Ukraine – The Economic Collapse

Could The U.S. Could Soon Be Involved In Wars In Taiwan, Ukraine And The Middle East Simultaneously?

Michael — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 00:16:42 +0000

Warmongers are now firmly in control in Washington, and they are pushing us toward war a little bit more each day. A military conflict with Russia, China or Iran would be a nightmare scenario, but there is also a possibility that we could end up fighting all three of them simultaneously. Such an outcome would have been unthinkable under the Trump administration, but times have changed. Biden administration officials have been boldly declaring that “America is back”, and they have been trying to aggressively exert U.S. influence all over the globe. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is not as intimidated by the U.S. military as it once was.

Tensions with China have been rising for quite some time, and Taiwan has become the central point of contention.

Taiwan continues to edge closer to declaring formal independence, and the Chinese insist that is a red line that must never, ever be crossed.

In recent weeks, the Chinese have been attempting to send a message by repeatedly sending military aircraft into Taiwan’s airspace, and on Monday we witnessed the most alarming incursion yet…

China’s People Liberation Army flew 25 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, its largest incursion yet as tension in the Taiwan Strait continues to escalate.

According to Taiwan’s defence ministry, the PLA warplanes – 14 Jian-16 fighter jets, four Jian-10s, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft – entered the island’s southwest zone on Monday.

China has been conducting extremely detailed military exercises which simulate an invasion of Taiwan, and the military plans for such an invasion are already drawn up.

Everything is ready to go for when the order is finally given.

The only thing stopping the Chinese is the U.S. military, and on Sunday Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again confirmed that the U.S. will stand behind Taiwan…

“What we’ve seen, and what is of real concern to us, is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the Straits. And we have a commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act, a bipartisan commitment that’s existed for many, many years, to make sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself, and to make sure that we’re sustaining peace and security in the Western Pacific. We stand behind those commitments. And all I can tell you is it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change the existing status quo by force,” Blinken said Sunday during an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press.

China understands that an invasion of Taiwan would mean war with the United States, and so the Chinese will probably hold off for the moment.

They will be waiting for an opportunity, and that could come when we are tied up with a major military conflict on the other side of the globe.

Speaking of which, the Israeli cyberattack on the Natanz nuclear facility is yet another sign that the “shadow war” between Israel and Iran is getting dangerously close to a shooting war.

Israel has not formally taken responsibility for the attack, but even the Israeli media is acknowledging what everybody else already knows…

Iran blamed Israel on Monday for an attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges — sabotage that imperils ongoing talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal and brings a shadow war between the two countries into the light.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israeli media widely reported that the country had orchestrated a devastating cyberattack that caused a blackout at the nuclear facility. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or its Mossad intelligence agency.

In the aftermath of the attack, Iranian officials pledged to “take revenge” on Israel…

“The Zionists want to take revenge on the Iranian people for their success in lifting the oppressive sanctions, but we will not allow it and we will take revenge on the Zionists themselves,” Zarif said in comments carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

If a major war does erupt and missiles start flying back and forth between Israel and Iran, the U.S. will enter the conflict on the side of Israel.

The Iranian nuclear program has been a seemingly unsolvable problem for a number of years, and I think that Israeli leaders are starting to realize that there simply is not going to be a diplomatic solution.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continue to edge closer to a major military conflict. In fact, one of the most popular news anchors in Russia just stated that the Russians may be forced to “de-Nazify” Ukraine by force…

Russia is ‘one step from war’ with Ukraine, state TV has warned in the latest bout of sabre-rattling between Moscow and Kiev that has jangled nerves across Europe.

Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian news anchor who has been called a ‘Putin propagandist’ in the past, issued the warning during a primetime broadcast in Russia on Sunday.

He branded Ukraine a ‘Nazi’ state, saying that Russia may be forced to ‘de-Nazify’ it by force – a process he said would bring about its ‘economic and military collapse’.

And a top Russian official just made headlines all over the world by suggesting that a full-blown military conflict “would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine”…

The deputy head of Russia’s presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak: “I support the assessment that the start of military action – this would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine.”

Of course things would have never gotten to this point if the Biden administration hadn’t decided to use Ukraine as a tool to put pressure on Russia.

I do not think that Russia intends to invade Ukraine right now. But when the Russians learned what the Biden administration and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky were planning, they rapidly massed forces in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

The Russians are going to keep those forces in the region for the foreseeable future, and that is going to keep tensions high.

Hopefully this show of force will convince Biden administration officials that they should not try to push things any further. Because the Russians are quite willing to strike first if they believe that a move by the other side is imminent.

