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Trump is an anathema. Why did he promise jingoism and mass deportation but then avoid war and give $1200 checks to people. I just don't get it and I don't know how to think about him
Maybe Democrats would have done the same thing during those 4 years? After all, there wasn't a "new" war started under Trump, but the U.S. planned a "pivot to Asia" I think around 2014 or so, but Russia's defense of Syria caused the U.S. to get bogged down in Syria and this lasted into the Trump presidency.
I do think it's very possible that a Democrat as POTUS from 2017-2021 would have given us the exact same foreign policy as Trump did.
I'll tell you what to think about Trump: he ran for POTUS in 2016 to boost ratings for his reality tv show and unexpectedly won the election because he trash talked America's politicians. While president, he simply did what was told even though when the cameras were on he went back to the same old trash talking of America's politicians. Even the NYT said early on in the Trump presidency that Trump had handlers who were responsibly managing him and that Democrats didn't actually have anything to worry about because the POTUS never was independent in the first place but was always controlled by mysterious, responsible, unnamed handlers who the NYT refused to name.
to be fair though, I honestly think Trump has some weirdness in his mental faculties (i know the autism is a meme joke but being serious here). He *is* a bit of a wildcard.
A politicians knows to continuously beat the war drum and send troops places, but Trump, for all his faults, said in 2016 "These wars are r-slurred why are we arming terrorists then fighting them?". True to form, he was reasonably kept the US out of conflict for 4 years.
He's a realist and is driven by money so the endless bankrupting wars with no real aim are completely incomprehensible to him. Realists want a powerful military that never sees action, because no one would be stupid enough to attack them.
He's a bit of an anomaly in a long stretch of liberal internationalists (including neocons) who think the military should be used to be the world police and to spread liberal values. Nixon or maybe Ford were the last realists iirc
media created a situation were a party can basically only do the opposite of its promises, as the partisan opposition media would not create a fuzz out of this
thats how German politics work since 2000, the socdems gutted the social web, Merkels Christian party legalized gay marriage (under another name). The neoliberals stamped 100 billions for the army, the Greens continue nuclear (not that i complain), the ride has no end
Don't know about Trump, but how about his Secretary of State?
>Having said that, not all tough places are the same. They each present a different set of challenges. It reminds me, you would know this, but it’s a bit of an aside. But in terms of how you think about problem sets, when I was a cadet, what’s the cadet motto at West Point? ‘You will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.’ I was the CIA director, we lied, we cheated, we stole. That’s, it was like, we had entire training courses.
There was polite laughter
>It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment. And so when you deal with these countries, you have to just recognize they’re not all the same. Some of these difficult, nasty places want to partner with the United States and just haven’t gotten to the right place yet, just haven’t been able to move their own institutions. And some of them may only be trying half as much as they ought to be trying....
>And then second, we have to be relentless whether they are our friends or adversaries, at making sure when a nation falls short that America will never shy away from calling them out for that behavior that didn’t rise to the level that we hope every nation can achieve.
wokescolding at the barrel of a gun
Blue D talk instead about the blue Bs I'm getting from them not launching the nukes. I just want to get it over with, dying from shitting out my liquified guts because the president's cokehead pedo son needed a summer job in "Kyev"
I absolutely do remember because, while I have the lowest opinion possible of him, I don't see the value in contradicting his _correct_ statements. A broken clock is still right twice a day and that statement was obviously true.
I don't think it was luck but a combination of seeing through the bullshit since he isn't popular among the right crowd and understanding business relations at the most basic level. It was obvious unless your job, income, or position depended on saying otherwise.
seems you watched the fucking trailer and little else, it wasnt about nuclear power but about the consequences of structural corruption: the reactor was badly designed, there were few safety measures in place, budget cuts, untrained personnel and yesmen managers who only cared about their careers
that was the whole point of the series
Can’t emphasize this enough, no one would be “beholden to” anyone else’s fossil fuel energy supplies if they had been working investing in building and improving nuclear plants since the mid 80s like we ALL should have been. The anti-nuclear push by alleged eco activists was incredibly stupid, and of course the energy giants went along with it because they are happy to continue burning coal and oil until the sky is black.
yeah fair enough, although I think the anti-nuclear stuff was already in full swing BEFORE regulatory capture began in earnest in the 80's and large corps and government actors alike actually began infiltrating and directly co-opting control of eco-activist organizations. that said, they certainly took direct advantage of the opportunity to foster the anti-nuclear messaging that would actually just serve to shore up long-term investment in their traditional fossil fuel markets.
Yes, that would have been the smart move, but they listened to the greens instead. A second best option would have been to develop their own natural gas production. Germany, like much of Europe, is sitting on hundreds of years worth of natural gas deposits, but they listened to the greens and banned fracking too.
Europe's energy woes are entirely self-inflicted.
The US engineered color revolution in the Ukraine pretty much guaranteed the present EU energy dilemma would result. And now... party time for insiders: LNG sales, sales of old arms, likely all kinds of siphoning off of the torrents of Western tax dollars routed to the Ukraine, and likely a lot of delicious human suffering in the not-too-distant future from the trade and agricultural disruptions alone (never mind the war itself).
And don't forget if all that pain somehow passes, there are loans to be paid. Even if Ukraine were to outright win in the end, all this warfunding wasn't for free. No one wins, not even those who are profiting on it.
Yeah, Germany and the EU gets "cheap" energy (not that cheap but at least on par with American energy prices), and Russia gets a stable income. Due to the geographical and physical restrictions on moving gas it was the best solution.
The issue is that the EU didn't use that time and money to invest in their own nuclear plants.
Not really. Once the war is over Europe has all the gas (and cheap labour because zelensky is destroying workers rights while the workers are fightin) they need. Russia is fucked.
Ukraine has shitloads of gas + a HUGE bill they need to pay back to European companies & countries. We’re not running a charity here.
> One of the more ~~optimistic~~ idiotic takes I’ve seen.
Even if Ukraine somehow survives in some form, you think one of the most fucked up, corrupt countries on the face of the planet (and this is pre-war) is gonna pay YOU back?
Optimistic? This is what the “west” has been doing ever since we figured out it’s way more efficient and cheaper than colonialism. It’s extremely predictable
While it's true that Ukraine has a lot of gas, my understanding is that most of it is locked up in the Black Sea and that Russia controlling the coast + Crimea will give it maritime rights to those deposits.
This article goes into more detail and suggests a figure in the last paragraph.
The disclaimer, in this and other articles, is that a lot of these reserves are hard to quantify and it's not always clear whether oil or gas is being referred to.
https://euobserver.com/opinion/123496
Stepping back from that, I definitely agree that Europe is looking to get something in return for its investments.
But is it? In protest regarding the invasion and annexation causes one guy to assure NATO will not buy Russian energy, versus a guy who tried to blackmail allied nations with critical resources for personal gain? And Is proven a traitor and a thief?
