The US won’t give up on the narrative that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, and now the White House is claiming that the US has information that indicates Moscow is planning a “false-flag” operation in eastern Ukraine to use as a pretext for invading.
“We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in Eastern Ukraine. The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday.
Russia’s alleged plans were first reported by CNN. One of the co-authors of the initial report was Natasha Bertrand, a reporter who built her career on pushing the Steele Dossier, a now-thoroughly debunked document that made false claims about the Russian government and the Trump campaign in 2016.
After the CNN report, the claim Russia is preparing a false-flag spread through most major US media outlets and was repeated by the Pentagon. Missing from the reports and comments from US officials is any evidence to back up the extraordinary claim.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied the US accusation. “So far, all these statements have been unsubstantiated and not backed up by anything,” Peskov said.
Overshadowed by the US accusations was a Thursday report from Yahoo News that revealed the CIA has been secretly training Ukrainian paramilitaries at an undisclosed military base in the US since 2015. One former CIA official said the program has taught the Ukrainians how to “kill Russians.”
Russia held talks with the US and NATO this week on Ukraine and other security issues. Moscow wants guarantees that Ukraine won’t join NATO, but the demand was flatly rejected by the Western powers.
you mean like gasp gasp 911 type of false flag?
The Pentagon Pooh-bahs have always been stupid. Now they’re beginning to sound downright delusional.
Amerikkka will push for war with Russia no matter how many lies they must concoct. No different than Iraq.
And all the fools who voted for Bye-Done somehow expected better from the proven warmonger.
It was one fool or the other. Some of us voted for neither.
Exactly.
Every time I re-read your post about Bye-Done, I laugh aloud and it’s a good laugh. No war Gypsy, no war…
Bye-Done. Clever; I might steal that!
They are indeed stupid, but they only need to be marginally smarter than the average citizen.
Can’t wait until 2024. 150 million will once again cast their votes for either an 82-year-old lifetime politician who is in severe mental decline or a 78-year-old narcissist who currently is playing the role of King in exile and is thinning out the herd of those who don’t show him undying loyalty. While everyone else on the ballot will make them both pale in comparison, the magical “R” or “D” next to their names will once again turn the masses into fucking idiots. Without the R or D, they wouldn’t get 150 between them.
Wars r u.s.:
Your posts always reminds me of what is good about our country. Plus, sometimes you make me laugh, cynically but it’s still nice.
… Hilary 2024….
I wish you were joking. Biden winning a first term at 78 years old is a gift that will keep on giving. The witch is spry in comparison.
Nuh after 2016 even the establishment democrats and the donor class of the party wouldn’t touch Hillary. She is unlikable and although she is a genius at networking she is extremely ineffective in getting people to vote for her.
Hiliarity was untouchable in 2016; she was anointed by sheer power of Clinton networking.
There is no other potential Democratic candidate who has the brand recognition, political power, and assured warmonger credentials for 2024.
Brand recognition: yes but the reaction is universally negative
Political power: power comes from ability to deliver she has failed to deliver again and again. Now people who back her always have access to state power but direct access to the chief executive is simply better and far reaching. she simply can’t deliver that access by failing repeatedly.
Assured warmonger: perfect record in that regard but after repeated failure of us policy and resulting backlash, the moneymen especially the ones who r backing a democratic candidate need someone who is somewhat clean and fool the masses but will follow the playbook not someone who is tainted head to toe with these debacle.
True, with an empire that is falling apart nothing is certain but I m pretty sure Hillary will not make a comeback at the leadership level.
……..”the magical “R” or “D” next to their names will once again turn the masses into fucking idiots.”……No doubt!
The ever-greater departure from reality is the most frightening thing about this, as I watch. Fools. Arrogant fools.
Obviously this is putting the blame for the inevitable false flag to be conducted by the US on the Russians in advance. Russia has already reported that chemicals were delivered by “American mercenaries” into the Donbass region in recent weeks. This is more “tit for tat” propaganda.
U.S. Mercenaries Preparing Donbass ‘Provocation’ — Russian Defense Chief
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/12/21/us-mercenaries-preparing-donbass-provocation-russian-defense-chief-a75892
Meanwhile:
Russian submarine with 160 nukes on board surfaces off US coast
https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/150057-russian_submarine/
US nuclear submarine heading towards Russian waters
https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/150033-uss_new_mexico/
Clearly things are escalating, at least in the media. Probably this sort of thing goes on every day, i.e., subs near each other’s coasts. But the media taking notice is an indication that tensions are being ramped up.
But take note: This sort of thing also happens when militaries are taking steps to position themselves at times of tension in order to not be caught flat-footed if something does jump off. The ironic fact that such moves contribute to things jumping off does not appear to occur to them.
