This diary may be on the absurd side, but I know that this issue’s bothered any number of us (including many tankies on Twitter), but this comment thread posits some opinions and offers many links to buttress arguments. Of course there were disagreements I haven’t included, but not wanting to risk a wider war with Israel at this point, with so many dangers on Russia’s borders…makes sense to me. Can’t say I’ve checked out more than a couple links…
It really was disgusting it was to see Bibi with Putin at the V-day celebration in Moscow while the IDF was striking ‘Iranian’ (not so much) installations in Syria. Some say having Bibi there was by way of an object lesson: ‘See what we’ve got?’ I’m agnostic on that point, but I’ve grabbed these comments for your consideration and have just pasted them in raw with no quotations marks. Happy digging; dunno what a comment might on this PSA might include, but let’s just see how it goes. They’re out of time order, as I’d forgotten to Save the ones I’d grabbed early on, and have had to go back to copy more.
From Moon of Alabama’s ‘open thread’ (2 pages of comments) on May 11:
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Also not a good sign that President Putin re-nominated Medvedev (not the URL) as Prime Minister. The Saker lays out the rationale for this view.
Posted by: Trisha Driscoll | May 11, 2018
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With regard to Medvedev. Let’s just end this now.
Vesti news has a 10-minute clip showing the Duma in session to approve or disapprove Medvedev as Prime Minister. It’s a great glimpse into the parliamentary side of things that we rarely see. Putin states that the social reforms he has called for and intends to carry out have been planned and examined with a fine tooth comb for a year and a half – by a team led by Medvedev. It makes sense to him, he says, that this same team would now carry these plans forward.
Can we not get beyond our own particular preferences of policy flavor and understand that Medvedev long ago ago gave up the Atlanticist affiliation – when, indeed, that option politically receded from his country’s shores – and is simply a team player now, subservient to Russia and to Putin? And what he thinks in his own mind is nobody’s business but his? He has no power outside of being a Prime Minister who effectuates Putin’s vision.
And personally, I suspect he takes some satisfaction from doing this well. I don’t care what transforms or redeems a man. I just care what fits the need of the moment. The hour produces the man, be he ever so tainted from former allegiances.
pa..Vesti is cranking out so much Russian news and news shows now, in short clips with English subtitles – often half a dozen per day – that I’ve added it to my daily news scan. I reccomend the YouTube channel: Vesti News
Posted by: Grieved | May 11, 2018 8:50:47 PM | 71
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Putin has done more to stop, blunt or block US military aggression than any other country.
He picked Syria to put Russian military up against US military. If he had not not done so, the Syrians that are still dying due to the terrorists and their sponsors would, along with hundreds of thousands of others have been dead in the jihadist takeover in 2015.
the Palestinians? What is the rest of the world doing about this? How many other countries deal with Israel. What is you country doing for the Palestinians.
There have been many proposed resolutions against Syria in the UN but US has vetoed them all. Israel can be brought into line only when US power is destroyed.
Many of the worlds conflicts that exist today can never be resolved until US power is destroyed as it is the US that keeps those conflicts as open wounds.
For Russia putting all their efforts into say Palestine or Yemen and the many other conflicts is like running around putting out spot fires rather than catching the arsonist.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 11, 2018 9:02:14 PM |
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Korybko interprets Russian signals as message to Assad to “compromise,” which I don’t agree with at all as such a “demand” backwalks numerous previous statements about Syria by Russia, which isn’t normal Kremlin behavior. In essence, Korybko’s arguing that the relationship between Zionists and Russia is more important than Russia’s relations with Syria, Iraq, and Iran–a huge misread on his part, IMO.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 11, 2018
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Strategic Culture’s published a very powerful editorial. Teaser:
“The reckless, reprehensible behavior of the US towards international law, multilateralism and diplomacy – all of which it falsely projects onto Russia, China and others – is, or should be, a watershed moment for all of the world to recognize that such rogue conduct is intolerable and unacceptable.
“Either there is multilateral accord or there is not. Either there is a multipolar world as envisaged by a democracy of nations, or there is brutish hegemony of unipolar ambitions. The latter is not law-abiding. It is predicated on the brutish principle of “might is right”. The world cannot afford such a hegemon for the sake of peace and survival.”
It certainly echoes much of what’s written by b and us Barflies.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 11, 2018
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Russia’s catching a lot of blogger-flak regarding its failure to go to war with Israel. That’s not smart.
