Sunday, March 25, 2018

Who Will Stop the US-Russia Arms Race? Aaron Maté interviews Stephen F. Cohen

Look, it's bogus. It's fiction. It's B.S. It's disinformation. It's American propaganda. The reality is this: Russia has been protesting about the, once we left, Washington left the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, Russia has been protesting what we've been building. We told Russia, why are you worried? It has nothing to do with Russia. This is all about Iran and, quote, rogue states, unidentified....
This was about Russia. The Russians knew it. You and I knew it. Everybody knew it...
Then Professor Cohen gives the game away.
STEPHEN COHEN: Do you know what is an indestructible weapon system?

AARON MATE: No I don't.

STEPHEN COHEN: One funded in all 50 states. All right. That's what this missile defense has been. They farmed out manufacturing of it everywhere from Paducah Kentucky to Israel. Everybody gets a piece of the action. Therefore you get no protest in Congress because it's constituency politics. And that's true of a lot of the weapons systems we make. They're indestructible when all 50 states get a piece of the action, and that's what you have with this missile defense stuff....
It gets worse.
AARON MATE: Now, recently there were some Democratic senators to call for a new round of strategic arms talks with Russia. But I want to read to you a quote from the Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, where he is greeting the news of Mike Pompeo now being the secretary of state. And instead of pointing to Pompeo's open disdain for the Iran nuclear deal and his hawkishness on things including Russia, this is what Chuck Schumer said. He said: The instability of this administration and just about every area weakens America. If he's confirmed we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn up we'll turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin, unquote.

So Professor Cohen, as we wrap, that is the top priority from the leader of the opposition party Chuck Schumer, for the new nominee to be secretary of state to be tougher towards Russia.
STEPHEN COHEN: Well, but it's not just Schumer. And Schumer is not to make this distinction as statesmen. He is a kind of local politician risen way above his pay grade when it comes to foreign affairs. It was outrageous what he said. But a lot of the Democratic leaders are saying this sort of thing....
Video and transcript.

TRNN
Who Will Stop the US-Russia Arms Race?
Aaron Maté interviews Stephen F. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies, History, and Politics at New York University and Princeton University

See also
Why do the Western regimes now feel Russia is a greater threat then in the past? Do they believe Russia is more vulnerable to Western threats or attacks? Why do the Western military leaders seek to undermine Russia’s defenses? Do the US economic elites believe it is possible to provoke an economic crisis and the demise of President Putin’s government? What is the strategic goal of Western policymakers? Why has the UK regime taken the lead in the anti-Russian crusade via the fake toxin accusations at this time?
This paper is directed at providing key elements to address these questions....
The Unz Review
Why the UK, the EU and the US Gang-Up on Russia
James Petras | Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

See also

Not only Russia.
Just hours after the latest close military encounter between the US and China, when the US navy sailed a destroyer to within 12 nautical miles of the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as a "freedom of navigation" operation - a move that China condemned as a "severe provocation" just as the two countries launched an all-out trade war - the Chinese military launched its spring combat readiness drills with an air force exercise in the West Pacific and a joint combat patrol mission in the South China Sea.
The air force drills include H-6K bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, according to the PLA , and have a simple, if clear, purpose: "Air Force exercises are rehearsals for future wars and are the most direct preparation for war," the Chinese Air Force said on its Weibo account on Sunday, according to Reuters.
"The more exercises China practices far from its shores the better it will be positioned as an important force for managing and controlling crises, containing war and winning battles", it added....
Zero Hedge
China Launches Massive Military Drills "In Preparation For War"
Tyler Durden


12 comments:

Matt Franko said...

", that is the top priority from the leader of the opposition party Chuck Schumer, for the new nominee to be secretary of state to be tougher towards Russia."

That is the top priority of the leader of the DEMOCRAT PARTY... fixed it for you...

this whole "Russia!" thing from them is trying to create a broad narrative that the Democrats were justified in using what will likely be charged as criminal electronic surveillance on the Trump campaign...

Tom Hickey said...

Just a reminder that the GOP controls the presidency and both branches of the legislature.

Difficult to blame anything on the out of power party under these circumstances.

The GOP owns this now.

Matt Franko said...

Well when (if?) all the criminal charges come down we'll see all of this "Russia!" stuff calm way down from them...

