US & Allies Attempt "Rebel Revamp" in Syria.
Eric Draitser
RT - StopImperialism.com
November 2, 2012
Eric Draitser
RT - StopImperialism.com
November 2, 2012
....
Showing posts with label stopimperialism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stopimperialism. Show all posts
Stop Imperialism - Episode 45
Eric Draitser's Stop Imperialism Podcast - Episode 45
Eric Draitser
StopImperialism.com
October 30, 2012
In this episode...
Eric Draitser
StopImperialism.com
October 30, 2012
In this episode...
- 1. Syria - Syria rebels pessimistic on mediator's ceasefire plan
- 2. Lebanon - Anti-Syria rally held in Lebanon on 'day of rage' over bombing
- 3. Libya - 26 killed, scores injured in clashes in ex-Gaddafi bastion
- 4. Iran (Terror & Propaganda) - Two police killed in suicide attack near Iranian mosque
- 5. Iran (Economics) - Iran, Egypt to resume trade ties
- 6. Energy & Pipelines (Central Asia) - South Stream might be completed before Nabucco
- 7. Energy & Pipelines (International) - BP signs landmark deal to sell TNK-BP stake to Rosneft
- 8. Under the Radar - 100 thousand-strong 'anti-cuts' demonstration in London
Chavez, the US, and the Destabilization of Venezuela
Eric Draitser
October 7, 2012
Venezuela goes to the polls this Sunday in an election many are calling a
referendum on President Chavez and his policies. Although there is
surely such a dimension, the significance of the elections goes far
beyond political opinion and partisan bickering, striking at the heart
of the Venezuelan state. This is because these elections will be used
as a front for an attempt to overthrow, by brute force if necessary, the
democratically elected government and put in its place a government
more amenable to US interests. If this sounds familiar, it should.
This is precisely the same tactic tried in 2002 in a US-instigated coup
that, though it briefly deposed Chavez, ultimately failed. Now, ten
years later, the US imperialist ruling class is prepared to try their
hand at regime change in Venezuela once more.
The Destabilization Strategy
Sunday’s election presents the ideal opportunity for US intelligence to
instigate some kind of coup or “color” revolution in Venezuela.
However, in order to achieve this insidious goal, there are very
specific strategies, tactics, and contingencies which must be
understood. In his paper,
published by the Council on Foreign Relations, former US Ambassador to
Venezuela Patrick Duddy presents a number of scenarios in which the
election becomes the centerpiece of a destabilization campaign. Perhaps
the most important of these scenarios, one which would be in keeping
with the tradition of “color” revolutions all over the world, is the
outbreak of violence in the hours after the winner is announced. Duddy
writes, “most plausible scenarios for instability and conflict in
Venezuela derive from the premise that the Chavistas will not willingly
surrender power and would be willing to provoke violence, orchestrate
civil unrest, or engage in various forms of armed resistance to avoid
doing so.” Naturally, Duddy fails to explain for whom such a scenario
would be deemed “plausible”. Because of the nature of the paper and the
author, it is fair to assume that he is referring to the US
intelligence community for whom this is “plausible”. Of course, this
assertion is made with no precedent of historical evidence of Chavistas
engaging in such behavior. Rather, this is precisely the type of unrest
fomented by the United States in the service of regime change.
Subverting Sanctions: Iran’s Strategic Economic Development
Eric Draitser
September 22, 2012
The ongoing overt and
covert war against Iran, instigated by the United States and Israel
primarily, seeks to isolate Iran politically, militarily and, most
importantly, economically. The Western imperialists have as their goal
no less than full-scale war with Iran, a key regional power and one that
the United States has failed to control or otherwise manipulate since
the revolution of 1979. Their attempts to demonize Iran as an
international pariah and an irrational actor on the world stage have
been repeatedly thwarted, most recently at the Non-Aligned Movement
summit in Tehran, where two thirds of the world stood alongside Iran in
condemning the sanctions imposed by the US and its European allies.
However, Iran’s response to the series of aggressions and provocations
by the West is not purely a diplomatic one as evidenced by the summit.
