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.
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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.

Links - Saturday, November 30, 2019

Hysteria is as American as apple pie - Colonel Pat Lang goes over some past panics to put our current  climate obsession in perspective: If you believe that climate change will kill us all...

As someone not completely opposed to the peasantry storming the castles,  class warfare is of some interest.  Class war does not always go the way one would expect.  Over at American Affairs the editor, Julius Krein, looks at the subject of the tiny top class and the managers as The Real Class War.

The current presidential campaign has a lot of Dems who all kinda sound alike on the so-called debate stage except one.  She might sound like the rest if it were not for what they seem to be ignoring.  Doug Bandow at AmConMag gives us Tulsi Gabbard: Wake Up and Smell Our $6.4 Trillion Wars.

When President Obama introduced John Brennan to the public, I thought him a goofy guy.  Brennan seems even goofier now.  Scott Horton talking with Aaron Maté who has done a deep dive on the Dangerous Precedent of ‘Russiagate’


Did anyone expect anything different from the Imperial Media? From Caitlin Johnstone: Surprise! MSM Spins OPCW Leak As Russian Disinfo

Links - Tuesday November 26, 2019

Stuff to read or watch:

On Asron Maté's Grayzone Pushback show, Professor Stephen Cohen explains how Ukrainegate impeachment saga worsens US-Russia Cold War.  This has been out there awhile, but is worth watching.

Ron Paul's weekly column:

The Real Bombshell of the Impeachment Hearings is about the deep state (like we don't it exists by now) and how it does not want to let go of its bad foreign policy.  ht Antiwar.com.

In the National Interest Professor Lyle J. Goldstein writes"

The War in Ukraine Must End 

Washington should seek a grand bargain with Moscow over Crimea.

The article is good the deal is suggests is reasonable, however as a neutralist we believe the US should just leave and let the two parties solve their problems by themselves.

ht ACEWA

If you bring up Joe Biden and his kid the mantra is "debunked."  That is, of course, ridiculous on the face of it, or why doesn't your kid get an easy money board of directors spot?

Anyway, Colonel Pat Lang does a good job debunking the debunking of Joe and kid at his Sic Semper Tyrannis Committee of Correspondence.

Some Links:

Articles to read today:

From Antiwar.com


New Poll Shows Americans Favor Non-Intervention

Dave DeCampPosted on November 24, 2019

Hat tip to the American Committee for East West Accord:

Gordon M. Hahn: Fables of Ignatius

gordonhahn.comNovember 24, 2019

It is now important for every American to realize that he or she can get little to no reliable news from the US mainstream media on Ukraine, Russia, or even the United States itself.

When you make enemies you can't just expect them to lie down-The Sino-Russian Alliance at work

Colonel Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis has posted an article:

"China-Russia air patrol shows Japan and South Korea in disarray"  by Frank Ching in ejininsight.com.

Our East Asian allies were spooked by what the two countries working together can do.

According to Colonel Lang:

"This is a really bad thing and IMO it is altogether the result of the hyper-aggressiveness displayed by the US toward Russia since the fall of the USSR.  We had the option then of offering a welcoming hand to Russia as it emerged from the nightmare of communist rule, but we did not extend such a hand.  Instead, our civilian and military policy elites insisted that Russia was necessarily an enemy for the US and was still the communist USSR in disguise.

We (the US) drove the eastern boundary of NATO absurdly far into Russia's "comfort zone," and actively recruited the former member countries of the Warsaw Pact into NATO.  We have also recruited many former Union Republics of the USSR into a specifically ant-Russian military alliance.

We are now surprised that a weakened Russia, spurned by us, makes common cause with China?  What else were the Russians supposed to do?  Fall on their knees before us and beg our pardon for existing?

Neocon folly and a lack of any sort of policy thoughtfulness have brought us to this.."

 We agree with Colonel Lang, but go further.  This is why a neutralist ethos is necessary.  When the smartest guys get together, they overthink.  Actually, they are probably not all that smart.

In the comments, Patrick Armstrong has observes: "I am starting to think that Russia/China were reacting for a long time; now I suspect they have started acting, Given that they completely outwitted the West's assemblage of giant minds in their reaction period, we can look for lots and lots of surprises to come."

Fasten your seatbelts.

