The West has actually taken offense to Vladimir Putin, who criticized the United States at the security conference in Munich for the way it behaves on the international arena. Putin called things by their proper names, diplomatically saying nothing about the growing derangement of U.S. policies. The Bush Administration increasingly deserves to be called the "Washington Obkom or Oblast Committee" (reference to erstwhile CPSU oblast committees) – but now it is not only because of its directive actions worldwide but because its style resembles the main features of Soviet times. #1
Decisions made by the White House increasingly run counter to common sense but are in line with ideological phantoms, while the professionals coming to work in the "oblast committee" either accept the rules of the game or quit.
Let us cite just the most obvious signs of "stagnation" (common description of Brezhnev era) – as they are seen by Americans themselves, notably. Ignoring Country Experts and Scientific Community Chances of victory in Iraq are not higher than they were in Vietnam in the 1960's or Afghanistan in the 1980's. However, instead of heeding recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton commission, George Bush listens to the advice of those who plunged him into the Iraqi war.
The plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq was developed at the American Enterprise Institute under the guidance of John Hannah, Vice President Cheney's national security adviser. Practically all independent U.S. experts consider the Bush plan on Iraq abortive. Yet, their opinions have not been taken into consideration. Corn Two: Perseverance in Error The U.S. President is imposing "democracy American style" on Iraq with the same zeal as Khrushchev once did corn in agriculturally adverse regions. This is what William Odom, the patriarch of U.S. military and foreign-policy thought, believes: "The perception that the United States can create a liberal democracy in Iraq contradicts all the specialists know about."
Of 40 democracies that appeared in the world after World War II, fewer than 10 conform to U.S. standards at present and there is not one country of Arab or Islamic culture among them." Yet, nobody will listen to him. Expanding the Socialist Camp at All Costs While losing the war in Iraq, the White House has
adopted a course toward war with Iran -- almost like Brezhnev, who got bogged down in Afghanistan but continued adventurist actions in Angola and
Mozambique. A strike group is hastily being built up in the Persian Gulf and the U.S. troops in Iraq have been ordered to detain or kill "Iranian agents" providing help to Shia armed groups.
"2007 will become the year of Iran in U.S. policy," John Hannah brags. Paul Pillar, former chief U.S. intelligence analyst on Iraq, believes that to justify a possible strike on Iran, the White House is using the same tactic that it used when preparing the war with Iraq, adopting a simplified approach and wangling intelligence information. Adventurism Erik Kraus, a prominent investment analyst, writes that "following a long series of 'foreign-policy successes' – North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, the Middle East settlement, Africa (which is under increasing Chinese influence), South America (viva Chavez!) – the Bush regime has finally paid attention to Europe, demonstrating its typical lack of respect for anyone's interests not coinciding with those of the United States." Pressured by Washington, the North Atlantic Alliance is moving its borders closer and closer to Russia. So-called "light NATO bases" – for now, for 5,000 bayonets – are being deployed in Bulgaria and Romania. Plus, they are going to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic (allegedly, for protection from Iranian missiles). Bush's adventurism is meeting increasingly stronger rejection in Europe.
The United States is restricting sovereignty of its partners. Even the USSR never confronted its allies with a decision made for them as an accomplished fact – even in 1968, the authorities of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic had a legitimate right to ask for the introduction of troops. For Washington, however, it is the usual routine: Pentagon announced recently that Ukraine would cooperate with the United States on missile defense. Did they ask for Kiev's opinion?
The extremely ideologized atmosphere inside the increasingly "Brezhnevesque" White House crushes even the most sober-minded foreign-policy professionals. Former State Secretary Colin Powell was effectively frozen out of his post and Phillip Zelikow, the key adviser and teacher of State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, quit as well.
The most indicative metamorphosis happened to the new Pentagon boss, Robert Gates, who started his office two months ago by declaring that Russia
had every reason to be worried about its security and that the war in Iraq was not being won. Now, he says that Russia is an enemy of the United States.
Betting On Marginal Losers
Last week, the White House considered it useful to conduct secret negotiations with Garri Kasparov, "the leader of the marginalized Russian opposition," as he is called by The Washington Post. Kasparov gave the "oblast committee" a precious piece of advice: "Do not receive Putin as a friend," which means not treating him as an equal leader of the democratic world. A different Russian politician, State Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov, asked the United States in an interview to The New York Times to reduce world oil prices.