Rather, Iran is engaging in a process of economic cooperation and mutual
development with powerful regional and international partners – a
process which could marry the economic future of Iran with that of other
nations – thereby countering the continued attempts at economic
strangulation by the West.
The Painful Reality of Sanctions
It is easy to think of
the sanctions as a tactic in a political and diplomatic chess game
between Washington and Tehran: they undoubtedly are part of such a
match. However, the reality of the sanctions is that they are an
economic weapon trained directly at the people of Iran, despite whatever
rhetoric may emanate from Washington regarding the targeting of the
regime. In fact, the sanctions are one of the most potent weapons in
the imperialist arsenal, used by those in power in their attempt to
foment chaos and unrest in Iran and topple the government from within.
In an article entitled “Obama’s Counterproductive New Iran Sanctions” published in Foreign Affairs, the publication of the Council on Foreign Relations, Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution writes:
The
Obama administration’s new sanctions signal the demise of the paradigm
that has guided Iran policymaking since the 1979 revolution: the
combination of pressure and persuasion…the United States cannot hope to
bargain with a country whose economy it is trying to disrupt and
destroy… The White House’s embrace of open-ended pressure means that it
has backed itself into a policy of regime change.
The notion that the
sanctions are somehow intended to pressure Tehran into coming to the
negotiating table and making the necessary concessions is completely
fraudulent. The ruling class in the United States (and Israel) knows
full well that sanctions do not work in this capacity. One need only
look to recent history for examples of sanctions that crippled nations
and destroyed the lives of citizens but had little to no appreciable
impact on the rulers – Iraq, Myanmar, etc. Instead, the sanctions serve
as a necessary prelude to either regime change or war. This policy,
aside from being immoral, is a belligerent one, greatly escalating
tensions and the possibility of war.
Continue reading at StopImperialism.com.
....
Eric Draister of Stop Imperialism also regularly produces insightful geopolitical broadcasts that can be listened to on his website here.
BOMBSHELL: US Neo-Cons, State Department Behind Terror Wave in Russia
Barbarians at the Gate: Terrorism, the US, and the Subversion of Russia.
Eric Draitser
StopImperialism.com
August 22, 2012
The shootings and bombings in Ingushetia and Dagestan this week rekindled a long-standing, brutal campaign of violence and terrorism in Russia’s Caucasus region – one that has seen more than its share of terror stretching back to the Chechen “rebellion” of the 1990s. However, in examining the recent attacks, it becomes clear that there are political and geopolitical interests behind the scenes that are actively working to destabilize Russia, with violence as their most potent weapon. The attacks are not simply isolated terrorist actions, but rather, cynically orchestrated events carried out by well-connected criminal networks whose goal is to foment conflict and carry out the agenda of the US intelligence establishment in its subversion of Russia.
Map: The Caucasus Mountains in southern Russia - bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan - close to Turkey, and flanked by the Black and Caspian Seas on either side. The region has seen fierce fighting as Al Qaeda affiliated militants have attempted to carve from Russia an "Emirate." Research has revealed that the US has played a pivotal role, as it has in Syria, in fomenting the violence. (click and drag and use zoom controls to view map)
Terrorists, Propagandists and Handlers
The complex network of terrorist organizations that operate under the banners of “separatism” and “independence” for the Caucasus region, has been at the center of the destabilization of Russia for the last two decades. Within hours of the deadly attacks, the Kavkaz Center – an organization known to be the propaganda mouthpiece of terrorist leader Doku Umarov – released an article characterizing the attacks as heroic acts and referring to the dead as “Russian puppets.” Though this would seem to be not in keeping with the Center’s stated mission “to provide reporting of events…and assistance of journalistic work in the Caucasus,” this is, in fact, very much par for the course for an organization that is funded by the US State Department and Finland’s Foreign Ministry.
