1. This is a photo of the German Embassy Residence in Rockcliffe Park Ottawa. Note the Ukraine colours on the front of the house.
2. Historical chart of the value of the Ruble before, and after sanctions were imposed.
3. BBC: US president en absentia Joe Biden doubles down on his accusations that Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine
Trudeau agrees with Biden about Russian Genocide in Ukraine. As repugnant as Trudeau is, he is right about one thing. There is the use of rape and sexual slavery being used against the women of the Ukraine. This is true. but what Trudeau does not say, and what actually makes him so very repugnant, is that this is being committed by Chechen muslims.
Please post all related links and news to the comments under this post on the subject. More will be included in the post if there is any chance of coroborating the factualness of the item.
STEVE KIRSCH: WHAT I THINK OF THE BRYAN ARDIS VIDEO – “WATCH THE WATER”
The video is out. I’ve seen it. A few parts I agree with. For most other parts I’m skeptical. I’ve invited Bryan to meet with my colleagues so we can ask questions.
My take on his key points
Here are some of the key points and my thoughts on them:
1 – Do I think it is a poison rather than a virus? No. You can’t get a poison from another person through close contact like at a party. More importantly, if it is a poison, this would have been discovered by now. Also, poisons don’t replicate. I’m not buying it.
2 – Do I think it is spread through the water? No. If it was there would be pockets of severe disease where everyone has a high infection rate. You don’t get a virus from eating or drinking something. Can the virus replicate in the gut? Yes. But then it needs another pathway to enter your body.
3 – Do I think the virus is related to snake venom? Yes, we’ve been talking about that for over a month internally. I don’t think this part is controversial. Dr. Tau Braun was discussing the similarities to snake venom in late 2020.
4 – Is Ardis on a hit list? What I know is that there is a credible evidence that Ardis is being targeted and I heard that directly from a top government official. However, there is no explicit “hit list” that anyone has seen.
5 – Is it spread through the air almost exclusively? That’s an interesting question. That’s the current thinking. I also know that there were several people who got sick at the DTM event who all worked in the same room together. I doubt it was in the water or in the food. So I’m still a believer in the traditional explanations of viral spread, but I’m open to seeing evidence that I’m wrong.
If I missed a key point you’d like an opinion on, let me know in the comments.
https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/what-i-think-of-the-bryan-ardis-video
The Russian military found UAVs with liquid containers and sprayers abandoned by the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol
ctv news – A look at destroyed bridge in Irpin
Ukrainian forces destroyed the bridge in an attempt to stop Russian tanks from entering Kiev.
cbc – Canadian troops train for battle in Latvia amid Russian threat
Hundreds of Canadian soldiers deployed to Latvia are preparing to defend NATO territory over fears Russia could attack the Baltic states.
Not everyone is convinced their presence will deter Russian forces, pointing to Latvia’s unprotected border.
CNN – Putin’s plan to stop NATO backfires
Finland and Sweden could soon join NATO, moves that would likely infuriate Moscow
europravda – Finland to make NATO membership decision in ‘weeks rather than months’
Yellen warns nations flouting Russia sanctions
Biden announces $800M in Ukraine aid, including artillery, helicopters
President Biden announced Wednesday that his administration would authorize $800 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine, including artillery, helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Biden said in a statement that he briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the new assistance in a phone call earlier Wednesday.
“The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect. As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself,” Biden said.
“This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine,” he said. “These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds and armored personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters.”
The Pentagon said more specifically that the aid package includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 300 Switchblade drones, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers, 18 Howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds, 10 counter-artillery radars, 500 Javelin missiles, unmanned coastal defense vessels and protective equipment in the event of a chemical or biological weapons attack.
Biden also said that the U.S. would help transfer “significant capabilities” from other allies to Ukraine, without providing specific details on those capabilities.
The formal announcement Wednesday came after news outlets including The Hill reported that Biden was expected to approve an additional $750 million in military assistance for Ukraine to combat Russia’s invasion.
A source told The Hill earlier Wednesday that the assistance package is expected to include Howitzer artillery.
The U.S. has committed $1.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began nearly seven weeks ago.
But Ukraine has pleaded for additional weaponry and systems to repel Russian attacks. Before his call with Biden on Wednesday, Zelensky posted a video to Twitter asking for additional air defense systems, combat aircraft, artillery, armored vehicles and tanks from the U.S. and its allies.