What for? Let us quote Ryzhkov: "When oil prices jumped, reforms slowed down... This is why a question for you, Americans, is: When will these prices go down? For us, Russian democrats, it is the only hope." That is right, the truly Bolshevik-style straightforwardness: "A defeat of our government in the war encourages a revolution" (quote from Lenin). By the way, Ryzhkov simply repeated a promise made by Kasyanov two years ago.
There is also the last sign, which can be skipped though. In our country, you can read every day critical articles written by U.S. mass media about Russia. In our country, they are translated and cited in radio programs. Journalists know specialized resources. This article will not be translated in the United States. The United States is not interested to know what others write about it.
The Iron Curtain.
FOR THE FAITH INDEPENDENT STATE AND THE NATIVE COUNTRY
Russian armored column is rushing to stop the genocide in South Ossetia
SAVED!
A South Ossetian military man holds a child as he looks at
an armored Russian column arrived to save them from Georgian assault
A PATH TO PEACE IN THE CAUCASUS
By Mikhail Gorbachev, 12 August 2008 The Washington Post
MOSCOW - The past week's events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.
The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia's separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. This turned out to be a time bomb for Georgia's territorial integrity. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force – both in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are similar – it only made the situation worse. New wounds aggravated old injuries.
Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground.
Through all these years, Russia has continued to recognize Georgia's territorial integrity. Clearly, the only way to solve the South Ossetian problem on that basis is through peaceful means. Indeed, in a civilized world, there is no other way.
The Georgian leadership flouted this key principle.
What happened on the night of 7th August 2008 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinval with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.
Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia.
In other words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was expecting unconditional support from the West, and the West had given him reason to think he would have it. Now that the Georgian military assault has been routed, both the Georgian government and its supporters should rethink their position.
Hostilities must cease as soon as possible, and urgent steps must be taken to help the victims – the humanitarian catastrophe, regretfully, received very little coverage in Western media this weekend - and to rebuild the devastated towns and villages. It is equally important to start thinking about ways to solve the underlying problem, which is among the most painful and challenging issues in the Caucasus – a region that should be approached with the greatest care.
When the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia first flared up, I proposed that they be settled through a federation that would grant broad autonomy to the two republics. This idea was dismissed, particularly by the Georgians. Attitudes gradually shifted, but after last week, it will be much more difficult to strike a deal even on such a basis.
Old grievances are a heavy burden. Healing is a long process that requires patience and dialogue, with non-use of force an indispensable precondition. It took decades to bring to an end similar conflicts in Europe and elsewhere, and other long-standing issues are still smoldering. In addition to patience, this situation requires wisdom.
Small nations of the Caucasus do have a history of living together. It has been demonstrated that a lasting peace is possible, that tolerance and cooperation can create conditions for normal life and development. Nothing is more important than that.
The region's political leaders need to realize this. Instead of flexing military muscle, they should devote their efforts to building the groundwork for durable peace.
Over the past few days, some Western nations have taken positions, particularly in the U.N. Security Council, that have been far from balanced. As a result, the Security Council was not able to act effectively from the very start of this conflict. By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its "national interest," the United States made a serious blunder. Of course, peace in the Caucasus is in everyone's interest. But it is simply common sense to recognize that Russia is rooted there by common geography and centuries of history. Russia is not seeking territorial expansion, but it has legitimate interests in this region.
The international community's long-term aim could be to create a sub-regional system of security and cooperation that would make any provocation, and the very possibility of crises such as this one, impossible. Building this type of system would be challenging and could only be accomplished with the cooperation of the region's countries themselves. Nations outside the region could perhaps help, too – but only if they take a fair and objective stance. A lesson from recent events is that geopolitical games are dangerous anywhere, not just in the Caucasus.
The writer was the last president of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 and is president of the Gorbachev Foundation, a Moscow think tank.
RUSSIAN BEAR WILL GROWL THEN BITE DEADLY – IF PROVOKED
Well what did else the West expect? Any self-respecting bear will growl first as a sign to ward of attackers, then pounce and maul them if provoked sufficiently.
Remember the dire fate of Napoleon, Hitler, and all the other bloody murderous scum who dared to insult Holy Russia.
The Russian Bear is confident and proud and looking more for respect in international affairs rather than a fight. But we Russians are always ready to make mincemeat of any aggressor.
With 4,237 strategic Russian warheads, approximately 2,000-3,000 operational tactical warheads, and approximately 8,000-10,000 stockpiled strategic and tactical warheads Holy Russia is being remarkably well equipped to defend herself and her allies.
RUSSIA IS A SUPERPOWER – WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!