Image: "Russia's Bin Laden," Dokka Umarov led terrorist death squads in Chechnya during the 1990's up until 2011 when the UN finally listed him as an Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists. At one point, Umarov even declared himself "Emir of the Russian North Caucasus." His propaganda clearinghouse, the Kavkaz Center, was funded by the US State Department, as well as several supporting fronts including the National Endowment for Democracy-funded Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. The former currently supports US efforts to overthrow the Syrian government. The latter organization is currently backing the US State Department's recent PR ploy, "Pussy Riot."
Kavkaz Center has a long track record of supporting and legitimizing terrorist actions throughout the region, rationalizing atrocities committed in the name of “resistance.” In fact, Kavkaz engages in perpetual upside-down logic, referring to Russians as “terrorists” and terrorists as “heroes.” This type of Goebbles-esque propaganda is the hallmark of Western imperialist projects; most recently in the conflict in Syria, in which the Syrian National Council, Western corporate media and the like refer to terrorism and subversion as “rebellion and freedom-fighting”. Additionally, it is essential to note that Emarat Kavkaz (Umarov’s terrorist organization translated as “Caucasus Emirate”) has been listed by the United Nations as an organization associated with Al-Qaida. Kavkaz Center has been described by Umarov himself as “the official information organ of the Emarat Kavkaz.” This, of course, supports the claims made repeatedly by Moscow of the connection between Chechen and other extremists in the region and Al Qaida, a claim which, until recently, Kavkaz Center continued to deny.
Image: From UN.org, Chechen militant leader Dokku Umarov has been officially listed as a terrorist with ties to Al Qaeda. Paradoxically, the US is funding outfits supporting Umarov's terrorist campaign against the Russian government. Once again, an internationally listed terrorist front, like Libya's Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) now fighting in Syria, is the recipient of US funding and support in direct violation of both American and international law. (click image to enlarge)
Despite the fact that organs such as Kavkaz Center operate in the service of terrorists who advocate the destruction of Russia, their activity alone is not altogether significant if seen in a vacuum. Rather, it is the association of these types of individuals and organizations with the US State Department and US intelligence that makes them particularly insidious. One such entity that bears scrutiny is the American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus (ACPC), previously known as the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya. As reported by Right Web at the Institute for Policy Studies, “The ACPC was founded in 1999 by Freedom House, a neoconservative organization that has worked closely with the U.S. government, receiving funds from the National Endowment for Democracy and other U.S. democratization initiatives.” This intimate relationship between the ACPC and the US State Department indicates not merely a confluence of interests, but rather a direct relationship wherein the former is an organ of the latter.
Image: Over 30 years of supporting global terrorism - the Neo-Conservative establishment had created Al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan in the 1980's and has since used them as both provocateurs and a terrorist "foreign legion" everywhere from Serbia, to the Caucasus Mountains, to Iraq, Libya and now Syria. Readers should note that ACPC backing militants in Russia's Caucasus region is affiliated with the Neo-Con run "Freedom House," funded by the US State Department through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The paternalistic role of the US intelligence establishment in the ACPC is made all the more evident when one examines some of the more well known members of the ACPC including former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Pentagon advisor Richard Perle and other top neocons such as William Kristol, Elliott Abrams, Kenneth Adelman, and Robert Kagan – the last two being closely associated with the inner circle of the Romney campaign. What becomes apparent in even a cursory analysis of these figures is that, despite the preponderance of neoconservatives, the top members of the ACPC are pulled from both the liberal and conservative establishments. Therefore, one can see how the ACPC represents a bipartisan consensus within the US imperialist ruling class – a consensus of aggression against Russia. What should be even more concerning to political observers is that, given the very real possibility of a Romney victory in November, Russia may see a surge in separatism and violence supported overtly or covertly by the ACPC and a future Romney administration.
The ACPC has taken the lead in championing the cause of separatism and terrorism directed toward Russia, both tacitly and overtly. After having championed the cause of former Chechen Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov in his quest for asylum in the United States – subsequently granted along with a generous taxpayer-funded stipend – ACPC member Zbigniew Brzezinski went so far as to write the foreward to Akhmadov’s book The Chechen Struggle. The alliance between political figures such as Akhmadov and terrorist leaders in the region demonstrates conclusively the partnership between the various terror networks and the imperialist ruling class in the West. Moreover, it shows that, along with oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, the US and UK are still the favorite safe havens for criminals fleeing Russian justice.