Here’s the probable scenario as I see it, keeping in mind that the #1 priority for Russia is its own political interests and its own security, which is true of every country.
There are three allies concerned with Syria led by Russia, and including Turkey and Iran. Three unlkely allies, actually. But they are trying to get along, with Russia’s objective a return of Syria to full sovereignty of all its territory, and a cessation of hostilities, with a Russian military presence. It’s not been easy but there has been progress and it looks like Russia and its allies will be successful.
Iran has that objective too, but also has a strong interest in aiding Hezbollah as a powerful anti-Israel force. That includes provisioning Hezbollah in Syria with ballistic missiles.
Russia (in my probable scenario) said to Iran don’t do that. It endangers our chief interest in Syria which is to win the war against US/Israel and end the warfare. Don’t do anything that endangers that. But Iran did it anyhow, and has paid a price which Syria shares. And as a part of that, Russia has taken no action against Israel because it expected this might happen, that’s why Iran was cautioned. Iran thought it could do whatever it wanted in Syria and it got burned.
So I say to anti-Russia bloggers, wake up and smell the coffee.
Posted by: Don Bacon | May 11, 2018
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Here’s what Putin said to Nuttyahoo according to Kremlin:
“Naturally, we will use your visit today to discuss bilateral relations and problems in the region. Unfortunately, the situation is very acute. I would like to express hope that you and I will not only manage to discuss, but also find solutions which will lead to a shift in the situation, and which will also allow us to find ways to resolve heated conflicts.”
Putin’s clearly aiming at de-escalation, while Nutty’s all about escalating.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 11, 2018
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I used to admire Korybko enormously, and I thought him a brilliant talent. I don’t know what’s happened in the last few months. Every one of his articles seems to be a mis-read. He’s chosen a view of reality that I think is wrong, and everything he extrapolates from that is off-kilter.
We all choose at what level down the rabbit hole we want to go, but whatever it is, our predictions should accord with subsequent events, or we can know it’s an inaccurate ledge to perch on. Korybko keeps saying there’s a hidden agenda and a secret union between Israel and Russia that makes all the rest of the Syria campaign a sham. He’s become as unreliable as Paul Craig Roberts at reading the true balances, and as unreliable, it pains me to say, as the Saker appears at times lately. They all call for the sky to fall tomorrow, or else say that it already has and the fix is in, and resistance is futile.
Miracles abound. But everyone is so damn gloomy. Is it a new CIA manic-depression drug? Radio waves? Crazy.
Posted by: Grieved | May 11, 2018
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Too many cast Putin as Tsar; he is not. National security issues are discussed and solved by a council of same name through consensus. Same with Foreign Relations. One aspect of Russia that differs greatly from almost every Western nation is the Russian government acts in the best interest of all Russians, not just a select nomenclatura as in Outlaw US Empire and UK.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 11, 2018
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During the course of the Ukraine war I, and I imagine many others, went through some of the feelings about Vladimir Putin that many people are expressing now. We grew impatient. We wanted Russia to go in and kick Porky’s ass into the high heavens. We wanted the Chocolate King toasted. But Putin carried on with his minimalist strategy, his control over emotion and ego, his resource stinginess, providing just enough to the Donbas warriors, just enough. It was nail-biting and frustrating at times, but If Russia had gone into Ukraine, guns blazing (as Russia’s enemies wanted) it would probably be bankrupt by now.
Scene change to Syria and we have the same minimum aircraft, troops, special forces… Minimum but enough. Israel feels very strongly about the S-300. Putin and his generals have probably verified for themselves what they long suspected – that many products built by the US military industrials since the 1990s are pretty crap. Just look at the F-35 and the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner”, which pilots and cabin crew refer to as the “binliner” due to its continuous faults. After a PHD on more-or-less this subject my humble self came to the same conclusion.
So do the Syrians really need the S-300 when they seem to be doing fine with what they have got? They could be beefed up with some Pantsirs and Buks. Why antagonize Israel needlessly? Why risk WWIII? Why risk Russia’s World Cup – when sabotage and stealth are what the Israelis are best at? Why not just keep slipping Assad stuff that will keep the Israeli’s guessing?
Posted by: Lochearn | May 11, 2018
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@ Grieved who wrote: “Miracles abound. But everyone is so damn gloomy. Is it a new CIA manic-depression drug? Radio waves? Crazy.”
The more the elite can rile the public with fear and anger against others the better their chances of manipulating events to their ends……at least that is their plan and I am not seeing white flags yet.
