Trump Threatens Putin, “Animal Assad” Over Syrian “Chemical Attack”; Russia Warns Of “Grave” Response If US Launches Strike

Another conveniently timed false flag gas attack. Assad who is clearly winning the civil war against the American backed Al Qaeda rebels would surely use gas and provoke a response from the U.S. What a crock of shit. Trump does his usual twitter bloviating. Looks like the neo-cons have found a way to keep Trump from moving troops out of Syria. What a shocker.

I’m sure Q predicted this. I wonder how provoking Putin even more by attacking Assad is part of the master plan to save America. I’m sure the strategy is too deep for me to comprehend. All hail Q, Trump and the neo-cons.

It’s deja vu all over again.

Remember when the US admitted Syrian “Rebels” have used chemical weapons? Or when earlier this year, now former Secretary of State blamed Russia for an alleged Syrian chemical attack despite admitting he doesn’t know who actually did it? Or when the US finally admitted there was “no evidence” Assad used sarin gas? Or just last week, when Trump said that the US is finally pulling out of Syria as a result of the defeat of ISIS  (much to the Pantagon’s fury and open-ended timetable for extracting Syrian resources)?

Well, maybe you do, but the neocons back in charge of US war preparations foreign policy – now that war hawk John Bolton is Trump’s National Security Advisor – are so stuck with the age-old narrative that Assad is desperate to be bombed at any cost, that none of this actually matters, and instead the big story overnight is once again that, lo and behold, Assad decided to gas some “rebels” again, despite now overwhelmingly winning the war against US-backed insurgents, and despite knowing very well that exactly one year ago an alleged “chemical attack” prompted Trump to launch dozens of Tomahawks at Syria.

This is what happened (if you’ve seen this script played out before, you are not alone).

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On Saturday night, an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in eastern Ghouta reportedly killed dozens of people, according to US-linked medical services with Washington immediately responding that the reports – if confirmed – would demand an immediate international response. Actually scratch the “if confirmed” part – after all, the last time the US “intervened” in Syria, on April 7, 2017, the US did not need confirmation; Trump just needed a geopolitical distraction.

It seems that he needs another one again, and ideally one that shows just how angry he is with Putin now that an interview with Mueller is reportedly imminent.

A joint statement by the medical relief organization Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and the civil defense service, which operates in rebel-held areas, said 49 people had died in the attack late on Saturday. Others put the toll at 150 or more.

The response from the Assad side was similarly predictable: the Syrian regime, whose overthrow the US failed to achieve in the course of the 6 year proxy war in order to facilitate the transport of Qatari natural gas to Europe, denied its forces had launched any chemical attack as the reports began circulating and said the rebels were collapsing and fabricating news.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said Jaish al-Islam was making “chemical attack fabrications in an exposed and failed attempt to obstruct advances by the Syrian Arab army,” citing an official source.

Meanwhile, Reuters said it could not independently verify the reports. Others did the same: The Syrian Observatory said it could not confirm whether chemical weapons had been used in the attack on Saturday.

But, as we noted above, who needs confirmation: after all, if the 2013 “chemical attack” that started it all and was later proven to be a hoax was sufficient, just do the same. And sure enough, a video uploaded by “local media activists” allegedly showed bodies of victims – including women and children – of the reported chemical attack in Douma. Once again, nobody has actually confirmed if anyone has died.

Meanwhile, the US, itching for that military spending GDP boost was ready with the outraged retort: the U.S. State Department said reports of mass casualties from the attack were “horrifying” and would, if confirmed, “demand an immediate response by the international community”. At the same time, Britain’s Foreign Office also called the reports, if confirmed, “very concerning” and said “an urgent investigation is needed and the international community must respond. We call on the Assad regime and its backers, Russia and Iran, to stop the violence against innocent civilians.”

Note the “if confirmed” part, and keep an eye on how the narrative switches from that to “the attack was confirmed.” If the Skripal case is any indication, just repeating it often enough, should be sufficient.

Trump already did his part on Sunday morning, when he tweeted several statements on the alleged attack as if it was already confirmed, just as one would expect to accelerate the escalation:

Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!

Then, for good measure, Trump decided to throw Obama under the bus for not crossing his “red line in the sand”, once again assuming the attack was confirmed.

If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!

