson.com
Sun, 06 Mar 2022 19:07 UTC
american empire US imperialism
But nobody thought that it would happen this fast.

Empires often follow the course of a Greek tragedy, bringing about precisely the fate that they sought to avoid. That certainly is the case with the American Empire as it dismantles itself in not-so-slow motion.

The basic assumption of economic and diplomatic forecasting is that every country will act in its own self-interest. Such reasoning is of no help in today's world. Observers across the political spectrum are using phrases like "shooting themselves in their own foot" to describe U.S. diplomatic confrontation with Russia and allies alike.

For more than a generation the most prominent U.S. diplomats have warned about what they thought would represent the ultimate external threat: an alliance of Russia and China dominating Eurasia. America's economic sanctions and military confrontation has driven them together, and is driving other countries into their emerging Eurasian orbit.

Comment: The signs are coming fast and thick now:

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Yoda

Flashback Best of the Web: Oliver Stone's 'The Putin Interviews' reveals a pro-America Putin spurned by the West

Justin Raimondo
Antiwar.com
Wed, 28 Jun 2017 17:09 UTC
Putin and Stone
Editorial note: This is the second of a multi-part series reviewing Oliver Stone's "The Putin Interviews." The first part is here. You can get the book version of Stone's work here.

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump kept repeating a line that stuck in the Establishment's craw like a cherry pit stuck under a denture: "Wouldn't it be nice if we could get along with Russia?" Russia and specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin are consistently portrayed in the US media as implacable enemies of the US and the West: it's simply taken as the given. And yet, the biggest revelation in Oliver Stone's recent four-part series of extensive interviews with Putin is how consistently and desperately Putin has tried to get along with us. In the second interview, Stone points out that, after the 9/11 attacks, Putin was "one of the first to call [George W. Bush] and offer condolences, and Putin elaborates that more than a phone call was involved:
"Yes, we had planned military exercises of our new strategic forces for the next day. And I canceled those exercises and I wanted the president of the United States to know that. Certainly I understood that heads of state and governments in such a situation need moral support.. And we wanted to demonstrate this to President Bush."
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Pistol

Flashback Best of the Web: Who Tried to Kill Putin - Five Times?

Justin Raimondo
AntiWar.com
Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:42 UTC
Putin
© Sputnik/Alexei NikolskyPresident of Russia Vladimir Putin

Oliver Stone's 'The Putin Interviews' (Part I)

Oliver Stone's series of interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin - conducted between July 2015 and February 2017 - has garnered a lot of attention, albeit in most cases not for the right reasons. In a much-noted appearance of Stephen Colbert's comedy show, the liberal host attacked Stone for not confronting the Russian leader for his alleged crimes - which simply shows that Colbert didn't bother seeing the interviews, because Stone most certainly did question Putin about this and other related matters. A review in Salon follows a similar pattern: the reviewer apparently did view at least some parts of the interviews, but predictably focused on the most superficial material: Putin loves Judo, he's not a feminist, and won't be marching in any Gay Pride events. Shocking!

In the present atmosphere of Russophobic hysteria, no honest account of what is happening in Russia or what Putin is really all about is likely to be taken at face value. What's astonishing, however, is that this four-part documentary was even made at all — and shown on Showtime, where it is currently playing. Less surprising is the fact that the interviews contain several news-making revelations that the "mainstream" media has so far largely ignored.

Comment: Sadly, the events of the last eight years have thoroughly disabused Putin of his notion that the U.S. government, as presently constituted, can ever be a partner. He is likely still fond of America as a people, but cannot save them from themselves.

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Pirates

Best of the Web: NATO White Helmets follow al-Qaeda to Ukraine

Vanessa Beeley
OffGuardian
Thu, 10 Mar 2022 07:17 UTC
syria
Four-hundred and fifty extremists from Idlib, north-west Syria have arrived in Ukraine according to Al Mayadeen.

Hailing from Idlib - the "largest Al Qaeda haven since 9/11"- these fanatics from various countries have been despatched to Ukraine to fight against the Russian forces that alongside the Syrian Arab Amy signified the end of their Caliphatist dreams in Syria.