“Freedom must be armed better than tyranny,” he says in the video, which was posted in English and Ukrainian. “Arm Ukraine now to defend freedom.”
The U.S. has stepped up security assistance to Ukraine since the invasion began. Last week, the Biden administration helped facilitate the transfer of a Soviet-era S-300 air defense system from Slovakia to Ukraine by repositioning a U.S. Patriot missile system in Slovakia.
There had been questions leading up to the official announcement about whether helicopters would be included new package, but Biden’s statement made clear they would be.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters that the 11 Soviet-era Mi-17 helicopters included in the package were initially earmarked for Afghanistan.
Kirby also said the U.S. was exploring ways to train Ukrainian forces on some of the systems being provided.
“We believe that we can put together appropriate training for some of these systems very, very quickly,” Kirby said, noting that the systems are not very complex.
At the same time, Biden has resisted calls from Ukraine to supply the country with fighter jets. The administration rejected a plan last month that would have involved transferring MiG-29 jets from Poland to Ukraine out of concern it would escalate tensions with Russia.
Evelyn Farkas, the top defense official for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia during the Obama administration, told The Hill on Wednesday that the U.S. should supply Ukraine with fighter aircraft, more offensive weaponry, and better maritime weaponry.
“We want to inundate Ukraine with military assistance so that we can bring this to a rapid military conclusion,” she said.
After failing to seize Kiev, the Russians have withdrawn forces from around the Ukrainian capital and are expected to focus attacks on the south and east, including the Donbas region.
https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2571629342477/biden-announces-800m-in-ukraine-aid-including-artillery-helicopters
BBC – Joe Biden accuses Russia of ‘genocide’ in Ukraine
Biden first made the comments during a speech about surging inflation, and later confirmed his remarks.
Trudeau agrees with Biden that Russia committing “genocide” in Ukraine
+ comments on the YT page
Macron warns of ‘escalation of rhetoric’ after Biden ‘genocide’ comment
Macron on Wednesday declined to characterize the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine as genocide, saying that “an escalation of rhetoric” is harmful.
[…]Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has used the term genocide before and praised President Biden as “a true world leader” for saying the same earlier this week.
“Calling things by their name is essential to stand up to evil,” Zelensky tweeted Tuesday.
[…]Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian foreign ministry, called Macron’s comments “disappointing.”
“French President Emmanuel Macron’s unwillingness to recognize the genocide of Ukrainians after all the outspoken statements of Russian leadership and criminal actions of Russian military is disappointing,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/3266288-macron-warns-of-escalation-of-rhetoric-after-biden-genocide-comment/
Trump on Fox News: “What’s going on in Ukraine that’s genocide.”
Jen Psaki Asked To Clarify Biden Comments Calling Ukraine War A Genocide
BBC – Russian claims more than 1,000 Ukrainian troops surrender in Mariupol
MARCH 2014 – Corporate Interests Behind Ukraine Putsch
Behind the U.S.-backed coup that ousted the democratically elected president of Ukraine are the economic interests of giant corporations from Cargill to Chevron which see the country as a potential “gold mine” of profits from agricultural and energy exploitation, reports JP Sottile.
On Jan. 12, a reported 50,000 “pro-Western” Ukrainians descended upon Kiev’s Independence Square to protest against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. Stoked in part by an attack on opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko, the protest marked the beginning of the end of Yanukovych’s four year-long government.
That same day, the Financial Times reported a major deal for U.S. agribusiness titan Cargill.
Despite the turmoil within Ukrainian politics after Yanukovych rejected a major trade deal with the European Union just seven weeks earlier, Cargill was confident enough about the future to fork over $200 million to buy a stake in Ukraine’s UkrLandFarming. According to Financial Times, UkrLandFarming is the world’s eighth-largest land cultivator and second biggest egg producer. And those aren’t the only eggs in Cargill’s increasingly-ample basket.
On Dec. 13, Cargill announced the purchase of a stake in a Black Sea port. Cargill’s port at Novorossiysk, to the east of Russia’s strategically significant and historically important Crimean naval base, gives them a major entry-point to Russian markets and adds them to the list of Big Ag companies investing in ports around the Black Sea, both in Russia and Ukraine.
