Tag Archives: Moscow

FTAC – “Gaza Fortress” and Suzerainty

10 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Anti-Semitism, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Gaza Suzerain, Islamic Small Wars, Politics

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“Gaza Fortress” has been pretty much defeated as regards its ability to obtain rockets, if not build them, and its ability to overwhelm the IDF in some kind air and tunnel blitzkrieg. In addition to the plain physical facts of the fighting life, Hamas has made its role as a kleptocratic politically repressive organization glaringly obvious to the people of Gaza, who may not be able to do very much about it but perhaps burn with growing resentment.

Hezbollah, the advanced army of the Ayatollah, on the hand . . . .

http://www.thetower.org/3505oc-report-hezbollah-has-more-rockets-than-27-nato-countries-combined/

At the moment, Russia has been supplying S300/400 surface-to-air missile systems to Hezbollah in Syria, but with nothing said about their being smuggled back into Lebanon.

I would imagine — having only imagination for data, lol — that such a large stockpiling may be destroyed at the outset of war with Israel.

After having been isolated by the Arab Powers over time, I don’t think anyone can deny the existence of a separate “Palestinian People” — but we sure can deny the cooked up KGB narrative that engineered Yasser Arafat and the PLO and produced a system of clans and leadership profiting from the continuous enforcement of the misery of the same.

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/10/03/palestinian-kgb/

Everyone wants “peace in the middle east” as if Israel were the problem, but few to none in my experience care to revisit what the Soviet Union put together for the refugees of 1948 and how it has continued to this day to meet with Hamas, Hezbollah, and PFLP and to in effect sustain the conflict in its anti-western, anti- rule-of-law, and now displaced anti-Semitic enthusiasm.

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2015/10/12/ftac-tip-to-the-kgbs-amplification-of-middle-eastern-anti-semitism/

…

As an aside: I advocate for joint Israeli-Egyptian suzerainty for Gaza (let’s let Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO) know). Such an arrangement would provide for democratic home rule but joint foreign oversight over the external affairs of the suzerainty.

Elsewhere in the world, as with Balochistan as mastered by Pakistan, the arrangement exploits the suzerain for its resources, but I think that Gaza and Israel have developed more than enough day-to-day arrangements in basic services and shipping/trade that little would change while the exploiting of the Palestinians by Hamas would be reduced.

Back to rant: please tell me why Moscow has been kept offstage in discussions of the plight of the Palestinians?

 

Relevant to the politics of the Soviet / post-Soviet space:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_measures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Peace_Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_and_the_Soviet_Union

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/12/27/excerpt-1920s-the-spread-of-hate-russia-germany-laqueur/
https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/12/24/ftac-moscows-presence-in-the-middle-east-conflict/

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Also in Media: “Revival of the Red Infiltration” | Visegrad Insight | January 24, 2017

26 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media

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According to polls conducted by GLOBSEC Trends, about half the populations of these three countries see their country’s position in Europe as something in between the East and the West, with almost half of their citizens preferring “neutrality” to any polar adherence. In effort to divide the societies further, these already doubtful segments of the population are being carefully targeted by hostile disinformation operations. If we take into account the actions of political leaders, which Lenin would call “useful idiots”, the impact is already measurable.

Read more! “Revival of the Red Infiltration” | Visegrad Insight

FTAC – Sarsour, Middle East Conflict, and Moscow

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Gaza, Islamic Small Wars, Israel, Middle East, Palestinia, Russia

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KGB –> Arafat + PLO –> MEC as a kleptocratic device for those in with Moscow : UNRWA, political repression of the Palestinian community, financial exploitation of the same + “noble” sacrifice of the same against Israel –> PLO/PA millionaires and billionaires, especially Khaled Mashaal. The conflict to come in 1948 was a racket from the start. When the focus shifts from Arabs and Arab Regimes — although they certainly do deserve attention! — to Moscow, things may start to shift. Moscow has goofed in its loose alliance with Tehran and the use of Hezbollah to fight for Assad’s despotism. Somehow that rift — or coming rift — will produce greater divisions, for all have been united mainly by dictatorship and the hatred of the west. Today: Moscow’s limping into the New Year, disinterested in peace in Syria, and unable to advance — or just holding off — in Ukraine.

In any case, there’s the whole story behind Sarsour and the bogus Palestinian Solidarity movement and all of its bought-off, disinformed, and manipulated cousins.

That above: another schematic.

And that below: portals to a new world.