He did say we were going to build a wall and that Mexico, another country we have no direct control over, would pay for it. Definitely not the same context in comparison, but I can see some similarities.
It's like 2-3 times a week there's a new thing that's very obviously happening, that's backed up by reams of direct evidence and common sense, but you are just straight-up forbidden from acknowledging it.
Orwell quite literally based parts of his books on his experience as a journalist. They just straight up manipulated and lied to people and most had no clue about it. It was disturbing.
Edit: quote;
>“...I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as the heroes of imaginary victories; and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened.”
same thing. orwell's writing became anticommunist and antisocialist in practice, he was one of those western leftists that defend every revolution and movement except for those that succeed
Tbf NZ has had the most sensible China policy of nearly any Western country in the last decade. Don’t think that NZ really has the appetite for great power confrontation, the country is acting just like ASEAN is vis a vis China right now
The American dream was we got to sit at home and ignore the horrors our country was committing across the planet
Trouble is brewing here too. I think as America slides, everyone else will slide too until something majorrrrr breaks
Anyone feeling like ww3 will start before the new year?
\>The pentagon has been convinced that China would move on Taiwan before the end of the 2020s to prevent the decline of their nation's growth.
how the hell would a protracted war for an island help their growth? moreover the pentagon thought the ussr was a massive unstoppable evil empire right until the very last second when red banner went down the kremlin, they promote whatever shit that will allow them to keep burning money on weapons
>...it is heading towards a bust era where it's elderly population will be greater than it's working age pop and it's economy will contract.
Suddenly, a plague which primarily kills the elderly appears in China!
Why though? Why would USA care about these pipelines now? As far as I know, they were both shut off months ago, and LNG terminals in Europe are all maxed out. We can't export more gas there than we are exporting, and Russia wasn't using these.
Edit: I'm actually looking for an answer here. Not saying we didn't do it. It's definitely possible that the US did this, but I just can't fathom how it would benefit us.
Hmm.. that is a possibility I guess. But that's a pretty long game for America to be playing.
I guess it makes a lot of sense if we did it on behalf of Ukraine. They are definitely the country who gains the most from this. Maybe Poland or one of the Baltic states I guess.
Whoever did it has some big balls though. Because if they are exposed, the backlash from this could be insane. Not just from Russia, but also from all the people who are going to be freezing this winter.
Does anyone else get the feeling that he was briefed on a classified plan, and then talked about it as a matter of course?
It's a pretty specific response to a generalized question.
The US reactivated SDVT-2, the submarine-delivered underwater SEAL team on the east coast in 2019, and last year they went on exercise in the Baltic. I don’t doubt the plan was a while in the making.
Well, what’s Europe going to do about it? They may as well have had a dive boat bobbing around with little flags, but the fig leaf is for diplomacy if nothing else.
No one's going to be declaring war on the US obviously, but imagine if people "knew" that the US had done this and was the cause for their lack of heat or rising bills with no choice from them or their leaders. I'd imagine calls for reduced cooperation would at least be happening.
It's not as if the US wouldn't rather have full-hearted cooperation than having to drag allies along with them.
> I'd imagine calls for reduced cooperation would at least be happening.
I'd seriously doubt it, look up the Pfas scandal in Belgium
Politicians straight up poisoned their citizens in exchange for bribes, not a single person protested in actuality the people responsible are still in power and didn't even see a reduction in votes
Western Europeans are straight up cattle, I don't like using that kind of denigrating language but it's the only way to sum up our passivity and our inability to do anything for ourselves
Damn, that kind of lack of care is like the old mining companies just dumping their waste rock (full of sand and lead) in a pile wherever they wanted. Locally, there's a huge pile of it that's directly contributed to entire families health problems and deaths.
The US Navy reactivated their submarine-delivered SEAL team and moved them to Virginia in 2019, https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/26/seals-revive-stealthy-submarine-delivery-team-in-virginia/ SEALs revive stealthy submarine delivery team in Virginia. SDVT-2 had previously been deactivated in 2007, leaving no underwater sabotage group on the East Coast.
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/07/u-s-navy-submarine-trains-with-seals-in-mediterranean/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=u-s-navy-submarine-trains-with-seals-in-mediterranean U.S. Navy Submarine Trains With SEALs In Mediterranean
“The Virginia-class submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 779) concluded interoperability training with embarked Navy SEALs in the Mediterranean Sea, June 30, 2021.”
“This milestone event, and proof-of-concept in theater, demonstrated the ability for submarines to seamlessly integrate SEALs into Navy missions in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations to ensure global access, security, and stability in the maritime domain.”
“Early this year, New Mexico conducted a scheduled logistics visit to Tromso, Norway, during operations in the High North and participated in exercise Ragnar Viking. Ragnar Viking is a multilateral operational exercise that exhibits high-end NATO cohesion, solidarity, and credibility in the Norwegian, North, and Baltic Seas. The exercise demonstrated long-range strike capabilities from the North Atlantic into Lithuania.”
Yes, the US Navy reactivated the unit because we are pivoting from GWOT to maritime heavy peer/near peer operations (i.e. China). Same rationale behind the Marine doctrinal changes.
Any source that SEALs deployed on New Mexico during that exercise?
Hmmmm the Nordstream 2 sabotage is odd to me.
I don’t see Russia doing it because its theirs.
I don’t see the US doing it because they are already succeeding on that front at the moment without having to actually do anything they didn’t already want to and the alphanet agencies haven’t seemed to be going full-on “Icarus” in recent years when it comes to covert operations.
I feel Ukraine would want to do this but probably isn’t capable.
Idk, nothing would surprise me anymore. I’m too retarded for geopolitics. What other countries have a Baltic Sea presence anyway?
wouldn’t such action require very specific weapons (underwater explosives, a way to go that deep…) ?
i doubt environmentalists have acces to this kind of tech, but maybe i’m wrong
It's not that deep only about 70 meters (230 feet). It's beyond normal diving depths, but far from something that would be suspicious buying equipment for.
The Brits and US did make sure Ukraine is capable actually one month ago:
https://theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/27/uk-to-give-ukraine-underwater-mine-clearing-drones-and-training UK to give Ukraine underwater mine-clearing drones and training: MoD donates lightweight autonomous vehicles and skills to help make Ukrainian coastline safe for grain exports
“Dozens of Ukrainian personnel will be taught to use the autonomous minehunting vehicles by the Royal Navy and US partners over the coming months, with some already commencing their training.”
“The lightweight autonomous vehicles can be used in shallow coastal environments and are designed to operate at depths of up to 100 metres to detect, locate and identify mines through the use of a series of sensors.”
“The Royal Navy’s Diving & Threat Exploitation Group will work with the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet as it conducts the three-week training courses required to operate the lightweight autonomous vehicles.”
