Proxy war
Proxy war – a war instigated by a major power that does not itself participate
Ordezko gerlaz:
Oraingoa:
Errusia versus (Ukraina, AEB, EB, NATO)
Laster ikusiko duguna:
Txina versus (Taiwan, AEB, EB?, NATO)
Gerla horien atzean dagoena: sistema multipolarra versus sistema unipolarra1
BRICS
Learn #MMT
Warren Mosler
(http://www.collectedworksofwarrenmosler.com/)
Randall Wray
Randall Wray: Dirua hasiberrientzat
Randall Wray: dirua hasiberrientzat (elkarrizketa)
“Whaever is doable is financially affordable”, alegia, “Egingarria den edozer eskuragarria da
finantzen aldetik.”
Randall Wray: Egin al dezakegu diruak guretzat lan egin dezan?
Randall Wray: nola MTM-k mundua salba dezakeen (elkarrizketa)
“Whar matters is resoursez, not money”, alegia, “Axola duena baliabideak dira, ez dirua.”
Sarrera:
Where does the EU get uranium from…Russia and Niger account for almost half (42%) of supplies.
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George Kennan in 1998: “I think it is the beginning of a new Cold War… Of course there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then (the NATO expanders) will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are – but this is just wrong”
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Revolutionary Blackout Network@SocialistMMA
RFK jr is essentially running a campaign in order to smear the Palestinian people This is why you never trust someone running as a Democrat
Txioa aipatu
vanessa beeley@VanessaBeeley
abu. 2
Israel killed at least 27 Palestinians, including 6 children, in July 2023. Since January 2023, Israel has killed at least 64 Palestinians from Jenin alone. (MPN) Kennedy says “Israel never deliberately kills Palestinians” #Terrorist apologism
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The US will do everything necessary to ensure food exports from Russia if Russia returns to the grain agreement , US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
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Vivek Ramaswamy@VivekGRamaswamy
There’s no such thing as a “noble lie.” Just tell us the TRUTH. About Covid-19. About Hunter Biden. About the trans school shooter. About Ukraine. About government-tech censorship. About the Trump prosecutions.
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687122489103486976
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Newly available documents show that Israel poisoned Palestinian land in the 1970s in order to force off the indigenous population and build segregated colonial settlements
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Going Underground@GUnderground_TV
‘The only country in the entire planet that has a motive to destroy Nordstream, is of course, the US. Because it is the best way to basically destroy any chance that Europe is going to negotiate with Russia’ -Ex-IMF economist
SATURDAY ON GU Don’t miss it, follow our Rumble channel: https://rumble.com/c/GoingUndergr
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687428196528975872
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19 h
CNN (not Fox News!) has just published the results of a fresh poll, which for the first time showed that the majority of Americans (55%!) Are opposed to increasing aid to Ukraine in the war with Russia. And this is indeed a dramatic change in public opinion, which cannot but affect the course of the US election campaign.
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The US is trying to destroy Europe, according to Belarusian President Lukashenko. “We are in a right international mess. All of Europe. The Americans are destroying Europe. Great Britain is their stronghold.”
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Zakharova: USA has three colonies, France has two, Britain – 10, and the third decade of the 21st century
THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 17 IN THE WORLD, AND THE UN CHARTER CATEGORIES THEM AS “NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES”.
When the British monarch “apologizes” for the colonial crimes of his ancestors in Africa and other parts of the world, he knows full well that he is – even according to UN estimates, where Britain still has veto power in the Security Council – still the head of a colonial state whose colonies are : Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Malvinas, Montserrat, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar, Pitcairn
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Niger rebels ban on uranium and gold exports to France is a response to years of Paris oppression of that country – Erdogan
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The US Air Force is building a new “mission planning” and “squadron operations facility” in northern Australia. It’s part of $630 million in US military spending in northern Australia over 2-3 years. The US is preparing to use Australia for war on China.
