Does anyone not think this true?

 

Iran’s Khamenei Says US Promises Have No Credibility

Read the article at antiwar.com

Let's call it what it is-Biden saying Putin has no soul is childish

 Saying Putin has no soul and is a murderer is  rich coming from a man who still supports the evil Saudi war in Yemen and continues the needless war in Syria.

Reading Max Abrahms on Twitter, I find out Putin challenged Biden to a debate.  Can't happen, but would love to see it.

The Quincy Institute has an article, Calling Putin a ‘killer’ with ‘no soul’ is not exactly diplomatic finesse by Anatol Lieven.  One might be tempted to say tell me something I don't know, but it is worth a read.

Let's call the new regime what it is: The Trump/Biden Administration

US Bombs Militia Targets in Eastern Syria, 17 Reported Killed

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead were members of Iraq's PMF

Dave DeCamp Posted on February 25, 2021Categories NewsTags Iraq, Syria

So, what is the point?  How do we blame Putin?  Or is Putin no longer the bogeyman?

Can it end in anything but disaster?

Senator Murphy gets a C+ for his Foreign Affairs article

 Chris Murphy is regarded as a progressive and that is so.  There once was breed of the species known as Peace Democrats.  They are in the main extinct as the Democrat Party is effectively a war party.

Surprisingly, however, The Senator's article of February 19, 2021, America’s Middle East Policy Is Outdated and Dangerous; A New Approach to the Gulf States Needs a Better Foundation is not a bad effort for a guy who has been a bit hawkish in other places.

He is calling for restraint and getting along with Iran and letting Yemen live.  Whether or not it is so we can bug others is a question:

NO COLD WAR REDUX

In pursuing this new course, some sky-will-fall adherents to the status quo will argue that if the Biden administration drives too hard a bargain, Gulf leaders will turn away from the United States and toward China or Russia. This argument is a red herring, one that plays on a misunderstanding of both the irreplaceability of military alignment with the United States and the willingness of China and Russia to get their hands dirty in Middle Eastern politics. This isn’t the Cold War: Russia has little to offer in the region, and as global oil usage continues to fall, Moscow will inevitably compete with Gulf countries for buyers. Although China will continue to look for economic opportunities in the region, it will be unwilling to play a real security role anytime in the near future. The Chinese navy isn’t going to come to the aid of a Gulf country under attack. If the Bahrainis, Emiratis, or Saudis threaten to turn to other powers, Washington can afford to call their bluff.

Ultimately, restraint is nice, but there is a question to ask, Why do we have to be there at all?  Does any of this actually make life better for your average American citizen?

The Neutralist has been asking this question for decades now and no one on team war has come up with an answer.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-02-19/americas-middle-east-policy-outdated-and-dangerous

Stephen Kinzer in the Globe, Re Afghanistan, Trump was right-Will Biden be?

 Stephen Kinzer nails it in his February 18, 2021 Boston Globe column.  He shouldn't have to, we should've been long gone from Afghanistan, but we aren't and if some foreign policy goofs have their way, we may never.

Worth a read anyway:

Trump was right: Get out of Afghanistan

Biden should honor what looks like the best deal we’re ever going to get in that country.

Saudi Arabia gets a pass and Doug Bandow asks why

 Saudi Arabia is a tyranny of vast proportions and yet it has love in certain American circles.  If you asked your garden variety progressive if we should have ever had diplomatic relations with the German National Socialist regime, they would probably say no.

If you ask should we have them with Saudi Arabia, you would probably draw a blank.  Over time, it can be argued the KSA regime is worse, but none of the cool kids are going to over-worry about it, just as Julian Assange is not a thing for them.

Doug Bandow is not asleep, however.  He looks at the love that is being given to the kingdom:

Saudi Arabia Sets Global Standard for Tyranny, but Asks: Why Is Washington Picking on the Kingdom?

Revolving Door Project (RDP) examines conflicts of interest at the Center for a New American Security - No one should be shocked as it is doing think tanky things

The Revolving Door Project looks at the Center for a New American Security and pinpoints the sinecuristas that go in and out of the Washington revolving door.

New Report Finds "Serious Conflicts Of Interest" At Top National Security Think Tank Sought Out By Biden Administration

Good Work RDP, but it should probably be filed under Plus ça change.

Hey, for all we know, CNAS might be a bunch of peaceniks, but it does smell a little war mongerish.

The board of directors seems the usual suspects.

Imperialism - Nord Stream delenda est

Article from Yahoo News:

Germany 'offered $1bn if US dropped sanctions against controversial pipeline'

Buying gas from the Russkies makes sense rather than shipping it from the US, but beating the Russians is more important in Washington.

