Donald Hank
Do you really want WW III?
By Donald Hank
Pat Buchanan warns in a recent article that unless the dogs of war – like notably John McCain – can be leashed, the world could soon be looking down the barrel of WW III, and unlike past Russian leaders (such as Krushchev, who backed down in the Cuban missile crisis), Putin will not back down.
In fact, not only Putin but the Russian people will not back down. While shopping the other day, I ran into a friend who had spent 5 years studying in Moscow. He said: "Russians are not like we Panamanians or you Americans. They will never back down and will fight to the last man." I already knew that and was chilled at the thought that some mindless Neocon might decide to take us to the wall with Russia.
As brilliant an analyst as Buchanan is, and as clearly as he sees to hopelessness of a NATO-Russia confrontation, he omits an even more important detail with regard to the holocaust scenario McCain has in mind for the world, and that is, the fact that any confrontation with nuclear armed Russia will automatically become a confrontation with nuclear armed China. Notice that none of the Neocon warmongers is shaking a fist at China, which they truly fear. They are rather launching nonsensical propaganda efforts to engineer a rift between the two countries. That was the plan from the start. Nixon and Kissinger were the pioneers to give China Most Favored Nation status in the midst of the Cold War (this status was granted after Nixon left office but the legislation that allowed it owed to Nixon's propaganda efforts – lies about how we would open a seller's market, which turned out to be a buyer's market). I saw even back then, in the early 70s, that this move was an obvious attempt to drive a wedge between Russia and China. It was a gamble and I saw it as doomed from the start. The idea was that China could be bought by offering it riches through capitalism. Russia would then see the advantages of capitalism and perhaps follow along, or if not, become jealous and fall out with China. Both countries were eventually expected to become Washington loyalists as a result of this new status for China. A few years ago it became apparent that, while both countries would prosper through capitalism, neither one would become a Washington lapdog. Further, they would always remain loyal to each other in important areas, awaiting their chance to acquire a superior economy and superior firepower relative to the US. The Establishment slept through it, convinced they were gods and still believing in the ultimate success of their plan.
Russia and China walked quietly at first. But after the US slapped sanctions on Russia for protecting is own people in Ukraine, Russia's president made it clear that he, in concert with China, would launch a campaign to break the US hegemony. Putin advisor Sergey Glazyev floated a plan to dedollarize world trade.
According to Zero Hedge:
The dedollarization plan was joined by US "allies" who almost all deserted the World Bank for the Chinese competitor AIIB. Unlike the World Bank, the AIIB does not foist distasteful requirements on borrowers. Example: Last week an electrician was working in our home here in Panama and we started talking about the World Bank. Now you can hardly imagine an American electrician knowing much about this subject. However, Panamanians are unusually astute about US policies toward their country because these affect their lives – and pocketbooks – in real ways. Mr. Rigoberto volunteered to tell me that there are strings tied to loans from that bank, such as the requirement for the government to "privatize." Thus, even if the Panamanian government could do a creditable job of building roads on its own, it would be forced by the US-controlled World Bank to give the construction contract to a private company at a higher cost. US companies would normally submit offers and benefit from these juicy contracts. Bechtel often receives the award. To see how this sinister system works, I recommend the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. In a word, Perkins lays out how the US negotiates loans with Third World countries that are actually designed to bankrupt them and thus make them puppets. But the AIIB now offers an alternative.
Like him or hate him, Putin, together with a growing number of key allies, including many that were once loyal to the US, is unraveling this diabolical scheme.
As for that war that John McCain wants, it is clear that the somnolent US public doesn't even want to discuss it, not even in this critical pre-election time. Conservatives are still focused solely on dismantling the harm that Obama has done domestically, while the Left wants more of the same harm for their fellow Americans.
It is de rigueur for candidates of both parties to condemn Putin, but behind this clownish posturing lies the risk of a real WW III.
Yet all this is too abstract for Joe Sixpack, who yawns at these thorny issues and will leave it all up to the people who destroyed our relationship with our allies and ruined our economy to solve our problems. After all, they're experts.
Aren't they?
