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Ex-Russian president warns NATO of 'Apocalypse'


RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2024 18:13 UTC
Dmitry Medvedev
© Sputnik / Ekaterina ShtukinaFILE PHOTO: Deputy head of Russia's Security Council and chairman of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev.
A full-scale war between Russia and NATO would leave Moscow with no choice but to deploy its nuclear assets, former president Dmitry Medvedev has said. He reiterated, however, that his country is not seeking a conflict with the US-led military bloc.

Writing on Telegram on Wednesday, Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, pushed back against statements by numerous Western leaders urging their countries to prepare for a potential conflict with Moscow.

Russia has repeatedly said it has no plans of staging a conflict with NATO and the EU, he noted, despite the latter continuing "a dangerous drivel" on the issue. He suggested that this narrative is designed to divert the attention of Western voters away from massive spending on aid for Ukraine - an effort he said many have already grown tired of.

Medvedev argued that this fatigue stems from Western leaders' desire to help "a dying country that is foreign to taxpayers," while neglecting social problems at home. "Therefore, every day the leaders of these countries broadcast: We need to prepare for war with Russia and continue to help Ukraine," he said.

Comment: The West can't be truthful about what would happen in a NATO/Russia conflict because the money for Ukraine, and so much more, would dry up overnight.

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Arrow Down

From rule Britannia to decrepit old bulldog

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 07 Feb 2024 18:10 UTC
British Carrier
© Social Media
British rulers think they can start a war against Russia. They can't even contain Yemeni fighters in the Red Sea. And its top-notch aircraft carrier just got towed away before it even saw action.

Delusions about "Great Britain" and its military power are laughable. Britain is nothing but a rogue state whose arrogance and delusions are - like its American overseer - a danger to global security and peace.

Britain's Royal Navy flagship, the recently built aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth, has embarrassingly been forced to pull out of a major NATO war drill due to a mechanical breakdown.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is supposed to be the showpiece of Britain's military firepower. Built for $5 billion, the warship is spanking new. It is billed as a "super-carrier". The vessel is not just a flagship for the Royal Navy. It is a flagship for Britain.

At the last minute, the ship had to cancel participation in the huge NATO war exercises currently underway across Europe. One of its propellers was discovered to be faulty. Instead of leading Britain's contingency in the biggest NATO mobilization since the Cold War, the aircraft carrier is now laid up in the repair yard.

The weeks-long NATO war maneuvers known as Steadfast Defender are intended as a demonstration of robust military power to Russia. Coming at a time of heightened tensions over the war in Ukraine, the NATO exercises across Northern Europe and Scandinavia are viewed by Moscow as a veiled threat. The rehearsal for a war involves 90,000 troops from over 30 nations, an armada of warships, and nuclear-capable fighter jets flown from the U.S.

The failure of HMS Queen Elizabeth to muster at the crucial moment only adds to Britain's embarrassment. It underscores criticism voiced even by British military experts that the country is not fit to wage a modern war contrary to the bellicose posturing of British politicians and military commanders. Certainly not against Russia whose advanced firepower has been proven against NATO-backed Ukraine.

Moreover, several independent military analysts contend that the entire U.S.-led NATO alliance is no match for Russia, nor China for that matter. After all, the U.S. and NATO allies were forced to retreat from Afghanistan in 2021 unable to defeat Taliban insurgents despite 2o years of occupying that country.
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Propaganda

Jeffrey D. Sachs: The US toppling of Imran Khan

Jeffrey D. Sachs
Common Dreams
Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:28 UTC
imran khan pakistan
© ABDUL MAJEED/AFP via Getty ImagesSupporters and activists of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party shout slogans during a protest demanding the release of PTI leader Imran Khan, in Peshawar on January 28, 2024. Covert regime change strikes again. This time in Pakistan.
A principal instrument of U.S. foreign policy is covert regime change, meaning a secret action by the U.S. government to bring down the government of another country. There are strong reasons to believe that U.S. actions led to the removal from power of Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan in April 2022, followed by his arrest on trumped-up charges of corruption and espionage, and sentencing this week to 10 years imprisonment on the espionage charge. The political objective is to block Pakistan's most popular politician from returning to power in the elections on February 8.