After the alleged attack, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauret recalled a 2017 sarin gas attack in northwestern Syria that the West and the United Nations blamed on Assad’s government. “The Assad regime and its backers must be held accountable and any further attacks prevented immediately,” she said adding that “The United States calls on Russia to end this unmitigated support immediately and work with the international community to prevent further, barbaric chemical weapons attacks.”

The US also said yet again that Russia is “ultimately bearing responsibility” for all chemical incidents in Syria, regardless of who carried them out, after rebel sources accused Damascus of gassing dozens in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma.  In other words, even if the “chemical attack” was carried out by US-backed “rebels”, or better yet “ISIS”, it’s Putin’s fault.

“The regime’s history of using chemical weapons against its own people is not in dispute,” said the US State Department, indicating, however, that it was relying on “reports,” being unable to confirm the incident. “Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the brutal targeting of countless Syrians with chemical weapons.”

As for Russia, its Defense Ministry immediately denied and dismissed as false reports that the Syrian government had carried out a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma: “We strongly refute this information,” Major General Yury Yevtushenko, head of the Reconciliation Center in Syria, said in a statement on Sunday. “We declare our readiness, after Douma is liberated from the militants, to immediately send Russian radiation, chemical and biological protection specialists to collect data that will confirm the fabricated nature of these allegations,” he stated.

Yevtushenko said that “a number of Western countries” are trying to prevent the resumption of an operation aimed at driving militants from the city of Douma.

“For this purpose, the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces – one of the most widespread claims in the West – is being used,” he added.

And, knowing where this is all headed, Russia’s Foreign Ministry says in statement on website that reports of chemical weapons attack in rebel-held town of Douma are fabricated, and any military operations against Syria on false pretenses may lead to “gravest consequences,”

The Russians added that “The goal of such reports is to aid terrorists and justify possible military strikes from outside Syria.”

Russia is correct, and it is now just a matter of time before Trump unveils his next grand diversion from the chaos at home and the trade war with China, by launching another 50 or so Tomahawks at some venue deep inside Syria, in a carbon copy repeat of what happened exactly one year ago.

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diogenes
diogenes
April 8, 2018 11:04 am

Total false flag like the other gas/chemical attacks. The Israel agenda moves ahead as usual. “We will be pulling troops out of Syria” – Yeah fucking right – total hot air BS.

K Vizzle
K Vizzle
April 8, 2018 11:12 am

No doubt a load of horseshit being fed to the American people, from two weeks ago:

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/03/20/us-planning-terrorist-false-flag-chemical-attack-bombing-syria-russia-says-will-respond.html

And how convenient they would do this right after Trump says he wants to withdraw completely from Syria.

NtroP
NtroP
  K Vizzle
April 8, 2018 11:25 am

I also remember reading this Russian warning.
We apparently just don’t give a shit, and depend on the average American being too damned dumb to figure out this is a false flag. Truly amazing……
I wonder how long ago the State Dept. response was written?

Rise Up
Rise Up
  NtroP
April 8, 2018 6:51 pm

It is irrelevant what the “average American” figures out.

What’s obvious is that the Deep State is in control and not Trump. So don’t blame him, he’s powerless (at least at the moment)…unless and until he and the US military can defeat the cabal.

Gen. Kong
Gen. Kong
  Rise Up
April 8, 2018 7:21 pm

That’s not impossible, and the post from Q in the wake of Trump’s bluster supports this theory. But, yet again, we’re back to the question of whether Q-anon itself is legitimate or not. In light of the statements made in late March by the Russians (which were available to anyone who’s paying attention), it’s quite obvious this is the promised false flag. So what happens now? As I noted before, there’s no shortage or morons in Kwa-Bananaland who will parrot the bullshit broadcast by Lügenpresse. They’ll be screaming for an attack on Syria – right now!!

The Russians have bluntly stated they’re not going to put up with any significant attack on Syria so Trump has been boxed in pretty well by the neo-conmen who apparently still control the military, Trump’s nominal title of Commander in Chief notwithstanding.

Westcoastdeplorable
Westcoastdeplorable
  Rise Up
April 8, 2018 9:08 pm

And let’s be real, John Bolton is Dick Cheney’s toady. I told you guys 3 years ago, Dick IS the cabal, the deep state, etc. The “emergency powers” implemented on 9/11 were never rescinded. They tell Trump what to say in public, but he knows who is really running things.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
  Rise Up
April 8, 2018 9:25 pm

U Rise Up my blood pressure with such moronic b.s..
I s that what Jim Willy told you on X22 this morning.

kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
April 8, 2018 11:19 am

April 2017, Khan Shaykhun experienced a chemical attack, blamed on Assad (of course) without evidence.
The area in Idlib Province was controlled by rebels. These US and the western alliance proxy armies would not allow anyone, including the UN Agency, to investigate to determine who manufactured the gas.