© Donald Hank
June 24, 2015
Pat Buchanan warns in a recent article that unless the dogs of war – like notably John McCain – can be leashed, the world could soon be looking down the barrel of WW III, and unlike past Russian leaders (such as Krushchev, who backed down in the Cuban missile crisis), Putin will not back down.
In fact, not only Putin but the Russian people will not back down. While shopping the other day, I ran into a friend who had spent 5 years studying in Moscow. He said: "Russians are not like we Panamanians or you Americans. They will never back down and will fight to the last man." I already knew that and was chilled at the thought that some mindless Neocon might decide to take us to the wall with Russia.
As brilliant an analyst as Buchanan is, and as clearly as he sees to hopelessness of a NATO-Russia confrontation, he omits an even more important detail with regard to the holocaust scenario McCain has in mind for the world, and that is, the fact that any confrontation with nuclear armed Russia will automatically become a confrontation with nuclear armed China. Notice that none of the Neocon warmongers is shaking a fist at China, which they truly fear. They are rather launching nonsensical propaganda efforts to engineer a rift between the two countries. That was the plan from the start. Nixon and Kissinger were the pioneers to give China Most Favored Nation status in the midst of the Cold War (this status was granted after Nixon left office but the legislation that allowed it owed to Nixon's propaganda efforts – lies about how we would open a seller's market, which turned out to be a buyer's market). I saw even back then, in the early 70s, that this move was an obvious attempt to drive a wedge between Russia and China. It was a gamble and I saw it as doomed from the start. The idea was that China could be bought by offering it riches through capitalism. Russia would then see the advantages of capitalism and perhaps follow along, or if not, become jealous and fall out with China. Both countries were eventually expected to become Washington loyalists as a result of this new status for China. A few years ago it became apparent that, while both countries would prosper through capitalism, neither one would become a Washington lapdog. Further, they would always remain loyal to each other in important areas, awaiting their chance to acquire a superior economy and superior firepower relative to the US. The Establishment slept through it, convinced they were gods and still believing in the ultimate success of their plan.
Russia and China walked quietly at first. But after the US slapped sanctions on Russia for protecting is own people in Ukraine, Russia's president made it clear that he, in concert with China, would launch a campaign to break the US hegemony. Putin advisor Sergey Glazyev floated a plan to dedollarize world trade.
According to Zero Hedge:
-
"Glazyev ... published an article in Russian Argumenty Nedeli, in which he outlined a plan for "undermining the economic strength of the US" in order to force Washington to stop the civil war in Ukraine."
The dedollarization plan was joined by US "allies" who almost all deserted the World Bank for the Chinese competitor AIIB. Unlike the World Bank, the AIIB does not foist distasteful requirements on borrowers. Example: Last week an electrician was working in our home here in Panama and we started talking about the World Bank. Now you can hardly imagine an American electrician knowing much about this subject. However, Panamanians are unusually astute about US policies toward their country because these affect their lives – and pocketbooks – in real ways. Mr. Rigoberto volunteered to tell me that there are strings tied to loans from that bank, such as the requirement for the government to "privatize." Thus, even if the Panamanian government could do a creditable job of building roads on its own, it would be forced by the US-controlled World Bank to give the construction contract to a private company at a higher cost. US companies would normally submit offers and benefit from these juicy contracts. Bechtel often receives the award. To see how this sinister system works, I recommend the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. In a word, Perkins lays out how the US negotiates loans with Third World countries that are actually designed to bankrupt them and thus make them puppets. But the AIIB now offers an alternative.
Like him or hate him, Putin, together with a growing number of key allies, including many that were once loyal to the US, is unraveling this diabolical scheme.
As for that war that John McCain wants, it is clear that the somnolent US public doesn't even want to discuss it, not even in this critical pre-election time. Conservatives are still focused solely on dismantling the harm that Obama has done domestically, while the Left wants more of the same harm for their fellow Americans.
It is de rigueur for candidates of both parties to condemn Putin, but behind this clownish posturing lies the risk of a real WW III.
Yet all this is too abstract for Joe Sixpack, who yawns at these thorny issues and will leave it all up to the people who destroyed our relationship with our allies and ruined our economy to solve our problems. After all, they're experts.
Aren't they?
© Donald Hank
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