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My thoughts on @POTUS’s recent Executive Memorandum to delay the release of the #JFKRecords, including an article my #JFK co-writer, Zach Sklar, sent by Branko Marcetic at @jacobin
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The dynamics of war insanity will be broken when the Global Majority in Latin America, Africa and Asia demand that NATO stop escalating the war and tell Ukraine that the game is over.
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Our interview with Jeffrey Sachs about the end of unipolarity, which received very positive feedback
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687446179863281664
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Imperialism is a hell of a drug.
Zakharova replied to the spokeswoman of the EU: You are not competent to judge freedom of speech in Niger.
The EU cannot judge freedom of speech in Niger while in the background the rights of Russian media in Europe are constantly being violated, said the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the statement of EU spokeswoman Nabila Masraly, who opposed the blocking of French media broadcasts in Niger.
“Ms. Masrali, we are very pleased that you have paid attention to the situation in which the media and the rights of journalists are in the world. It is true that Niger is not in the EU. But, obviously, you consider that you have wider powers. Let’s see how things are in your area direct jurisdiction” , Zakharova wrote on Telegram and cited several cases of violations of the rights of Russian media in the EU, especially in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland and Malta.
– After the difficulties associated with the current situation of Russian media on the territory of the European Union are resolved, you can freely pay attention to the situation in Niger. And as long as the EU does the same as in that African country, it is not up to you to judge,” Zakharova said.
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Delete your Facebook account. Escape the digital concentration camp. Don’t use deep state controlled social media. You get brainwashed by curated algorithms that amplify propaganda designed to keep you stupid. Help your friends #EscapeFacebook
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Jackson hinkle @jacksonhinklle
Putin: “We reject any foreign intervention in the Niger crisis.”
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Looks like The DC neocons are gonna snuff this dude.
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Scott Ritter on Gonzalo Lira’s Latest Disappearance https://youtu.be/MeKguqxD9dY Honen bidez:
youtube.com
Scott Ritter on Gonzalo Lira’s Latest Disappearance
Full episode: https://youtube.com/live/oPJa9KUJAxUSubscribe to our Substack:
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Gonzalo Lira Why I stand with Scott Ritter and Eva Bartlett- new circumstantial evidence
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Chad said the country would not send troops to Niger “
No, Chad will not intervene militarily in Niger for a number of reasons,” Chadian Defense Minister Daoud Yaya Brahim said.
Earlier, the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) announced the development of a plan for a possible military intervention in Niger.
According to Brahim, the people of Niger should choose the fate of their country on their own.
Kiev’s broken record: No matter what advanced weaponry the West sends, there is no magic wand to conjure a Ukrainian victory — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union https://rt.com/russia/580768-ukraine-western-weapons-victory/
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Pakistan’s US-backed coup regime has destroyed any tiny shred of “democracy” left in the country. After overthrowing elected PM Imran Khan, the regime has imprisoned him on bogus charges. They are also banning Khan (Pakistan’s most popular politician) from running for office.
Txioa aipatu
Al Jazeera English@AJEnglish
21 h
BREAKING: Pakistan court sentences ex-PM Imran Khan to 3 years in prison: State TV http://aje.io/312yar
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In the last 75 years alone, the U.S. has invaded, bombed or destroyed: Laos Cambodia Guatemala Chile Argentina Vietnam Nicaragua El Salvador Honduras Grenada Panama Yugoslavia Somalia Pakistan Sudan Mali Afghanistan Iraq Libya Syria Ukraine Yemen And many other countries.
Txioa aipatu
Department of State@StateDept
abu. 4
.@SecBlinken: “Governments that violate human rights are almost always the same ones that flout other key parts of that order – such as invading, coercing, and threatening other countries, or breaking trade rules.” The U.S. will continue to take a stand for human rights for all.
Veteran CIA: His days are numbered
The United States intends to physically remove Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and blame Russia for his death, former CIA and State Department counterterrorism operative Larry Johnson said in an interview with the YouTube channel“Dialogue Works”.
“One way or another, the West wants to eliminate Zelensky, and then blame it on Russia so that it does not take responsibility for his murder,” suggested Johnson
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The international rules-based order versus international law
The Russian President and the leaders of seven African countries involved in a peace mission on Ukraine have agreed to continue their dialogue, following-up on the South African initiative.