Now, a new and unverified gas attack has occurred in E. Ghouta in the last remaining town held by the terrorists, er rebels.
Now, Trumpy is demanding: “Open area immediately for medical help and verification.”

This is the Tippy Top, Tippity Top ….HYPOCRITES

Mary Christine
Mary Christine
April 8, 2018 11:52 am

The whole world is in the grip of some kind of spiritual insanity.

Hollywood Rob
Hollywood Rob
  Mary Christine
April 8, 2018 12:08 pm

Well yes Mary, it most certainly is in the grip of (((spiritual insanity))). But of course, what could you possibly do about it?

Mary Christine
Mary Christine
  Hollywood Rob
April 8, 2018 3:09 pm

What do you suggest I do?

Bob P
Bob P
April 8, 2018 12:11 pm

Surely no one is stupid enough to believe this. Check that; surely no one besides all Western governments and all leftists is stupid enough to believe this.

Gen. Kong
Gen. Kong
April 8, 2018 12:36 pm

Russians even warned of a false-flag of this exact nature a couple of weeks ago (see above). The actual attackers were probably Israel (who never ratified the Chemical Warfare Treaty) and the US – who back ISIS (while claiming to fight it). More MAGA-tard twittery from the God-Emperor I see. So much for the Banana Empire legions being sent home from yet another shithole in the ME to defend the open borders here. Hopefully it’s just bluster, but given the shouting match in the war room with all the deep-state generals last week it’s hard to say. That’s the odd thing about Trump, one never quite knows what his real position is.

There’s no shortage of folks stupid enough to believe it. Not only the leftist denizens of CNN, Huff-Po and the Carlos Slim Blog (New Duranty Times), but also Magatards who want Trump to fight more wars against the ‘hadjis’ in their own lands in order to glorify the Judeo-Christ. Those who were hoping Trump was going to actually keep a campaign promise to disengage from useless foreign wars on behalf of a non-existent lobby which cannot be named will be discouraged even more. Guess Uncle Sheldon said “no” to the Syria pullout – unless the Duke of Orange wanted to see the casino millions directed towards the D-jerseys instead of the Gay Old Pedobears this fall.

Dr. Doom
Dr. Doom
April 8, 2018 12:38 pm

Yeah you just KNEW that when old poop Bubba Gump said he was “withdrawing” that a false flag from the CIA was already being planned. Wait until Likud sees the “diverse” Mehican and blech “armies” that Bubba Gump sends them.

Hail, hail, Freedonia, land of the rape and gibs. Gib me a dollar bagel boys.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran
  Dr. Doom
April 8, 2018 1:09 pm

It’d be one thing if it were just the CIA doing another false flag, but when Trump starts tweeting about “Animal Assad” he’s painting himself into a corner so that he can’t leave Assad in power. Very bad. Very fucking bad.

Zarathustra
Zarathustra
  Iska Waran
April 8, 2018 2:33 pm

One week ago, Israeli snipers nonchalantly plinked unarmed palestinians to the tune of 18 dead and more than a thousand wounded and not a peep from the Orange One. Apparently where rank hypocrisy is concerned, Trump has no fucks to give.

We are so fucked… I hope Russia and Iran kick ass when this war finally breaks out. Certainly Russia has done everything to avoid it, short of becoming Israel’s bitch too.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
  Iska Waran
April 8, 2018 9:29 pm

Iska.
Someone in the MSM heard you and put on the Google news feed on my smartphone tonight. Of course they claimed it as theirs. Andrea Mitchell no less. Send her a bill.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 12:51 pm

Bob P.
Sorry Bob, western governments don’t believe it. They are the ones who made it up.
There are just as many conservatives who believe it as there are leftists.

kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
  Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 12:56 pm

You were only 1/2 right.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 1:05 pm

Sir Trump of Orange has Schlonged his Moonies once again.
Notice how often they repeated “response by the International Community”. I assume that means NATO and a few well cowed vassal states.
As for La Grande Orange, be careful what you wish for comes to mind. You knew he was a snake when you picked him up.

CCRider
CCRider
  Iska Waran
April 8, 2018 3:24 pm

Yeah, make your voice heard!