Now that Trump is gone, Biden can do some different...or not.

 Now that the world's worst president has been replaced by the world's worst president, the pursuit of a whistleblower continues.

Biden to Continue Seeking Extradition of Julian Assange

Plus ça Whatever...

A great idea and long past time-THE CASE FOR WITHDRAWING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

 Bugging out is good!

Yes We should be okay with this!

Enraged US Threatens to Close Iraq Embassy Over Militia Attacks

And bring the troops home from everywhere.

the great and noble Professor Stephen Cohen passed away more than a week ago

I knew something was not good when he was not heard from in a long while.

Professor Cohen was a voice of sanity that will be missed.

To learn something of the man, watching the video would be worth your time.

His discussions on the John Batchelor Show can be searched and are worth listening to.

Recently, funerals have been weaponized in this country and made spectacle from McCain to RBG.  That won't be done for Professor Cohen which is all too the good as his dignity will be preserved.

If we go to another dimension, may he find rest.

Syria - What's the point?

Two articles to address the question, why are we in Syria?

From the Washington Times:

Road clash with Russians renews debate over U.S. mission in Syria

by 

Ben Wolfgang

Well, it's about time, but we at the Neutralist have not seen much "debate." Mostly just sputtering about the Russkies are not nice and Assad is a meanie.

The second one, 

Is Syrian Oil Now A ‘U.S. National Interest’?

by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

at The American Conservative looks at the theft of oil and how it has become important.  At the end of the day, it's theft, of course.

Also at the end of the day, not to mention at dawn, there is real reason for us to be in the Middle East.  If anyone has a rational argument for how our intervention benefits the American people, the Neutralist would love to hear it.

Hat tip, American Committee for East-West Accord

Biden and his impreialistas

Again, we rely on antiwar.com.

Maj. Danny has a piece on who will be on Team Biden's foreign policy squad and, as they say in Boston, wicked shock, it will be imperialist retreads as heralded by the ever-childish Max Boot.

Well worth a read.

Harry Browne was right

Harry Browne said that America has a strong offense and a weak defense.

He has been vindicated again, this time by a lad at Brookings.

https://original.antiwar.com/Richard_Morchoe/2020/08/24/the-vindication-of-harry-browne-again/

The Russian Bounty Hoax

So, the MSM buzz that finally something big was up.  The Russians were paying the Taliban to kill Americans.

There was supposedly some intel, but it was never confirmed and the Fourth Estate decided to go with it.

My fellow countrymen, if you believe this, go with this thought exercise:

Picture a meeting between a Taliban commander and a Russian agent: The Taliban commander say to the Russkie, "So let me get this straight, you want to pay us to do what we do anyway?"Absurd on the face of it. Now anything is possible, but it takes a special kind of stupid to think it probable.

Links to read - December 31, 2019

The most important link today is at the Grayzone and is by the impresario, Max Blumenthal.  DC's Atlantic Council raked in funding from Hunter Biden's corruption-stained employer while courting his VP father.  Yeah, Trump is no prize and he should be impeached for what Bush and Obama should  have been impeached for, a murderous foreign policy.

But, the Bidens both deserve to be investigated, and, in all probability, prosecuted.  A lot of others deserve to go to the wall for the contrived war in Ukraine.

Scott Horton at antiwar.com has some history of how we got to where we are today and it ain't pretty. Read It doesn't have to be this way.

Over at Colonel Pat Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis committee of correspondence, commenter and contributor The Twisted Genius (or TTG as abbreviated) has a posting, Idlib Battle Footage.  You can watch the war, but the more important aspect of the posting is in the comments where TTG answers questions.

Example:

"Those "jihadists" seem even better equiped that the SAA...at least at uniforms level...
(the commenter) wonders where all those new uniforms with the IS and HTS banners embroidened are produced....
On the other hand, to built such a network of trenches, tunnels, and bunkers, in that size and durability, provided even with electric light, is it not necessary to have knowledge of some engineering branches?
It does not seem possible to have them by some radicalized thugs at a mosque anywhere, but by a well funded, organized and trainned army...."

TTG's reply:

"those jihadists are well funded, organized and trained. Years at war does that to you. They also receive plenty of support from Gulf royals and Turkey. We and our allies have provided them with modern antitank and antiaircraft missiles. I wish they were just angry and frustrated men in a mosque. Unfortunately, many are quite intelligent and capable soldiers."

This is, as the late Larry Glick put it, "The story behind the story."  You won't get it from the Imperial Media.  The US' culpability can not be exposed enough.