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Senators reject Tinubu’s request for the military invasion of Niger
Nigerian Senators have declined President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to invade the Republic of Niger.
President Tinubu has been urged to focus more on a clamp down on Boko Haram, bandits and the agitators of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
It was gathered that the Senators implored President Tinubu to approach the Niger coup situation with a non-kinetic dialogue approach to reach a peaceful resolution with the military junta in Niger.
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Jackson Hinkle @jacksonhinklle
The USA has officially ENDED most foreign aid for Niger after a recent coup removed the corrupt puppet president. I
n response, the new interim government has said USA should keep its aid, and use it to solve America’s homeless crisis
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Black in the Empire@blackintheempir
We are witnessing the American Empire and Western domination of the planet coming to an end Unfortunately, they won’t give it up without causing war and suffering everywhere, and their propaganda will make many believe they are still in control until the very end.
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Wagner: Russia’s Not-So-Hidden Hand in Africa | Energy Intelligence
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11 h
The Road to Rabotino: Ukraine’s Highway to Hell
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Jackson Hinkle @jacksonhinklle
40 years ago today, Thomas Sankara became President of Burkina Faso. He was overthrown in a French/CIA-backed coup after 4 short years. Today, Captain Ibrahim Traore has taken power in Burkina Faso to fulfill Sankara’s mission of liberating Africa.
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Russian Embassy, UK@RussianEmbassy
MFA spox #Zakharova: Acknowledging the objective fact that billions in assistance to UA is being shamelessly stolen would mean opening Pandora’s box, EU leaders will then have to answer other uncomfortable questions:
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illegal trade and smuggling of arms sent to Ukraine into Europe,
- massive human rights violations by #Kievregime,
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real beneficiaries of Ukraine’s de-sovereignisation.
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Going Underground@GUnderground_TV
‘Europe is getting screwed by its leaders who have not tried to stop the American madness of trying to bring Russia down at all costs’ -Former IMF economist
@Davidwoounbound on the Russia-NATO conflict in Ukraine
FULL INTERVIEW: https://rumble.com/v34qiba-ukrain
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687838251879370752
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— GEROMAN — time will tell – —@GeromanAT
This is no longer a war – this is slaughter – the Ukrainan forces are broken. https://youtu.be/qtJP3HstkEY
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BREAKING:
Wagner entered in Niger
A Team of Advisors and Trainers from the Wagner PMC Group are reported from multiple sources to have arrived today in the Niger Capital of Niamey from Mali following a request for Assistance by the Military Junta.
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi@s_m_marandi
It was clear from the beginning that the US could not win. But after all the propaganda, the wasted money, and the hundreds of thousands of dead people, how can the US change policy without total humiliation? Start another war?
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Going Underground@GUnderground_TV
Russia has become the 5th largest economy in the world in GDP at Purchasing Power Parity. At the end of 2022, despite unprecedented sanctions, Russia’s economy stood at $5.51 trillion in GDP PPP, making it larger than Germany’s economy…which means Russia now has the largest economy in Europe.
Another embarrassment for the US and it’s European allies/vassals?
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Jackson Hinkle @jacksonhinklle
Niger has ENDED all military agreements with France and given the French military 30 days to FLEE the country.
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Going Underground@GUnderground_TV
‘You see imperialism is wrong. But imperialism is a bad student…when it’s been defeated…it goes back in again…it never learns the lessons of its failures…for goodness’ sake we must stand in imperialism’s way’ -Thomas Sankara.
Burkina Faso celebrates its 63rd Independence Day today
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687871588744536064
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The US and France are threatening intervention to re-install a pro-Western regime in Niger, which produces uranium needed for nuclear energy, has large oil reserves, and hosts strategic US drone bases This threat follows anti-colonial coups in West Africa
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You’re literally starving the people of Yemen, Syria, Venezuela, Iran and Cuba with criminal sanctions.