Yes, we are in the middle of a watershed event for humanity where the real issue of whether a small elite continue to control the tools of finance is being fought as a battle between Israel et al and the rest of the world through Syria/Iran/??? That the issues are so intertwined and so misunderstood by the public is a human travesty that I attribute to brainwashing by the Western media.
The good thing about this situation is that we are in it because the old way is breaking down all around us and energy abounds for supporting structural change. For someone who has been watching and waiting for 40+ years, I am DAMN happy to see such an opportunity for human growth present itself in my lifetime.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 11, 2018
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@ 27
Peskov corrects:
May 11. /TASS/. The refusal to supply the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria is not linked in any way with the recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow, acting Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Peskov commented on a statement, which acting Russian Presidential Aide for Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin gave in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia.
“Technologically, it is absolutely incorrect to link this [Kozhin’s words] with Netanyahu’s visit because the interview was given before Netanyahu’s visit,” the acting Kremlin spokesman pointed out.
Russia has never announced such deliveries and only specified that it reserves the right in the wake of US-led airstrikes against Syria to do everything possible in this situation.
In an interview published on Friday, Kozhin said that Russia was not delivering the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria and no talks had been underway on their delivery thus far.
As the acting Kremlin spokesman added, the Syrian army “has everything it needs.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on April 16 that Russia was ready to consider all necessary steps to reinforce Syria’s defense capabilities, including the delivery of the S-300 systems.
Unlike the West, RF does not pre-announce. Just do it!
Do you think Putin is pleased about this?
Israeli Weapons Among Arms Handed Over to Syrian Army By Terrorists in Damascus
Oh, not just medical aid!
Posted by: Likklemore | May 11, 2018
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Explanation of Russia’s approach by Andrei Korybko. Russia is taking a balance-of-power approach, not a bloc approach, to Syria. Hence its ambiguous stances towards Turkey, Iran, and Israel. Beyond what is required to defeat the Takfiris and assure the stability of the Syrian government, the rest is negotiable. Putin does not want the situation between Iran and Israel to escalate, and to that end is seeking greater influence in Syria vis-a-vis Iran.
http://www.eurasiafuture.com/2018/05/09/why-cry-its-great-news-that-trump-pulled-out-of-the-iran-deal/
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Such a massive organized aggression has been inflicted on Syria, so much effort has been put into sujugating and destroying Syria, the Syrians have suffered so horribly. Years of economic warfare – sanctions, tens of thousands of mercenary madmen from dozens of countries deployed against Syria, entire cities destroyed, massive amounts of arms and financing provided to the madmen, global mass media disinformation deployed, oil stolen, thousands of US bombs dropped, continual Israeli attacks and subterfuge, NATO special forces deployed, massive mercenary underground construction project at Douma, false flags, Turkish aggression, Saudi complicity, and more.
And how do things stand, after seven years of this? Syrians are inspirational for their resistance, Syria is battered but winning, Russia’s standing has risen as she has saved Syria, the mercenaries are largely eliminated or herded into specific areas; Israelis and Americans have lost yet more international standing, are more obviously outlaw regimes, and have lost self confidence; their military intimidation is more and more lacking in real authority. NATO is licking its wounds and is less cohesive, occupied Germany is showing signs of awakening, Turkey and the US are at odds, the British are a malicious joke, the Saudis are weaker, Iran and Lebanon are stronger, Iraqis despise the Americans, China is stronger.
Meanwhile, Russia too has been under US led economic warfare attack, and near global disinformation attack, and demonization. And yet she too is stronger in many ways than she was just a few years ago.
Posted by: Robert Snefjella | May 11, 2018
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karlof1 @20
There’s nothing in that statement that approves of Israel’s attack. And informing Putin of a changed stance due to a perception that ‘red lines’ were crossed (red lines that would’ve been discussed weeks or months prior) would be positioned by Netanyahu as a courtesy ( when it is really just a sneaky attempt at battlefield advantage).
Here’s a thought (not fully baked):the Russians have their eye on the ball. Those who are focused on Zionists as a problem for a West easily miss the fact that USA is a bigger problem for Russia than Israel. USA is the “power behind the throne”. Zionists and neocons may manipulate that power but it is better for Russia to make an effort to separate Israel from the West. You catch more flies with honey.
If SCO becomes strong enough to offer meaningful security guarantees and Israel also has an opportunity to participate in lucrative economic opportunities in Eurasia then Israel might be enticed to end it’s belligerent manipulation of US. It may require a new generation of leadership in Israel before that happens. Russia-China are playing long games.