Some say we are five minutes to a new Cold War
This is a false assertion
In fact, with the NATO Navy entering the Black Sea
THE WORLD IS ONE MINUTE TO A THERMO-NUCLEAR WAR
ARE YOU READY FOR NUCLEAR WAR?
The Mindlessness is Total
By Paul Craig Roberts, August 19 2008
Nothing real issues from the American press, which is about demonizing Russia and Iran, about the vice presidential choices as if it matters, about whether Obama being on vacation let McCain score too many points.
The mindlessness of the news reflects the mindlessness of the government, for which it is a spokesperson.
The American media do not serve American democracy or American interests. They serve the few people who exercise power.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the US and Israel made a run at controlling Russia and the former constituent parts of its empire. For awhile the US and Israel succeeded, but Putin put a stop to it.
Recognizing that the US had no intention of keeping any of the agreements it had made with Gorbachev, Putin directed the Russian military budget to upgrading the Russian nuclear deterrent. Consequently, the Russian army and air force lack the smart weapons and electronics of the US military.
When the Russian army went into Georgia to rescue the Russians in South Ossetia from the destruction being inflicted upon them by the American puppet Saakashvili, the Russians made it clear that if they were opposed by American troops with smart weapons, they would deal with the threat with tactical nuclear weapons.
The Americans were the first to announce preemptive nuclear attack as their permissible war doctrine. Now the Russians have announced the tactical use of nuclear weapons as their response to American smart weapons.
It is obvious that American foreign policy, with its goal of ringing Russia with US military bases, is leading directly to nuclear war. Every American needs to realize this fact. The US government’s insane hegemonic foreign policy is a direct threat to life on the planet.
Russia has made no threats against America. The post-Soviet Russian government has sought to cooperate with the US and Europe. Russia has made it clear over and over that it is prepared to obey international law and treaties. It is the Americans who have thrown international law and treaties into the trash can, not the Russians.
In order to keep the billions of dollars in profits flowing to its contributors in the US military-security complex, the Bush Regime has rekindled the cold war. As American living standards decline and the prospects for university graduates deteriorate, "our" leaders in Washington commit us to a hundred years of war.
If you desire to be poor, oppressed, and eventually vaporized in a nuclear war, vote Republican.
This is the final part of an article by P. C. Roberts.
It is incredible for a common Russian person like myself
to learn about the starving homeless people in the West
and especially about
1.5 million homeless children in America
because formerly we used to consider the USA to be
the wealthiest and happiest country in the world
Obviously, we were wrong in thinking thusly
Only one with a heart of stone
can fail to be moved by this video
Friends, I must admit that despite being myself
quite a hardy, tough, and experienced man, as I am
nevertheless
I could not hold back my bitter tears
when I was watching this
extremely heartbreaking video
Click on the picture to watch it yourself
No true Christian can ever watch this video
without tears in the eyes!
Now, you will have to realize
why we Russians love and esteem Stalin:
This is because
Stalin denied the Soviet children
the "freedom" to be homeless and marooned
He denied all of us the dubious "freedom"
to starve and perish in the street
as in America
IN THE SOVIET UNION
NOBODY HAD THE DUBIOUS "RIGHT"
EITHER TO BE HOMELESS, OR UNEMPLOYED
OR TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE STREET
HELPLESS AND ABANDONED
AS IN AMERICA
ALL OF US THE SOVIET PEOPLE
WERE DENIED SUCH WESTERN "HUMAN RIGHTS"
BY THE STALIN'S REGIME
In this regard I suggest that
you should have a look at the shrewd observations
by an American expat now living in Russia:
click HERE
LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE
IS THE WEST HELL?
NO, IT IS NOT HELL
THE WEST IS
TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE HADES
THE WEST IS
A REALM OF FEAR AND LOATHING
The West's Fundamental Slogan
has been this:
HOMO HOMINI LUPUS EST
Which means:
Man is a wolf to man
In contrast to the West's inhumane slogan
our Russian motto has always been this:
Человек
человеку
друг,
товарищ
и
брат
HOMO HOMINI AMICUS, SOCIUS ET FRATER EST
Which means:
Man is a Friend, Comrade and Brother to Man
This great Christian idea
has been a fundamental one for all of us
living both in modern Russia and in the Soviet Union
despite all the official communist anti-religious stance
because this great idea has been always based upon
the ingrained Russian sense of the Divine Justice
which moreover had happily conformed
to Stalin's own views on patriotism
Inasmuch as the former Soviet Union
used to serve formerly as a permanent open rebuke
to the Western inhumane godless way of life
so today's Russia continues to serve
as the same rebuke to the West
at the present time
And this is the only true reason
why our beloved great country Holy Russia
has been vilified, defamed, reviled and hated so much
by the West's ruling class
as well as by the mass media under their control
No wonder!