Cargill has been in Ukraine for over two decades, investing in grain elevators and acquiring a major Ukrainian animal feed company in 2011. And, based on its investment in UkrLandFarming, Cargill was decidedly confident amidst the post-EU deal chaos. It’s a stark juxtaposition to the alarm bells ringing out from the U.S. media, bellicose politicians on Capitol Hill and perplexed policymakers in the White House.
It’s even starker when compared to the anxiety expressed by Morgan Williams, President and CEO of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, which, according to its website, has been “Promoting U.S.-Ukraine business relations since 1995.” Williams was interviewed by the International Business Times on March 13 and, despite Cargill’s demonstrated willingness to spend, he said, “The instability has forced businesses to just go about their daily business and not make future plans for investment, expansion and hiring more employees.”
In fact, Williams, who does double-duty as Director of Government Affairs at the private equity firm SigmaBleyzer, claimed, “Business plans have been at a standstill.”
Apparently, he wasn’t aware of Cargill’s investment, which is odd given the fact that he could’ve simply called Van A. Yeutter, Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Cargill, and asked him about his company’s quite active business plan. There is little doubt Williams has the phone number because Mr. Yuetter serves on the Executive Committee of the selfsame U.S.-Ukraine Business Council. It’s quite a cozy investment club, too.
According to his SigmaBleyzer profile, Williams “started his work regarding Ukraine in 1992” and has since advised American agribusinesses “investing in the former Soviet Union.” As an experienced fixer for Big Ag, he must be fairly friendly with the folks on the Executive Committee.
Big Ag Luminaries
And what a committee it is, it’s a veritable who’s who of Big Ag. Among the luminaries working tirelessly and no doubt selflessly for a better, freer Ukraine are:
–Melissa Agustin, Director, International Government Affairs & Trade for Monsanto
–Brigitte Dias Ferreira, Counsel, International Affairs for John Deere
–Steven Nadherny, Director, Institutional Relations for agriculture equipment-maker CNH Industrial
–Jeff Rowe, Regional Director for DuPont Pioneer
–John F. Steele, Director, International Affairs for Eli Lilly & Company
And, of course, Cargill’s Van A. Yeutter. But Cargill isn’t alone in their warm feelings toward Ukraine. As Reuters reported in May 2013, Monsanto, the largest seed company in the world, plans to build a $140 million “non-GM (genetically modified) corn seed plant in Ukraine.”
And right after the decision on the EU trade deal, Jesus Madrazo, Monsanto’s Vice President for Corporate Engagement, reaffirmed his company’s “commitment to Ukraine” and “the importance of creating a favorable environment that encourages innovation and fosters the continued development of agriculture.”
Monsanto’s strategy includes a little “hearts and minds” public relations, too. On the heels of Mr. Madrazo’s reaffirmation, Monsanto announced “a social development program titled “Grain Basket of the Future” to help rural villagers in the country improve their quality of life.” The initiative will dole out grants of up to $25,000 to develop programs providing “educational opportunities, community empowerment, or small business development.”
The well-crafted moniker “Grain Basket of the Future” is telling because, once upon a time, Ukraine was known as “the breadbasket” of the Soviet Union. The CIA ranks Soviet-era Ukraine second only to Mother Russia as the “most economically important component of the former Soviet Union.”
In many ways, the farmland of Ukraine was the backbone of the USSR. Its “fertile black soil” generated over a quarter of the USSR’s agriculture. It exported “substantial quantities” of food to other republics and its farms generated four times the output of “the next-ranking republic.”
Although Ukraine’s agricultural output plummeted in the first decade after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the farming sector has been growing spectacularly in recent years. While Europe struggled to shake-off the Great Recession, Ukraine’s agriculture sector grew 13.7% in 2013.
Ukraine’s agriculture economy is hot. Russia’s is not. Hampered by the effects of climate change and 25 million hectares of uncultivated agricultural land, Russia lags behind its former breadbasket.
According to the Centre for Eastern Studies, Ukraine’s agricultural exports rose from $4.3 billion in 2005 to $17.9 billion in 2012 and, harkening the heyday of the USSR, farming currently accounts for 25 percent of its total exports. Ukraine is also the world’s third-largest exporter of wheat and of corn. And corn is not just food. It is also ethanol.
Feeding Europe
But people gotta eat, particularly in Europe. As Frank Holmes of U.S. Global Investors assessed in 2011, Ukraine is poised to become Europe’s butcher. Meat is difficult to ship, but Ukraine is perfectly located to satiate Europe’s hunger.