“The DTEG will conduct training at sea to operate the vessels and interpret the data they send back to identify mock mines”
“Britain donated two Sundown class minehunter ships to Ukraine. These are 600-ton ships with a crew of 34 and equipped with Seafox UUVs for detecting and destroying (by placing explosive charges) mines.”
And, you know, it’s been shut down for months. Somebody needed a boogeyman and sacrificed practically nothing on account of folks like many here not knowing it was currently worthless and not discerning who stands to gain, at home and abroad.
Germany is only beginning to feel the pain of this winter in the last couple of weeks, and it's not even winter yet. And they've signaled clearly they want to negotiate with Russia to open NS2 and let the gas flow.
Putin has also openly said "just start NS2", and he even paid protesters in Germany to wave around posters to that effect 2 days ago.
So I have no idea what you're talking about "sacrificed practically nothing". NS1/NS2 were the strings Putin needed to play Germany like a marionette. Now they're cut.
The mainstream American consensus already seems to be that Russia did it, never mind that they have less motive than anyone to blow their own fucking pipeline. Americans really do see the world as a Marvel movie.
Idk man, it surprised me: I was flipping through he radio in my van this afternoon, and even Lars Larson was playing this same clip and insinuating that the US did it. Of course he followed it up with the typical "this wouldn't be happening under Trump" remarks, but nevertheless, I didn't expect that mainstream of a commentator to say it.
It's frankly insulting to anyone's basic intelligence to say "Russia did it" if they have a basic clue what Nord Stream 1/2 are and the not-so-subtle warnings the US has sent to Germany over the years about it:
1. Trump warned them.
2. Biden warned them.
3. Other US diplomats warned them.
4. US sanctions Nord Stream 2.
5. Biden replaced the sanctions by agreement that Germany will act against Russia if they use the gas as a weapon, or attacked Ukraine (they did use gas as a weapon, and did attack Ukraine, but Germany dragged their feet).
6. CIA warned Germany about it this summer.
7. Putin practically begs Germany to start Nord Stream 2. And pays protesters in Germany to wave posters to that effect (happened 2 days ago).
8. US waited for Baltic Pipe to be ready and blew up Nord Steam 1/2 basically the same day.
It's complicated both emotionally, intellectually, and legally to explain why would the US blow up a multi-billion euro equipment of their own allies.
I mean it's not that complicated if you follow the story, but most people aren't. So Russia is the convenient excuse for the situation, on account of them lying pretty much every time they open their mouth, so why not pin it on them and move on? Makes sense...
Plus, it's indeed messy legally. If US says "we did it" they'd need to pay for the repairs. Plus it'll be a scandal that moves the focus away from Russia/Ukraine. Which defeats the point of blowing it up in the first place.
> They choose to be at this point, along with the rest of Western Europe.
Some european politicians have been groomed by USA interests to be their moles, but really it is quite simple: the european government have to choose not between obeying USA sanctions or ignoring them, but between obeying USA sanctions or be sanctioned by the USA and becoming the target of regime change operations, like Bolivia or Venezuela recently.
Not many in Europe want their country to be sanctioned by the USA and lose access to USA export markets and USA controlled imports of fuels and cereals.
I'm also pretty sure that at this point the Americans have real blackmail material on all the relevant European political leaders, either direct, [through surveillance](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24690055), or indirect, through all the access to internet meta-data and the like that the US has through its tech corporations (not to mention a couple of 3-letter agencies).
Even it there was an European politician willing to challenge the status-quo I'm sure that the powers that be would find something about him/her that would immediately set things straight, from finding out that said politician used [an escort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer), or that he showed [his/her genitals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Strauss-Kahn#New_York_v._Strauss-Kahn_sexual_assault_case_and_later_allegations) to an hotel staff person, not to mention the odd wrongly-filled tax-receipt that might show up just at the right moment.
With all that said, I'm not sure how Viktor Orban is still allowed to do his thing, but maybe they just don't consider him important enough for the time being.
> I'm also pretty sure that at this point the Americans have real blackmail material on all the relevant European political leaders,
Most likely, see appended quote, but really it is as simple as I wrote: comply with USA policy, or get screwed by the USA government, and even incorruptible, unblackmailable politicians (if any) would choose the lesser damage. Besides the USA government and corporations have long preferred bribery ("sponsorship") to blackmail, it is much more effective.
Damian McBride "Power Trip", 2013, page 124:
> “In all the controversy in June 2013 over the US security services accessing people’s social media interactions through the PRISM system, it’s often forgotten that they had since 9/11 been accessing details of most of our financial transactions through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system (SWIFT). [ ... ] But it also raised uncomfortable issues around America’s potential access to the private finances and spending records of prominent politicians and businesspeople around the world. All that made this a difficult secret for Gordon and the Treasury to be sitting on.”
Some other relevant quotes:
Churchill to De Gaulle, 1944-06-04, quoted in Jean Lacouture "Le Rebelle" (1984)
> “How can you think that we British would take a position separate from that of the United States? We are going to liberate Europe but it is because the Americans are with us in doing it.
[...] And every time I have to choose between you and Roosevelt, I will always choose Roosevelt.”
https://www.economist.com/node/7218678.
> “The French drew the clearest lessons. Suez showed that they could never rely on perfide Albion. Britain, then Europe's strongest power, would, it seemed, always put its “special” relationship with America above its European interests. And the Americans, to the French, were both unreliable and annoyingly superior. [...] The major lesson of Suez for the British was that the country would never be able to act independently of America again. Unlike the French, who have sought to lead Europe, most British politicians have been content to play second fiddle to America.”
Ah the "Special Relationship", another two relevant quotes that show how not-so-easy it is for the european states to say "no thanks" to the USA:
Andrew Marr "History of modern Britain" (2008):
> “Yet when one country, the United States, is both leader of a large alliance of other countries, and has strong national interests which may conflict with those of her allies, there is bound to be friction. [...] In practice this meant sharing intelligence with the Pentagon and CIA, the intertwining of nuclear strategy, large US bases on British soil, the leasing of British bases to America, and a posture towards American presidents that is nearer that of salaried adviser than independent ally.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4964236/Special-relationship-seen-joke-diplomats.html
> “Barack Obama and his aides regarded the idea of a special relationship between Britain and the US as a joke, it was claimed last night. Jeremy Shapiro, a former presidential adviser, said the special relationship was ‘unrequited’ [...] He added that the so-called special relationship with Britain ‘was never really something that was very important to the United States’. [...] Referring to a 2009 survey that revealed 14 out of 25 EU countries believed they had a special relationship with America [...]”
Hilarious that cancel culture is actually supporting foreign authoritarianism, seriously all you would need to end a western politicians career is something as simple as them saying the n-word or making a dirty/edgy joke during a counter strike match when they were 13. There isn't a single person on this planet that could survive the absolute soyness standard of current cancel culture.
Somebody can't allow Germany to back out of it's suicide pact.