And once the Russians start pouring across the line of separation, the U.S. and Russia will be at a state of war, and that is something that nobody should want to see.

Of course the United States can’t exactly afford any new wars at this point, because we are absolutely drowning in debt.

If you can believe it, our budget deficit for the month of March was a whopping 660 billion dollars…

The U.S. federal budget deficit widened 454% in March from a year earlier, as the government issued a third round of stimulus checks to help Americans ride out the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The budget gap rose to $660 billion in March, the Treasury Department said Monday, from $119 billion in the same month last year. Revenue rose 13% to $268 billion in March, while spending increased 161% to $927 billion.

A budget deficit of 660 billion dollars for an entire year would be bad enough.

To achieve that level in just one month is catastrophic.

Needless to say, even one war would make our fiscal situation much worse, and multiple conflicts would probably break us financially.

Of course if a global war does erupt, financial problems won’t exactly be among our greatest concerns at that point.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Parler, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The post Could The U.S. Could Soon Be Involved In Wars In Taiwan, Ukraine And The Middle East Simultaneously? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Russia Has Moved Missiles That Can Carry Nuclear Warheads Into The Conflict Zone With Ukraine

Michael — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 02:21:53 +0000

How close can Russia and Ukraine come to war without actually going over the precipice? Over the weekend, more forces on both sides continued to pour into the conflict zone. And on the line of separation in eastern Ukraine, there are regular reports of gunfire and shelling. At this point, there are no negotiations on the horizon, and one false move could easily spark an all-out war. In fact, a Kremlin spokesperson is warning that we could soon see “full-scale combat operations”…

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said the situation in eastern Ukraine was ‘very unstable’ and warned it risked leading to ‘full-scale combat operations.’

As Kiev warned it could be ‘provoked’ by Russia’s aggression, several Western nations have voiced fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move could trigger an all-out war, which could drag Nato allies, including Britain, into the conflict.

By rushing so many forces to the conflict zone, the Russians have prepared themselves to be ready for any scenario that may unfold.

According to one British news source, Russia now has “close to 100,000 troops” in the region…

The Russia-Ukraine crisis could explode into all-out war within days after Moscow amassed close to 100,000 troops at the flashpoint border, it was feared last night.

Senior Ukraine military sources fear Moscow’s war-planners may have wrong-footed Kiev by being far more battle-ready for a major land and sea attack than previously suspected.

If a full-blown war does break out, the Ukrainian military will be no match for the Russian military.

The Ukrainians would literally beg NATO for help, and Joe Biden has already promised “unwavering support” for the regime in Kiev.

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia have never been closer to war than they are right now, and that is why this crisis is far more important than most Americans realize.

Within the last 24 hours, there has been quite a bit more activity along the line of separation. The following is an English translation of a report that was posted on the official website of the Ukrainian military…

During the past 24 hours, on April 10, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, the armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 10 times, including 9 shellings of Ukrainian defenders and 1 flight of an enemy UAV crossing the line of demarcation.

In particular, in the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group “East”, the Russian occupation forces fired at our positions near the village of PYSCHEVYK with 82 mm mortars, anti-tank and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers prohibited by the Minsk agreements. In the suburbs of the villages of PISKY and SHYROKYNE, the enemy opened fire with small arms, and near AVDIYIVKA and KAMYANKA – with grenade launchers of various systems.

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group “North”, near the village of MAYORSKE, armed formations of the Russian Federation fired at the positions of Ukrainian defenders with hand-held anti-tank and grenade launchers.

Near the village of ZOLOTE-3, the enemy opened fire with automatic machine grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

Of course the Ukrainians don’t always disclose when they fire upon forces on the other side, and that has been happening on numerous occasions as well.

This sort of low level fighting is only a concern because it could potentially lead to a much larger conflict.

And in preparation for such a conflict, the Russians have been moving some very serious hardware into the region.

For example, it is being reported that the Russians have moved at least six “city destroyers” into the conflict zone…

At least six 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars – capable of firing warheads 12 miles – were filmed on flat-bed trains. Dubbed the ‘city destroyer’, the weapon’s devastating power has demolished strongholds from Chechnya to Afghanistan.

Even more importantly, we are being told that the Russians have been deploying Iskander missile systems close to Ukraine…

Open-source intelligence specialist at Janes Thomas Bullock identified Russian Iskander missile systems that have moved or are moving to the Ukrainian area of operations since late March through open-source intelligence.