Just two days after Cargill bought into UkrLandFarming, Global Meat News (yes, “Global Meat News” is a thing) reported a huge forecasted spike in “all kinds” of Ukrainian meat exports, with an increase of 8.1% overall and staggering 71.4% spike in pork exports. No wonder Eli Lilly is represented on the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council’s Executive Committee. Its Elanco Animal Health unit is a major manufacturer of feed supplements.
And it is also notable that Monsanto’s planned seed plant is non-GMO, perhaps anticipating an emerging GMO-unfriendly European market and Europe’s growing appetite for organic foods. When it comes to Big Ag’s profitable future in Europe, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
For Russia and its hampered farming economy, it’s another in a long string of losses to U.S. encroachment, from NATO expansion into Eastern Europe to U.S. military presence to its south and onto a major shale gas development deal recently signed by Chevron in Ukraine.
So, why was Big Ag so bullish on Ukraine, even in the face of so much uncertainty and the predictable reaction by Russia?
The answer is that the seeds of Ukraine’s turn from Russia have been sown for the last two decades by the persistent Cold War alliance between corporations and foreign policy. It’s a version of the “Deep State” that is usually associated with the oil and defense industries, but also exists in America’s other heavily subsidized industry, agriculture.
Morgan Williams is at the nexus of Big Ag’s alliance with U.S. foreign policy. To wit, SigmaBleyzer touts Mr. Williams’ work with “various agencies of the U.S. government, members of Congress, congressional committees, the Embassy of Ukraine to the U.S., international financial institutions, think tanks and other organizations on U.S.-Ukraine business, trade, investment and economic development issues.”
As President of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, Williams has access to Council cohort, David Kramer, President of Freedom House. Officially a non-governmental organization, it has been linked with overt and covert “democracy” efforts in places where the door isn’t open to American interests, a.k.a. U.S. corporations.
Freedom House, the National Endowment for Democracy and National Democratic Institute helped fund and support the Ukrainian “Orange Revolution” in 2004. Freedom House is funded directly by the U.S. Government, the National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Department of State.
David Kramer is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs and, according to his Freedom House bio page, formerly a “Senior Fellow at the Project for the New American Century.”
Nuland’s Role
That puts Kramer and, by one degree of separation, Big Ag fixer Morgan Williams in the company of PNAC co-founder Robert Kagan who, as coincidence would have it, is married to Victoria “F*ck the EU” Nuland, the current Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Interestingly enough, Ms. Nuland spoke to the U.S.-Ukrainian Foundation last Dec. 13, extolling the virtues of the Euromaidan movement as the embodiment of “the principles and values that are the cornerstones for all free democracies.”
Nuland also told the group that the United States had invested more than $5 billion in support of Ukraine’s “European aspirations,” meaning pulling Ukraine away from Russia. She made her remarks on a dais featuring a backdrop emblazoned with a Chevron logo.
Also, her colleague and phone call buddy U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt helped Chevron cook up their 50-year shale gas deal right in Russia’s kitchen.
Although Chevron sponsored that event, it is not listed as a supporter of the Foundation. But the Foundation does list the Coca-Cola Company, ExxonMobil and Raytheon as major sponsors. And, to close the circle of influence, the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council is also listed as a supporter.
Which brings the story back to Big Ag’s fixer, Morgan Williams.
Although he was glum about the current state of investment in Ukraine, he’s gotta wear shades when he looks into the future. He told the International Business Times, “The potential here for agriculture/agribusiness is amazing production here could double. The world needs the food Ukraine could produce in the future. Ukraine’s agriculture could be a real gold mine.”
Of course, his priority is to ensure that the bread of well-connected businesses gets lavishly buttered in Russia’s former breadbasket. And there is no better connected group of Ukraine-interested corporations than American agribusiness.
Given the extent of U.S. official involvement in Ukrainian politics, including the interesting fact that Ambassador Pyatt pledged U.S. assistance to the new government in investigating and rooting-out corruption, Cargill’s seemingly risky investment strategy probably wasn’t that risky, after all.
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/03/16/corporate-interests-behind-ukraine-putsch/
That's quite a find, Martin!glenn greenwald – Western Dissent from US/NATO Policy on Ukraine is Small, Yet the Censorship Campaign is Extreme
Preventing populations from asking who benefits from a protracted proxy war, and who pays the price, is paramount. A closed propaganda system achieves that.