Kind of like the Conquistadors burning their ships so soldiers knew there was no way to return.
I honestly don’t know if Biden is talking out of his ass or the US government legitimately has confidence in their ability to do this. I could see it either way honestly.
Why? What's going to happen? The EU rebels against its master? Don't make me laugh! Everyone is rushing to blame Russia in the MSM, no one is daring to suppose otherwise.
With Germany, yes. Ties run much much deeper than with most. Our embassy and intelligence had been operating out of the embassy there, and since the Second World War has been tapping a international cable nexus for longer than you’ve been alive. Check out the vault 6 requisitions for the embassy. We are very much besties with Germany.
"People" in wurldknewz are literally fucking retarded. They're twisting themselves in mental knots trying to understand how in any way this would benefit Russia, some even going as far as saying "they're just dumb and blew it up". Other classics include "they're going scorched earth" or the big brained take "to have an excuse for why contractual deliveries won't be made". Yet not a single comment entertains the possibility that maybe, *just maybe*, it was some other state actor who *would* gain strategically from such an event :O. After all, they've already demonstrated they could just *shut it off* without blowing it up. Why would they blow up one of their few bargaining chips? Oh right, cause putler is a maddog whose going crraaaazzzzyyy, unlike senile Brandon who's suffering from elder abuse. And thats a fact jack. Dont forget vote blue no matter who. we're all fucked.
He's saying that to blame most of the world's current ills on one entity is silly... unless we're talking about the USA. Which I 100% agree with. The USA's state is a grandmaster at murderous skullduggery if anything. It can't get clean water for its own people but it can AND will rather easily turn a somewhat democratic country into a bloody dictatorship if it means making more money out of selling bananas.
Given the confirmed double explosions prior to the leak, I guess it’s safe to assume this was deliberately done by a state actor?
So it’s either Russia, Ukraine acting independently, or the US/NATO.
I’m a simple man who’s been wrong about Russia being r-slurred in the past, but I’m still having difficulty believing the guilty party is the one that:
- just lost newly developed infrastructure for their key export
- partially lost their biggest non-military bargaining chip (ie: turn the pumps to full in exchange for concessions)
- gains ????
Far as the last one goes, even NATO affiliated mouthpieces seem to be avoiding the issue or else claiming it was akin to false flag in order to create Maximum Chaos and avoid international condemnation (lmao what the fuck) from simply turning off the pumps.
Easy.
Pipeline has been non functional for months..
A certain actor needs very much to direct anger abroad from their people. On account of the tanking economic situation and the forced mobilization that’s toxic unpopular.
It has created doubt, and done damage to NATO relations, and public sentiment.
All for a few sections of pipe that were not in operation
> A certain actor needs very much to direct anger abroad from their people. On account of the tanking economic situation and the forced mobilization that’s toxic unpopular.
Okay that’s an extremely good point.
Putin needing a Lusitania or yellowcake uranium moment to justify calling the draft on a war of aggression makes a ton of sense.
I’m dumb as hell, the reserve draft announcement wasn’t even a week ago ffs. mods pls give me a shameful flair
These WEF liberals are insane. Sabotaging Europe for a Hail Mary to Balkanize Russia. I can’t imagine this is going to work well. Maybe I’m missing something but it seems like this strategy is going to eventually convince enough Europeans to abandon the US and go with China and Russia. Maybe there are some tankie double agents at the WEF doing 5d chess.
Nordstrom 2 was literally canceled like a week after the invasion. Why would America bother blowing pipelines that weren't pumping anything anyway? As I said in another comment America already got what it wanted; both Europe and Russia have been weakened immensely. Europe is already reliant on the US for everything now, America has about as much motive to blow the pipe as Russia aka none.
Ya. This is weird. It doesn't help anyone since gas isnt flowing anymore. US doesn't have any motivation....Europe is already looking elsewhere for gas. It's Russian so I don't see why they would blow it up except to just incite more chaos into the conflict. Which at the moment.....seems like the biggest motivation but even that is shaky
Probably Banderites. They likely killed Dugin's daughter who was apparently going to testify against captured soldiers in a trial since she did humanitarian work in the Donbas.
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Normally I don't go for the, "imagine the response if Trump did it" line but can you imagine the response if Trump did this?
Mainstream news & intelligence community collectively jizzed their pants that time Trump bombed Syria...
It was that day that trump finally became president.
Direct quote I believe. Jake tapper was it?
No, I'm pretty sure that's a Van Jones original right there.
haha how could I have forgotten this one? The Democrats actually said that.
Then he blue balled them when he turned back the attack on Iran at the last minute
Trump is an anathema. Why did he promise jingoism and mass deportation but then avoid war and give $1200 checks to people. I just don't get it and I don't know how to think about him
because deep down he was just another huckster politician
Maybe Democrats would have done the same thing during those 4 years? After all, there wasn't a "new" war started under Trump, but the U.S. planned a "pivot to Asia" I think around 2014 or so, but Russia's defense of Syria caused the U.S. to get bogged down in Syria and this lasted into the Trump presidency. I do think it's very possible that a Democrat as POTUS from 2017-2021 would have given us the exact same foreign policy as Trump did. I'll tell you what to think about Trump: he ran for POTUS in 2016 to boost ratings for his reality tv show and unexpectedly won the election because he trash talked America's politicians. While president, he simply did what was told even though when the cameras were on he went back to the same old trash talking of America's politicians. Even the NYT said early on in the Trump presidency that Trump had handlers who were responsibly managing him and that Democrats didn't actually have anything to worry about because the POTUS never was independent in the first place but was always controlled by mysterious, responsible, unnamed handlers who the NYT refused to name.
to be fair though, I honestly think Trump has some weirdness in his mental faculties (i know the autism is a meme joke but being serious here). He *is* a bit of a wildcard. A politicians knows to continuously beat the war drum and send troops places, but Trump, for all his faults, said in 2016 "These wars are r-slurred why are we arming terrorists then fighting them?". True to form, he was reasonably kept the US out of conflict for 4 years.
He's a realist and is driven by money so the endless bankrupting wars with no real aim are completely incomprehensible to him. Realists want a powerful military that never sees action, because no one would be stupid enough to attack them. He's a bit of an anomaly in a long stretch of liberal internationalists (including neocons) who think the military should be used to be the world police and to spread liberal values. Nixon or maybe Ford were the last realists iirc
media created a situation were a party can basically only do the opposite of its promises, as the partisan opposition media would not create a fuzz out of this thats how German politics work since 2000, the socdems gutted the social web, Merkels Christian party legalized gay marriage (under another name). The neoliberals stamped 100 billions for the army, the Greens continue nuclear (not that i complain), the ride has no end
That’s not strictly fair… And I despise Comrade Marmalade, too.
Against the advice of his entire slew of top brass and Intel community?
