Saturday, February 6, 2016

Stephen F. Cohen — The Obama Administration Has Just Recklessly Escalated Its Military Confrontation With Russia

The Pentagon’s announcement that it will quadruple US-NATO military forces in countries on or near Russia’s borders pushes the new Cold War toward actual war, possibly even a nuclear one.
The Nation
The Obama Administration Has Just Recklessly Escalated Its Military Confrontation With Russia
Stephen F. Cohen | Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies and Politics at New York University and Princeton University

See also

Russia really has only one option — massive thermonuclear retaliation against all NATO countries and Japan that would annihilate them (us) in the event of attack as a strategy of deterrence.

South Front
Russia rules out nuclear arms talks with US

23 comments:

Veronica said...

Zionism: Imperialism in the Age of Counter-revolution

dissidentvoice.org/2016/02/zionism-imperialism-in-the-age-of-counter-revolution/

Peter Pan said...

Lose-lose scenario.

MRW said...

By coincidence, just finished listening to Stephen Cohen's weekly radio show on the John Batchelor Show about just this topic. Feb 2, 2016 interview.

Really--*really*--worth listening to if you're into geopolitics.

https://cdn47.castfire.com/audio/550/3618/26026/2671012/2671012_2016-02-02-232012-8210-0-0-0.32k.mp3

Obama IS reckless. And so is NATO's head, General Breedlove. How is it that Americans have become so stupid? So brain dead? Megyn Kelly is bitching about women issues and scoring points in the presidential debates when this is hanging out there? Where are the fucking adults?

Ah, AH, AH! Just noticed that The Nation links to the John Batchelor Show. Listen to it.

MRW said...

@Veronica, first watch this shortish clip on antiwar.com for some background:
http://antiwar.com/blog/2016/02/02/breaking-the-neocon-stranglehold-on-washington/

Then watch Pt 1 of "A Very Heavy Agenda" (free for today and tomorrow) here:
http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/a-very-heavy-agenda-2015/

Veronica said...

(Max Shpak's articles first published in the now defunct originaldissent.com)

The Fraud of Neoconservative “Anti-Communism”–Max Shpak
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t370062/

Those Cuckoo Neocons–Max Shpak
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t22149/

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/20/a-family-business-of-perpetual-war/
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/20/a-family-business-of-perpetual-war/

http://www.middleeastrising.com/the-doctrine-of-superior-people-the-bond-between-israel-and-world-zionism/

http://www.israelshamir.net/shamirReaders/english/Freeland--Review-of-ZIONISM-MILITARISM-AND-THE-DECLINE-OF-US-POWER-by-James-Petras.php

Rulers and Ruled in the US Empire
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Petras_James/Rulers_Ruled_USEmpire.html

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/pdf/The%20Zionist%20Plan%20for%20the%20Middle%20East.pdf

Footsoldier said...

For me it is all to with the $ being the world's reserve currency.

Every time it is threatened America will do anything to keep it.

Matt Franko said...

Veronica all of that is over the top...

In the middle east, Israel wants long term security and the neo-cons are right on board with the GWOT and its compatible with a US priority to protect the oil logistics... then you have the huge US voting bloc of the Evangelical Christians that are shoulder to shoulder with Israel... so the US policy in the middle east can make a lot of sense...

But, youre making a mistake to bring what is going on in Russia/Ukraine etc in to all of this ... that is a Soros thing that the Democrats are pursuing as Soros is a big Democrat sponsor... "open societies", etc... that is a completely different policy that Soros is spearheading up in those nations in eastern Europe...

MRW said...

Footsoldier, the USD is maintained as a reserve currency by other countries wanting our currency to pay for oil (mainly) and other shit. They do that by selling us stuff. The day they don't want it anymore they won't sell us stuff. Big whoop. We weren't the reserve currency for 15 years after WWII and we did just fine. The oil deal that Kissinger made with Saudi Arabia in 1975 wherein SA agreed to price its oil in USD cemented the USD as the global reserve currency.

And if "America will do anything to keep it," then it's doing a piss-poor job by sanctioning Russia, which has caused Russia to accept payment for its oil in Yuan.

MRW said...

@Veronica,

"that is a completely different policy that Soros is spearheading up in those nations in eastern Europe..."

Soros is trying to pick up resources for pennies on the dollar. So he shakes them loose with political instability. Saying you're trying to help a country become a democracy is covering your tracks while sounding noble. And you get the protection of the current admin.

Greg said...

The whole notion that oil being priced in $ is an advantage to the US makes very little sense to me. Just because they list their price in Euros doesn't mean dollars won't be accepted does it? All dollars can be changed into something else, there is a huge liquid market in currencies that operates 24/7/365. Seems more of a psychological ploy to me. Ive never heard of anyone with Euros not being able to buy oil because a price was "listed" in $.

More scare tactics that only work on people who cant think beyond one layer.

Matt Franko said...

Greg yes right on what advantage is it when when the price is in USD and it contain AT LEAST $100/bbl in pure unadulterated RENT?

That's called getting F-ed by the oil people no matter what currency it is priced in...

Tom Hickey said...

The reason to drop the USD is to get free of the US controlled global financial system that the US uses for political purposes as an enforcement tool. Recall that the US froze Iran's dollar assets. Iran doesn't want to give the US the opportunity to do that again, and neither do a bunch of other countries since the US has been brandishing its big stick.