Well said Richard and I do agree with your points. I am concerned that this kind of situation could potentially develop into something else and that is not something most of us would want…
The bottom line is: the West Execs (and Karl Marx) are right, an imperial capitalist power has to expand or die. Just as Wall St. has to perpetually produce 3% profit growth or die. Thence the neocon/neolib symbiosis -not “the Thucydides dilemma” mystification.
Sadly, it also means ecological sanity is a logical impossibility.
In my undergrad and graduate level finance and economics classes, we would value stocks as perpetual annuities.
Part of the Dividend Discount Model ASSUMES positive growth of the dividend forever.
This growth would follow the same mathematical laws as compound interest and at some point in the future the company would need the earnings of the entire planet to justify the dividend.
Professors never had a good answer how this infinite growth could be possible when I asked them.
So, you are correct. Current capitalistic financial models ASSUME growth FOREVER to justify their values.
Of course, this is impossible, so their values are not calculated correctly.
But, they certainly try to expand continually forever even if it means war.
Well put.
Made me think of this clip from The International.
US Mercenaries? I call them hitmen. Hitmen are basically murderers.
The more Biden actually does nothing, the more shrill the warmongering it seems.
I wouldn’t call it resolve on Bidens’ part, just lack of interest to really pursue the issue.
The problem is, I don’t Biden is particularly aware of what is going on. I think he’s been sidelined – not so much for what he might do if he knew, either for or against, but more for what kind of “blurting out” at a press conference he might do – like he did when he openly declared the open secret that the US was committed to Taiwan’s defense, a statement that had to be walked back afterward. They can’t trust this guy to keep his mouth shut or trust his babbling not exposing something.
I think the CIA and the neocons are running the show in Ukraine, and Biden is either on board with it but with minimal details provided to him, or he has been cut out of the loop.
Biden doesn’t have to know much, just sign the orders. The Deep State is clearly divided on how to proceed or Biden’s hand would be forced one way or the other.
You may dismiss the Soros factor for lack of evidence, but his organization is the only one that really has a geopolitical stake in the Ukraine, and the soft power clout over the US Deep State. Its his people like Nuland pushing for war.
Yet no other party benefits from securing the Ukraine. Not the oligarchs of Western Europe, not the US. Only Soros Group. It looks a lot like a standoff; they can’t tell him no, but he can’t make them go in.
Hence the shrill invitations for Russia to attack, yet they have no reason to do any such thing.
I haven’t heard such shrill warmongering lies from CNN in a long time. That suggests the US will settle for nothing less than yet another war.
And so called progressives are believing the military-industrial complex.
Liars!
It’s because their news sources (NYT, WaPo, CNN, MSNBC) are telling them the same lies as usual. They trust the liars at those outlets and it’s amazing how little critical thinking they do when you point out that the truth is the opposite of what they’ve been told.
White House Admits Planning ‘False Flag’ as Pretext to Invade Ukraine
Better!
Who were the snipers at Maiden Square in 2014?
I am convinced they were right wing friends of the US, perhaps running out of control, or perhaps wink-and-nod very much known to and accepted by Victoria Nuland and Hillary. Evil warmongers.
Yes, they were Nazis (literally) operating under the auspices of the CIA and State Department.
Let’s be honest, when has the last time our spies have been right about ANYTHING? I literally can’t trust anything our government says, not since the “weapons of mass destruction debacle”, never again. Thanks Bush.
Slick Willie wasn’t exactly truthful. Or Bush 1, Reagan, Carter, Ford Nixon, Kennedy or Ike. Plus, the 3 after Bush 2: Obama, Trump and Biden. That covers my life.
WRU:
You are dating yourself…. Ooops that sounds kinky… 😉
A little effort at humor is good…
Hey, wait a minute, that covers my life as well…
The presidents that is…
Donna, I’ve been ‘dating’ myself since I was 12.
LOL!
Reagan had rough edges but overall he was one of the best US presidents. Carter should had stuck to farming but instead he became a president only to be tricked by White House advisors who he had trusted and wound up becoming a flunk. Nixon was actually telling the truth when he said “I am not a thief”.
Calling any of our presidents, in my lifetime, “one of the best US presidents” means nothing. If you think he sucked less than the rest, fine, but he sucked nonetheless. Plus, he was as senile as Biden.
You’re a moron if you believe Ronny Raygun was one of the best presidents. Carter only lost because he was a wimp and the Reagan camp had set up an October Surprise with the Iranian students. Fuck Nixon too.
Moron? You are a stupid person.
Here’s the thing about that. Our “spies” probably are right in their own internal discussions and analysis. But what gets sent on to the corporate media is often the opposite of right. That’s how despicable they are.