Here’s mine: Vote till you drop.

CCRider
CCRider
April 8, 2018 1:13 pm

Oh good, another episode where, inspired by moral outrage and with god as his co-pilot, the Orange Crusader dons his cape and comes to the aid of those poor suffering Syrian children-flying over the bodies of those deservingly dead Yemen children.

BTW can we end this Q shit? Don’t we have enough delusional savior fans already on this site with evangelicals?

bigfoot
bigfoot
April 8, 2018 1:25 pm

I’m reminded of the kid on his birthday digging through a huge pile of horse shit and saying, “There must be a pony in here somewhere.”

Here on the biggest pecker we go to war every day to see whose schlong is long and hard and then we wonder how the world could be the way it is.

As someone who thinks, not “believes,” Trump is on our side, I will wait a bit before shouting out how betrayed I feel inasmuch as nothing has been done just yet and I’m not a squirrel protecting his nuts from everything possible.

bigfoot
bigfoot
April 8, 2018 1:36 pm

I don’t doubt that Syria was better off left alone from the very beginning, yet I don’t doubt that Assad used terror to control the country.

https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21684204-trove-pictures-atrocious-abuse-pronounced-genuine-bashar-al-assads

Animal Assad

LIKE many refugees, Caesar had terrible tales to tell when he slipped out of Syria in August 2013. Less typically he also had pictures to document his story: 53,275 of them, to be exact. From shortly after the eruption of civil war in the spring of 2011 until his flight, Caesar (a pseudonym) worked for government security forces as a forensic photographer. The photos he took, and surreptitiously copied, were of thousands of corpses. Some were of fallen soldiers or war victims, but most were of young men who had spent their last days in the dungeons and torture chambers of the Syrian regime.
The pictures show that thousands of prisoners died of fatal neglect, vicious abuse or straightforward murder by beatings or gunshots. Some images reveal groups of naked, emaciated bodies, each tagged with numbers, splayed on the dirt floor of a hospital garage. But because Caesar entrusted his grisly trove to Syrian opposition groups that publicised the atrocities via a London law firm hired by the government of Qatar, which is hostile to the Syrian regime, some have questioned its authenticity. “You can bring photographs from anyone and say this is torture,” said Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, in an interview earlier this year. “So it’s all allegations without evidence.”

kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
  bigfoot
April 8, 2018 1:51 pm

bigfoot…..that trail of pics is heavily compromised; they could have come from Saddam’s Iraq or any number of African dictators..

I believe Assad – his country was secular and all got along until Regime Change was initiated. It was not a Civil War.

bigfoot
bigfoot

End the horror in Syria’s torture prisons

I dunno, kokodo, there seems to be a fair amount of evidence for something pretty horrible going on.

Yet things have gotten much worse for the majority with U.S. machinations creating major dislocations and internecine slaughter.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
  bigfoot
April 8, 2018 1:53 pm

Footsie.
Maybe those were the prisoners Assad was being paid by the U.S. to torture so we could have plausible deniability if it ever leaked out that WE of the most humane and benevolent Country to ever operate a protection racket tortured people. We were just saving them for their own good.
If you want to play that justification card you have to dress it up better.

bigfoot
bigfoot
  Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 3:45 pm

I’ll try to do better, Flea.

Zarathustra
Zarathustra
  bigfoot
April 8, 2018 2:06 pm

The Economist is a Rothschild organ. Anything it has to say about anything that concerns the family project known as the state of Israel is not to be taken seriously.

bigfoot
bigfoot
  Zarathustra
April 8, 2018 3:50 pm

I know about the Economist, Z. I guess it’s the photos that seem meaningful that are not just the Economist’s source. Consider where in the world this shit goes on and one can wonder why it wouldn’t be going on in Syria where clans have been fighting for centuries.

AC
AC
  bigfoot
April 8, 2018 7:04 pm

yet I don’t doubt that Assad used terror to control the country.

How the fuck is this our problem?

bigfoot
bigfoot
  AC
April 8, 2018 7:11 pm

You don’t read good, AC. The issue was someone saying everyone in Syria was getting along. They weren’t and so Trump calling the guy “Animal Assad” is not inappropriate.

I also said above that Syria would have been better off without U.S. interference.

Syria is not our problem. Right. Our problem is people like you who can’t read and get nasty and rabid based on assumptions that are not true. Fuck off.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 1:39 pm

Why do young gas victims always wear bright colored shirts with broad stripes?

kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
  Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 1:55 pm

al-Qaeda has ties to the best French and English shops.