Posted by: Jackrabbit
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OJS:
So you run around spouting your hatred for Putin because he does not proclaim himself world policeman and and does not crap on about R2P. As he has said, he is not anybodies friend. He is the president of the Russian federation.
In this video I linked earlier, he plainly states his position on Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJnIsbo5uMs
Like it or not Putin recognizes and operates within International law and Russian law, and respects UN recognized borders. Putin, all the time he has been President has operated on the principle of evolution not revolution. He is not about to change now.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 11, 2018
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The more the elite can rile the public with fear and anger against others the better their chances of manipulating events to their ends……at least that is their plan and I am not seeing white flags yet.
Yes, we are in the middle of a watershed event for humanity where the real issue of whether a small elite continue to control the tools of finance is being fought as a battle between Israel et al and the rest of the world through Syria/Iran/??? That the issues are so intertwined and so misunderstood by the public is a human travesty that I attribute to brainwashing by the Western media.
The good thing about this situation is that we are in it because the old way is breaking down all around us and energy abounds for supporting structural change. For someone who has been watching and waiting for 40+ years, I am DAMN happy to see such an opportunity for human growth present itself in my lifetime.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 11, 2018
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I’ll add a few other things that may or may not be of interest:
‘Who we are, why we’re digging: Team probing Syrian war & Skripal poisoning case reveal all’, the UK working group on Syria, propaganda, and media, via RT (with this video, 9:26)
Tragically, from RT: ‘Israeli airstrikes hit north Gaza Strip (VIDEO)’, 12 May, 2018
“The explosions come soon after the IDF shut down the Gaza border crossing on Saturday after it was damaged by Palestinian demonstrators during a wave of recent Great March of Return protests.
The IDF criticized Palestinian protesters for allegedly making the border unsafe as Israel and “countries around the world provide Gazans with humanitarian aid through crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip”.
The IDF spox for the ‘most moral army in the world’ on Twitter justifies it over…and over.
‘The Simple Truth of Vladimir Putin’s Diabolical Plan’, Phil Butler, April 27, journal-neo.org
(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
the first comment over yonder said ‘too many comments’, sorry if he’s correct. ;-)
i’ll add: ‘Syria Imposes New Rules of Engagement on Israel’, Sayed Hasan May 12th, 2018, dissidentvoice.org
…in which he deconstructs the IDF narrative of the recent strikes on syria, but he includes this:
“What about Russia? Netanyahu’s presence in Moscow for the commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of the USSR’s victory against Nazism, and [reuters] reports that Russia would not deliver the S-300s to Syria, must not mislead us. Russia has invested far too much in Syria to allow anyone – be it Washington, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, or Ankara – to reduce its efforts to nothing. Moscow said it would no longer tolerate Western strikes against Syria in case of a new chemical weapons masquerade, and that it is ready to provide Damascus not necessarily with the S-300 anti-aircraft system, but, according to Sergei Lavrov, with “whatever is required to help the Syrian army to deter aggression.” The current Syrian defense systems have already proven their worth – including the Pantsir, which is much more suited to the needs of the Syrian army – and allow us to envision the day when Israel loses its only advantage, namely air supremacy. That already was to no avail in 2006 against Hezbollah or 2014 against Gaza, without which its supposedly “invincible” ragtag army would literally crumble. Israel’s use of ground-to-ground missiles for the first time, and the concentration of attacks on Syrian anti-aircraft defenses – IDF released the video of the destruction of a Pantsir S-1 system, probably inactive – proves that it is well aware of its limitations.” [snip]
“It is obvious that Israeli aggressions against Syria will be increasingly costly, both for the Israeli air force and for its internal military bases and population, because of the determination of Syria and its allies (Hezbollah and Iran) to respond to any aggression, of their experience and new capabilities, and of their successes on the ground. The Resistance Axis – of which Russia is not a part – is now able to face Israel directly on its own, with a united front and without fear of escalation. As for Israel, already overwhelmed by the peaceful demonstrations in Gaza that must culminate on May 15, it is not ready for war against a single member of the Resistance Axis, let alone against several of them simultaneously. The new equation imposed by the Syrian army on May 10 is more fearsome for Israel than the prospect of the loss of another F-16, as Damascus has shown its determination to wage war on enemy territory, and to strike the Zionist entity in its depth.
