– US “Ready To Act” As Russia Looks To Ban US Consultants & Block EU Gas Transit (ZeroHedge, June 19, 2014):
It appears Russia ‘retaliation’ continues for the ‘costs’ imposed by the West on Putin and his people (Russia +28%, S&P +6% since sanctions). Putin looks set to take on both EU and US as RT reports that Russian MPs are preparing a bill to ban the use of US consulting companies in Russia; and then Ukraine’s Naftogaz says Russia’s Gazprom seeks to end its accord on daily gas transit – a move which could threaten EU gas supplies. The US put its best man forward to respond and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew thretatened “US is ready to act” on Russia if Ukraine escalates…
Russia retaliation #1:
MP Yevgeniy Fyodorov of the United Russia party is preparing a bill that would ban state-owned companies from using services of American consulting firms, Russia Today reports.
Russia retaliation #2:
- *UKRAINE: GAZPROM SEEKS TO END ACCORD ON DAILY TRANSIT BALANCE
- *NAFTOGAZ SAYS GAZPROM MOVE MAY THREATEN EU GAS TRANSIT
- *NAFTOGAZ: GAZPROM TO END ACCORD ON DAILY BALANCING JUNE 23
Jack lew warns…
- *U.S. WOULD BE READY TO SEEK FURTHER RUSSIA SANCTIONS, LEW SAYS
- *U.S. READY TO ACT ON RUSSIA IF UKRAINE ESCALATES, LEW SAYS
But we suspect Russia is not quaking…
It is as if the US is committing political, social and financial suicide. Every move they have made against Putin shows clearly who is the chess player, and who is the joker . I laugh (with sadness) when I remember how US voters called Obama a chess player…….I have been playing chess since I was five. My older brother who taught me how to play (he was 10 and wanted someone to practice on) went on to grow up and develop some of the early computer chess games.
I doubt if Obama ever played the game. If he did, his behavior would be quite different……more like Putin, and less like his own corporate serving behavior. Putin understands that the game of war has a lot to do with profit and planning for years in advance, on more than one or two levels.
The US has fallen into the absurd habit of believing their own BS. “We have the greatest army, thus nobody can beat us……yada yada yada…..” forgetting the essential social, political and economic factors of war. One can speak as much foolishness as they want, so long as they know it is foolishness. The day they start believing their own BS, they are in trouble.
War is waged for money, and is planned years in advance. It is not something you respond to without much thought and planning. It is a game of careful strategy, never reaction. Strategy, never reaction!
First, you have to develop a set enemy, and get your own people to hate them. Next, you need to develop a group of allies. They need to have money, and supplies in order to help you develop a strong chain of coalition members. Without that chain of support, nobody can win.
Once that is done, you identify a group of unfriendly people, especially those who will likely side with your enemy. They are the ones you ask all your people to watch and worry about. Does anyone here remember the Japanese and the land and money taken from them during WW2? Concentration (today’s term is Fema camps) camps were built, and they were put in there regardless they were US citizens, with family members serving in the armed services. They never got their land or money back, either. Taking this too far develops a sense of nationalism that can be dangerous if not kept to a sensible level……by a true chess player, not a paranoid.
The key reason to wage war is to garner treasure for the national treasury. Today, that entire and essential part has been completely lost in the quest to enrich private corporations at public expense. The US is bankrupt today, while some warring corporations, such as Blackwater, rolls in billions of dollars. They are so hated, they changed their name, but they continue their evil transgressions at public expense. They have troops in every state of the union because we have a government that fears its own people. Dark days for America, the worst I have ever seen.
The US government is a nation of the corporations, by the corporations for the corporations. The voices of the people have been buried forever thanks to Citizens United and NDAA. Thank you, Mr. Obama.
Russia isn’t quaking. Over half the world no longer accepts the US dollar. Russia has China, many emerging middle east nations, other African emerging nations, along with central and south American nations…….they have the players on their side. The US is swimming in Jell-O.
The US is on the downside, it is a nation in decline, and most people know it.
The US is no longer the great power it once was. It has started believing it’s own BS, and no healthy country is that stupid. As one who grew up in the US during its glory days, it is a sad fall indeed. I cannot recognize the nation I once knew……it is a mockery of its former self, nothing more.
We are sliding fast, yet most don’t even know it.