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/10/03/palestinian-kgb/

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/11/23/moscows-rules-a-module/

https://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/28/gazas-millionaires-and-billionaires-how-hamass-leaders-got-rich-quick/

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/180400/hamas-killed-160-palestinian-children-to-build-terror-tunnels

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FTAC – Reflection – Moscow – Terrorism

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Politics, Russia

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Imaginative, Jackson’s movie, but this is more the history I know:

1> http://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/05/19/how-putin-became-president/

2> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_and_the_Soviet_Union

3> https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/12/09/syria-assad-isil-background/

4> Definitely not yesterday’s news:

http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/how-russia-may-approach-the-taliban-and-afghanistan-in-2017/

Forget about books and movies. Put on the thinking cap. What comes together for you from well known history and the high-integrity independent press?

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FTAC – “Active Measures” – Spinning it Up on the EU

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Philology, Political Psychology, Politics

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Source of my aggravation:

https://capx.co/the-european-union-is-heading-for-the-dustbin-of-history-2016/

Is it really?

The contemptuous tone and upside-down spin says something about the writer or about ignorance as regards the Moscow-Tehran nexus in the development of the conflict managed by Damascus. Those who know the truth — and thank God it’s not myself along! 　 — know that Assad had to work to create “The Terrorists” with which to blackmail and goad the west, and the “producers” would have known that every “Allahu Akbar Attack” would promote a reflexive response (it’s a term of art) in patriotic nationalist sentiment.

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/12/09/syria-assad-isil-background/

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2015/10/02/syria-assad-vs-the-terrorists-how-isis-defends-assad/

The eight-year-long show of weakness on Washington’s part with regard to Syria and Ukraine and other matters should tell the European Union (and NATO) that it’s not time to fail but rather to get it together to confront the waves of disinformation, propaganda, and spin coming off a kind of “active measures” front.

“Netizens” around the world will have to swim through an ocean of assumptive remarks, confusion, disinformation, and plain old ugly propaganda before picking up the intellectual cudgels themselves and checking claims and narratives for themselves.

Loosely Related Online – Fast Links

http://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-resurrects-the-kgb-moscow-security/ – 9/30/2016.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/putins-real-long-game-214589 – 1/1/2017

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Also in Media: “Putin’s Real Long Game” – POLITICO Magazine | Molly K. McKew | January 1, 2017

02 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Political Psychology, Politics, Russia

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What both administrations fail to realize is that the West is already at war, whether it wants to be or not. It may not be a war we recognize, but it is a war. This war seeks, at home and abroad, to erode our values, our democracy, and our institutional strength; to dilute our ability to sort fact from fiction, or moral right from wrong; and to convince us to make decisions against our own best interests.

Those on the Russian frontier, like my friends from Ukraine and Estonia, have already seen the Kremlin’s new toolkit at work.

Reading highly recommended: Putin’s Real Long Game – POLITICO Magazine – 1/2/2017.

Related in Media

4. Don’t listen to “realists.” Self-described “realists” have suggested that Russia be given a free hand in the former Soviet republics in return for cooperation on issues that are vital to U.S. and Western security. This call to make a “deal,” in addition to its blatant immorality, ignores the fact that it makes sense to reach an understanding only with those who will keep their side of the bargain. The fact that the Russians are seeking to deny the former Soviet republics their rights as sovereign nations is all the indication one needs that an unenforceable “gentleman’s agreement” to cooperate with the West will be violated the minute it ceases to be to Russia’s advantage. The rejection of a moral framework for relations, meanwhile, will set the stage and help provide the justification for new and more outrageous Russian demands in the future.

Satter, David. “Obama and Russia.”  Forbes, November 24, 2008.

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Diplomatic Harassment – Short Compilation

29 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Political Psychology, Political Spychology

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Start with the rules.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. It specifies the privileges of a diplomatic mission that enable diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or harassment by the host country. This forms the legal basis for diplomatic immunity. Its articles are considered a cornerstone of modern international relations. As of April 2014, it has been ratified by 190 states.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations

Then proceed (bolds, colors, and italics added):

STATEMENT BY MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON

December 29, 2016

Department of State Actions in Response to Russian Harassment

The State Department today declared persona non grata 35 Russian officials operating in the United States who were acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular status. The Department also informed the Russian Government that it would deny Russian personnel access to two recreational compounds in the United States owned by the Russian Government.

The Department took these actions as part of a comprehensive response to Russia’s interference in the U.S. election and to a pattern of harassment of our diplomats overseas that has increased over the last four years, including a significant increase in the last 12 months. This harassment has involved arbitrary police stops, physical assault, and the broadcast on State TV of personal details about our personnel that put them at risk. In addition, the Russian Government has impeded our diplomatic operations by, among other actions: forcing the closure of 28 American corners which hosted cultural programs and English-language teaching; blocking our efforts to begin the construction of a new, safer facility for our Consulate General in St. Petersburg; and rejecting requests to improve perimeter security at the current, outdated facility in St. Petersburg.

Today’s actions send a clear message that such behavior is unacceptable and will have consequences.