The key to covert operations of course is that they are secret and hence deniable by the U.S. government. Even when the evidence comes to light through whistleblowers or leaks, as it very often does, the U.S. government rejects the authenticity of the evidence and the mainstream media generally ignore the story because it contradicts the official narrative. Because editors at these mainstream outlets don't want to peddle in "conspiracy theories," or are simply happy to be the mouthpieces for officialdom, they give the U.S. government a very wide berth for actual regime-change conspiracies.

Comment: For more on Khan, check out SOTT's most recent radio show: NewsReal: USA's Terrorist Proxy War Substitute For Actual War Against Iran



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X

Why burn books when you can bury them? The White House pressured Amazon to target dissenting books


jonathanturley.org
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 00:00 UTC
1984
The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Monday revealed yet another facet of the Biden Administration's sprawling censorship system that targeted dissenting books. It appears that, as with social media companies, it succeeded in getting the company not to promote disfavored books.

Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan revealed on X that the White House was directly involved in the censorship campaign. That includes a 2021 email from one Biden official asking to discuss "the high levels of propaganda and misinformation and disinformation of [sic] Amazon?"


Amazon in turn appears to ask only how high the Biden White House wants it to jump on censorship: "[i]s the [Biden] Admin asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search results/order (or both)?"
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Alarm Clock

Europe brought to its knees by US policy on Ukraine - top Hungarian official


RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2024 08:54 UTC
European Union's and Ukrainian flags
© AFP / Patrick HertzogEuropean Union's and Ukrainian flags fluttering outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Russia didn't collapse under Western pressure and has strengthened relations with China, an adviser to PM Viktor Orban said

Europe has been brought to its knees due to the stance taken by the US on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a chief adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Balazs Orban, who is not related to the prime minister, insisted at the launch of his new book on Tuesday that the policy of 'bloc-ism' or the creation of geopolitical alliances "isn't the solution" to the current situation.

Comment: Compared to the Hungarian Government, the EU administration and NATO have a different take on the situation with Russia, as if more killing and chaos represents their values:
EU chief opposes Ukraine truce - wants more weapons, sanctions and war
NATO chief says more war is way to secure lasting peace in Ukraine
EU leaders squander another €50 billion on propping up Kiev regime... and self-destruction
It is predictable that the Hungarian government will be blamed for trying to voice its own opinion and working towards protecting its citizens from the effects of EU/NATO policies: In Tensions with Hungary could destabilize the EU there was:
At the EUsummit on February 1, the long-awaited 50-billion-euro package for Ukraine was approved, after Hungarian President Viktor Orban lifted his previous decision to veto the deal. The change in the Hungarian position appears to be the result of a strategy of blackmail and economic warfare adopted by the EU, as recently reported by the Western media itself.

According to the FinancialTimes, the European bloc was threatening to harm the Hungarian economy if the country did not change its stance regarding the billion-euro pact to support Kiev. The outlet's journalists allegedly had access to a classified document in which Brussels' decision-makers exposed a strategy to coerce Budapest, causing an economic crisis in the country and destabilizing the Hungarian currency. The EU apparently planned to cut off all forms of transfer of European funds to Hungary, trying to force the country into collapse.
Compare also the actions of Hungary to broader historical and central European developments:
To avoid losing control of Europe, the U.S. has a war plan for Europe and Russia (2014)
Geopolitics of Empire: Mackinder's Heartland Theory and the Containment of Russia (2014)
German MP Sahra Wagenknecht: US is threat to European peace, not Russia (2016)
Sahra Wagenknecht: German and US policy has strengthened ISIS (2016)
German intel: Evidence that Daesh hit-squads, sleeper cells infiltrated Germany among refugees (2016)
German states increase pressure on Merkel to ditch anti-Russia sanctions (2018)
German companies working in Russia end up losers in US sanctions game (2018)
NATO has completed its post-Cold War transformation from Europe's guard dog into America's attack dog (June 2022)
Biden's attack on Nord Stream pipelines was aimed at Germany - Seymour Hersh (December 2023)