Thomas Bullock posted a Janes article from 8 April that said he identified the deployment of Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems, likely belonging to the 119 Missile Brigade, to Voronezh from the Sverdlovsk region.

This is a sign that the Russians are definitely not messing around.

Iskander missile systems can be used to deliver conventional payloads, but they are also designed to carry nuclear warheads…

Russian official sources claim that the R-500 missile carries a conventional 500 kg warhead or nuclear warhead with a yield of around 10-50 kT. It is likely that there are several different conventional warheads, including cluster, fuel-air explosive, and bunker-busting. The missile can overcome enemy air defense systems while offering high-probability of failure-free operation in countermeasures environments. It has a target accuracy of 5m to 7m and operates even in fog or low visibility.

If push came to shove, the Russians would not hesitate to use tactical nukes if they felt it was necessary.

We should all carefully monitor the situation in Ukraine, because this really does have the potential to spark World War 3.

Of course there are two other potential conflicts that could also cause global war to erupt.

China has been eyeing a potential invasion of Taiwan for quite some time now. If China decides to actually pull the trigger, the U.S. and China would immediately be at a state of war.

Also, it appears to be just a matter of time before Israel and Iran go to war. On Sunday, Iranian officials announced that the Natanz nuclear facility “was hit by a ‘terrorist” attack”…

Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was hit by a “terrorist” attack on Sunday, the country’s nuclear chief said, hours after reports of an electrical “accident” – and a day after new uranium enrichment centrifuges were started up.

Iran reserves the right to “take action” against those behind the incident at the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facility in Natanz, the head of the nation’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, told state TV on Sunday.

He called the incident at the plant an act of “nuclear terrorism.”

Iran’s nuclear program has been steadily moving forward, and Israel had made it abundantly clear that it will never allow the Iranians to develop their own nuclear weapons.

The clock is ticking, and there will be war at some point.

So which flashpoint will erupt first?

I don’t know, but the red horse is getting ready to ride, and things could start to spiral out of control at any time.

I believe that we will be the generation that will experience World War 3, and it truly will be too horrible for words.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

The post Russia Has Moved Missiles That Can Carry Nuclear Warheads Into The Conflict Zone With Ukraine appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Heavy Shelling Is Being Reported In Ukraine As Russian Television Discusses A Possible “Nuclear Strike”

Michael — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:40:27 +0000

A new war in Ukraine would be bad for the entire globe, but we might just get one anyway. Once the Biden administration took control of the White House, they decided to wage a campaign of maximum pressure against Russia, and Ukraine is one of the key tools that they are using. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky never would have signed Decree No. 117/2021 on March 24th without the encouragement of the Biden administration, and the extremely aggressive statements about Crimea in that document deeply alarmed the Russians. Even more importantly, it appears that the Ukrainians were secretly preparing a massive offensive against areas of eastern Ukraine that are held by the separatists. If those areas could have been captured before Russia could react, that would have been a massive victory for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Biden administration. But the Russians caught wind of what was going on, and that is why they have been sending forces into Crimea and into separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine in numbers that we have never seen before.

If Zelensky and the Biden administration would have left things alone, we wouldn’t be on the verge of war today.

But now tensions in the region are extremely high, and a major conflict could break out at any moment. The following is an example of how the current state of affairs is being viewed in Russia…

After six years of an uneasy and at times violent truce, the specter of a new war is looming large in Russia-Ukraine relations. In retaliation for Kiev’s recent crackdown on pro-Russian media and politicians, Moscow is staging a large-scale and ostentatious military buildup along the Ukrainian border.

The situation is especially volatile in Donbass, where the ceasefire between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-sponsored breakaway territories has effectively broken down. Both sides accuse each other of provocations and regularly exchange fire, with the casualties mounting among both military personnel and civilians.

Zelensky made things even worse on Tuesday when he urged NATO to add Ukraine as a member as soon as possible…

Ukraine’s president has called on Nato and key member states to hasten his country’s membership of the western military alliance in response to a growing buildup of Russian forces on his country’s borders.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Tuesday, and urged for Ukraine to be put on a pathway to future membership to halt the long-running conflict in the eastern Donbas region.

Everyone knows that Russia is desperate to keep Ukraine out of NATO, and so Zelensky had to know that his statements would result in even more stress in the region.

The Ukrainian people thought that they were voting for peace when they originally voted for Zelensky, but instead he has been a nightmare.

Within the last 24 hours, more shelling has erupted in eastern Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian military, mortar fire was reported close to the village of Nevelske…

In particular, in the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group “East”, near the village of NEVELSKE, the enemy opened fire with 82-mm mortars, large-caliber machine guns and machine-gun anti-tank grenade launchers.

