Friday 29th of March 2024

nutsos...

nutsos
A Russian diplomat has both confirmed and denied what US war hawks have been calling out. Moscow is indeed preparing for war, he said – just in case the US starts one.

Speaking at the UN on Friday, Andrey Belousov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, said that Russia is indeed readying itself for war, so it can defend its people against American aggression.

At a recent meeting, the US stated that Russia is preparing for war. Yes, Russia is preparing for war, I can confirm it.

Russia's military build-up and large-scale drills, often painted in the Western media as preparations for all-out war, are a defensive necessity, he said.

"We are preparing to defend our homeland, our territorial integrity, our principles, our values, our people."

Russia doesn't seek a confrontation, he said, unlike the US. "Why else would the United States pull out of the [INF] Treaty, increase their nuclear potential, adopt a new nuclear doctrine that lowers the threshold for nuclear weapons use – that's the question for us all."

Russia is preparing 'for war,' while the US is preparing 'war.'

Belousov's words came after a Russian draft resolution to reinforce the INF Treaty, which bans intermediate-range nuclear weapons, was overwhelmingly rejected at the UN First Committee. "Most of those who voted against were supporters of the INF Treaty. I don't understand their position," Belousov said. Among those who voted down the draft were the UK, Germany, France, and, of course, the US.

Washington's decision to scrap the Cold War-era agreement alarmed both Europe and Moscow, which warned it would"make the world a more dangerous place" and vowed retaliation.

Washington has accused Russia of building missiles prohibited by the INF, while Moscow argued that American missile defense complexes in Europe can be easily turned into offensive weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if the US moves to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, it will put the whole of Europe at risk of a retaliatory strike.

 

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/442407-russia-war-preparation-inf/

the not the gulf of mexico stand off...

The Chinese ambassador also revealed that it can be quite difficult for foreign diplomatic officials to determine who among Trump’s advisers currently has the president’s ear.

Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the US, has announced that during the recent incident in the South China Sea, when a US guided missile destroyer barely managed to avoid collision with a Chinese warship, the Chinese vessel was merely responding to an intervention “at China’s doorstep.”

In an exclusive interview on Fox News Sunday, Tiankai insisted that the very name of the location where said incident took place clearly shows whose vessel was “on the offensive” and who was “on the defensive.”

"Where the incident took place, you were right to say it was in South China Sea. So it’s at China’s doorstep," Tiankai said. "It’s not Chinese warships that are going to the coast of California, or to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s so close to the Chinese islands and it’s so close to the Chinese coast. So who is on the offensive? Who is on the defensive? This is very clear."

The encounter between the USS Decatur and China's naval forces happened after the American destroyer was reported sailing in the disputed territory of the Spratly Islands. The warship is said to be acting under the “freedom of navigation” program that urges China to allow other nations’ warships to pass through the territorial waters of the South China Sea.

 

When the US destroyer approached one of the Gaven Reefs near the disputed islands, China dispatched a Luyang-class destroyer to escort the American warship away.

The South China Sea is one of the world's most sensitive areas. Beijing's extensive territorial claims to the sea, which include islands, banks, reefs and maritime ways, are challenged by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan, which also have counter claims.

Trump's 'Confusing' Inner Circle

The ambassador also revealed  explained that the workings of inner circle of US President Donald Trump can be very confusing for foreign diplomatic officials.

 

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/world/201810141068879799-ambassador-south-china-...

the diplomacy of US incoherent imbeciles...

Russia is preparing to defend itself against aggression while Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the INF Treaty signals that the US is readying for a war, according to Andrei Belousov, a top Russian Foreign Ministry official. Sputnik talked this over with Tony Kevin, a former Australian diplomat and author of the book "Return to Moscow."

Sputnik: What’s your take on the Russian diplomat’s conclusion that Washington is preparing to start a war?

Tony Kevin: I think it’s a little bit overdramatic. I think Trump is an incoherent president at best. The people who are his closest advisers, [John] Bolton and [Mike] Pompeo, are not much better. Perhaps the only ray of hope in all this is that Bolton left Moscow saying “well, the decision hasn’t yet been fully taken.”

I think Trump has a bit of a habit of overstating conflict; he did this with the North Korean president, and he was vowing fire and brimstone and bringing nuclear destruction to bear on North Korea, and then they met and were great friends in Singapore, and they still seem to be reasonably friendly at this point. Trump is erratic, he is an actor and he’s unstable. I am not saying that Russia and the world should not be very worried about this. Of course we are, we should be; but I don’t think it’s World War III just yet. 

Sputnik: That’s a bit of relief. Nonetheless, this is a very worrying tendency that Donald Trump is repeatedly withdrawing from various treaties. How do you assess his decision? What do you think prompted him to make the decision, to withdraw from the INF Treaty specifically at the time that he did, or said he would do so?

Tony Kevin: Look, America is a declining power, it’s a country where the working class has been impoverished, where there is great fear and anxiety; most poor people live from paycheck to paycheck. There are incredible disparities of wealth in the US. It’s a very sick society at the moment, let’s be honest about it.

 

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201810271069278984-russia-china-inf-us-...

senses????

 

...

It's been years since the people of Germany and Europe have thought this much about nuclear warheads capable of wiping out entire cities. For quite some time, the only people busying themselves with terms like "range of fire," "retaliation scenarios" and "disarmament treaties" have been the military and a handful of specialists.

And once again, it was Trump who triggered the new gamesmanship with just a few incendiary remarks. A little over a week ago, he let the world know that he intended to pull his country out of another international pact. Following the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal, Trump has now set his sights on the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which paved the way to the end of the Cold War and resulted in the scrapping of thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles. It was considered an important milestone in disarmament policy.