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Boat

HMS Richmond takes over shipping protection duties in 'fraught' Red Sea

David Hughes
Independent
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:00 UTC
The Royal Navy vessel is a Type 23 frigate
© (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Archive)The Royal Navy vessel is a Type 23 frigate
The frigate replaces HMS Diamond in the region, where shipping has been targeted by Iran-backed Houthi forces.

Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond has taken over responsibility for protecting shipping in the "fraught" Red Sea as attacks on vessels continue.

The Type 23 frigate replaces HMS Diamond, which has come under fire from Iran-backed Houthi forces on three occasions during its time on duty in the region.

Comment: "The Ewoks of the Red Sea are holding their own against the Empire!" someone said. For context, the Wiki explains:
"George Lucas created the Ewoks because he wanted Return of the Jedi to feature a tribe of primitive creatures that bring down the technological Empire. He had originally intended the scenes to be set on the Wookiee home planet, but as the film series evolved, the Wookiees became technologically skilled. Lucas reversed the syllables to designate a new species,[1] which rhymes with the Miwok, a Native American tribe indigenous to the Redwood forest in which the Endor scenes were filmed for Return of the Jedi.[2] He also based the Ewoks' defeat of the Galactic Empire on the actions of the Viet Cong guerrillas who fought against American soldiers during the Vietnam War.[3]"
Operation Prosperity Guardian:
Explanation from the (Wiki) counts besides the two leading countries, which are the US and the UK, also Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Greece, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore and Sri Lanka with support from Seychelles. Most of the ship are from the US with one frigate from the UK, and promises from Greece and Denmark, (one frigate each). A frigate according to the Wiki:
During the Second World War the name 'frigate' was reintroduced to describe a seagoing escort ship intermediate in size between a corvette and a destroyer.

After World War II, a wide variety of ships have been classified as frigates. Often there has been little consistency in usage. While some navies have regarded frigates as principally large ocean-going anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants, others have used the term to describe ships that are otherwise recognisable as corvettes, destroyers, and even nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers.
If you look at the statistics on the Wiki, the number of ships transiting has decreased after the US and the UK showed up:
Ship transits
© Wiki
See also:

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Bad Guys

Tensions with Hungary could destabilize the EU

Lucas Leiroz
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 03 Feb 2024 12:20 UTC
EU Leaders
© Public domain
By using means of economic warfare, European countries threaten the bloc's unity.

Recently, tensions between Hungary and other EU members have increased significantly. The neutral and sovereign stance of the Hungarian government regarding the Ukrainian conflict has obstructed the European bloc's plans to continue financing the war on a prolonged basis. To coerce Hungary, EU countries are even willing to use methods of economic warfare - however, instead of simply "convincing" the Hungarians, the Europeans may be heading towards an unprecedented crisis within the bloc.

At the EUsummit on February 1, the long-awaited 50-billion-euro package for Ukraine was approved, after Hungarian President Viktor Orban lifted his previous decision to veto the deal. The change in the Hungarian position appears to be the result of a strategy of blackmail and economic warfare adopted by the EU, as recently reported by the Western media itself.

According to the FinancialTimes, the European bloc was threatening to harm the Hungarian economy if the country did not change its stance regarding the billion-euro pact to support Kiev. The outlet's journalists allegedly had access to a classified document in which Brussels' decision-makers exposed a strategy to coerce Budapest, causing an economic crisis in the country and destabilizing the Hungarian currency. The EU apparently planned to cut off all forms of transfer of European funds to Hungary, trying to force the country into collapse.