The Resistance Axis will soon have its eyes fixed on the occupied Golan…” and the whys of that occupation.
why do most days feel like an M Night Shyamalan movie? “The Happening 2: it’s happening again” or something equally as awful. the internet goes down for a few minutes in this neck of the woods or there is a very bright object (it was a plane) late in the early night sky & whammo! the missiles are flyin’!!!! the fearmongering itself is a form of terrorism as each encounter, in Syria & in N Korea et al, carries the potential for nuclear exchange. certainly such global terrorism is US policy. who put the collapsed stars in charge? & taught these cosmic outhouses to use the energy of the stars to suck the light out of all the rest of us? no wonder everything seems like a black hole.
That’s a very ontological comment!
brilliant, if lamentable, synopsis of the zeitgeist, amigo. your final two sentences made the hairs on the back of my neck shiver. oddly, we had the mother’s day from hell here yesterday, talk about getting the light (and breath, power of speech) sucked out of one, but none of this mattered, yanno?
but the bookies in las vegas seem to be bullish on war on iran, a must-have for the master of the black holes. reading some of the many predictions of the same in the ‘alt-‘ blogosphere, here came hamlet leaping into my noggin:
‘Not a whit, we defy augury. There is special providence in
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to
come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the
readiness is all. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows what is’t
to leave betimes, let be.’
one thinks of the now fully baked-in dying planet; it will come, let it be. is that why the zombie films are so popular? escapes into terror from everyday terror? wisest prophets always say, as baba rum raisin had: ‘be here now’. wish i could learn it better. i’ll spend some time on my spiritual health today w/ some metaphorical unguents and potions.
i send good vibes, wishes, prayers, and sweet grass smoke your way every day, and wish there were more i could do for you, brother of mine.
What seemed to come out of the woodwork (and one never knows who to put faith in these days) was that Israel actually got a hard come uppance to its foray against Syrian defences in that the response was swift and effective – which was a lesson learned if not broadcast to civilians. And it seems the ones to feel the brunt of Israel’s discombobulation are again, very sadly, the Gazaans – thirty something protesters having been killed according to RT. Bullies don’t like to be bullied back by those they bully; they’d much rather pretend to be strong by picking on the little guys.
I think the Russian stance can best be described as consistency. A much closer situation in which many wished they had intervened more imperially was Ukraine. Russian forbearance there was loudly decried by some, with others saying to actively intervene in that situation would have been just what was being hoped for by the provocateurs.
And that’s also what you see in the Victory Parade trot of Netanyahu – pointed out by many that he was politely ignored by Putin in favor of a nearby veteran. Provocation ignored.
you’re likely correct on all counts, although a commenter over yonder claimed that bibi had thanked putin profusely for killing so many nazis in WWII. soviet dead are estimated at 20-26 million. and obomba left them out of his commemoration of the 70th anniversary of ve-day, the odious bastard. but yes, knowing which media is closer to factual is hard, isn’t it? but the s-200’s did seem to work quite well in the main.
RT must have upped his number of those killed in gaza yesterday, now 43 w/ 1900 injured. i’m pretty sure nabka is on tuesday, when the march4return was scheduled to end. will it now? and that the idf has bombed the only crossing able to receive aid of food, meds, etc., what increased misery there’ll be. already so little electricity, water, food, etc. the basatrds.
here’s eva bartlett’s tweet; if you click it you’ll see such egregious hasbarist subtweets. my stars. off to wash my hiar, the dishes, then watch my fave meditation video. nice to see you, ww.
otoh:
@JewishPress 8h8 hours ago ‘Report: 4 Dead as Gaza Rallies Commence ‘- http://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/report-4-dead-as-gaza-rallies-commence/2018/05/14/ … @JewishPress
@JewishPress · 4h4 hours ago
‘Captured Rioters: Iran Paying Hamas for Violence, Terrorism, at Gaza Border Fence’ – http://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/captured-rioters-iran-paying-hamas-for-violence-terrorism-at-gaza-border-fence/2018/05/14/ …
(stop it, wd!)