These extremists passed through Turkey, a NATO member state, to arrive at their destination in western Ukraine. According to Al Mayadeen:
senior fighters from the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir-Al-Sham (rebranded version of Jabhat Al Nusra aka Al Qaeda) have held a number of meetings with senior leaders in the Turkistan Islamic Party group and Ansar Al Tawhid and Hurras Al Din groups, and agreed on allowing a number of their fighters to enter Ukraine through Turkey".
According to the Counter Extremist Project:
Hurras al-Din and its leaders are U.S. Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The U.S. presently offers a $5 million reward for information on three of its leaders"
Yet here they are fighting for NATO member states, led by the US, in Ukraine, alongside the NATO fascist and Neo-Nazi contras.
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Bullseye

Best of the Web: Escobar: Cutting Through the Fog Masking 'a New Page in the Art of War'

Pepe Escobar
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 10 Mar 2022 09:47 UTC
Shipping containers
© REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev
The non-government in Kiev is simply not allowed by the Empire to negotiate anything.

By now what we may call a Triple Threat has been established as the catalyst anticipating the launch of Operation Z.
  1. Ukraine developing nuclear weapons. Zelensky himself hinted at it in the Munich Security Conference.
  2. U.S. bioweapons labs in Ukraine. Confirmed, tersely, by none other than the Sinister Cookie Distributor neocon wife in the uber-neocon Kaganate of Nulands, who described them as "biological research facilities".
  3. An imminent attack on Donbass with massive civilian deaths. It could have been in March, according to documents seized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Or even in late February, according to SVR intelligence, which was monitoring the line of contact on a minute-by-minute basis. This is what eventually prompted Operation Z as a Russian version of R2P ("Responsibility to Protect").
So after years of CIA-instigated shouts of "conspiracy theory!" and less than zero "fact checkers" activity, it turns out "it was all happening in Ukraine", as divine messenger Maria Zakharova once again pointed out:
"We have found your own products. We have found your biological material."

Comment: For additional reading: See also NewsReal: Crossing the Rubicon with Joe Quinn and Niall Bradley



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Sun

Best of the Web: Austria scraps Covid-19 vaccine mandate, Hong Kong drops mass testing


RTE.ie
Wed, 09 Mar 2022 09:47 UTC
covid pass austria
A woman shows her Covid vaccine pass in a restaurant in Innsbruck, Austria.
Austria said it is suspending mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for all adults saying the pandemic no longer poses the same danger, just weeks after the law took effect in an EU first.

The Alpine nation of nine million people was among few countries in the world to make jabs against the coronavirus compulsory for all adults.

The law took effect in February and called for fines up to €3,600 from mid-March for those who do not comply.

Comment: See also:

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Beaker

Best of the Web: China urges US to reveal details of US-backed biological labs in Ukraine - including types of viruses stored

Xindi Wei
GBN
Tue, 08 Mar 2022 09:22 UTC
WangYi
© Kremlin.ru/KJNChina's Foreign Minister Wang Yi
A tweet issued by Chinese state media reads:
"#China urges the US to disclose details on US-financed biological labs in Ukraine, including types of viruses stored and research has been conducted, said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, calling on all parties to ensure safety of these labs given current situation."
It came as China's foreign minister called Russia his country's "most important strategic partner" as Beijing continues to refuse to condemn the invasion of Ukraine despite growing pressure from the US and European Union (EU) to use its influence to rein Moscow in.

Wang Yi said Chinese ties with Moscow constitute "one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world".

Beijing has said sanctions create new issues and threaten a political settlement of the conflict.

Comment: Beijing claims US defense department controls 336 laboratories around the world:

Lijian
© Reuters Archive/KJNForeign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian
China's foreign ministry has called on the US to disclose information on the Pentagon's alleged biological laboratories in Ukraine "as soon as possible".

On Monday, the Russian military said Ukrainian authorities had been destroying pathogens studied at its laboratories. Moscow claimed that 30 US-financed Ukrainian biolabs have been actively cooperating with the American military.