Matt Franko said...

Not to mention cluster munitions raining down on the next "death to America!" rally will work much better than sanctions Tom....

Tom Hickey said...

Are you planning to vote for Hillary?

Matt Franko said...

Trump...

Cant wait for him to demand an official apology from the Iran govt after they hold their first "death to America!" rally if he becomes POTUS. ..

MRW said...

@Greg,

PART 1

"The whole notion that oil being priced in $ is an advantage to the US makes very little sense to me. Just because they list their price in Euros doesn't mean dollars won't be accepted does it?"

At the time this was cemented with an agreement with Saudi Arabia in 1975 (by Kissinger), the USD had just been unpegged from gold internationally a few years earlier. The British Pound had been the reserve currency "officially." Kissinger wanted to be sure the USD was the "official" one. Why? Because with the USD the official reserve currency, it would cost the USA the cost of a keystroke to buy anything it wanted globally. Why was this important? The military has to pay for its military logistical costs worldwide to the local economies. As one small example, we don't ship food for the troops in Germany or Japan; we buy local.

This was how we can afford having troops in every country around the world. It’s how we built Empire since 1971, and what the Military-Industrial Complex is taking advantage of, because ordinary folk don’t know how this works.

If you want to think of this advantage in terms of actual physical paper, try this: a $100 bill costs the US $0.07 to create. So a case of French wine at $1200 after August 15, 1971 would cost the US federal government 12 x $0.07, or $0.84. Before 1971, that same case of wine would have cost $1200 converted to a gold payment through international settlement. Big diff.

MRW said...

@Greg,

PART 2

The agreement with Saudi Arabia to ensure that oil was priced in USD was a promise by Kissinger that we, the USA, would keep the price of oil high, as it was by 1975, provided they parked their dough in US treasury securities. [This established the current YUGE daily market in treasury securities.] Which of course meant that BY LAW, all Saudi profits would be parked in the US. It meant every other country in the world would have to sell their products in USD to get the money to buy oil for their domestic energy needs. Which meant we control the world. Why?

Because BY LAW no USD can leave the US banking system (except for the max $10Gs in physical currency that citizens and tourists can leave with). All USD are in bank accounts at the Fed, or in US commercial banks. All of them. People who claim they go overseas to park their US cash are either parking it in accounts that they can't move without physically removing the cash from the bank vault, or they are parking their USD in accounts within the system. If their overseas bank wants to do business by wire or check, they have to use a "correspondent" bank which does have, and must have, an account at the NY Fed.

For example, when Walmart pays $20 million for an order of tires to China, that $20 million is wired to China's checking account at the NY Fed. What China does with the dough is up to it, including crediting it to the supplier, whose bank has an account at the Fed. China can change the dough to Yuan and wire it home. It can buy US goods. It can leave it in checking earning zip, or it can move its cash to China’s savings account at the NY Fed and buy US treasury securities (like buying a CD) and earn some interest. The USD$20 million NEVER LEAVES THE US BANKING SYSTEM.

MRW said...

@Greg,

PART 3

So another currency can attempt to become the new reserve currency. However, there's, what? $5 trillion in foreign reserves in the form of US treasury securities right now?

I don't know the number. And I don't feel like looking it up.

The countries that bought them can give them up, abandon them, or they are going to have to buy US goods or their own currency to drain their accounts.

MRW said...

@Greg,

The deal with Iran means that Iran got access to its own US treasury securities at the Fed. We did NOT give Iran $100 billion or whatever is claimed, Trump included, who has no clue about this. Mike Norman should plan to visit him and educate the guy, sign up to help his campaign.

Those Iranian USD are its USD profits parked in US treasury securities.

International law, and international agreements, stated that the US federal government couldn't--WOULDN'T--hold other countries hostage via their Federal Reserve accounts. But the US violated those agreements. That is what has other countries pissed.

Veronica said...

Scott Creighton and Geroid O'Colmain on INN radio. Creighton comes in at the 34 min. mark and O'Colmain at 45 min.

mp3.logosradionetwork.com/INN/64k/INN_Radio_2016-01-28_64k.mp3

Veronica said...

The link to Gearoid O'Colmain's superbe series on European migration is here:

http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/01/coercive-engineered-migration-zionisms-war-on-europe/

Greg said...

@MRW

Thanks for the responses. You certainly add a lot of detail that I had no idea of but one point you made is part of my point although I wasn't explicit about it in my comment. Its your point about another currency becoming the reserve currency. This doesn't happen just because an important commodity gets it price listed in your currency as you point out, it has to do with which currency has the largest float of safe govt bonds, and it will be quite a while til anyone else rivals the US bond market in desirability.

Fretting about whether or not some oil producer list their price in dollars or euros or yuan is completely (or almost completely) meaningless.

Tom Hickey said...

China has proposed resurrecting the bancor supranational currency and an international clearing house as set forth at Bretton woods by J. M. Keynes and E. F. Schumacher after it was killed by the Americans under Harry Dexter White who demanded dollarization. Stiglitz has come out for it too.

Probably won't happen voluntarily, since the US still prefers the dollar standard. But it could surface strongly at the time of the next crisis, which may not be far off judging from the news.