Txioa aipatu
Secretary Antony Blinken@SecBlinken
abu. 4
The @UN Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security, and we cannot do that without strengthening food security. Each of us has a responsibility to act so no one goes hungr
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687228648980357120
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pocalypsis
pocalypseos
?@apocalypseos
“For peace with Russia”, “America, get out” — A rally is taking place in the center of Berlin, hundreds of citizens take part in it. Protesters with posters demand to stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine, and also stand against American globalism.
It is reported that the police are patrolling on the spot, traffic on many central streets is blocked.
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687947647284600832
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— GEROMAN — time will tell – —@GeromanAT
Regime in Kiev is shelling the urban areas of Donetsk City with Cluster Ammo…
Txioa aipatu
War Monitor@WarMonitors
12 h
View from Russian controlled Donetsk moments ago after shelling
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687911593844113410
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Angelo Giuliano / living in
@Angelo4justice3
EU was supposed to be a group of countries with an exclusive economic purpose, it ended up going to war against Russia
ECOWAS was supposed to be a group of countries with an exclusive economic purpose, it is looking into going to war with Niger
NATO was supposed to be a defensive alliance, it has been always used as an alliance for aggression
LGTB movement positioned itself as a tolerant and inclusive movement and it has ended up being intolerant and promoting decadence.
IMF and World Bank started as a purpose for common good, it ended up as a control tool against the global south.
Hollywood was supposed to be the US sharing its culture, it has become a brainwashing tool exporting US decadence.
internet was supposed to democratise information and freedom of speech, it has become a control tool
Western democracy was supposed to be the expression of the people, it has become a tool of divide and conquer, a tool of control and oppression.
Western elites start like “it is good for you bro” then it goes into salami slicing until you realise that you they put it all inside your butt without you noticing it. It its a wolf in the skin of a sheep, telling us nice words, words we wish to hear, then there is the vicious circle of trusting and being cheated.
Trust, cheated, repeat. Trust, cheated, repeat.
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Christopher Hitchens speaking his mind about Nazi Rheinhard Ghelen and his position as head of American intelligence, CIA.
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687978150469255174
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US feels 2-front war with Russia and China is not enough, why not 3-front war involving Iran as well.
This will defintely go well
Txioa aipatu
Trita Parsi@tparsi
abu. 4
The Washington Post reports that Biden is preparing a “remarkable escalation” in the Persian Gulf that could lead to a US-Iran war. Biden is primarily responsible for having created this situation due to two policy paths he has chosen. >>
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi@s_m_marandi
These are the lofty European values we’ve been hearing about so often.
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Before leading the push for invading Niger, ECOWAS chair Bola Tinubu spent years laundering millions for heroin dealers in Chicago, and has been marred in corruption scandals ever since
and
on the shady past of a US asset
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Hungary announces the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been “unsuccessful”.
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And if CNN and the rest of establishment media told Americans the truth about the Ukraine war — such as the fact that NATO blocked a peace deal in April 2022 — that majority would be even higher:
Txioa aipatu
CNN@CNN
abu. 4
A majority of the US opposes Congress authorizing additional funding to support Ukraine in the war, a new CNN poll finds https://cnn.it/47v5eee
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South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has delivered a clear message: the era of relinquishing our raw materials at meager prices is drawing to a close! Speaking at the recent Russia-Africa Summit, he affirmed Africa’s intent to shift its focus, ensuring that the lion’s share of prosperity stemming from the transformation of raw materials into high-value goods remains within the continent.
Africa boasts abundant reserves of valuable resources such as gold, chromium, titanium, platinum, cobalt, zinc, copper, oil, and natural gas. Despite the vast wealth generated by these resources, Africa presently garners a minute fraction of the proceeds, with the majority flowing into the coffers of affluent Western conglomerates. It is now time for Africa to turn this exploitative paradigm in its favor and harness its potential for equitable benefit.
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687978242702286848
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi@s_m_marandi
The international community strongly condemns the imprisonment, torture, and silencing of #JulianAssange on politically motivated charges. The White House cannot silence the truth. #Assange must be released.
