Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 14:22:29 GMT -5
Vlad the Hammer vs Obama the Wimp
By Pepe Escobar
Make a plan; then make another plan. Both won't work.
- Bertolt Brecht
This is getting ridiculous. The President of the United States (POTUS) screamed and shouted because he wanted his spy (Edward Snowden) back. Snowden, following Russian laws, was granted temporary asylum. The White House was "disappointed".
Then POTUS snubbed the bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow coinciding with the Group of 20 in St Petersburg in early September. The Kremlin was equally "disappointed".
Putin sent a telegram to George "Dubya" Bush - wishing him a quick recovery from heart surgery. [1] POTUS went to a US talk show and said Russia tended to "slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality."
Brechtian distancing tells us that "ridiculous" does not even begin to describe it. The Cold War mentality is actually impregnated in the Beltway genes - from Capitol Hill to the Pentagon. As for POTUS, he acted like a diplomatic dilettante at best. "Yes, We Can" has morphed into "Yes, We Scan"; and now it's "Yes, We Scorn". This may apply to assorted poodles of European breeding, but it won't stick to Vlad the Hammer.
The White House justified its decision by "lack of progress" on everything including missile defense, arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, human rights and civil society. Nonsense; this was all about an impotent POTUS prevented from prosecuting his war against whistleblowers. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yury Ushakov, was closer to the truth when he said, "The US is not ready to build relations on an equal basis."
Vlad the Hammer can sense a wimp of Carter-esque proportions like a polar bear hunting a seal. He quickly evaluated how the Obama administration turned its already shaky credibility to ashes on two simultaneous fronts; because of the scale of the Orwellian/Panopticon complex detailed by Snowden's leaks, and because of the way he was being mercilessly hunted.
Adding a few more nails in the coffin of mainstream media, the New York Times posted an editorial - arguably "suggested" by the White House - justifying the cancelation of the summit, saying, "Mr Putin is a repressive and arrogant leader who treats his people with contempt." [2] Right; and Snow White lives in the White House.
All aboard the Trans-Siberian
POTUS's adolescent tantrum has nothing to do with Cold War. For starters, the US and Russia are mutually dependent on a vast array of issues. At least in theory, some adults will be discussing them in Washington this weekend, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Pentagon head Chuck Hagel.
Vlad just needs to say the word to turn the already humiliating US/NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan - as in having their asses kicked by a bunch of Pashtuns with fake Kalashnikovs - into a cataclysmic disaster.
Vlad can subtly calibrate Russia's support for Bashar al-Assad in Syria - especially after Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar "Bush" bin Sultan paid him a visit in Moscow and allegedly offered to buy loads of Russian weapons as long as Russia backed off. [3] Putin was not impressed. Still, Bandar would not have done that without "consulting" with his US masters.
snip
By Pepe Escobar
Make a plan; then make another plan. Both won't work.
- Bertolt Brecht
This is getting ridiculous. The President of the United States (POTUS) screamed and shouted because he wanted his spy (Edward Snowden) back. Snowden, following Russian laws, was granted temporary asylum. The White House was "disappointed".
Then POTUS snubbed the bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow coinciding with the Group of 20 in St Petersburg in early September. The Kremlin was equally "disappointed".
Putin sent a telegram to George "Dubya" Bush - wishing him a quick recovery from heart surgery. [1] POTUS went to a US talk show and said Russia tended to "slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality."
Brechtian distancing tells us that "ridiculous" does not even begin to describe it. The Cold War mentality is actually impregnated in the Beltway genes - from Capitol Hill to the Pentagon. As for POTUS, he acted like a diplomatic dilettante at best. "Yes, We Can" has morphed into "Yes, We Scan"; and now it's "Yes, We Scorn". This may apply to assorted poodles of European breeding, but it won't stick to Vlad the Hammer.
The White House justified its decision by "lack of progress" on everything including missile defense, arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, human rights and civil society. Nonsense; this was all about an impotent POTUS prevented from prosecuting his war against whistleblowers. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yury Ushakov, was closer to the truth when he said, "The US is not ready to build relations on an equal basis."
Vlad the Hammer can sense a wimp of Carter-esque proportions like a polar bear hunting a seal. He quickly evaluated how the Obama administration turned its already shaky credibility to ashes on two simultaneous fronts; because of the scale of the Orwellian/Panopticon complex detailed by Snowden's leaks, and because of the way he was being mercilessly hunted.
Adding a few more nails in the coffin of mainstream media, the New York Times posted an editorial - arguably "suggested" by the White House - justifying the cancelation of the summit, saying, "Mr Putin is a repressive and arrogant leader who treats his people with contempt." [2] Right; and Snow White lives in the White House.
All aboard the Trans-Siberian
POTUS's adolescent tantrum has nothing to do with Cold War. For starters, the US and Russia are mutually dependent on a vast array of issues. At least in theory, some adults will be discussing them in Washington this weekend, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Pentagon head Chuck Hagel.
Vlad just needs to say the word to turn the already humiliating US/NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan - as in having their asses kicked by a bunch of Pashtuns with fake Kalashnikovs - into a cataclysmic disaster.
Vlad can subtly calibrate Russia's support for Bashar al-Assad in Syria - especially after Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar "Bush" bin Sultan paid him a visit in Moscow and allegedly offered to buy loads of Russian weapons as long as Russia backed off. [3] Putin was not impressed. Still, Bandar would not have done that without "consulting" with his US masters.
snip