Is there at least a modicum of common sense returning to American foreign policy—Pepe Escobar says maybe

At Asia Times Pepe Escobar has a good piece on why maybe conflict with Iran may not be a good idea.  Other than an unbelievable depression resulting from the closing of the strait of Hormuz, why worry?

So we want talks now without pre-conditions.  The Neutralist does not approve of this type of expression, but, as they say, reality is a bitch.

Read Mr. Escobar's 

Why Trump now wants talks with Iran: If Tehran blocks the Strait of Hormuz it could send the price of oil soaring and cause a global recession

Nothing is senseless-Follow the Money

Whenever a school shooting or some such event that results in human carnage occurs, we will hear that it is senseless violence.  That to those of us not involved in the incident it does not make sense, does not mean that to someone it did.  Usually, if a manifesto is left behind or medical records are disclosed, there was some reason.  Wrong or twisted maybe, but a reason.

The existence of the MIC (Military Industrial Complex, Actually should be MICEM if we add in Education and Media to the mix) explains a lot of our foreign policy.

So, we meddle in a lot of places because that justifies a lot of money for a lot of things.

Now we are bugging Iran, or are they bugging us.  And why is the Neutralist saying "we"?  The Neutralist is for neutralism.

There are some folks who don't have skin in the game, but do have moolah in it.  They all have a John Bolton connection.

See if you can figure out who wants what out of their "investment."  Click the OpenSecrets link.

As tensions rise, moneyed interests pushing for hard line against Iran

at OpenSecrets.org

they all

William S, Lind has posted a neutralist foreign policy at Traditional Right. We at The Neutralist award him.

William S. Lind at traditionalRight is always interesting and not someone we could consider a wild-eyed interventionist like say, the neocons.  We have never noticed, and it just may be our fault, an explicitly neutralist foreign policy being expressed at TR.  

This is close enough:

"There is an alternative strategy I think might work, or at least work better than recruiting more enemies.  It has two components.  The first is tight border security, far tighter than anything President Trump is planning, tight enough to keep all varieties of 4GW fighters from entering (we will still face the home-grown variety, who in the long run will be more dangerous).  The second component is invisibility.  Since what we are doing now feeds hydra, stop it.  Stop all overt actions around the world.  Bring the troops, planes, drones, and ships home.  Disappear, and thus take away our enemies’ main recruiting tool.  No longer will Somalis or Yemenis or Libyans or Syrians live with the constant hum of American drones overhead, waiting for the Hellfire missile in the night. There may still be drones, but they will not be American drones.  They will have to fight someone else."

Mr. Lind may not live down the embarrassment, but we hereby name him a Senior Fellow of The Neutralist Institute.

Our Low-Life Foreign Policy

“If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see farther into the future.”

— Madeleine Albright, secretary of state (1997–2001), Clinton administration

The words of Mad Madeline seem dated and arrogant, and to say the least, foolishly wrong.  We didn't even see three years ahead when an enemy we did not take seriously flew civilian aircraft into the center of commerce.

Allbright is still feted and is too unaware to be embarrassed.  Time, however, has proved our farsightedness to be somewhat short-term.

Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq led to little good.  The destruction of Libya was buffoonery to say the least.

These are mistakes and bad ones and argue against an interventionist foreign policy.

There is now something else to consider in the light of the Khashoggi affair. 

There is no need to re-hash the events and the lies that have been floated by the regime.  That the man was murdered and dismembered is now beyond doubt.  

The complete disgrace of the pundit class in all this is bad, but what is worse is the stupidity.  Jamal Khashoggi was a cool guy who hung out with his journalistic buds.  When it was apparent the man was not going to pull himself together, his mates saw what an awful thing had happened and were outraged.  From CounterPunch:

 In his second reference to Yemen, Friedman writes: the apparent murder, if true, “would be an unfathomable violation of norms of human decency, worse not in numbers but in principle than even the Yemen war.” Worse in principle that Yemen? Really? Why—because you know Khashoggi? The murder indeed appears grizzly, but is it more brutal as a “violation of norms of human decency” than bombing busloads of schoolchildren in Yemen in order to collectively terrorize the population?

The Neutralist is trying to grasp what that principle is that the murder of one pundit is more egregious than a genocide of a nation.  We believe we have found it.

There is a Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson that explains the mind set.

"Quit complaining and eat it...Number one, chicken soup is good for the flu---and number two, it's nobody we know."