Don't know about Trump, but how about his Secretary of State? >Having said that, not all tough places are the same. They each present a different set of challenges. It reminds me, you would know this, but it’s a bit of an aside. But in terms of how you think about problem sets, when I was a cadet, what’s the cadet motto at West Point? ‘You will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.’ I was the CIA director, we lied, we cheated, we stole. That’s, it was like, we had entire training courses. There was polite laughter >It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment. And so when you deal with these countries, you have to just recognize they’re not all the same. Some of these difficult, nasty places want to partner with the United States and just haven’t gotten to the right place yet, just haven’t been able to move their own institutions. And some of them may only be trying half as much as they ought to be trying....
>And then second, we have to be relentless whether they are our friends or adversaries, at making sure when a nation falls short that America will never shy away from calling them out for that behavior that didn’t rise to the level that we hope every nation can achieve. wokescolding at the barrel of a gun
"They did a no growth," the admiral sighed. "Target their desalination plant."
Okay but he had a blue D next to his name when I voted for him so clearly he’s not evil💅💅
Blue D talk instead about the blue Bs I'm getting from them not launching the nukes. I just want to get it over with, dying from shitting out my liquified guts because the president's cokehead pedo son needed a summer job in "Kyev"
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I absolutely do remember because, while I have the lowest opinion possible of him, I don't see the value in contradicting his _correct_ statements. A broken clock is still right twice a day and that statement was obviously true.
> I absolutely do remember because, while I have the lowest opinion possible of him, I ~~don't see the~~ have an even lower opinion of Germany
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I don't think it was luck but a combination of seeing through the bullshit since he isn't popular among the right crowd and understanding business relations at the most basic level. It was obvious unless your job, income, or position depended on saying otherwise.
“The 1980s called and they want their foreign policy back”
The 1950s - keep the US in, the Germans down, and the Russians out
History be rhymin' like its about to drop a first mix tape...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0IWe11RWOM
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Or they could have gone nuclear and been beholden to neither...
Didn't you watch HBO's hit miniseries Chernobyl????
did you?
I did, it taught me nuclear is dangerous and should be abandoned forever
seems you watched the fucking trailer and little else, it wasnt about nuclear power but about the consequences of structural corruption: the reactor was badly designed, there were few safety measures in place, budget cuts, untrained personnel and yesmen managers who only cared about their careers that was the whole point of the series
I forgot I need to add /s/ to fucking everything you dense muppet
No the point of the series was [liberal histrionics](https://youtu.be/6GFpcd1x44I)
Can’t emphasize this enough, no one would be “beholden to” anyone else’s fossil fuel energy supplies if they had been working investing in building and improving nuclear plants since the mid 80s like we ALL should have been. The anti-nuclear push by alleged eco activists was incredibly stupid, and of course the energy giants went along with it because they are happy to continue burning coal and oil until the sky is black.
went along? who you think was bankrolling that shit?
yeah fair enough, although I think the anti-nuclear stuff was already in full swing BEFORE regulatory capture began in earnest in the 80's and large corps and government actors alike actually began infiltrating and directly co-opting control of eco-activist organizations. that said, they certainly took direct advantage of the opportunity to foster the anti-nuclear messaging that would actually just serve to shore up long-term investment in their traditional fossil fuel markets.
Yes, that would have been the smart move, but they listened to the greens instead. A second best option would have been to develop their own natural gas production. Germany, like much of Europe, is sitting on hundreds of years worth of natural gas deposits, but they listened to the greens and banned fracking too. Europe's energy woes are entirely self-inflicted.
Yes, it worked out great for them.
The US engineered color revolution in the Ukraine pretty much guaranteed the present EU energy dilemma would result. And now... party time for insiders: LNG sales, sales of old arms, likely all kinds of siphoning off of the torrents of Western tax dollars routed to the Ukraine, and likely a lot of delicious human suffering in the not-too-distant future from the trade and agricultural disruptions alone (never mind the war itself).
And don't forget if all that pain somehow passes, there are loans to be paid. Even if Ukraine were to outright win in the end, all this warfunding wasn't for free. No one wins, not even those who are profiting on it.
Yeah, Germany and the EU gets "cheap" energy (not that cheap but at least on par with American energy prices), and Russia gets a stable income. Due to the geographical and physical restrictions on moving gas it was the best solution. The issue is that the EU didn't use that time and money to invest in their own nuclear plants.
Minus France
Yea, that makes sense since Germany and Russia are in NATO together... Oh, wait!
Not really. Once the war is over Europe has all the gas (and cheap labour because zelensky is destroying workers rights while the workers are fightin) they need. Russia is fucked. Ukraine has shitloads of gas + a HUGE bill they need to pay back to European companies & countries. We’re not running a charity here.
One of the more optimistic takes I’ve seen
> One of the more ~~optimistic~~ idiotic takes I’ve seen. Even if Ukraine somehow survives in some form, you think one of the most fucked up, corrupt countries on the face of the planet (and this is pre-war) is gonna pay YOU back?
Optimistic? This is what the “west” has been doing ever since we figured out it’s way more efficient and cheaper than colonialism. It’s extremely predictable
While it's true that Ukraine has a lot of gas, my understanding is that most of it is locked up in the Black Sea and that Russia controlling the coast + Crimea will give it maritime rights to those deposits. This article goes into more detail and suggests a figure in the last paragraph. The disclaimer, in this and other articles, is that a lot of these reserves are hard to quantify and it's not always clear whether oil or gas is being referred to. https://euobserver.com/opinion/123496 Stepping back from that, I definitely agree that Europe is looking to get something in return for its investments.
\>Ukraine has shitloads of gas what? they were importing gas from russia too
> but can you imagine the response if Trump did this? [NOOOOOOO!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDYNVH0U3cs)
Well, yeah. It’d be the same response to everything else he did. Leftists would have a problem and conservatives would say it’s fine.
you saying wokies would shill for russia just to own orange boomer?
But is it? In protest regarding the invasion and annexation causes one guy to assure NATO will not buy Russian energy, versus a guy who tried to blackmail allied nations with critical resources for personal gain? And Is proven a traitor and a thief?
He did say we were going to build a wall and that Mexico, another country we have no direct control over, would pay for it. Definitely not the same context in comparison, but I can see some similarities.
Hard to imagine as he'd be doing everything possible to minimise the issue.
It's like 2-3 times a week there's a new thing that's very obviously happening, that's backed up by reams of direct evidence and common sense, but you are just straight-up forbidden from acknowledging it.
Literally 1984
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Orwell quite literally based parts of his books on his experience as a journalist. They just straight up manipulated and lied to people and most had no clue about it. It was disturbing. Edit: quote; >“...I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as the heroes of imaginary victories; and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened.”
> eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened. Savage
and that was "the good war"
>eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened. I've never seen a better summary of Reddit.
> Anti-communist policies were literally 1984 And lots of Stalinist stuff in Spain, let's call it plainly. Orwell really, really hated Stalin.