Pootie sacrificing some Ayranians for PR, jah?
it’s actually not clear if the missiles did hit iranian emplacements, although iirc four or five iranians were killed earlier. asia times calls it a ‘wink, wink, nod’ to putin in moscow that it was iranians they were bombing. but who knows what the truth of any of the reporting is? yep, i kinda do use confirmation bias to guide me, not that it’s trustworthy. as in: counterpunch now features are manner of imperialist dreck, and of course the intercept is getting worse on some militaristic fronts, mirroring amy goodman.
but PR…yeah, maybe so, but he’s juggling a lot of balls in the air to invite israel to a upcoming trade trade talks (ugh) and loads of other nations i can’t abide, even india. but as far as M.K. Bhadrakumar at the asia times sees it:
‘‘The Russian-Israeli-Iranian conundrum in Syria
Moscow is playing a clever game of diplomacy and managing to maintain ties with all the major players’ (eleventy-dimensional long-game chess, i’d say, although he indicates that putin conceded that the golan is israel’s) also:
“Evidently, at the root of all this wild media speculation is an unseemly haste to give a spin that Putin is “pro-Israeli.” But it is really a clumsy attempt. The point is, the Russians are not one-dimensional men.
Russian diplomacy has a great tradition of juggling many balls in the air. Russia manages its friendly relations concurrently with China and Vietnam, Turkey and Greece (and Cyprus), Iran and Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, Iran and Jordan and so on – and in a conceivable future, probably India and Pakistan as well.
Simply put, what Iran can give Moscow, Israel cannot – and vice versa. Moscow wants good relations with both Iran and Israel, because they serve different purposes in Russian foreign policy. Having said that, Russia does not subscribe to what Iran calls the “resistance front” in Syria.
But then, Russia also appreciates that Iran and Hezbollah’s presence in Syria is at the invitation of Damascus and is critically important in the fight against the extremist groups. Quite obviously, Russia refuses to share the Israeli perceptions of Hezbollah as a terrorist group. If anything, the results of the May 6 election in Lebanon would only reinforce the Russian belief that Hezbollah is a legitimate political force to be reckoned with.”
and at the start of his fourth term, putin is cutting russia’s military budget to 5% gdp, which number is waning due to constant sanctions, but given that there is inequality unrest, he also wants to use those rubles to provide more of a social safety net to the citizenry. an the phil butler piece in the op speaks to how much he’s done already to help the populace (i’ve forgotten all the categories already of course, but a biggie was ‘corruption among (his fellow, i hope) oligarchs.
http://www.atimes.com/article/the-russian-israeli-iranian-conundrum-in-syria/
now a fellow over yonder said that while putin is in syria to fight terr’ists, a piece at the guardian claims that he’s offered to replace assad, and that one i’m not believing for a milwauke minute. other critics, mainly tankies on twitter, come to think of it, claim he’s offered to balkanize syria, but i’m not feelin’ that one, either.
Jah, Ayranians would die for Putinian ju-jitsu against Trumpian hasbara. Wouldn’t be the first time Ayranians had to die because of fucking Amerikkkan monsters and fools.
fook, not the first time, history is replete w/ cia plots, schemes, putches against iran since 1953. but as for the rest, hard to decode your missive, but mr. wd’s fave playing for change; my second fave: jah guide peter tosh cover. let this serve as tonight’s lullaby; i’m bushed and ready to shut down; life’s a beach, then ya die is where i am.
Pestilence lurks in dark places
And I fear no evil
Destruction walk with smiling faces
Still I will fear no evil>/blockquote>
Even if Jah Guide does not exist, I will fear no devils of this cannibal race.
After all, he’s their guide, too.
Making sense of Russian political ambiguities:
Jah, maybe sacrificing them for more than PR.
the saker’s a verbose sod; he needs an editor. sorry, that’d be an hour read for me, so thanks for the paragraph you’ve clipped. but i can’t even begin to decode your jah guide comments above. thanks for the PFC song. lol, it’s one for which i prefer the original, in the end.
(wordpad or bill gates or the nsa or…is eating comments)
thanks for the kind comments. fambly, ugh.
I usually give my eyes their daily workout with the NYT online in the morning. The exercise was so strenuous today I almost saw into the top of my head. from the eye-rolling. under the headline of the IDF killing 40 plus was the word “pride” or “proud” immediately below in the article on the US embassy moving to Al Quds (i’m done w/the name Jerusalem.) “killing” & “pride.” this kind of shit is not an accident. they pay well for people to come up w/this kind of psychological manipulation. often enough after the “journalists” have graduated from spy school.