Kiev has denied developing bioweapons. According to the website of the US embassy in Kiev, the US Department of Defense's Biological Threat Reduction Program only "collaborates with partner countries to counter the threat of outbreaks" of infectious diseases. In 2020, the embassy called such theories about US-funded biolabs in Ukraine "disinformation."

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, however, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed that, according to his country's information, the laboratories in Ukraine are just "a tip of an iceberg" and that the US Department of Defense "controls 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries around the world." This is done under the pretext of "cooperating to reduce biosecurity risks" and "strengthening global public health," Zhao said.

It is the first time that Beijing has disclosed the alleged figure. Zhao said that according to data "released by the United States itself," there are 26 US laboratories in Ukraine. In light of Russia's military offensive in the country, he urged "all parties concerned" to ensure the safety of the labs.
"In particular, the United States, as the party which knows these laboratories best, should publish the relevant details as soon as possible, including which viruses are stored and which research has been carried out."
He claimed the US "has been exclusively obstructing" the establishment of an independent verification mechanism. Such behavior, Zhao said, "further aggravates the concerns of the international community."

According to a report in The Rio Times, the US embassy in Ukraine deleted all information about Pentagon-financed bio-labs in the country from its website on February 26. However, journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva claimed embassy staff forgot to remove a document showing that the Pentagon is funding two new biolabs in Kiev and Odessa. The Brazilian news outlet claimed:
"Ukraine has no control over the military biolabs. The Ukrainian government is not allowed to release sensitive information about the program."
Over the past 20 years, the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine, jointly established with the United States, invested over $285 million in about 1,850 projects carried out by scientists who, according to Gaytandzhieva, previously worked on the development of weapons of mass destruction.

US authorities are yet to comment on the latest claims.


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Biohazard

Best of the Web: Nuland admits US has biological research labs in Ukraine, Washington working with Kiev to prevent "falling into Russian hands"


100% Fed Up
Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:04 UTC
false fact check biolabs ukraine
© USA TodayAnother 'fact check' fail
For weeks, the so-called "Fact-checkers" have been smearing and discrediting websites and individuals that speculated about biolabs in Ukraine that are funded by the US government.

From USA Today:
The claim: There are biolabs in Ukraine funded by the US government

In the early hours Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale military assault on Ukraine, inciting a wave of international backlash and sanctions against Russia.

"Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences," President Joe Biden said.

Some on social media claimed the United States may have more at stake than it lets on.

A post shared to Facebook on Thursday shows a map of Ukraine pinpointing what the poster asserts are "exclusive U.S. biolabs in Ukraine" that are funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Comment: The Last Refuge adds:
Don't get so caught up with the nervous admission by Under Secretary Nuland, that you miss the purposeful intent of Rubio in getting out in front of a story that could be more troublesome for the Fourth Branch (intelligence apparatus). Rubio would not make this public remark, if he wasn't ¹intending to dilute a bigger issue.

48 hours ago, this was a conspiracy theory.

Funny how that happens.

¹Marco Rubio was previously the Senator who defended Mark Warner against damning text messages during the SSCI Spygate effort.
We are running out of 'conspiracy theories':

Those who have been paying attention will know of the yeoman work that has been done by Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, who has been investigating this menace for nearly a decade:

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Network

Best of the Web: Internet backbone provider Cogent cuts Russia off: Enter RuNet

Elaine Burke
Silicon Republic
Mon, 07 Mar 2022 22:32 UTC
internet world wide web russia
© harvepino/Stock.adobe.com
The exit of the major internet service provider will be a blow to Russia's online traffic but advocates warn that cutting the country off entirely would set a dangerous precedent.

US company Cogent Communications has terminated services for clients in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The global internet service provider emailed clients on Friday (4 March) warning that their services would be cut off at 5pm UTC. According to Reuters, some clients requested extensions that the company was working to accommodate.

Cogent is reportedly the second-largest internet carrier out of Russia and its clients include the state-owned Russian telco Rostelecom, national fibre broadband operator TransTelekom and two of Russia's three top mobile networks.