The Political Context
Although the attacks of this week are tragic, their real significance is political in nature. There has been a sustained destabilization campaign waged by the West, particularly the United States, and aimed at President Putin going back to last December and the beginning of the so-called protest movement. The attempt by the Western imperialists has been to isolate Putin, demonize him, and erode his support within the country in hopes of toppling his government, thereby removing the biggest obstacle they face in implementing their hegemonic agenda. However, despite the financial backing, political demagoguery and media inundation, the attempts have entirely failed.
Once it became clear that Vladimir Putin would be reelected to a third term, the US State Department began its campaign against him. Organized and implemented by US Ambassador Michael McFaul in Moscow, the protest movement led by figures such as Alexei Navalny and Boris Nemtsov as well as US-funded NGOs such as GOLOS and the Moscow Helsinki Group, the movement essentially sought to instigate a “color revolution” in Russia using the same tactics that had been successful in Ukraine, Georgia and elsewhere. However, it was soon quite obvious to political observers in Russia and around the world that this movement was nothing more than a superficial destabilization attempt that had no real traction among the Russian people.
Image: NED's official website
lists an astounding number of NGOs conducting seditious US-funded political activities
across the Russian Federation. Golos is just one of many NGOs funded by the United
States government, overseen by the US Embassy in Russia, and used to meddle most recently in Russia's elections.
Because of the failure of this manufactured protest movement, the tactics of subversion had to change. The imperialists had to incorporate new tactics that would either revive and grow the protest movement or inspire an international outcry. And so, we get the controversy surrounding the feminist punk band Pussy Riot. The Western media has attempted to hold up the band, which engaged in obscene and lewd acts inside a Russian church, as crusaders and martyrs for the cause of free speech. Naturally, this utterly transparent and vacuous attempt to whip up anti-Putin sentiment has, like the protest movement before it, sputtered and stalled. And so, as every covert attempt at subversion through the use of “soft power” has failed, the Western imperialists now activate their terror networks in the Caucasus to do by force what their intelligence networks failed to do by stealth: destabilize Russia.
The Geopolitical Calculus
Editor's Note: Eric Draitser has already been attacked by US-funded propaganda front Kavkaz Center in a truly unhinged "rebuttal" titled, "KGB claims Kavkaz Center funded by CIA and U.S. State Department and works for Russia's destruction." Not only is Draitser accused of being a "KGB thug," but his work is actually claimed to be "translated from Russian." Draitser is an American geopolitical analyst who has given many interviews across the alternative media - English is demonstrably his native language.
Eric Draitser
StopImperialism.com
August 22, 2012
The shootings and bombings in Ingushetia and Dagestan this week rekindled a long-standing, brutal campaign of violence and terrorism in Russia’s Caucasus region – one that has seen more than its share of terror stretching back to the Chechen “rebellion” of the 1990s. However, in examining the recent attacks, it becomes clear that there are political and geopolitical interests behind the scenes that are actively working to destabilize Russia, with violence as their most potent weapon. The attacks are not simply isolated terrorist actions, but rather, cynically orchestrated events carried out by well-connected criminal networks whose goal is to foment conflict and carry out the agenda of the US intelligence establishment in its subversion of Russia.
Map: The Caucasus Mountains in southern Russia - bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan - close to Turkey, and flanked by the Black and Caspian Seas on either side. The region has seen fierce fighting as Al Qaeda affiliated militants have attempted to carve from Russia an "Emirate." Research has revealed that the US has played a pivotal role, as it has in Syria, in fomenting the violence. (click and drag and use zoom controls to view map)
....