Txioa aipatu
Secretary Antony Blinken@SecBlinken
abu. 4
The United States strongly condemns Russia’s conviction of opposition leader Aleksey Navalny on politically motivated charges. The Kremlin cannot silence the truth. Navalny should be released.
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Angelo Giuliano / living in
@Angelo4justice3
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Something tells me that the US is willing to provide a bottomless budget to Nigeria to fight another African country and see brothers kill each other.
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Something tells me that the US is willing to fight Niger to the last Nigerian.
- Something tells me that some Nigerian politicians and US military industrial complex could be making lots of money if war erupts.
- Something tells me that it is a divide and conquer move by the US.
- Something tells me that the US doesn’t need to have any win here, chaos is just fine. Where have I seen this before ? Perhaps was it with a coke addict comedian ?
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That’s how people like Josep Borrell created “the garden.” They went and plundered “the jungle.”
Txioa aipatu
George Galloway@georgegalloway
16 h
When Mali has hundreds of gold mines but no gold and France has no gold mines but is the fourth largest holder of gold in the world you can tell something is up. Follow MOATStv #BurkinaFaso #Niger #France https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1
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After a missile strike with “Caliber” and “Daggers” in Ukraine, they report the take-off of strategic aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Ukrainian monitoring channels write that there are at least 7 Tu-95MS missile carriers in the air. Each board can carry up to sixKh-55/555 or Kh-101 missiles on an internal multi-position drum launcher and up to ten on external pylons.
No more retaliation strikes. Just routine daily missile strikes. As today. In Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky regions.
Wanted a real war? Get a war.
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Russia in South Africa @EmbassyofRussia
Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov took part in the 11th Meeting of #BRICS Ministers of Science, Technology and Innovation held in South Africa on 3-4 August 2023. https://t.me/RussianEmbassy
Hello .@RobertKennedyJr
, I’m a Syrian journalist and I wonder what’s your take on the Israeli occupation of our Golan Heights since 1967, when Israel attacked its neighbours and illegally captured the Golan and then annexed it, according to all UN resolutions?
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Russian Embassy, UK@RussianEmbassy
FM #Lavrov: In view of multiple initiatives on #Ukraine settlement, #Russia values any efforts on achieving a just and reliable peace. Yet it is clear that justice cannot be achieved in any conflict without ensuring full respect for the rights of ethnic minorities by all parties.
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On August 15, 1971, the curtain came down on the gold-exchange standard; that should have been the day of empowerment of productive labour, but in the end it restored the financiers to the center of power. James K. Galbraith traces the causes ….
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The clear way out was the tentative Russia-Ukraine peace deal negotiated in April 2022 but blocked by the US and UK. But peace isn’t permissible in the proxy war “investment trap”:
Txioa aipatu
Aaron David Miller@aarondmiller2
16 h
It’s sad. But US is in an investment trap in Ukraine with no clear way out. Chances of a military breakthrough or a diplomatic solution are slim to none; and slim may have already left town. We’re in deep and lack the ability to do much more than react to events.
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Wagner Source: The deployment of units of the Wagner PMC to Niger is only a limited intervention, aimed at securing the capital Niamey if necessary
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NEW: Joe Rogan says he *is* open to having Donald Trump on his podcast because he has a lot of questions for him, specifically about the deep state.
Do it, @joerogan
These are the questions Trump would be asked:
“What is it like when you actually get into office?… When do you know that people are f*cking with you?”
“When do you know that the intelligence agencies are lying to you?”
“When you decided to fire Comey, what was the thought? How much did you know?” “What’s the machine like? What is the deep state really like, ’cause we have all these smoky room perceptions, like from the Bill Hicks joke where they show you the Kennedy assassination from an angle you’ve never seen before. You know, what is the machine that runs this country? Beause it’s very clear that it’s not as simple as elected representatives that are doing the will of the people. It’s not.”
This would be the podcast episode that broke the internet
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687940295504310272
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Ambassador #Kelin to @Amanpour:
Since Ukrainian #counteroffensive started, Kiev has suffered serious losses – 21,000 in July and 26,000 in June. All while achieving nothing.