Comment: Russian foresight wins again. They were already preparing for this possibility in 2019. From the Daily Mail, December 20, 2019:
Russia will carry out tests on Monday on the reliability of its domestic internet infrastructure in the event that the country is disconnected from the worldwide web by an American cyber-attack.

The threat testing will take place in stages on 23 December and will not affect regular internet users, the communication ministry said on Thursday.

Russia enacted a law known as the 'sovereign internet' bill in November, aimed at tightening state control over the network, but which free speech activists say will strengthen government oversight of the country's cyberspace.

The law was developed in response to what Russia calls the 'aggressive nature' of the United States' national cyber security strategy, which accuses Moscow of carrying out hacking attacks, as a means to ensure the internet continues functioning in Russia.

The legislation aims to route Russian web traffic and data through points controlled by state authorities and to build a national Domain Name System, which would end the country's dependence on systems from abroad, which Russia fears could be shut down by a foreign government.

Monday's tests will be exploratory in nature, communications ministry spokesman Yevgeny Novikov told reporters, with participants aiming to work out the full range of potential external impacts on the internet and communications infrastructure in Russia.
From ZDNet:
The Russian government announced on Monday that it concluded a series of tests during which it successfully disconnected the country from the worldwide internet.

The tests were carried out over multiple days, starting last week, and involved Russian government agencies, local internet service providers, and local Russian internet companies.

The goal was to test if the country's national internet infrastructure -- known inside Russia as RuNet -- could function without access to the global DNS system and the external internet.

Internet traffic was re-routed internally, effectively making Russia's RuNet the world's largest intranet.

The government did not reveal any technical details about the tests and what exactly they consisted of. It only said that the government tested several disconnection scenarios, including a scenario that simulated a hostile cyber-attack from a foreign country.

The experiment was deemed a success, the government said in a press conference today.

"It turned out that, in general, that both authorities and telecom operators are ready to effectively respond to possible risks and threats and ensure the functioning of the Internet and the unified telecommunication network in Russia," said Alexei Sokolov, deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, as cited by multiple Russian news agencies
Not much more news since these reports, but to be sure, much progress will have been made in strengthening and hardening RuNet in the the last three years. There is always potential for privacy violations, and some have pointed out the system has many of the features of China's, but really, is it all that different in the West?

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USA

Best of the Web: US trucker convoy drives laps around DC Beltway

James Anthony
The Post Millenial
Mon, 07 Mar 2022 16:53 UTC
truck convoy freedom washington
Trucks circle Washington,DC on the 'Beltway'.
The convoy planned to circle the interstate twice and then return to Hagerstown, Maryland, to regroup.

The pro-freedom "People's Convoy" has made its way across the United States after a weeks-long journey and circled the outskirts of Washington, DC, Sunday.

Over the past couple of days, the massive US convoy has been spotted at the Hagerstown Speedway, in neighboring Maryland, as trucks, RVs, and cars arrived from nearby Pennsylvania. On Sunday, the vehicles have been seen driving slow loops on the Beltway, a highway that surrounds the nation's capital.

Comment: More from Fox News:
Vehicles with the People's Convoy traveled from across the U.S. and drove two loops around the Capital Beltway on Sunday before returning to its staging area in Hagerstown, Maryland. The group drove slowly to impact traffic and make their point to lawmakers.

The truckers were again expected to descend on the Capital Beltway on Monday and bring possible roadway disruptions to the area, FOX5 DC reported.

Brian Brase, a convoy organizer, was heard telling members of his group that they would avoid driving into D.C. proper on Monday and Tuesday, and instead stick to the surrounding roadways, the Daily Wire reported. Brase described the decision as "diplomatic moves" meant to protect members of the convoy.

"I am fearful ... of them trying to do to us what they did to those involved in January 6. It is our belief that they will try to do that....That means at this time, meaning today, tomorrow, we are not and will not go into DC proper," Brase said.


The Russia-Ukraine conflict is having one of the desired effects?





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