From Out of the Past (Moscow Has Played Rough)

“Family members have been the victims of psychologically terrifying assertions that their USG (U.S. government) employee spouses had met accidental deaths,” the embassy reported. “Home intrusions have become far more commonplace and bold, and activity against our locally engaged Russian staff continues at a record pace.

“We have no doubt that this activity originates in the FSB. Counterintelligence challenges remain a hallmark of service at Embassy Moscow.”

http://www.jpost.com/International/The-curious-case-of-a-diplomat-Wikileaks-reveals-all – 12/8/2010.

The British and American governments are acutely aware of the FSB’s campaign of intimidation. But neither has publicly complained about these demonstrative “counter-intelligence” measures, for fear of further straining already difficult relations with Vladmir Putin’s resurgent regime. Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel, was head of the FSB.

British sources admit they have files “five or six inches thick” detailing FSB break-ins and other incidents of harassment against Moscow embassy staff. “Generally we don’t make a fuss about it,” one said. So pervasive is the FSB’s campaign that the British government is unable to staff fully its Moscow embassy. The intrusions are designed to “short-tour” diplomats so they leave their posts early, the source said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/23/russia-targeting-western-diplomats – 9/23/2011.

But many of the recent acts of intimidation by Russian security services have crossed the line into apparent criminality. In a series of secret memos sent back to Washington, described to me by several current and former U.S. officials who have written or read them, diplomats reported that Russian intruders had broken into their homes late at night, only to rearrange the furniture or turn on all the lights and televisions, and then leave. One diplomat reported that an intruder had defecated on his living room carpet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/russia-is-harassing-us-diplomats-all-over-europe/2016/06/26/968d1a5a-3bdf-11e6-84e8-1580c7db5275_story.html – 6/27/2016

In Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_manipulation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung (East German Psy-Ops)

From the Russian Section

Harding, Luke. Expelled: A Journalist’s Descent Into the Russian Mafia State. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Related Reference

Duncan, Ian and John Fritze.  “Obama administration shutters Russian retreat on Eastern Shore in Maryland.”  The Baltimore Sun, December 29, 2016.

Price, Ned.  “The Administration’s Response to Russia: What you Need to Know.”  The White House, December 29, 2016.

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FTAC – Opinion on the UN Vote Hostile to Israel (Resolution 2334 / 2016)

29 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Philosophy, Political Psychology, Politics, Russia, United States of America

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The fingers were erect and wagging at Obama as anti-Semite and turncoat, which I found a bit radical.

Of course, other analyst-pundits have been weighing in on the UN’s latest gang-up on the world’s One Jewish State and the Administration’s dithering abstention, and that cacophony doubtless includes similar charges (or language) from Right side of the aisle.

Be that as it may, the chorus was heard with the original poster’s complaint that no dissent had been heard.

Well, at least let there be an argument.

I’ll dissent.

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/12/24/ftac-moscows-presence-in-the-middle-east-conflict/

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2016/11/23/moscows-rules-a-module/

If there is, has been, or will be a contest between “medieval political absolutism” and the “modern democratic and checked distribution of power”, the same involves meeting the challenges posed by the “Phantoms of the Soviet” (the Union died 25 years, Dec. 25, 1991).

I think the west too quick to march on in post-Cold War glory — and the rush to do business with the reforming new Russia — and it got taken in by Moscow while Moscow, as represented by “Vertical-of-Power” Putin has gently but firmly twisted the state’s narrative from “Glasnost” all the way back to proto-fascist ultra-nationalism and neo-imperialism — backed by the demonstration of barbarism (in Syria), aggression (in Ukraine), and the possession of nuclear arms and updated weapons systems.

Is anyone feeling lucky?

While it’s true the Obama Administration has avoided direct confrontation with Moscow (how unseemly that would look! And I say that as cynically as any here), it has weakened Moscow’s ability to project and sustain military aggression in the near abroad. It will then be left to President Trump to address Putin and either abet, contain, or push back against what the Moscow Revival presents to western interests.

The UN resolution was execrable in every dimension!

https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm

However, the true target in east-west relations and in the middle east conflict remains a recalcitrant Moscow. A dangerous Moscow. A dictator’s Moscow (and check out the alignments on the voting).

Between Trump (Manafort, Millian, Kilimnik) and Putin, let’s hope the superficial media-relayed “bromance” is over — or it will be our lives more organized along more feudal principles in conflict with modern (democratic) ones.

Loosely related but from another conversation —

I wanted to suggest to you that a working “secular democracy” actually enables the full expression of religious passion as a private and private community matter. The system supports boundaries and a common agreement on the prudence and sensibility of good law, i.e., law that sustains a free and vibrant social order.

Jihad, provocation, and terrorism mean to upset civil order — and they can do it!

When will the west again push back against criminal, fascist, and proto-fascist aggression, I don’t know but know that as it loses its principles and values, if it does, it will have to respond to absolutism.

 

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