Only those in criminal jeopardy will still be pushing it... the other rats will quickly abandon the sinking ship...

Need the DOJ IG report out and the first criminal charges filed pronto so all of this can calm down...


Matt Franko said...

Tom this is a pretty good summary:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/03/22/giddy-up-doj-admits-they-have-a-grand-jury-empaneled-in-fbi-and-doj-investigation/

Implies a grand jury is operating... would seem like first criminal charges should be imminent...

Matt Franko said...

I think Trump will wait for criminal charges to be filed first before getting together with Putin and calming all of this way down...

Pretty reckless behavior from Democrats to strain a relationship with a potential nuclear foe in order to try to sliver out of impending criminal charges...

Noah Way said...

Implies a grand jury is operating

With "implies" being the key word. There is no news, there is only rumor and insinuation.

Kind of like the NYT above the fold today stating that Stormy Daniels' deposition of Trump "might reveal campaign finance violations".

It's all bullshit, all the time. The obvious attempts at posturing and spin only leave me amazed that anyone can still buy into any of it.

Matt Franko said...

"With "implies" being the key word."

Its supposed to be (ideally) a closed/confidential process... until (if) charges are brought...

I'd like to think that is what is going on... also there is the timing issue wrt to the upcoming mid-term elections...

this whole "Russia!" thing is right out of the Lanny Davis clintonista playbook...

The only way they can get out of it is to make the case (which is currently being made in advance thru their media sycophants.. a la textbook Lanny Davis 101..) that their surveillance (though illegal) was still justified due to the "sinister nature of Russia... yada yada.."...

iow "yes we did it but after all it was "Russia!" we were concerned about... blah blah..."

Wont help the worker bees who made the criminal accesses but may help protect the higher ups who never asked "how are we getting this information?" which might be criminal too...

iow once you find out there is a crime being committed, you have to immediately report it to law enforcement and if you don't, then you can be considered part of the crime... which is what all the high up people are looking at ie they "turned a blind eye" which can be considered also criminal...

iow they are going to say "yes we read the intercepts but since it was "Russia!" we of course were very concerned about it... blah blah blah..."

Tom Hickey said...

Implies a grand jury is operating... would seem like first criminal charges should be imminent...

Overdue. I expected it some time ago, and I think that DJT did too.

Matt Franko said...

Maybe some of the underlings are taking plea deals? So there are no charges being brought yet?

Here is another good review of where we are (you can see how Adm Rogers did the correct thing when he found out and reported it to Law Enforcement and the Court, you have to do this timely when you find out or you risk becoming part of it...):

https://www.themarketswork.com/2018/01/10/an-american-hero-the-death-of-a-fisa-narrative/

"More than 5 percent, or one out of every 20 searches seeking upstream Internet data on Americans inside the NSA’s so-called Section 702 database violated the safeguards Obama and his intelligence chiefs vowed to follow in 2011."

They are all in BIIIIIIGGGGG trouble... they are grasping for straws with this whole "Russia!" thing but it is probably all they have ...

Anonymous said...

It’s the ‘mind’ problem.

‘The gift of thinking is the gift of the divine to us. What we think about our gift to ourselves’.

But people do not know how to use the mind, independently of everyone else. So it becomes an echo chamber. The pattern of greed and revenge, competition over cooperation is set, and everyone thinks they have to work within the pattern. Mind drives mind in an endless loop – even Kabir’s ‘longbeards’. No one knows how to get off. Everyone is in despair. Everyone thinks they are their minds, the ‘I’, individual, national or racial; and no one understands the self. The true self of a human being – beyond the personality expression; the mortal seventy year temporal vehicle made of dirt.

All of this nonsense about war and domination and ownership is just mind churning out the same tired old formulas. Mediocre minds; unimaginative selfish captive materially bound limited horizon minds. Minds that are non-inclusive. No one is looking at whether or not these formulas are actually based in truth. No one will admit they have never ever fulfilled one single human being over the last 200,000 years. Who will look in the mirror that is all around us. No one sees the sun rise on a beautiful earth, nor understands the preciousness of a human being. The absolute miracle of life, privilege and meaning of our participant existence: - and see straight through the socially contrived corrupt play that is a child’s game in comparison. There is no society on this earth that is greater than a human being. There is nothing on this earth that surpasses the self. No one understands their own sovereignty, but instead, blindly bow down to corporate ‘power’. We abdicate and complain. Talk about worship gods ....