War against Russia is only useful (ie profitable) when it is used as a threat. If it turns into a real war against Russia it would not be a winning proposition for anyone.
Playing this game of “chicken” is very foolish
Nope. Not very profitable if everything is either incinerated or killed off.
Unless you’re one of those crazies in a posh bunker expecting to inherit the world after everyone else is dead or rolled back into a hole.
In a non-nuclear war the center of warfare will be in the Black Sea which is why Putin took the Crimea. Will Turkey be dragged into it too?
Turkey (Erdogan) imagines a winning path for itself between the two sides. See his balancing act in Syria. It may not be realistic, but it is his guiding idea.
“War, good God y’all, what is it good for?… Absolutely nothing…” Just trying to lighten the mood a bit. A little music, makes people want to move their feet, although, in this case, probably to the nearest bomb shelter…
Good one Donna 😁
🙂 PEACE
Let’s have a war!
In this particular instance, I am prepared to side with the US… The US expertise concerning how to conduct false flag operations is extensive, so maybe they do have some sense about it, or maybe not. That was a poor effort at humor though factual in content. I think the US is looking for a fight…
Moscow Times is running this as their top story…
Ah, Richard Stevenhack has the links below…
I doubt the US thinks it will get a real fight. It is bullying, an arrogant bully that genuinely does not expect what eventually comes to any bully.
The real question is whether Putin or Xi resists first, or perhaps both together have had enough.
False flag operation from Russia? Well they’ve obviously been studying how the experts to it and just copied every out of America’s foreign policies since the Gulf of Tonkin.
That is why the US assumes it.
Actually, the Russian method is a bit different, more as a succession of ever-larger advance teams. It is superficially similar, but fundamentally different from US practice.
I’ve read that the apartment bombing back in the day was in fact a Russian false flag to generate support for the war in Chechnya.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_apartment_bombings
Que in the White Helmets.
The White House administration thinks we’re all stupid I guess.
Were the September 11 attacks a false flag operation?
Uh…YEAH-uh….too many discrepancies to even come close to buying what the Amerikkkan guvvmint tried to sell us.
The US was training Ukranian Nazis in the US, to kill Russians while accusing the Russians of paying the Afghans to kill Americans.
This means the US/NATO is planning a false-flag op to get things kicked off in the Ukraine. We have a long history of announcing the other side is going to stage false-flag ops, then doing it ourselves.
A faction of the Deep State is; very likely Soros neocons. The USDS seems very divided and the false flag has yet to materialize.
The Soros Globalists have enough power to start something, but the rest of the US and Western EU Globalist Deep States are not keen to finish it.
Without that commitment, the third faction cannot waste influence on actions with no return.
Projection Translation: The US is planning a false flag pretext to allow Kiev to invade the Donbass.
Which probably won’t happen anyway because Kiev isn’t dumb enough to go in alone.
Or the Russians are making us think they are planning a false flag but actually they won’t , and it is their fault we are thinking it.
Because that is how devious they are.
LOL!
I’m only spelling out the actual pattern of retreating to that final line of defense 🙂 With Iraq we ended up blaming Saddam for making us think he had chemical weapons and with Russiagate we ended up blaming Russia for making us think they had manipulated the elections and put their manchurian candidate in charge. I believe William Arkin makes that claim too.
I suspect there are operatives, but they are much more likely to be vanguard for an attack than some mere pretext. The US uses this method to direct air attacks, as it did with about 500 Special Forces out of uniform covert operatives in Afghanistan before the invasion, directing the bombing.
The Russians have since Cold War plans to invade Europe had a system of advance teams, and then deep penetration strikes by “operational maneuver groups” far ahead of an invasion. I would presume that has not changed, it is a fixed method. If there is a war, and the Russians move, that is part of how they’d move.
I worry that the US takes a blindingly narrow view of Russian options and ideas, that assigns no choice or agency to its opponent, as if Russia will hunker down to be beaten on the way Saddam or Gadaffi had to do. “The enemy gets a say” is forgotten, and the Russians historically have been very inventive in what they say.
War start and grow from such blind foolish limited view of the other side, taking risks that in retrospect are a March of Folly (stealing Barbara Tuchman’s title for how WW1 started among fools doing this).
http://johnhelmer.net/is-geneva-2022-munich-1938-without-chamberlains-piece-of-paper-how-to-read-the-us-paper-for-peace-for-our-time/
Uh CNN, where they put an editorial stating the current talks r the perfect place to put putin in his place🤣😂
If Russia genuinely decides to act they will do a false flag. The us wanted to restrict Russian wiggle room hence the story.