Freedom of Speech conquerred Freedom of Thought
Once a year, and even more often, the tragedy happens in America: the schooler buys weapon, goes to school and shoots at whom he meets. Why such things are accidental in Russia, China or Europe?
The Human Rights Disaster in the United States of America
An excerpt from the
REPORT
Each year, 30,000 people die in gun-related incidents in the USA.
There were 14,180 murders in 2008.
In the first ten months of 2009, 45 people were killed by police use of tasers, bringing the total for the decade to 389.
In 2008, 315 police officers in New York City were subject to internal supervision due to "unrestrained use of violence."
7.3 million Americans were under the authority of the correctional system, more than in any other country.
An estimated 60,000 prisoners were raped while in custody last year.
On democratic rights, the report notes the pervasive government spying on citizens, authorized under the 2001 Patriot Act, extensive surveillance of the Internet by the National Security Agency, and police harassment of anti-globalization demonstrators in Pittsburgh during 2008 G-20 summit. Pointing to the hypocrisy of US government "human rights" rhetoric, the authors observe,
"the same conduct in other countries would be called human rights violations, whereas in the United States it was called necessary crime control."
It does offer a few facts rarely discussed in the US media:
712 bodies were cremated at public expense in the city of Los Angeles last year, because the families were too poor to pay for a burial.
There were 5,657 workplace deaths recorded in 2007, the last year for which a tally is available, a rate of 17 deaths per day (not a single employer was criminally charged for any of these deaths).
Some 2,266 veterans died as a consequence of lack of health insurance in 2008, 14 times the military death toll in Afghanistan that year.
All this said, I do by no means wish, however,
that my readers could come to a wrong conclusion
that we Russians might have ever hated Americans
No, not at the least!
The following website will show you
WHICH AMERICA WE RUSSIANS LOVE
Click on the picture to have a look at
a huge collection of fascinating portraits of
the Americans in San Francisco, San Jose,
Carmel, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz
and other places of the United States
THIS IS JUST THE AMERICA
WE RUSSIANS DO ALWAYS LOVE
It is worth being noticed here also that even in the height of the so-called Cold War, in the mid-1960s we used to consider America as a friendly country.
Why "the so-called"?
Because we Russian chidren had never been taught to regard the Americans as enemies. Hence we did never think about whatever "Cold War" at all.
Nor we Russians had ever had such moronism as the "Duck and Cover" idiotic drills like the American children had to have at the time.
On the contrary, we Russians never feared anything, which is why during the so-called Cold War in our cinemas we enjoyed watching good American movies that were perfectly dubbed into the Russian language, without any subtitles. I can recall how we Russian boys in the 1960s went to watch The Magnificent Seven film scores of times on end (sic!), over and over again, because the tickets in the USSR were incredibly cheap and the American movie was brilliant, most impressive and absolutely exciting.
I do remember by heart almost all of the dialogues from the famous movie The Magnificent Seven even to the present day, despite the fact that it is almost fifty years that have already lapsed since those blessed times of our youth. Of course we knew well that the famous Hollywood actor Yul Brynner was of the Russian descent, and we Russian boys were then very proud of the fact.
You can watch a short (3 min) trailer from the famous American movie
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
by clicking on the picture
Collateral Murder Video
Warning
This video contains images depicting the reality and horror
of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience
with their nerves of steel
Massacre Caught on Tape: US Military Confirms Authenticity of Their Own Chilling Video Showing Killing of Journalists
One of the men on the ground, believed to be Chmagh, is seen wounded and trying to crawl to safety. One of the helicopter crew is heard wishing for the man to reach for a gun, even though there is none visible nearby, so he has the pretext for opening fire: "All you gotta do is pick up a weapon." A van draws up next to the wounded man and Iraqis climb out. They are unarmed and start to carry the victim to the vehicle in what would appear to be an attempt to get him to hospital. One of the helicopters opens fire with armour-piercing shells. "Look at that. Right through the windshield," says one of the crew. Another responds with a laugh.
Sitting behind the windscreen were two children who were wounded.
O Holy Father, heavenly Physician of our body and soul, Who hath sent Thine only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to heal ailments and deliver us from death, do Thou heal Thy servants Anthony and Leonid of all suffering and restore them to health by the grace of Thy Divine Son, through the prayers of our Most Holy Queen, Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and of all the Saints; for Thou art the fountain of all cures. O Lord, and we render Thee thanks, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
† 
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