If one wishes to be exposed to news, information or perspective that contravenes the prevailing US/NATO view on the war in Ukraine, a rigorous search is required. And there is no guarantee that search will succeed. That is because the state/corporate censorship regime that has been imposed in the West with regard to this war is stunningly aggressive, rapid and comprehensive.
On a virtually daily basis, any off-key news agency, independent platform or individual citizen is liable to be banished from the internet. In early March, barely a week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the twenty-seven nation European Union — citing “disinformation” and “public order and security” — officially banned the Russian state-news outlets RT and Sputnik from being heard anywhere in Europe. In what Reuters called “an unprecedented move,” all television and online platforms were barred by force of law from airing content from those two outlets. Even prior to that censorship order from the state, Facebook and Google were already banning those outlets, and Twitter immediately announced they would as well, in compliance with the new EU law.
But what was “unprecedented” just six weeks ago has now become commonplace, even normalized. Any platform devoted to offering inconvenient-to-NATO news or alternative perspectives is guaranteed a very short lifespan. Less than two weeks after the EU’s decree, Google announced that it was voluntarily banning all Russian-affiliated media worldwide, meaning Americans and all other non-Europeans were now blocked from viewing those channels on YouTube if they wished to. As so often happens with Big Tech censorship, much of the pressure on Google to more aggressively censor content about the war in Ukraine came from its own workforce: “Workers across Google had been urging YouTube to take additional punitive measures against Russian channels.”
So prolific and fast-moving is this censorship regime that it is virtually impossible to count how many platforms, agencies and individuals have been banished for the crime of expressing views deemed “pro-Russian.” On Tuesday, Twitter, with no explanation as usual, suddenly banned one of the most informative, reliable and careful dissident accounts, named “Russians With Attitude.” Created in late 2020 by two English-speaking Russians, the account exploded in popularity since the start of the war, from roughly 20,000 followers before the invasion to more than 125,000 followers at the time Twitter banned it. An accompanying podcast with the same name also exploded in popularity and, at least as of now, can still be heard on Patreon.
What makes this outburst of Western censorship so notable — and what is at least partially driving it — is that there is a clear, demonstrable hunger in the West for news and information that is banished by Western news sources, ones which loyally and unquestioningly mimic claims from the U.S. government, NATO, and Ukrainian officials. As The Washington Post acknowledged when reporting Big Tech’s “unprecedented” banning of RT, Sputnik and other Russian sources of news: “In the first four days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, viewership of more than a dozen Russian state-backed propaganda channels on YouTube spiked to unusually high levels.”
Note that this censorship regime is completely one-sided and, as usual, entirely aligned with U.S. foreign policy. Western news outlets and social media platforms have been flooded with pro-Ukrainian propaganda and outright lies from the start of the war. A New York Times article from early March put it very delicately in its headline: “Fact and Mythmaking Blend in Ukraine’s Information War.” Axios was similarly understated in recognizing this fact: “Ukraine misinformation is spreading — and not just from Russia.” Members of the U.S. Congress have gleefully spread fabrications that went viral to millions of people, with no action from censorship-happy Silicon Valley corporations. That is not a surprise: all participants in war use disinformation and propaganda to manipulate public opinion in their favor, and that certainly includes all direct and proxy-war belligerents in the war in Ukraine.
Yet there is little to no censorship — either by Western states or by Silicon Valley monopolies — of pro-Ukrainian disinformation, propaganda and lies. The censorship goes only in one direction: to silence any voices deemed “pro-Russian,” regardless of whether they spread disinformation. The “Russians With Attitude” Twitter account became popular in part because they sometimes criticized Russia, in part because they were more careful with facts and viral claims that most U.S. corporate media outlets, and in part because there is such a paucity of outlets that are willing to offer any information that undercuts what the U.S. Government and NATO want you to believe about the war.
Their crime, like the crime of so many other banished accounts, was not disinformation but skepticism about the US/NATO propaganda campaign. Put another way, it is not “disinformation” but rather viewpoint-error that is targeted for silencing. One can spread as many lies and as much disinformation as one wants provided that it is designed to advance the NATO agenda in Ukraine (just as one is free to spread disinformation provided that its purpose is to strengthen the Democratic Party, which wields its majoritarian power in Washington to demand greater censorship and commands the support of most of Silicon Valley). But what one cannot do is question the NATO/Ukrainian propaganda framework without running a very substantial risk of banishment.