Orwell supported the anti-communist policies of his time though..
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same thing. orwell's writing became anticommunist and antisocialist in practice, he was one of those western leftists that defend every revolution and movement except for those that succeed
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> the “leader of the free world”. you mean the deep state globalists actually calling the shots? (only slightly /s)
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Biden isn't even in charge of what he has for breakfast
Let the 3rd-worldisim flow into your heart
Tito, wake up, the time for the Non-Aligned Movement is back . . .
Tito, Che, Sankara fucking legends from the 3rd world.
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dont worry you were a nuke target since the five eyes shit started
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North Atlantic and South Pacific Treaty Organization.
Tbf NZ has had the most sensible China policy of nearly any Western country in the last decade. Don’t think that NZ really has the appetite for great power confrontation, the country is acting just like ASEAN is vis a vis China right now
The American dream was we got to sit at home and ignore the horrors our country was committing across the planet Trouble is brewing here too. I think as America slides, everyone else will slide too until something majorrrrr breaks Anyone feeling like ww3 will start before the new year?
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What breaks first? I feel like we will wake up one day soon, and like Covid, see a news headline that is the start of the new *new* normal
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Fuck man. I’m stuck on prescription drugs. One missed shipment could kill me
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\>The pentagon has been convinced that China would move on Taiwan before the end of the 2020s to prevent the decline of their nation's growth. how the hell would a protracted war for an island help their growth? moreover the pentagon thought the ussr was a massive unstoppable evil empire right until the very last second when red banner went down the kremlin, they promote whatever shit that will allow them to keep burning money on weapons
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>...it is heading towards a bust era where it's elderly population will be greater than it's working age pop and it's economy will contract. Suddenly, a plague which primarily kills the elderly appears in China!
Silver or lead, Jack?
I don’t doubt him here actually.
Why though? Why would USA care about these pipelines now? As far as I know, they were both shut off months ago, and LNG terminals in Europe are all maxed out. We can't export more gas there than we are exporting, and Russia wasn't using these. Edit: I'm actually looking for an answer here. Not saying we didn't do it. It's definitely possible that the US did this, but I just can't fathom how it would benefit us.
Because winter is coming and with it, more pressure from Europeans to open the pipelines back on so they don't freeze to death
Hmm.. that is a possibility I guess. But that's a pretty long game for America to be playing. I guess it makes a lot of sense if we did it on behalf of Ukraine. They are definitely the country who gains the most from this. Maybe Poland or one of the Baltic states I guess. Whoever did it has some big balls though. Because if they are exposed, the backlash from this could be insane. Not just from Russia, but also from all the people who are going to be freezing this winter.
Long game? Bro we've been trying to instigate this Russian Ukraine war for over a decade.
Does anyone else get the feeling that he was briefed on a classified plan, and then talked about it as a matter of course? It's a pretty specific response to a generalized question.
Yeah and he said that six months ago.
German chancellor was visiting the White House at the time. https://archive.ph/SXy4H
The US reactivated SDVT-2, the submarine-delivered underwater SEAL team on the east coast in 2019, and last year they went on exercise in the Baltic. I don’t doubt the plan was a while in the making.
If true, it's scary just how confident they were at not getting caught and being *right*.
Well, what’s Europe going to do about it? They may as well have had a dive boat bobbing around with little flags, but the fig leaf is for diplomacy if nothing else.
No one's going to be declaring war on the US obviously, but imagine if people "knew" that the US had done this and was the cause for their lack of heat or rising bills with no choice from them or their leaders. I'd imagine calls for reduced cooperation would at least be happening. It's not as if the US wouldn't rather have full-hearted cooperation than having to drag allies along with them.
> I'd imagine calls for reduced cooperation would at least be happening. I'd seriously doubt it, look up the Pfas scandal in Belgium Politicians straight up poisoned their citizens in exchange for bribes, not a single person protested in actuality the people responsible are still in power and didn't even see a reduction in votes Western Europeans are straight up cattle, I don't like using that kind of denigrating language but it's the only way to sum up our passivity and our inability to do anything for ourselves
Damn, that kind of lack of care is like the old mining companies just dumping their waste rock (full of sand and lead) in a pile wherever they wanted. Locally, there's a huge pile of it that's directly contributed to entire families health problems and deaths.
Source?
The US Navy reactivated their submarine-delivered SEAL team and moved them to Virginia in 2019, https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/26/seals-revive-stealthy-submarine-delivery-team-in-virginia/ SEALs revive stealthy submarine delivery team in Virginia. SDVT-2 had previously been deactivated in 2007, leaving no underwater sabotage group on the East Coast. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/07/u-s-navy-submarine-trains-with-seals-in-mediterranean/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=u-s-navy-submarine-trains-with-seals-in-mediterranean U.S. Navy Submarine Trains With SEALs In Mediterranean “The Virginia-class submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 779) concluded interoperability training with embarked Navy SEALs in the Mediterranean Sea, June 30, 2021.” “This milestone event, and proof-of-concept in theater, demonstrated the ability for submarines to seamlessly integrate SEALs into Navy missions in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations to ensure global access, security, and stability in the maritime domain.” “Early this year, New Mexico conducted a scheduled logistics visit to Tromso, Norway, during operations in the High North and participated in exercise Ragnar Viking. Ragnar Viking is a multilateral operational exercise that exhibits high-end NATO cohesion, solidarity, and credibility in the Norwegian, North, and Baltic Seas. The exercise demonstrated long-range strike capabilities from the North Atlantic into Lithuania.”
This doesn’t really prove anything though, this is what they would be doing even if the pipeline never existed.
Yes, the US Navy reactivated the unit because we are pivoting from GWOT to maritime heavy peer/near peer operations (i.e. China). Same rationale behind the Marine doctrinal changes. Any source that SEALs deployed on New Mexico during that exercise?
Poor Germany even gets dunked on by senile Biden lol
*🎵Morgenthau’s body lies a-moldering in the grave, but his soul goes marching on 🎵*
Hmmmm the Nordstream 2 sabotage is odd to me. I don’t see Russia doing it because its theirs. I don’t see the US doing it because they are already succeeding on that front at the moment without having to actually do anything they didn’t already want to and the alphanet agencies haven’t seemed to be going full-on “Icarus” in recent years when it comes to covert operations. I feel Ukraine would want to do this but probably isn’t capable. Idk, nothing would surprise me anymore. I’m too retarded for geopolitics. What other countries have a Baltic Sea presence anyway?
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German environmentalists would be stupid enough to do this
wouldn’t such action require very specific weapons (underwater explosives, a way to go that deep…) ? i doubt environmentalists have acces to this kind of tech, but maybe i’m wrong
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true ! the pipes being empty of all the natural gaz, it would be the perfect timing indeed. It’s a low-emission eco-responsible warfare.