All those pictures of the pitiful starving kids, the buses full of students struck by Saudi jets, "it's nobody we know."  Our dear friend, Jamal, counts for so much more.

In all probability, Mr. Friedman is not the worst, but typical.  What is a tad new here is the Khashoggi murder has caused him to notice Yemen.  Probably not for long, but Yemen has emerged from the memory hole and we get an admission.  Not a, "well, you know the Saudis are fighting Shia and thus Iran which is necessary and thus absolves whatever," but that we have the admission of a crime even if it pales in comparison to the demise of friend Jamal.

Work for the Times, or Post or AP, then you're just doing stenography. the networks or cable, blah blah blah.  The columnists and pundits are just low-lifes.

No wonder Madeline is still part of the Nomenklatura.

Justin Raimondo is now a Senior Fellow of the Neutralist Institute

The announcement was made on a twitter thread.  Mr. Raimondo is in a battle with a severe illness and is fighting with the same tenacity that he has brought to the fight against foreign intervention.

It is that antiwar sentiment that has led us to this drastic step.

Buck up, Justin. we've just given you another cross to bear.

John Bolton heads US Dept. of precrime - What is he smoking?

So the Syrian war is almost over, just Idlib to be taken and that's the game.  Some are desperate to see that not end with Assad in power.  What can be done?

With no evidence, John Bolton is saying that the regime is planning to use completely unnecessary chemical weapons on the remaining rebels.  Supposedly, the sainted White Helmets will be in place to swear that kids are dying in droves.

Un question, s'il vous plait, what has been the body count among the white helmets themselves?  If those lads are always in the thick of it, shouldn't there numbers be horribly diminished by the awful actions of the evil Assad?

During a search, there were numerous results for articles and posts citing their goodness.  How come it is difficult to find articles that come to the opposite conclusion, such as this one?

Let's hope for some sanity and that calmer heads prevail in the administration and at least one neocon is ignored.

We don't have to win in Syria, we don't need to be in the Middle East at all.

Mish Shedlock of Global Economic Trend Analysis and Patrick Armstrong of Russia Observer Display Common Sense-Nobody Will Notice

First, let's go with Mish.  You've seen all the ads, signs, bumper stickers telling us to support our troops.  Sometimes it will be accompanied with something saying that they are keeping us safe.  No one explains how some GI in an Afghan outpost is keeping us safe, but there it is.

Well Mish noticed:

This last weekend I saw a biker wearing a "support our troops" shirt. OK, what's the best way?
I know the answer. Do you?
The best way to "support the troops" is to not send them into stupid battles in places we ought not to be in the first place.
The War in Afghanistan is going on over 15 years. Yes, 15 years. WTF? For what?

The Neutralist has been asking the same question since 2008 on blogger.  No one cares to answer so it is good to see Mish make the point.

Now on to Patrick Armstrong.  In comments on Colonel Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis  Mr. Armstrong replied to a comment:

Seriously, what vital national interest of the USA qua USA is threatened if Russia has a big influence in Syria? Or if Iran is a big player in its corner of the world? Or if Venezuela has a somewhat socialist government? Or if China polices trade going in and out of China in the South China Sea? Etc etc.

Hypothetically, we bring all the troops home.  What happens?  Does anyone believe that Russia starts the tanks rolling west until they are in Portugal?  Does anyone think China will build an invasion fleet?  Iran does something horrible?  Will Venezuela start running an efficeint non-kleptocracy?

The Neutralist, waiting for an answer since 2008.  Actually, since the Carter administration. 

U.S. Provides Assad's Forces the Equipment for a Whole Armored Brigade

Shocking news.  We have been told for a long time how the Syrian leader is the most evil man since Hitler.  Okay, we are told that about everyone, but he is less than a nice guy with that genocidal war in Yemen.  Oh, one forgets, that is being waged by our ally, the saintly Saudis.

Anyway, we did not plan on arming the Syrians, it just kind of happened...stupidly.

From a post at Sic Semper Tyrannis,

The FSA unicorms have surrendered enough equipment to the SAA in the last couple of weeks to equip an additional armored brigade once the Syrian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SEME - my neologism) and their Rooshians work it over.  Hey! We Americans under Obama's policy paid for all that.  At last someone will know what to do with it.  

Well Done!  Arming the FSA (Free Syrian Army) was always a joke.