It is unsurprising that Silicon Valley monopolies exercise their censorship power in full alignment with the foreign policy interests of the U.S. Government. Many of the key tech monopolies — such as Google and Amazon — routinely seek and obtain highly lucrative contracts with the U.S. security state, including both the CIA and NSA. Their top executives enjoy very close relationships with top Democratic Party officials. And Congressional Democrats have repeatedly hauled tech executives before their various Committees to explicitly threaten them with legal and regulatory reprisals if they do not censor more in accordance with the policy goals and political interests of that party.
But one question lingers: why is there so much urgency about silencing the small pockets of dissenting voices about the war in Ukraine? This war has united the establishment wings of both parties and virtually the entire corporate media with a lockstep consensus not seen since the days and weeks after the 9/11 attack. One can count on both hands the number of prominent political and media figures who have been willing to dissent even minimally from that bipartisan Washington consensus — dissent that instantly provokes vilification in the form of attacks on one’s patriotism and loyalties. Why is there such fear of allowing these isolated and demonized voices to be heard at all?
The answer seems clear. The benefits from this war for multiple key Washington power centers cannot be overstated. The billions of dollars in aid and weapons being sent by the U.S. to Ukraine are flying so fast and with such seeming randomness that it is difficult to track. “Biden approves $350 million in military aid for Ukraine,” Reuters said on February 26; “Biden announces $800 million in military aid for Ukraine,” announced The New York Times on March 16; on March 30, NBC’s headline read: “Ukraine to receive additional $500 million in aid from U.S., Biden announces”; on Tuesday, Reuters announced: “U.S. to announce $750 million more in weapons for Ukraine, officials say.” By design, these gigantic numbers have long ago lost any meaning and provoke barely a peep of questioning let alone objection.
It is not a mystery who is benefiting from this orgy of military spending. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that “the Pentagon will host leaders from the top eight U.S. weapons manufacturers on Wednesday to discuss the industry’s capacity to meet Ukraine’s weapons needs if the war with Russia lasts years.” Among those participating in this meeting about the need to increase weapons manufacturing to feed the proxy war in Ukraine is Raytheon, which is fortunate to have retired General Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary, a position to which he ascended from the Raytheon Board of Directors. It is virtually impossible to imagine an event more favorable to the weapons manufacturer industry than this war in Ukraine:
Demand for weapons has shot up after Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 spurred U.S. and allied weapons transfers to Ukraine. Resupplying as well as planning for a longer war is expected to be discussed at the meeting, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. . .
Resupplying as well as planning for a longer war is expected to be discussed at the meeting. . . . The White House said last week that it has provided more than $1.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the invasion, including over 5,000 Javelins and more than 1,400 Stingers.
This permanent power faction is far from the only one to be reaping benefits from the war in Ukraine and to have its fortunes depend upon prolonging the war as long as possible. The union of the U.S. security state, Democratic Party neocons, and their media allies has not been riding this high since the glory days of 2002. One of MSNBC’s most vocal DNC boosters, Chris Hayes, gushed that the war in Ukraine has revitalized faith and trust in the CIA and intelligence community more than any event in recent memory — deservedly so, he said: “The last few weeks have been like the Iraq War in reverse for US intelligence.” One can barely read a mainstream newspaper or watch a corporate news outlet without seeing the nation’s most bloodthirsty warmongering band of neocons — David Frum, Bill Kristol, Liz Cheney, Wesley Clark, Anne Applebaum, Adam Kinzinger — being celebrated as wise experts and heroic warriors for freedom.
This war has been very good indeed for the permanent Washington political and media class. And although it was taboo for weeks to say so, it is now beyond clear that the only goal that the U.S. and its allies have when it comes to the war in Ukraine is to keep it dragging on for as long as possible. Not only are there no serious American diplomatic efforts to end the war, but the goal is to ensure that does not happen. They are now saying that explicitly, and it is not hard to understand why.
The benefits from endless quagmire in Ukraine are as immense as they are obvious. The military budget skyrockets. Punishment is imposed on the arch-nemesis of the Democratic Party — Russia and Putin — while they are bogged down in a war from which Ukrainians suffer most. The citizenry unites behind their leaders and is distracted
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/western-dissent-from-usnato-policy