I don’t know if hope is the word but perhaps a glimmer of light from acknowledging that these people, the elites, their walking law books & spreadsheets, their animate laser scopes & tasers, are not omni-competent. far, far from it. nor are they omniscient, despite their best efforts to make us think so w/the constant drumbeat of stories about the spooks doing this or that on our phones or with RFD chips in our breakfast cereals & toilet paper. (I can just hear them now: “We need a poop sample of the entire population!” and then me getting fired for saying, “another one, sir?”) they want us to think they control things like the weather. snort. I believe that less than I believe in the thunder god Zeus.
though all we may have left at the end is the stump of the giving tree, mother earth is not against humanity. now excuse me while I go listen to a pre-op transsexual complain about being circumcised 36 years ago. I went to a stand up “comedy” night here in Oly the other night. boy was that lame. I thought about getting up & saying something like, “I’m working on a new religion-themed fashion line. My first item will say, ‘At my Jahrzeit I fyalked my rabbi and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.'” i’m sure I could come up w/one for Catholics, Mormons, Southern Baptists, etc., though for some of these non-Jews we might have to find another word or words for f-ellate, etc. (Google says fyalke is Yiddish for f-ellate.)
wordpress, but wth? you’re trash? found four or five and freed them, thanks for notifying me. chrome, firefox, the restoration never stays the same, wth? found comrade axe, as well, freed his; we’ll see how that goes this time..
your imagery is always stellar, yesterday’s was a knockout, mr wd was blown away as well. but for now, i am simply so under-water in a whirlpool of grief and horror that even my psycho-spiritual protocols haven’t raised me up and uncrossed my eyes to read. srsly, i was even arguing with the kind man on the meditation video i like…and rudely, to boot. but yanno that sense that if you make a move in any direction…you’ll set off a land mine? guess that’s where we are, as in: waiting is.
love to you, hopefully another night of sleep (perchance not to have nightmares, unless instructive) will help by the mornin’.
here’s a bit bill auken wrote about the two events which were of course, exquisitely and grotesquely entwined (some of his best writing ever, imo):
“The two events—occurring on the 70th anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence—were juxtaposed by the media, broadcast simultaneously on split screens by television networks. What could not be concealed was the fact that the opening of the American embassy was entirely in line with and, indeed, a statement of political support for the massacre taking place at the security fence separating the impoverished occupied territory from Israel.
The number of unarmed Palestinian protesters shot dead by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) snipers on the eastern border of Gaza rose to at least 58 Monday, with over 2,700 others wounded, many suffering grievous injuries from live ammunition that will almost certainly drive up the death toll. Many of the injured who survive will lose one or more limbs as a result of Israeli sniper fire. Palestinian ambulance teams were reportedly unable to collect some of the bodies of protesters who were cut down as they reached the heavily fortified fence.” [snip] (the numbers have increased)
“All those involved in this mass killing, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, their enablers in Washington, down to the snipers firing the bullets, are collectively and personally responsible for war crimes. As the Nuremberg trials of the Nazi war criminals established, soldiers are able and obliged to refuse an illegal order to wantonly kill civilians. Only an army saturated with racist and fascistic ideology can be counted on to commit such crimes.
Present for the occasion was Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino mogul whose millions have gone to fund Zionist settlements in the occupied West Bank as well as Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Also present was Joseph Lieberman, the former Democratic senator and vice-presidential candidate, who drafted the 1995 US legislation—supported overwhelmingly by both parties—that called for transferring the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Further underscoring the bipartisan support for Israel’s criminal policy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York hailed the opening of the Jerusalem embassy as “long overdue,” adding, “I applaud President Trump for doing it.”
Providing an opening invocation was Robert Jeffress, the right-wing Dallas Baptist preacher who has declared that “all Jews will go to hell” and that Islam is “a heresy from the pit of hell.” He spoke alongside an Israeli rabbi who has described blacks as “monkeys.” Also present was another prominent “Christian Zionist,” John Hagee, who has declared that Hitler was “a hunter” sent by God to fulfill biblical prophesy by chasing the Jews into Israel. Such are the friends of the Israeli state.
While Trump appeared via video, the main speech was given by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who told the audience, “We stand with Israel because we both believe in human rights, democracy worth defending, and believe that we know that it is the right thing to do.” Nothing could provide a more graphic exposure of the “human rights” and “democracy” promoted by Washington than US support for the mass killing of civilian protesters by the Israeli military.