Links: December 7, 2019

So some guy does something crooked with the Hilary campaign and gets indicted  for it.  What's the lede at NBC:

A businessman who helped broker a meetingbetween an ally of President Donald Trump and an official of the Russian government has been indicted for allegedly funneling millions in illegal campaign contributions to support Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Sic Semper Tyrannis reports on it.

Every now and again Sic Semper Tyrannis posts a Russian Federation Sitrep by Russia Insider's Patrick Armstrong.  At the beginning is a little bit of info on how Russia is going along well enough despite the imperial war against it:

POWER OF SIBERIA. Putin and Xi turned on the pipeline on Monday. It carries gas from Russia's Far East into China and has a carrying capacity of 61 billion M3per year. There'll be more. This has no small strategic significance: previously, for foreign sales, Russia was dependent on customers in Europe who are all, to a greater or lesser extent, subject to pressure from the war party. Added to which transport was affected by Kiev's whims. Turkstream(scheduled to start next month) and the two pipelines to Germany help with the second problem and this one with the first. Sooner or later, Russia-China pipelines would have appeared but I think Ishchenko's argument that the Western war on Russia speeded up the processis credible. (Come to think of it, now that Putin's hand is imagined everywhere, maybe it's time to consider that he's the American war party's real backer; after all, everything it's touched has turned to dust: from the forever wars, to Iran's increased influence, to the Russia-China alliance and now the furore in the USA over Ukraine – itself another disastrous project.)

Other interesting stuff at the Sitrep.

Are the Saudis retreating from their murderous war against the Houthi?  Moon of Alabama thinks so; Saudi Arabia Retreats From The Troubles Its Clown Prince Caused

Caitlin Johnston has Fake News By Omission :  The Mass Media’s Cowardly Distortion Tool at her website about the conspiracy of silence on the OPCW scandal, but the Imperial Media does it on just about every story they can.

More Bandow at AmConMag: American Soldiers Are Not Bodyguards For Saudi Royals  This on the day sailors are shot by a Saudi National at Pensacola.  Every aspect of the Saudi/US relationship is dumb.
.

Links-December 3, 2019

There is another website that does aggregation and should not be ignored.  The American Committee for East West Accord does it everyday and the Neutralist shamelessly steals from them.

Today they have three articles of note:

The Magnitsky case is about how a wonderful guy opposed the horrible Putin, except it is kind of falling apart. Spiegel online has The Case of Sergei Magnitsky Questions Cloud Story Behind U.S. Sanctions. It is amazing how our country can be manipulated.

The deeper have been around a long time and bullied George Schultz during the Reagan administration.  George Shultz drew a line against certain anti-communist militants; Washington hardliners had other ideas is at the American Conservative.

At the Washington Times Edward Lozansky asks, Is Ukraine vital to U.S. security?  You know how we feel about that; Whaddya nuts?

Antiwar.com is also a good source that we mine.

They link to Scott Ritter at truth dig where he has NATO Is as Good as Dead.  The president of France recently declared the alliance brain dead and Scott is just sticking the rhetorical fork in it.

Codepink founder Medea Benjamin at antiwar.com writes on Nato as well, Trump Was Right Before He Was Wrong: NATO Should Be Obsolete. That there is no point in the continued existence does not mean it will be put out of its misery soon, but we can hope.

Moon of Alabama has been all over the OPCW false reporting scandal.  Eternal vigilance is necessary, As The OPCW Is Accused Of False Reporting U.S. Propaganda Jumps To Its Help.

That is all for now.

Links - Monday, December 2, 2019

Over at Spectator USA, Peter Hitchens calls out Bellingcat as well he should.

If you hate yourself, you may be paying rapt attention to the mostly vapid Democrat debates (so-called).  Only one candidate has been seriously addressing foreign policy and the knife are out.

William J. Astore on the Smearing of Tulsi Gabbard over at the antiwar.com blog is worth a read.

Back in 2011-12 Maj. Danny Sjursen was fishing the absurd Afghan war and had absurd experiences.  He is an engaging writer and the war is still absurd.  Profiles in Absurdity: Remembering the ‘Terror’ Wars also at antiwar.com.

John Pilger: The Lies About Assange Must Stop Now over at 21st Century Wire.  We need to stop trying to extradite Julian, immunize him and have him testify before congress.  Nah, the elite would rather gargle razor blades.

Schiff claims to be valiantly protecting the whistleblower.  He's full of it.  Colonel Lang has the goods: The Intelligence Whistleblower protection Act did not apply to the phone call ... Reposted

Enough for today.  Read well, Bring the boys (and girls) home.