Terrorists, Propagandists and Handlers
The complex network of terrorist organizations that operate under the banners of “separatism” and “independence” for the Caucasus region, has been at the center of the destabilization of Russia for the last two decades. Within hours of the deadly attacks, the Kavkaz Center – an organization known to be the propaganda mouthpiece of terrorist leader Doku Umarov – released an article characterizing the attacks as heroic acts and referring to the dead as “Russian puppets.” Though this would seem to be not in keeping with the Center’s stated mission “to provide reporting of events…and assistance of journalistic work in the Caucasus,” this is, in fact, very much par for the course for an organization that is funded by the US State Department and Finland’s Foreign Ministry.
....
Kavkaz Center has a long track record of supporting and legitimizing terrorist actions throughout the region, rationalizing atrocities committed in the name of “resistance.” In fact, Kavkaz engages in perpetual upside-down logic, referring to Russians as “terrorists” and terrorists as “heroes.” This type of Goebbles-esque propaganda is the hallmark of Western imperialist projects; most recently in the conflict in Syria, in which the Syrian National Council, Western corporate media and the like refer to terrorism and subversion as “rebellion and freedom-fighting”. Additionally, it is essential to note that Emarat Kavkaz (Umarov’s terrorist organization translated as “Caucasus Emirate”) has been listed by the United Nations as an organization associated with Al-Qaida. Kavkaz Center has been described by Umarov himself as “the official information organ of the Emarat Kavkaz.” This, of course, supports the claims made repeatedly by Moscow of the connection between Chechen and other extremists in the region and Al Qaida, a claim which, until recently, Kavkaz Center continued to deny.
Image: From UN.org, Chechen militant leader Dokku Umarov has been officially listed as a terrorist with ties to Al Qaeda. Paradoxically, the US is funding outfits supporting Umarov's terrorist campaign against the Russian government. Once again, an internationally listed terrorist front, like Libya's Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) now fighting in Syria, is the recipient of US funding and support in direct violation of both American and international law. (click image to enlarge)
....
Despite the fact that organs such as Kavkaz Center operate in the service of terrorists who advocate the destruction of Russia, their activity alone is not altogether significant if seen in a vacuum. Rather, it is the association of these types of individuals and organizations with the US State Department and US intelligence that makes them particularly insidious. One such entity that bears scrutiny is the American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus (ACPC), previously known as the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya. As reported by Right Web at the Institute for Policy Studies, “The ACPC was founded in 1999 by Freedom House, a neoconservative organization that has worked closely with the U.S. government, receiving funds from the National Endowment for Democracy and other U.S. democratization initiatives.” This intimate relationship between the ACPC and the US State Department indicates not merely a confluence of interests, but rather a direct relationship wherein the former is an organ of the latter.
....
The paternalistic role of the US intelligence establishment in the ACPC is made all the more evident when one examines some of the more well known members of the ACPC including former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Pentagon advisor Richard Perle and other top neocons such as William Kristol, Elliott Abrams, Kenneth Adelman, and Robert Kagan – the last two being closely associated with the inner circle of the Romney campaign. What becomes apparent in even a cursory analysis of these figures is that, despite the preponderance of neoconservatives, the top members of the ACPC are pulled from both the liberal and conservative establishments. Therefore, one can see how the ACPC represents a bipartisan consensus within the US imperialist ruling class – a consensus of aggression against Russia. What should be even more concerning to political observers is that, given the very real possibility of a Romney victory in November, Russia may see a surge in separatism and violence supported overtly or covertly by the ACPC and a future Romney administration.
The ACPC has taken the lead in championing the cause of separatism and terrorism directed toward Russia, both tacitly and overtly. After having championed the cause of former Chechen Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov in his quest for asylum in the United States – subsequently granted along with a generous taxpayer-funded stipend – ACPC member Zbigniew Brzezinski went so far as to write the foreward to Akhmadov’s book The Chechen Struggle. The alliance between political figures such as Akhmadov and terrorist leaders in the region demonstrates conclusively the partnership between the various terror networks and the imperialist ruling class in the West. Moreover, it shows that, along with oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, the US and UK are still the favorite safe havens for criminals fleeing Russian justice.