Kushner went on to blame the Palestinians for their own deaths, declaring to applause that “those provoking violence are part of the problem and not part of the solution.” This position was concretized Monday afternoon by a White House spokesman who rebuffed repeated questions about whether Washington was calling on Israel to exercise restraint. He insisted that the “cynical actions” of Hamas, the bourgeois Islamist party that administers the territory, were entirely to blame for the massacre.”
there’s a lot more, but jeezum crow and OMG: evil glorified, and drumf beatified. good on ‘al-quds’, arabic i reckon. so i take it that the NY/cia was acting in favor of the embassy removal to the apartheid city holy to three religions?
spy schools know edward bernays advertising only too well: ‘but the women and chirren!’ ‘they are all rapists!’ ‘no food or medicine on the grocery store shelves!’ time for R2P and regime change, baby….
so…will foreskin envy be in the coming DSM V? prolly a wise move that ya hadn’t said all that, but partially cuz like i, most wouldn’t have known the hebrew ceremonies and terms. but thanks for the ‘…and all i got was this lousy t-shirt’ chuckle. by the by, did you see the poor peoples campaign in oly yesterday?
on edit: ‘Appalled & disgusted’: Twittersphere slams ‘pro-Israel’ US media coverage of Gaza protests’, from RT
https://www.rt.com/usa/426797-media-coverage-gaza-protests/
and b at MOA has a photo of the drumpf family clapping and laughing at the assassinations of 60 gazans yesterday 2900 wounded. what a great democracy israel is, jared!’
on edit, in the comment stream on the above exposé at MoA, someone asked if folks had seen this piece by craig murray: ‘The true face of the organisation calling itself “Labour Friends of Israel” has been revealed today, in truly disgusting victim-blaming tweets reacting to the massacre of over fifty Palestinians – including yet more children – by the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza.’
tons of comments, but i began to wonder how different it is from obomba signing a major MOU w/ israel upping military aid to israel, and then this for 2019.
‘Starting in 2019, the U.S. will give Israel $38 billion over the next 10 years – $3.8 billion per year, which is $10.41 million per day. This is in line with previous years. Last year the U.S. gave Israel $3.7 billion – about $10.14 million per day. In other words, the new aid package amounts to an increase of around $27 million per year.
“Under the agreement Israel promises not to not ask for additional money; however, this promise includes loopholes:
1.Israel may ask for more money if there is a “war.” (Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza – during which its forces killed over 2,200 Gazans, over a third of them women and children, and Palestinian resistance fighters killed 67 Israelis – was frequently called a “war.”)
2.The great many Congressional representatives who are personally pro-Israel or who wish to curry favor with pro-Israel donors and media may independently vote additional money to Israel. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has already indicated that he intends to do just this.
Aid to Israel is technically illegal, violating U.S. regulations prohibiting U.S. aid to non-signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. There is currently a lawsuit pending in Washington DC challenging the disbursement of this aid.”
Little by little, the USian hydra is isolating itself.
Putin’s cool hand sees this; why ever would Putin get in the way of USian’s self defeating behavior?
as is israel increasingly isolating itself on the world stage save for Wahhabi-ruled nations…and the guy in the oval office. ‘the US is the greatest purveyor of terror worldwide’ as per polls now. but before i shut down, i find myself in need of saying ‘holy shit’ to john bolton’s mouth and credo according to headlines (iran and dprk).
but yes, ‘why would putin get in the way’ is an essential question; thanks, v, and good to see you. g’night.
I would add one more thing; Putin is a master in Judo, which is as much a philosophy as a martial art.
Remember that when trying to understand his actions.
V
is the simplified version of the philosophy to use and opponent’s aggressive moves to unbalance him/her, then defeat him/her?
Yeah, close enough.
A little closer maybe is, let the opponent show their moves, tactics, and intentions.
Keep your hand very close to your chest.
As the cliche’ goes; Putin is playing chess against U.S.’s checkers.
V
your version does sound more apt. and you’ve likely seen this version of amerikan democracy promotion?
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2018/05/us-regime-change-targets-thailand.html
Yes, in fact I have. But I lost the link, thanks.
1948 was the first election the U.S. meddled with in Thailand; and it’s been going on ever since.
But the U.S. seems to be losing its grip to China and Russia; one can only hope, no?
isn’t it said that empires on their way down are at their most dangerous? really, i’m glad that boss tweet is prez (save for the continuing immiseration of the rabble and ‘univited guests’ from the south) is the naked face of capitalism and imperialism. he’s helping global realignments at a more rapid pace now, so yes to your final question.
i’ll paste in psychohistorian’s comment up yonder: ‘The good thing about this situation is that we are in it because the old way is breaking down all around us and energy abounds for supporting structural change.’ and he’s waited or decades for it. ;-)
there do seem to be indications in the south china that china and the empire are testing one another’s resolve, postures, and moves, but there are so many areas on the planet to watch that our heads can’t swivel fast enough, nor entirely know which version of the reporting is closer to the truth.
Outrage!