Ever notice how all the migrants flooding Europe have all new clothes, phones and footwear.

Ever see photos of Refugees from 19th and 20 century.

….compare the two = diff. between migrant and refugee

TampaRed
TampaRed
  Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 7:54 pm

baggsie posted–
“Why do young gas victims always wear bright colored shirts with broad stripes?”
bulls are attracted to red capes(not really,but people believe it’s true)
barracuda are attracted to shiny objects,and now we know that poison gas is attracted to bright clothing–

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
  TampaRed
April 8, 2018 9:38 pm

Tampa.
Of course. How could I have missed that. Isis dressed up those nice kids and used them as deeks so the gas wouldn’t come after them. Brilliant.

Mark H
Mark H
April 8, 2018 1:53 pm

Things really seem to be hotting up. I’ve read a lot in the last few days which make me think that China and Russia are rapidly reaching the point where they have had enough of the US trying to bully them.

I have long thought that China and Russia are ready to pull the rug out from under the US $. Most of the better informed macro analysts I read seem to believe that Russia and China (especially) will do what they can to avoid conflict, whilst using all the time they can get to strengthen their hands. But they are ready to strike when they feel they have to – and most likely when they can make it seem like the US is to blame (and they can be perceived as providing the medicine for a US disease, rather than being part of the illness). The US has launched a trade war with China, and Trump is happily bragging about it – it is now intimately associated with him, yet he does not seem to realise this is something he cannot win (all parties lose in a trade war). This may be exactly the catalyst that China will use to bring down the US$. Notice how quickly and precisely the Chinese responded this week to the US’ imposition of tariffs. They have this all worked out. As one commentator I read put it – the Chinese are playing Go, whilst the US is still trying to set up the chequers board.

I am deeply suspicious that the US imposing import duties on Chinese goods was actually a reaction to the PetroYuan contract finally going live the week before (successfully by the way). I suspect that behind the scenes the US has been telling China not to do it, or else. The significance of it happening has passed most commentators by. There is a good chance that we might look back in a few years time and view that as the biggest geopolitical event of recent times – the point at which the rest of the world seriously started to wean itself off the US$. There is absolutely no reason why China (the world’s biggest oil importer) and Russia (the world’s biggest oil exporter) should have to use the $ to trade with each other, which is the system the US forced on the world when it abandoned the gold standard. It would be ironic indeed if the US, which is moving to become a net oil exporter, now had to accept Yuan if it wanted to sell oil to China!!

These currency wars have been hot for many years now and it is difficult to see any way in which the US is winning. The recent budget and balance of trade deficits are the worst they have ever been. China now appears to be using this obvious weakness to undermine confidence in the $ (see article below).

So, with the US beginning to run short of economic options things appear to be heating up militarily. I suspect we are now within months (possibly weeks) of a military conflict. This could start in Syria, the South China Seas or Iran. IMO Trump was right to try to pull out of Syria, but it should now be clear to anyone with a brain that he does not run the show, and the people who are really in power said NO! Some people seem desperate for war and this latest chemical weapons event seems designed to take us in that direction. The Bolton appointment is significant. Things could get extremely dangerous very, very quickly because the US is already overstretched militarily, and has no real power left to project other than a navy and nuclear weapons. If the Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles are as advanced as many rational US military generals seem to concede, then the navy could very quickly be lying at the bottom of the sea. And then what? With desperate psychopaths in power things could then go nuclear unless there are some rational patriots left who will rise up and stop them.

https://www.omfif.org/analysis/commentary/2018/april/china-downgrades-us-treasuries/

bigfoot
bigfoot
  Mark H
April 8, 2018 5:34 pm

Oh man, so much to refute here that I feel weary even before I begin.

So the U.S. had no real power other than nuclear and the sinkable Navy? That’s your analysis? Gosh, I wonder what all those nuclear powered submarines will be doing when those supersonic missiles sink the ships?

So the Chinese and Russians “are ready to strike when they feel they have to – and most likely when they can make it seem like the US is to blame (and they can be perceived as providing the medicine for a US disease, rather than being part of the illness).” Wow, now that is some upper level analysis! Yet I can’t but wonder what would happen inside China and Russia if they were to “strike.” Starvation maybe? Economic collapse? Insurgency in China? In other words, no freaking way.