Comment: See Also:

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Bad Guys

Netherlands finds malware on military intel network, accuses China of spying


nltimes.nl
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:13 UTC
china netherlands
The Dutch Ministry of Defense alleged on Tuesday that a Chinese state actor has attempted to carryout a cyber espionage campaign in the Netherlands for an extended period of time. The ministry said that the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) discovered advanced Chinese malware that made this possible. The malware is used on Fortigate systems from the company Fortinet, which is officially headquartered in California.

China uses this type of malware to spy on computer networks, the ministry said. The software is meant to allow computer users to work remotely. Fortinet claims they supply their cybersecurity products to over 700,000 customers globally.

Comment: Whilst all countries are involved in espionage, it's telling that The Netherlands' is focusing on those the hegemon considers its enemies, and not those nations with a much more prolific history of cyber terrorism, subversion and subterfuge:

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Whistle

Russia summons Israel's ambassador over her 'unacceptable' remarks where she claimed Moscow 'down plays holocaust'


Middle East Monitor
Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:27 UTC
Flag of Russian Federation
© GettyFlag of Russian Federation
Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Israel's ambassador over her controversial remarks in a media interview.

"The ambassador was informed...about the negative reaction of the Russian Foreign Ministry to her interview with Kommersant published on Feb. 4, which gave distorted interpretations and unacceptable assessments of some issues of Russian foreign and domestic policy," the ministry said in a statement.

A "detailed thesis" refuting Simona Halperin's remarks was published on the ministry's website, it added.

It said that Russia is focused on developing bilateral ties with Israel "in the spirit of mutual respect and taking into account each other's legitimate interests."

Comment: Russia's SMO has sacrificed its own troops in order to limit civilian deaths, Israel has pursued almost the exact opposite goal. Statements from Israel's own officials, as detailed at the ICJ trial, expose that its intent is to terrorize Palestinians.

With regards to losing the 'sympathy of Israelis', an increasing number of people, businesses, and even nations, are uninterested in the feelings of those that wish to further the mass slaughter of women and children:

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Take 2

UK must tackle left-wing 'extremists' - former PM


RT
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:34 UTC
Former prime minister Liz Truss
© Getty Images / Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty ImagesFormer prime minister Liz Truss during the launch of the Popular Conservatism movement at the Emmanuel Centre in central London on Tuesday February 6, 2024
LGBT groups and environmentalists must be opposed, Liz Truss has declared

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss has accused Rishi Sunak's government of seeking to "appease" left-wing extremists, which, she argues, are gaining influence in British institutions.

Truss, speaking on Tuesday in London at the launch of the new Popular Conservatism, or PopCons, movement, said that many Britons are "secret" Conservatives but are afraid to 'out' themselves as such. This subset of people, Truss reasoned, must be galvanized in order to prevent a "damaging divide" between lawmakers and voters who "think the wokery going on is nonsense."

Comment: It is not completely true that the current PM Rishi Sunak has not said or done anything to counter the trend Liz Truss refers to: For an insight into the background of her current statements, apart from the upcoming elections and a struggle to win votes, the Wiki includes:
'In 2021 Truss stated that the Conservatives should "reject the zero-sum game of identity politics, [reject] the illiberalism of cancel culture, and [reject] the soft bigotry of low expectations that holds so many people back".[263] She voted to legalise same-sex marriage but has opposed the expansion of transgender rights.[264] Truss spoke against gender self-identification, stating that "medical checks are important" and that "only women have a cervix".[265] Despite initially supporting single-sex toilets being restricted on the basis of biological sex, she later said in February 2022 that the government was not interested in enacting such a measure.[266]'
The article states: "Chris Hopkins, research director at the polling firm, remarked of the findings that the PopCons movement "couldn't find a more unpopular spokesperson if they actively tried." While that may be correct from a popular polling perspective, she is not without an audience:
'Similarly, in October at the Conservative Party Conference, she held an event dubbed the "Great British Growth Rally" which was attended by hundreds of Conservative Party members, in contrast to government ministers who gave speeches to a hall which was, according to the Telegraph, "at times almost empty".[257]'


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