Sooner or later, #UK government should recognise the truth that the counteroffensive is not a success.
Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/A7I5LagOH1c
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687927792975917057
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Going Underground@GUnderground_TV
‘There is no Europe without Germany…Germany is already being hit on every possible side and now this war has dealt, I would argue a fatal blow to the German economy’
-Ex-IMF economist @Davidwoounbound on the Russia-NATO conflict in Ukraine
Bideoa, hemen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1687788105355440128
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SCOTT RITTER: The Atomic Executioner’s Lament
August 2, 2023
While the world focuses on the trials and travails of the scientists who invented the atomic bomb, little attention is paid to the hard positions taken by the nuclear executioners, the men called upon to drop these bombs in time of war.
There is an interesting scene in Chris Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, one which could easily get lost in the complexity of telling the story of the man considered to be the father of the American atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The Trinity test of the first nuclear device has been successfully completed, and Oppenheimer is watching as two men in military uniform are packing up one of Oppenheimer’s “gadgets” for shipment out of Los Alamos to an undisclosed destination.
Oppenheimer talks to them about the optimum height for the detonation of the weapon above ground, but is cut off by one of the soldiers, who, smiling, declares “We’ve got it from here.”
Such men existed, although the scene in the movie — and the dialogue — was almost certainly the product of a scriptwriter’s imagination. The U.S. military went to great lengths to keep the method of delivery of the atomic bomb a secret, not to be shared with either Oppenheimer or his scientists.
Formed on March 6, 1945, the 1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation) was part of the 509th Composite Group, commanded by then-Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets. Prior to being organized into the 1st Ordnance Squadron, the men of the unit were assigned to a U.S. Army ordnance squadron stationed a Wendover, Utah, where Tibbets and the rest of the 509th Composite Group were based.
(Mission map for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945. Scale is not consistent due to curvature of Earth.)
While Oppenheimer and his scientists designed the nuclear device, the mechanism of delivery — the bomb itself — was designed by specialists assigned to the 509th. It was the job of the men of the 1st Ordnance Squadron to build these bombs from scratch.
The bomb dropped on Hiroshima by Paul Tibbets, flying a B-29 named the Enola Gay, was assembled on the Pacific Island of Tinian by the 1st Ordnance Squadron.
Concerned about the possibility of the B-29 crashing on takeoff, thereby triggering the explosive charge that would send the uranium slug into the uranium core (the so-called gun device), the decision was made that the final assembly of the bomb would be done only after the Enola Gay took off.
One of the 1st Ordnance Squadron technicians placed the uranium slug into the bomb at 7,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.
The bomb worked as designed, killing more than 80,000 Japanese in an instant; hundreds of thousands more died afterwards from the radiation released by the weapon.
For the pilot and crew of the Enola Gay, there was no remorse over killing so many people. “I knew we did the right thing because when I knew we’d be doing that I thought, yes, we’re going to kill a lot of people, but by God we’re going to save a lot of lives,’ Tibbets recounted to Studs Terkel in 2002. He added:
“We won’t have to invade [Japan]. You’re gonna kill innocent people at the same time, but we’ve never fought a damn war anywhere in the world where they didn’t kill innocent people,” Tibbets told Terkel. “If the newspapers would just cut out the shit: ‘You’ve killed so many civilians.’ That’s their tough luck for being there.”
Major Charles Sweeney, the pilot of Bockscar, the B-29 that dropped the second American atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, held similar convictions about his role in killing 35,000 Japanese instantly.
“I saw these beautiful young men who were being slaughtered by an evil, evil military force,” Sweeney recounted in 1995. “There’s no question in my mind that President Truman made the right decision.” However, Sweeney noted, “As the man who commanded the last atomic mission, I pray that I retain that singular distinction.”
History records the remorse felt by Oppenheimer and his Soviet counterpart, Andrei Sakharov, and the punishment they both suffered at the hands of their respective governments. They suffered from designer’s remorse, a regret — stated after the fact — that what they had built should not be used, but somehow locked away from the world, as if the Pandora’s Box of nuclear weaponization had never been opened.