"We're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out," Trump said during a campaign event in Nevada. National Security Adviser John Bolton later said the U.S. was "going to be doing a lot of consultation with allies in Europe and Asia." The Americans justified their withdrawal by arguing that Moscow had not adhered to the treaty. But presumably it's China they're worried about rather than just Russia.

Under the INF, the U.S. and Russia may not deploy land-based, medium-range nuclear weapons capable of striking targets between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,420 miles) away. The deal was one of the great achievements of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, who put an end to a bitter arms race when they signed the treaty in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8, 1987.

The treaty helped calm fears that had reached a fever pitch, especially in West Germany. Nothing made the Germans more anxious than the prospect of a nuclear strike on German soil. In the early 1980s, hundreds of thousands of people protested against the deployment of American Pershing II ballistic missiles in Germany, with which NATO had responded to the Soviet Union's SS-20 missiles.

Unmoved

With that in mind, politicians like Maas have pledged to fight for the treaty "with all diplomatic means." In a recent phone call with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo, Maas emphasized that Trump's move impacted the "core interests of European security architecture." But the Trump administration has often proven unmoved by European protestations.

A guessing game has begun: What are Trump and Bolton really up to? The mustachioed national security advisor is widely regarded as a seasoned strategist who doesn't have a high opinion of disarmament treaties or other international commitments. Instead, he would prefer to see the U.S. rely entirely on its own strength -- on unilateral power politics.

Last summer, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen got the first hint that Washington might back out of INF during a conversation with Bolton. Yet just three weeks ago, her American counterpart, James Mattis, said at a meeting of NATO defense ministers that any decision by the U.S. would be made "in concert with our allies, as always." But Mattis isn't in Trump's best graces. So it comes as no surprise that the news from Nevada arrived in Berlin without any prior consultation.

 

Read more:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/trump-withdrawal-from-nuclear-...

 

 

Meanwhile near the Gulf of Mexico:

 

Moscow’s response to Trump’s plans to quit the INF treaty could be to reinstall military bases in Cuba, the State Duma defense committee head said. He also predicted “a new Cuban crisis” if the US and Russia fail to come to terms.

The US is planning to walk away from the crucial Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, and Russia’s response may well be in the spirit of those times – namely, reactivating military facilities in Cuba. That is according to Vladimir Shamanov, the head of the State Duma defense committee and a former Airborne Troops commander.

 

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/442726-russia-cuba-bases-inf/

 

praying to saint lasagna for peace...

 

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The Conte government thus supported de facto the US plan to abandon the INF Treaty and once again to deploy in Europe (including Italy) medium range nuclear missiles pointed at Russia. These missiles will be added to the new B61-12 nuclear bombs that the United States will begin to deploy, as from March 2020, in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Holland and probably other European countries, always with an anti-Russia objective.

At the Press conference, responding to a journalist, Putin was very clear – the European countries which accept to deploy US medium range nuclear missiles on their territory would be endangering their own security, because Russia would be ready to riposte. Conte assured that « Italy lives with the anxiety of this conflict and will do everything possible to ensure that a window for dialogue remains open ».

One supposes that this is what he is doing - by preparing to house and use, under US command, the new B61-12 nuclear bunker-buster bombs to destroy Russian underground facilities and command centres.

Manlio Dinucci

Translation 
Pete Kimberley

Source 
Il Manifesto (Italy)

 

Read more:

http://www.voltairenet.org/article203700.html

 

In the late 1970s, I nearly got a spoof cookbook published. It was about how a bachelor can survive in the kitchen, at a time of being assaulting by a plethora of cookbooks, mostly designed to make the average bloke feel inadequate. My efforts included a "Pilgrimage to St Lasagna (frozen)", a short visit to the Spaghetti Fountain in Rome, and of course an introductory course in the essential tool of the lonely: the tin opener. All this was soon superseded by the pop-tops and television cooking show, many of which sound as ridiculous as my original idea, except they are seriously "cooking". Politics between the US, the Europeans and Russia seem to be even more spoofy than my recipes for lonely men. The present crop of lonely men in charge of the planet could do with a bit of "how to eat your soup and shower at the same time, to save cleaning up".

Time to give these morons either a day job as shit-pumper or send them on the holiday of their lifetime with no return ticket.

same old soap powder on the shelves...

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - China is most likely stealing Russian intellectual property in order to sell copycat weapons systems for a lower price at some point in the future, Bolton said in Washington, DC on Wednesday.

"Russia sells advanced weapons systems and at least so far, China buys advanced weapons systems although I have complete confidence that they’re doing to the Russians the same thing they do to many American products and businesses – they’re stealing their intellectual property, they’re copying it, they’re duplicating it and pretty soon they’ll sell the same weapons systems at prices lower than the Russians sell them," US National Security Advisor John Bolton said at an Alexander Hamilton Society event.

 

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/world/201810311069399946-china-russian-weapons/

 

 

I love it... Bolton is trying to split the possible Russian-Chinese alliance with some very basic warnings, WHICH THE RUSSIANS WOULD BE VERY MUCH AWARE OF... Industrial espionage is rife. Reverse engineering is massive and intellectual property are only protected by SECRECY, not by patents, except for a can opener which became obsolete a long time ago.

The trick is always to invent something "better" than what you have already sold. This is Marketing 101. It could be the same shit, but the word "NEW" has more power to sell than "the same old stock" which often becomes "Bargain sale", "Runout model" and "Dump bin material".