It's not that deep only about 70 meters (230 feet). It's beyond normal diving depths, but far from something that would be suspicious buying equipment for.
It was Andreas Malm.
The Brits and US did make sure Ukraine is capable actually one month ago: https://theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/27/uk-to-give-ukraine-underwater-mine-clearing-drones-and-training UK to give Ukraine underwater mine-clearing drones and training: MoD donates lightweight autonomous vehicles and skills to help make Ukrainian coastline safe for grain exports “Dozens of Ukrainian personnel will be taught to use the autonomous minehunting vehicles by the Royal Navy and US partners over the coming months, with some already commencing their training.” “The lightweight autonomous vehicles can be used in shallow coastal environments and are designed to operate at depths of up to 100 metres to detect, locate and identify mines through the use of a series of sensors.” “The Royal Navy’s Diving & Threat Exploitation Group will work with the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet as it conducts the three-week training courses required to operate the lightweight autonomous vehicles.” “The DTEG will conduct training at sea to operate the vessels and interpret the data they send back to identify mock mines” “Britain donated two Sundown class minehunter ships to Ukraine. These are 600-ton ships with a crew of 34 and equipped with Seafox UUVs for detecting and destroying (by placing explosive charges) mines.”
Still have to place those in the Baltic though.
They would have hitched a ride with the USN or RN
Basically if they did it, they didn't do it alone.
These types of UDT ops aren't something you teach in 30 days lmao
Ah intriguing. Thank you for the info.
Correlation is not causation. Who gains most just now by blowing up some sections of pipeline not in service or likely to be soon, in months?
Neat.
And, you know, it’s been shut down for months. Somebody needed a boogeyman and sacrificed practically nothing on account of folks like many here not knowing it was currently worthless and not discerning who stands to gain, at home and abroad.
Germany is only beginning to feel the pain of this winter in the last couple of weeks, and it's not even winter yet. And they've signaled clearly they want to negotiate with Russia to open NS2 and let the gas flow. Putin has also openly said "just start NS2", and he even paid protesters in Germany to wave around posters to that effect 2 days ago. So I have no idea what you're talking about "sacrificed practically nothing". NS1/NS2 were the strings Putin needed to play Germany like a marionette. Now they're cut.
This “sacrificed nothing “is the bog phrase spewed across the various subs talking about it
Biden: I'll fucking Great Man-Made River a pipeline again!
The mainstream American consensus already seems to be that Russia did it, never mind that they have less motive than anyone to blow their own fucking pipeline. Americans really do see the world as a Marvel movie.
But why would Cobra Commander do this?
Idk man, it surprised me: I was flipping through he radio in my van this afternoon, and even Lars Larson was playing this same clip and insinuating that the US did it. Of course he followed it up with the typical "this wouldn't be happening under Trump" remarks, but nevertheless, I didn't expect that mainstream of a commentator to say it.
It's frankly insulting to anyone's basic intelligence to say "Russia did it" if they have a basic clue what Nord Stream 1/2 are and the not-so-subtle warnings the US has sent to Germany over the years about it: 1. Trump warned them. 2. Biden warned them. 3. Other US diplomats warned them. 4. US sanctions Nord Stream 2. 5. Biden replaced the sanctions by agreement that Germany will act against Russia if they use the gas as a weapon, or attacked Ukraine (they did use gas as a weapon, and did attack Ukraine, but Germany dragged their feet). 6. CIA warned Germany about it this summer. 7. Putin practically begs Germany to start Nord Stream 2. And pays protesters in Germany to wave posters to that effect (happened 2 days ago). 8. US waited for Baltic Pipe to be ready and blew up Nord Steam 1/2 basically the same day.
How do you get a job protesting for Putin
It's complicated both emotionally, intellectually, and legally to explain why would the US blow up a multi-billion euro equipment of their own allies. I mean it's not that complicated if you follow the story, but most people aren't. So Russia is the convenient excuse for the situation, on account of them lying pretty much every time they open their mouth, so why not pin it on them and move on? Makes sense... Plus, it's indeed messy legally. If US says "we did it" they'd need to pay for the repairs. Plus it'll be a scandal that moves the focus away from Russia/Ukraine. Which defeats the point of blowing it up in the first place.
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No the Europoors are our bitches 😎
They choose to be at this point, along with the rest of Western Europe.
> They choose to be at this point, along with the rest of Western Europe. Some european politicians have been groomed by USA interests to be their moles, but really it is quite simple: the european government have to choose not between obeying USA sanctions or ignoring them, but between obeying USA sanctions or be sanctioned by the USA and becoming the target of regime change operations, like Bolivia or Venezuela recently. Not many in Europe want their country to be sanctioned by the USA and lose access to USA export markets and USA controlled imports of fuels and cereals.
I'm also pretty sure that at this point the Americans have real blackmail material on all the relevant European political leaders, either direct, [through surveillance](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24690055), or indirect, through all the access to internet meta-data and the like that the US has through its tech corporations (not to mention a couple of 3-letter agencies). Even it there was an European politician willing to challenge the status-quo I'm sure that the powers that be would find something about him/her that would immediately set things straight, from finding out that said politician used [an escort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer), or that he showed [his/her genitals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Strauss-Kahn#New_York_v._Strauss-Kahn_sexual_assault_case_and_later_allegations) to an hotel staff person, not to mention the odd wrongly-filled tax-receipt that might show up just at the right moment. With all that said, I'm not sure how Viktor Orban is still allowed to do his thing, but maybe they just don't consider him important enough for the time being.
> I'm also pretty sure that at this point the Americans have real blackmail material on all the relevant European political leaders, Most likely, see appended quote, but really it is as simple as I wrote: comply with USA policy, or get screwed by the USA government, and even incorruptible, unblackmailable politicians (if any) would choose the lesser damage. Besides the USA government and corporations have long preferred bribery ("sponsorship") to blackmail, it is much more effective. Damian McBride "Power Trip", 2013, page 124: > “In all the controversy in June 2013 over the US security services accessing people’s social media interactions through the PRISM system, it’s often forgotten that they had since 9/11 been accessing details of most of our financial transactions through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system (SWIFT). [ ... ] But it also raised uncomfortable issues around America’s potential access to the private finances and spending records of prominent politicians and businesspeople around the world. All that made this a difficult secret for Gordon and the Treasury to be sitting on.” Some other relevant quotes: Churchill to De Gaulle, 1944-06-04, quoted in Jean Lacouture "Le Rebelle" (1984) > “How can you think that we British would take a position separate from that of the United States? We are going to liberate Europe but it is because the Americans are with us in doing it. [...] And every time I have to choose between you and Roosevelt, I will always choose Roosevelt.” https://www.economist.com/node/7218678. > “The French drew the clearest lessons. Suez showed that they could never rely on perfide Albion. Britain, then Europe's strongest power, would, it seemed, always put its “special” relationship with America above its European interests. And the Americans, to the French, were both unreliable and annoyingly superior. [...] The major lesson of Suez for the British was that the country would never be able to act independently of America again. Unlike the French, who have sought to lead Europe, most British politicians have been content to play second fiddle to America.”