The Political Context
Although the attacks of this week are tragic, their real significance is political in nature. There has been a sustained destabilization campaign waged by the West, particularly the United States, and aimed at President Putin going back to last December and the beginning of the so-called protest movement. The attempt by the Western imperialists has been to isolate Putin, demonize him, and erode his support within the country in hopes of toppling his government, thereby removing the biggest obstacle they face in implementing their hegemonic agenda. However, despite the financial backing, political demagoguery and media inundation, the attempts have entirely failed.
Once it became clear that Vladimir Putin would be reelected to a third term, the US State Department began its campaign against him. Organized and implemented by US Ambassador Michael McFaul in Moscow, the protest movement led by figures such as Alexei Navalny and Boris Nemtsov as well as US-funded NGOs such as GOLOS and the Moscow Helsinki Group, the movement essentially sought to instigate a “color revolution” in Russia using the same tactics that had been successful in Ukraine, Georgia and elsewhere. However, it was soon quite obvious to political observers in Russia and around the world that this movement was nothing more than a superficial destabilization attempt that had no real traction among the Russian people.
....
Because of the failure of this manufactured protest movement, the tactics of subversion had to change. The imperialists had to incorporate new tactics that would either revive and grow the protest movement or inspire an international outcry. And so, we get the controversy surrounding the feminist punk band Pussy Riot. The Western media has attempted to hold up the band, which engaged in obscene and lewd acts inside a Russian church, as crusaders and martyrs for the cause of free speech. Naturally, this utterly transparent and vacuous attempt to whip up anti-Putin sentiment has, like the protest movement before it, sputtered and stalled. And so, as every covert attempt at subversion through the use of “soft power” has failed, the Western imperialists now activate their terror networks in the Caucasus to do by force what their intelligence networks failed to do by stealth: destabilize Russia.
The Geopolitical Calculus
The seemingly endless attempts to subvert the Putin
government are cynically designed operations whose overarching goal is
geopolitical in nature. To the US and its allies, partners, and
clients, Putin represents a block that is difficult, if not impossible,
to maneuver around. As demonstrated clearly in Syria, President Putin
is able to successfully lead an opposition to the United States: an
empire attempting to impose its hegemonic designs on the region. By
using international law, the principle of national sovereignty,
counter-propaganda, and countless other diplomatic weapons, Putin, along
with his allies in China, has prevented the wider war that the US has
tried to foment. Moreover, Putin has presented a major roadblock on the
path to war with Iran, another mortal sin in the eyes of Western
imperialist warmongers.
Putin’s “crimes” do not stop there. He has managed
to successfully assert the right of national sovereignty over state
resources, jailing or otherwise diminishing the power of the oligarchs
who enriched themselves in the 1990s at the expense of the Russian
people. He has successfully established the legitimacy of international
institutions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS
that exist outside the dominance of the United States and have begun to
emerge as a counter-weight to NATO and other similar arms of US
imperialism. Putin has also led the economic resurgence of Russia and
maintained its dominance in the energy market with pipelines,
exploration, and myriad deals with multinational corporations.
The common thread that unites the above mentioned
achievements of President Putin is an unwillingness to be subservient to
the United States. Putin has become, in the eyes of the Western
imperialist ruling class, the unruly little brother who must be taught a
lesson by force. And so, innocent Russians must pay with their lives
for the hubris of these imperialists. As has been clearly demonstrated
in Syria, Iran, Pakistan and countless other places around the world,
terrorism remains the favorite weapon in the arsenal of the ruling class
in the West. The attacks in Ingushetia and Dagestan are merely the
latest example of this. Surely, they will not be the last.
....
Editor's Note: Eric Draitser has already been attacked by US-funded propaganda front Kavkaz Center in a truly unhinged "rebuttal" titled, "KGB claims Kavkaz Center funded by CIA and U.S. State Department and works for Russia's destruction." Not only is Draitser accused of being a "KGB thug," but his work is actually claimed to be "translated from Russian." Draitser is an American geopolitical analyst who has given many interviews across the alternative media - English is demonstrably his native language.
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