Oil is fungible. The U.S. does not have to sell oil to China for yuan. Demand is worldwide and supply from anywhere goes toward the total supply. China needs oil badly and will be getting much of it from Russia as well as Saudi Arabia, not from the U.S. Yes, the petro dollar hegemony is disliked, yet the U.S. dollar is still king. You do know that China holds a trillion dollars in bonds? What do think will happen to that value if China, even if it could, destroyed the dollar? Don’t disregard either the fact that China’s debt is even worse than the U.S. debt.

Yet the dollar will go to its intrinsic value as Voltaire said. Zero. Just not this year. Watch Trump. He will spend like a crazy man because he knows as well as anyone that the dollar is not sustainable. Debt is beyond redemption in the U.S. and elsewhere, so “money” everywhere is on the edge and cannot be maintained as is. A reset is in our future. A Debt Jubilee. Trump knows this, only an idiot would not know this, so he operates on that assumption. All this hand-wringing around here about budget-busting spending is completely off base. It doesn’t matter anymore because the inevitable is inevitable. Next comes cryptocurrencies. Do you know what is written on the new hundred dollar bill? It’s from the Constitution: “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.” Now you know what is planned by the good guys. Laugh all you want.

China’s exports to the U.S. were $506 billion (2017) and the U.S. exports to China were $130 billion. China can put tariffs on $130 billion maximum. What can the U.S. do? Also, consider who is on the right side of fairness? U.S. pols and CEOs have sold U.S. technology to China for a song. China stole the rest. It is China’s policy to allow U.S. companies to own only 49% of the company in China for which the company gets to transfer technology. What a deal. Then in the fullness of time, China takes over the company all together. The CEOs and pols could give a damn at that point.

Mark H
Mark H
  bigfoot
April 9, 2018 4:36 am

bigfoot – FWIW I largely agree with most of that. These are the things which I see somewhat differently.

Those submarines also have vulnerabilities and they weild power mainly as a nuclear deterrent, which was my point. (Recent experience suggests Cruise missiles are vulnerable to AM defences). The simple reality is that much of the US military is weary after almost 2 decades of war in the ME and is still largely untested against any well equipped adversary. The US defense industry seems to have grown grown fat on record spending and it is unclear whether they have done very much with all that money. (FYI I worked on 3rd party electronics which were part of the Raytheon Patriot AM system in the 1990s and I am shocked that this system is still being used – and unsurprised that it is still apparently largely useless).

Everyone talks about the $1Tn in US Treasuries that China owns (actually nearer $1.2T) and the analysis stops at the point where it is stated that this is clearly a problem for China, not the US. Why? If you were analysing the balance sheet of a company then you would look at both assets and liabilities. How much does China owe in US$? All that is ever discussed is the reserves of the Chinese Central Bank. How much borrowing in US$ has the rest of the banking sector done and what is the overall position when that is netted off? I completely agree that the demise of the US$ is not going to happen overnight, but a few helpful nudges towards its ultimate demise will speed that process and cause a lot of harm to the US. If the $ depreciates because of falling confidence what will happen to US equity prices? If the value of China’s treasury holdings depreciates by 20% but stock markets collapse by 50%, what is to stop China spending those treasuries to buy up industries at cheaper prices than it is doing today? Also, what is the actual position of China’s gold holdings? (Probably a lot higher than official figures). What would happen if gold were suddenly revalued upwards substantially (which would suit all debtor nations with large gold holdings especially the US)? How many of China’s UST holdings have effectively been spent via hedges to gold producers or other commodity producers? It would be perfectly practical for the Central Bank to keep those UST on its books whilst encouraging its industries/banks to borrow or make commitments in US$ to parties outside of China? Yes $1.2T is a huge problem, but China is run by pragmatists and there’s a lot they can do which most US commentators completely ignore. Unless you were looking at it holistically it would be easy to discount a few $10B here, another $100Bn over there, etc, I’m betting that China has thought this through and is in a stronger position than most assume. In a centralised economy like China all that really matters is the net position.

Finally you mention social cohesion. Would China face an uprising? Maybe, but it has years of experience managing that. Also, nationalism is a great unifier. Were things to deteriorate economically I wonder whether China or Russia or the US would retain the most social cohesion? I’m betting there would be rioting in parts of the US not long after the supply of cheap goods disappeared and the true poverty of the masses became clear.