Having designed their respective weapons, however, both Oppenheimer and Sakharov lost control of their creations, turning them over to military establishments which did not participate in the intellectual and moral machinations of bringing such a weapon into existence, but rather the cold, hard reality of using these weapons to achieve a purpose and goal which, as had been the case for Tibbets and Sweeney, seemed justified.
Ignoring the Executioners
This is the executioners lament, a contradiction of emotions where the perceived need for justice outweighs the costs associated.
While the world focuses on the trials and travails of Oppenheimer and Sakharov, they remain silent about the hard positions taken by the nuclear executioners, the men called upon to drop these bombs in time of war. There have only been two such men, and they remained resolute in their judgement that it was the right thing to do.
The executioner’s lament is overlooked by most people involved in supporting nuclear disarmament. This is a mistake, because the executioner, as was pointed out to Oppenheimer by the men of the 1st Ordnance Squadron, is in control.
They possess the weapons, and they are the ones who will be called upon to deliver the weapons. Their loyalty and dedication to task is constantly tested in order to ensure that, when the time comes to execute orders, they will do so without question.
Those opposed to nuclear weapons often point to the example of Stanislav Petrov, a former lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defense Forces who, in 1983, twice made a decision to delay reporting the suspected launch of U.S. missiles towards the Soviet Union, believing (rightly) that the launch detection was a result of malfunctioning equipment.
But the fact is that Petrov was an outlier who himself admitted that had another officer been on duty that fateful day, they would have reported the American missile launches per protocol.
Those who will execute the orders to use nuclear weapons in any future nuclear conflict will, in fact, execute those orders. They are trained, like Tibbets and Sweeney, to believe in the righteousness of their cause.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian prime minister and president who currently serves as the deputy chairman of the Russian National Security Council, has publicly warned the Western supporters of Ukraine that Russia would “have to” use nuclear weapons if Ukrainian forces were to succeed in their goal of recapturing the former territories of Ukraine that have been claimed by Russia in the aftermath of referenda held in September 2022.
“Imagine,” Medvedev said, “if the offensive, which is backed by NATO, was a success and they tore off a part of our land, then we would be forced to use a nuclear weapon according to the rules of a decree from the president of Russia. There would simply be no other option.”
Some in the West view Medvedev’s statement to be an empty threat; U.S. President Joe Biden said last month that there is no real prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering the use of nuclear weapons against either Ukraine or the West.
“Not only the West, but China and the rest of the world have said: ‘don’t go there,’ ” Biden said following the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
Ignoring Russian Doctrine
But Biden, like other doubters, emphasizes substance over process, denying the role played by the executioner in implementing justice defined on their terms, not that of those being subjected to execution.
Russia has a nuclear doctrine that mandates that nuclear weapons are to be used “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.” According to Medvedev, “there would simply be no other option,” ironically noting that “our enemies should pray” for a Russian victory, as the only way to make sure “that a global nuclear fire is not ignited.”
The Russians who would execute the orders to launch nuclear weapons against the West would be operating with the same moral clarity as had Paul Tibbets and Charles Sweeney some 88 years ago. The executioner’s lament holds that they will be saddened by their decision but convinced that they had no other choice.
Proving them wrong will be impossible, because unlike the war with Japan, where the survivors were given the luxury of reflection and accountability, there will be no survivors in any future nuclear conflict.
The onus, therefore, is on the average citizen to get involved in processes that separate the tools of our collective demise — nuclear weapons — from the those who will be called upon to use them.
Meaningful nuclear disarmament is the only hope humankind has for its continued survival.
The time to begin pushing for this is now, and there is no better place to start that on Aug. 6, 2023 — the 78th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, when like-minded persons will gather outside the United Nations to begin a dialogue about disarmament that will hopefully resonate enough to have an impact of the 2024 elections.
Scott Ritter is a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD. His most recent book is Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika, published by Clarity Press.
1 Jende askok unipolar barik, polo bakarreko nahiago luke. Nik neuk ez! Sorry!.