Like all our post 1945 interventions, Syria is not working out well.  for us, it is a zombie war.  We have no reason to be there, but we shall stay anyway.

Bring the boys and girls home.

Not even close, but certainly no Sigar-The latest lessons learned from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction is out

As mentioned in the title, The latest lessons learned from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR)  is out.  In the introduction there is a paragraph that says it all:

Our analysis reveals the U.S. government greatly overestimated its ability to build and reform government institutions in Afghanistan as part of its stabilization strategy. We found the stabilization strategy and the programs used to achieve it were not properly tailored to the Afghan context, and successes in stabilizing Afghan districts rarely lasted longer than the physical presence of coalition troops and civilians. As a result, by the time all prioritized districts had transitioned from coalition to Afghan control in 2014, the services and protection provided by Afghan forces and civil servants often could not compete with a resurgent Taliban as it filled the void in newly vacated territory.

Are there really any lessons learned?  I am guessing there are, but they can't be said or the the truth teller will be shown the door.  The truth is  there are three alternatives:

1. Continue leaving a garrison and pretend we are doing something.  That is what we are doing now.

2. Another surge with enough troops to destroy all our enemies.  That is probably impossible politically and economically.

3.  Time to say au revoir.  This is the only practical choice, but if we leave, why stay in the Middle East at all?  It's a debate we are avoiding.

Academic Thomas Nichols has written a book, The Death of Expertise.  In it he avers that the expert class, like Rodney, don't get no respect and that it should.  On Page 195 of the SIGAR report  there is a picture of what one would guess is the important people on the team and other government officers with the President Obama around a conference table.  They all look prosperous. These people and other staffers work hard to study what is going on and what must be done.  If they know the score, that nothing real can be done, and they are just saying only what is acceptable, it is an indictment of the Nichols' expertise class.  The Dangerfield Class of  experts only comes up with what has already been decided.

There are recommendations in the report, but no one expects that we will reach the broad sunlit uplands even if we follow them to the letter.

The Neutralist originally read about SIGAR at Colonel Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis.  He does not mince words, "This SIGAR report makes it crystal clear that the US lost its "hat, ass and overcoat" in Afghanistan.   We should wise up and go home resolved never, never to listen to the siren song of the COIN fantasy."

The Colonel is right, but you don't get to see him on TV as his is not the desired flavor.

Thanks Bibi for making The Neutralist case for us

Prime Minister Netanyahu's dog and pony show to prove the Persians are nuclear naughty was old wine in new skins, or something.

What he was really saying was we need a war.

We don't and we don't need one to suit the purpose of other countries.

Washington was right and we need to steer clear of foreign entanglements.

Bibi made the case for bringing the boys and girls home and staying out of another meaningless conflict.

Fake News-No this is really fake news or is it fake real news, or something - Whose watching the watch dog?

Moon Of Alabama displays an AP tweet with the words, “Watchdog group says bombs disguised as rocks in Yemen show Iranian aid,”

The title of the MofA article says it all:

“Arms Research "Watchdog Group" Lobbies For War On Yemen And Iran

This Associated Press story has quite a slant.”

Slant is the right word.

The late Larry Glick would always say on his radio show, “we’re going to get the story behind the story.”  Let’s call that the sbts.  there is little true journalism going on nowadays, but inadvertantly, the mainstream will give it away somewhere in the article.

Indeed, it is only in the seventh paragraph that we get the sbts.

Michetti’s organization, an independent watchdog group that receives funding from the United Arab Emirates, Germany and the European Union to research weaponry recovered in Yemen, said it examined a fake rock bomb in January near Mokha, some 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of the capital, Sanaa.

Watch dog does not mean a vicious doberman keeping evil robbers from stealing the family treasure while everyone is away from home.  Rather, it is a lap dog wagging its tale and barking on command.

One supposes that everyone knows in their heart of hearts that all news is propaganda, but that most people are happy to let it slide if it fits the narrative of what one prefers.   Here in the Nova Anglia, there are few who have not listened to someone breathlessly talk about something they’ve heard on NPR as if it had been given to Moses along with the Tablets.

This is, of course, another reason to we at the Neutralist push for a neutralist ethos.  There will always be a manipulation of news to go fight some war somewhere for some noble cause that will turn out to be not so noble in retrospect.

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