Anyway, things seem to be hotting up in Syria and the missiles are again flying. God help us all.

bigfoot
bigfoot
  Mark H
April 9, 2018 5:45 pm

Mark,

With Trump in office I don’t see shooting wars. The Russians and Chinese surely don’t see any profit in a shooting war. What might drive the U.S. to war is the age-old reasons of covering up corruption, diversion, and military-industrial profit and hegemony, but Trump is not down with that, not now and not historically if you have followed his prior statements over the years.

In China there are hundreds of riots or whatever you want to call them every month or even a week. There is cohesion only because of economic progress. Take that away in a war and China comes unglued. The communists know this and is why they are instituting a program where each citizen is to be given a score with that score determining access to even ordinary things like airplanes and trains. Be a good boy or you are as good as dead. China is not about to start a war.

As far as China’s net position is concerned, you have to consider that China plays the long game. The communists have plans. They’ve taken advantage of the U.S., or rather of the pols and CEOs in the U.S. They have amassed a gold hoard probably more than the U.S. holds (if any). What they want to do is “get a seat at the table.” They want to be a leader in the world, and not continue on as this backwater political regime that has no economic status. They want the yuan counted among the major currencies, they want their stocks counted in the major indexes of the world, they want to be seen as respectable. War ain’t gonna get it for them. They will back down on the so-called trade war.

Having said that, I don’t really see that the U.S. military is so dysfunctional that any other country would not be deathly afraid of a counterpunch. Tired or not.

Mark H
Mark H
  bigfoot
April 10, 2018 9:55 am

bigfoot – Nice to talk to someone informed and rational. Again I agree with much (most) of that. I really don’t think China or Russia want war, but I think we are approaching the point where irresistable force will soon meet immovable object.

The big problem that the US faces is the strengthening relationship between China, Russia and Iran. Whilst there is a looming threat from China, this is immeasurably more difficult to tackle as those parties grow closer. (Iran of course isn’t really a significant player on the world stage but it is in the ME, which is at the heart of China’s regional expansion). Turkey is a significant consideration too – a NATO member which seems to be turning slowly towards Russia.

I just feel like something has changed in the last month and that the stakes are rising dramatically. The US needs to do something to break up that 3 way partnership and seems to have decided that it needs to act. The longer the US leaves it the bigger the problem grows. Trump announced he wanted to withdraw from Syria, but he has clearly not been allowed to. Syria is the means to goad the Russians into confrontation. The Russians seem genuinely frustrated by the ever farcical accusations being made against them (e.g. the Skripal incident in the UK) and the mood increasingly seems to be that maybe they no longer have any choice but to confront the US head on, militarily.

The latest is that the US seems to have moved a destroyer into the Eastern Med, near to Syria, which is equipped with cruise missiles. There are no other major US forces in the Med. Russia has warned the US that it will retaliate against the source of any significant strikes in Syria. This has all the hallmarks of a pawn sacrifice, especially as there are no other vessels in the area….

I don’t think this comes down to what Trump wants. I don’t think he has any power. I think the real power is held by people who believe they are fighting for the survival/growth of the US empire. There will be a confrontation, the only issue is how much blood will be spilled. China may try to avoid a military involvement but you can bet they will do anything they can to undermine the US if/when this happens.

Zarathustra
Zarathustra
April 8, 2018 2:04 pm

One day before Bolton assumes official duties. How convenient.

The hypon
The hypon
April 8, 2018 2:16 pm

Wipe out Washington,London ,Paris and Israel and suddenly peace will break out.

IndenturedServant
IndenturedServant
April 8, 2018 2:26 pm

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Uncoincidental
Uncoincidental
April 8, 2018 2:39 pm

Children are profoundly practical to Power: they are used to, simultaneously, start wars abroad and take the guns domestically. What a deal.

Gen. Kong
Gen. Kong
  Uncoincidental
April 8, 2018 7:32 pm

They’re also handy for the (((powerful))) to use as sex toys whenever they like. Wonder if young Master Hogg has been to Jeffrey Epstein’s pleasure island as a plaything? It would not be surprising in the least.

overthecliff
overthecliff
April 8, 2018 3:05 pm

Even if the pictures were real(and they are not), it is not our concern what happens in Syria. We just need to remember to help them in any way we can and keep in mind that dead mohammedans are good mohammedans.

The Russians are doing a fine job of promoting peace in Syria.

Steve C
Steve C
April 8, 2018 4:14 pm

How To Engineer A Crisis

A January 14th video from James Corbett that I think is appropriate to this post.