Minds are hypnotised.

That is why Socrates said ‘know thy Self’. Know who you truly are. Stephen Hawkins declared ‘there is no God’. That was his experience. Kabir would have laughed. No one ever taught Stephen Hawkins how to go inside and see the divine for himself, within him, giving him breath, allowing the heart to beat, the mind to churn out endless theories about black holes. The ancients figured out a long time ago (through the inner vision) that all of matter was just stuff built into a universal matrix of four ethers (force) – I don’t see the self as bound by matter. Anyone who wishes to discover the origins of the universe need to listen to Socrates. Learn how to go inside. And wake up!

Mind does not understand the divine because it has no knowledge of the divine. It lives in ignorance: ‘born in darkness and dying in darkness’. Someone who knew this divine turned around and said something like ‘Peace on Earth, good will to all men’. There is a brotherhood of being because there is a fatherhood (universal energy) of being - that has made manifest us all. It is a reality – not a religion. No one understands .... we dream on, not knowing where we have been, thinking society is reality. When you are taking your last breath, it will not be your reality. And perhaps you will understand it never was.

Win back your sovereignty!

That teacher who comes, who is alive today, who can teach the living, who can take you inside and back up his words, show you for yourself asking nothing in return: - that teacher is worth knowing; if you want to know. An aspirant is clear about why (s)he is here on this earth and what to do. Absolutely clear. Mind stands by silenced for once. Let all others go about their business without interference. Even the greatest empire is not great if it cannot do this. The greatest gift a human being can give and receive is kindness. Kabir stood in the marketplace, watching people go hither and thither, saying ‘no man is my enemy and no man is my friend. To each I wish them fare well’. Kabir is gone, and though his words may inspire, he is not here now, to show you how to go inside. Find a living doctor (and you shouldn’t have to look far). Try Mr Google and ‘dignity, peace, prosperity’. It should be obvious .....

Matt Franko said...

"captive materially bound limited horizon minds."

Agree but we cant just leap frog this... we have to go THRU material systems mastery first...

Like it or not we ALL need substantial material to live and thrive... we're literally made out of material think about it what that represents ... until we get a hold of material systems by the balls we are not going ANYWHERE...

And the current "out of money!" thinking is evidencing an AT BEST a juvenile level of material systems understanding...

You guys are at least 1,000 years ahead of mankind right now... youre getting way ahead of things...

Anonymous said...

"captive materially bound limited horizon minds."

I think the secret is that we are trying to fulfil our emotional nature through our material bodies, and material means. Hence greed rules. Look at this simply from a force perspective. The ‘I’ which in itself is a coalescence of forces, emotional and mental, through inexperience, wants to dominate. It’s just the law of the jungle (instinctive mind) lifted up into the emotional realm. The material world is a medium through which this battle is fought. This is what the Ramayana and Baghavad Gita are all about – these warring forces in man and the struggle to rescue the heart. The mental world is captive to this struggle at this stage, and ideology is used as a weapon. The struggle is elevated to the mental plane and the ‘I’ becomes more complex; the veil more intense. The self is unknown. All teachers have plenty to say about that.

’Peace would be mankind’s greatest achievement’.

The power in a human being that when developed rules the emotional nature, is the true mental nature, free- from this struggle. Hence education leads us forward.

But the mental nature needs the heart to ‘enlighten’ it – otherwise it operates in the dark. That is why Arjuna gets a little help from a friend.

So, I would see the struggle as a battle of warring forces in man, only subdued by the harmonies, the strength and power, the light that the heart brings. One by one, to each human being. Wherever the heart goes, time stands still. Then we will be ‘civilised’.

Your balls are just fine (although the world is obsessed with them at the moment): - it’s the warring forces that need to be calmed in this world if we want our humanity to emerge, stewards of our beautiful planet, and to celebrate being alive. I think the struggle to get hold of the material systems, is the struggle to get hold of ourselves. :-) !

I don't think anyone is a 1,000 years ahead or behind since we all can only exist NOW!

Are you trying to set us up Matt ??? :-) !!!