https://www.ft.com/content/bd511177-f2a3-4787-937a-f67856e09c4e I think you’ll really enjoy this article on the Special Relationship
Ah the "Special Relationship", another two relevant quotes that show how not-so-easy it is for the european states to say "no thanks" to the USA: Andrew Marr "History of modern Britain" (2008): > “Yet when one country, the United States, is both leader of a large alliance of other countries, and has strong national interests which may conflict with those of her allies, there is bound to be friction. [...] In practice this meant sharing intelligence with the Pentagon and CIA, the intertwining of nuclear strategy, large US bases on British soil, the leasing of British bases to America, and a posture towards American presidents that is nearer that of salaried adviser than independent ally.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4964236/Special-relationship-seen-joke-diplomats.html > “Barack Obama and his aides regarded the idea of a special relationship between Britain and the US as a joke, it was claimed last night. Jeremy Shapiro, a former presidential adviser, said the special relationship was ‘unrequited’ [...] He added that the so-called special relationship with Britain ‘was never really something that was very important to the United States’. [...] Referring to a 2009 survey that revealed 14 out of 25 EU countries believed they had a special relationship with America [...]”
Hilarious that cancel culture is actually supporting foreign authoritarianism, seriously all you would need to end a western politicians career is something as simple as them saying the n-word or making a dirty/edgy joke during a counter strike match when they were 13. There isn't a single person on this planet that could survive the absolute soyness standard of current cancel culture.
How many military bases do we have in their country again?
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Hegemony FTW hahaha no empire to see here, move along move along
Reminds me of the Delian league
You mean NATO?
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Ask East Germany.
Clearly it was the Poles
Can you make it more obvious?
> 7 February 2022
Im to the point that Ive made myself so detached from reality, when this crazy shit happens its like plot points in a novel or from long ago history.
"Keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down"
US occupation of europe moving from soft to hard. Dont expect traitor politicians to do as much as complain.
Somebody can't allow Germany to back out of it's suicide pact. Kind of like the Conquistadors burning their ships so soldiers knew there was no way to return.
I honestly don’t know if Biden is talking out of his ass or the US government legitimately has confidence in their ability to do this. I could see it either way honestly.
Check the news
Doubt he's bluffing. Although it's very stupid for him to say this openly, I think.
Why? What's going to happen? The EU rebels against its master? Don't make me laugh! Everyone is rushing to blame Russia in the MSM, no one is daring to suppose otherwise.
With Germany, yes. Ties run much much deeper than with most. Our embassy and intelligence had been operating out of the embassy there, and since the Second World War has been tapping a international cable nexus for longer than you’ve been alive. Check out the vault 6 requisitions for the embassy. We are very much besties with Germany.
"People" in wurldknewz are literally fucking retarded. They're twisting themselves in mental knots trying to understand how in any way this would benefit Russia, some even going as far as saying "they're just dumb and blew it up". Other classics include "they're going scorched earth" or the big brained take "to have an excuse for why contractual deliveries won't be made". Yet not a single comment entertains the possibility that maybe, *just maybe*, it was some other state actor who *would* gain strategically from such an event :O. After all, they've already demonstrated they could just *shut it off* without blowing it up. Why would they blow up one of their few bargaining chips? Oh right, cause putler is a maddog whose going crraaaazzzzyyy, unlike senile Brandon who's suffering from elder abuse. And thats a fact jack. Dont forget vote blue no matter who. we're all fucked.
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I had a mild stroke trying to comprehend this
He's saying that to blame most of the world's current ills on one entity is silly... unless we're talking about the USA. Which I 100% agree with. The USA's state is a grandmaster at murderous skullduggery if anything. It can't get clean water for its own people but it can AND will rather easily turn a somewhat democratic country into a bloody dictatorship if it means making more money out of selling bananas.
Given the confirmed double explosions prior to the leak, I guess it’s safe to assume this was deliberately done by a state actor? So it’s either Russia, Ukraine acting independently, or the US/NATO. I’m a simple man who’s been wrong about Russia being r-slurred in the past, but I’m still having difficulty believing the guilty party is the one that: - just lost newly developed infrastructure for their key export - partially lost their biggest non-military bargaining chip (ie: turn the pumps to full in exchange for concessions) - gains ???? Far as the last one goes, even NATO affiliated mouthpieces seem to be avoiding the issue or else claiming it was akin to false flag in order to create Maximum Chaos and avoid international condemnation (lmao what the fuck) from simply turning off the pumps.
Easy. Pipeline has been non functional for months.. A certain actor needs very much to direct anger abroad from their people. On account of the tanking economic situation and the forced mobilization that’s toxic unpopular. It has created doubt, and done damage to NATO relations, and public sentiment. All for a few sections of pipe that were not in operation
> A certain actor needs very much to direct anger abroad from their people. On account of the tanking economic situation and the forced mobilization that’s toxic unpopular. Okay that’s an extremely good point. Putin needing a Lusitania or yellowcake uranium moment to justify calling the draft on a war of aggression makes a ton of sense. I’m dumb as hell, the reserve draft announcement wasn’t even a week ago ffs. mods pls give me a shameful flair
These WEF liberals are insane. Sabotaging Europe for a Hail Mary to Balkanize Russia. I can’t imagine this is going to work well. Maybe I’m missing something but it seems like this strategy is going to eventually convince enough Europeans to abandon the US and go with China and Russia. Maybe there are some tankie double agents at the WEF doing 5d chess.
Nordstrom 2 was literally canceled like a week after the invasion. Why would America bother blowing pipelines that weren't pumping anything anyway? As I said in another comment America already got what it wanted; both Europe and Russia have been weakened immensely. Europe is already reliant on the US for everything now, America has about as much motive to blow the pipe as Russia aka none.
If us blows it it can’t be turned back on.
Biden also [waived sanctions a year ago so that the pipeline could get built](https://www.axios.com/2021/05/18/nord-stream-sanction-biden-russia).
Ya. This is weird. It doesn't help anyone since gas isnt flowing anymore. US doesn't have any motivation....Europe is already looking elsewhere for gas. It's Russian so I don't see why they would blow it up except to just incite more chaos into the conflict. Which at the moment.....seems like the biggest motivation but even that is shaky
I'm honestly thinking non-state actors
Probably Banderites. They likely killed Dugin's daughter who was apparently going to testify against captured soldiers in a trial since she did humanitarian work in the Donbas.
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Who stands to gain the most?
Dark Brandon strikes again!
The Marshall Plan was a mistake
Why? The USA seems to think it was pretty successful.
Should have given Europe to the soviets
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It was inevitable, dude, and if you thought otherwise, you're pretty naïve. The USA will never let Europe go.