The part covering Syria starts at 6:37 and runs to 12:00.

How To Engineer A Crisis

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
  Steve C
April 8, 2018 5:22 pm

Steve.
James is one of my favorites. He has that unassuming Clark Kent look about him but he gets to the point and does his homework.
He did a few on the popular theme of China supposedly not being part of the Rothchild system. He laid bare Mao’s connections with the Yale& Harvard crowd.

Steve C
Steve C
  Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 5:34 pm

In boxing they say that if you are doing something and it’s working, keep doing it until it stops working.

Here’s an early James Corbett video from January 2012, that illustrates that what the Globalists and their owned and controlled news media are doing isn’t working so well any more.

Hence, the war against independent news…

Coalclinker
Coalclinker
April 8, 2018 4:16 pm

You know when the thermonuclear devices start going off we’ll be the very last ones to know. If we’re lucky and not immediately vaporized then you will know after you hear the boom and run outside to see a mushroom cloud. Oh yes, the power will go off everywhere and won’t be coming back on anytime soon. Your car will never start again and you’ll probably never get to see one going down the road.
It will be that simple, that quick, and then the realization that most will perish will brutishly unfold over a multi-month event.

Zarathustra
Zarathustra
  Coalclinker
April 8, 2018 4:23 pm

I live in Dallas Tx. I doubt I will have the chance to say goodbye.

gilberts
gilberts
  Coalclinker
April 8, 2018 10:19 pm

Don’t bet on it. Russia is smart enough to know how to fuck us up without direct nuclear confrontation. I’ve always assumed they and the Chinese hacked us long ago in all the ways that matter. All they need to do is turn loose their hackers and useful idiots here and turn off our country. Before we fire off one bullet, loose one missile, the Russians give the Strelyat! word and our phones, stock market, Air Traffic Control, Slamtrack, subways, power, water, internet, port control, traffic lights, credit cards, etc all go dark. Bzzzt. Sit back and watch the chaos. Park boomers off the coast and remind us who still has phones and internet. Putin would be a real class act to then express shock and surprise anyone would attack the US in such a way and offer humanitarian aid.

wholy1
wholy1
April 8, 2018 4:32 pm

yo Vlad, tell ‘ol carnival-barker/shyster “the mouth” Trumpster to “bring it on”!

rhs jr
rhs jr
April 8, 2018 4:45 pm

Total Bull Shit. The NeoCons would risk destruction of the Whole Wide World and 8 billion Goy to supposedly avenge a neighborhood of 50 people they hate over a probable False Flag the NeoCons effectively planted themselves and the American Public will agree and cheer for WWIII? Do it Trump and the real shithole country and US will burn. PS: When are we going to rid the USA of the foreign pernicious NeoCon parasitic cancer metastasizing in our midst?

gilberts
gilberts
April 8, 2018 4:48 pm

Yeah, after all these years, and with their side winning, NOW is the time for Assad to use the NBC weapons he already gave up to Russia years ago. This is an obvious bullshit story, especially since the opposition has been caught red-handed with the stuff and caught faking/false flagging attacks on the locals. I won’t believe it until Putin says it’s true.

TC
TC
April 8, 2018 4:54 pm

You said it… (((SHOCKER)))

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs
April 8, 2018 5:05 pm

Z.
Me neither so I bent over and kissed it ahead of time.

Zarathustra
Zarathustra
April 8, 2018 7:05 pm

[imgcomment image[/img]

Zarathustra
Zarathustra
April 8, 2018 8:11 pm
IndenturedServant
IndenturedServant
April 8, 2018 8:14 pm

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TampaRed
TampaRed
  Administrator
April 8, 2018 10:02 pm

as of right now at 10pm eastern time fox news has nothing about this–
there is also a fire in trump tower and there are fatalities–
maybe the generals bombed him when he said no way to bombing damascus–

TampaRed
TampaRed
April 8, 2018 10:11 pm

when i was looking for info as to whether or not we bombed syria,there was another tragic story–
a bus carrying a youth hockey team somewhere in canada crashed & there are at least 10 kids dead–

JustTruth
JustTruth
April 8, 2018 11:52 pm

Same old shit from Trump and the neocons. Russia publicly warned the terrorists would carry out the chem attacks, the US & co. did it anyway. Trump is a 100% sell out to his base. Trump was lying through his teeth about pulling out, as he needed political cover with this false flag planned. The Russians are ready.