As a result of enemy shelling, one Ukrainian soldier received non-life-threatening injuries. In addition, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, one serviceman died as a result of an explosion on an unknown explosive device.

Even more alarming, video footage posted on social media shows “heavy shelling” near the city of Avdiivka…

#DONBASS
–#Avdyivka‘ya topçu atışları devam ediyor.

-Still ongoing shelling on #Avdiivka. https://t.co/fTdf83sjAF pic.twitter.com/onlIcvHYEz

— момчил иванов (@momchil_ivanov1) April 6, 2021

Unfortunately, the fighting is likely to escalate in the coming days.

In fact, it is being reported that Ukraine is starting to call up reservists…

Ukraine’s military has scrambled territorial defense units amid the unfolding threat of an all-out Russian invasion as masses of fresh regular forces concentrate near Ukraine’s borders, with NATO and United States ringing alarm.

Approximately 100,000 reservists could be called to duty, and that would definitely bolster the Ukrainian forces.

On the other side, the Russian military just announced that it will be holding more than 4,000 “training exercises” during the month of April…

Russia announced the start of mass military drills, ratcheting up tensions with neighboring Ukraine amid Western concerns about the risk of renewed fighting.

More than 4,000 training exercises will be held in military districts across Russia in April, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, in comments posted on the ministry’s website.

Hopefully things will calm down soon, because events could spiral out of control very easily.

Earlier today, I was deeply alarmed to learn that there has even been a discussion about a potential “nuclear strike” on Russian public television…

However, in a frightening public report, Russian public television “Russia 1” spoke of a nuclear strike. They said about:

“If there is a possible escalation in Ukraine, then a nuclear strike is on the agenda. This will make Americans afraid and we will do whatever we want.”

Hearing that should send a chill through your bones, because if nuclear weapons are used that will cross a line that will never be able to be uncrossed.

We are so close to a nightmare scenario, but most Americans continue to be completely and utterly oblivious to what is going on.

A hothead is in charge of our foreign policy, he is surrounded by a team of all-star warmongers, and we are now closer to war with Russia than we have been in decades.

And at this hour, even more forces are racing toward the conflict zone in Ukraine…

Regardless of intent or motive, this is an incredible mobilization and immense logistical operation. Just look at the amount of trackage being used. https://t.co/3U8ulZmYfA

— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) April 6, 2021

You can hardly get out of the “amazement” …
These 2S4 Tjulpan were also filmed in Kropotkin. On the way to Ukraine.
The 2S4 is the world’s heaviest mobile mortar, capable of firing not only conventional, but also nuclear shells from 9 to 18 km … https://t.co/Vg6IqpboGE

— Rob Soltysik (@soltysik_rob) April 6, 2021

Russian military column on the Tavrida Highway in Crimea, near Nizhniye Oreshniki.

Notice R-149MA1 unfied command and staff vehicles.

05.04.21 pic.twitter.com/Meom3FxfpJ

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) April 6, 2021

Tanques T-72B3 rusos.#Ucrania #UkraineRussia pic.twitter.com/gHp5WfWoYt

— Pretorianos (@PretorianosNews) April 5, 2021

Russian army is moving heavy artillery in Bryansk Oblast near the border to Ukraine and Belarus northeast of Kyiv today. pic.twitter.com/G9XUwwVh72

— WorldOnAlert (@worldonalert) April 6, 2021

Here’s what’s actually happening in Ukraine / Russia… #Donetsk #Donbass pic.twitter.com/GTWhZI5t4i

— ASB News / MILITARY (@ASBMilitary) April 2, 2021

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

The post Heavy Shelling Is Being Reported In Ukraine As Russian Television Discusses A Possible “Nuclear Strike” appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

The Russians Are Reportedly Using “120-Caliber Mortars” And “Hand-Held Anti-Tank Grenade Launchers” To Bombard Ukrainian Positions

Michael — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 23:56:20 +0000

Why is the corporate media in the United States so quiet about this? As more Russian forces race toward the conflict zone, the Russians have reportedly been hammering Ukrainian positions over the past couple of days. But I haven’t been able to find a peep about this from the corporate media. I don’t understand why they aren’t covering this, because this conflict has the potential to start a global war. Joe Biden is pledging “unwavering support” for Ukraine, and if a Russian invasion actually happens that promise of “unwavering support” would be put to the ultimate test. We are now closer to a shooting war with Russia than we have been at any point since the end of the Cold War, but most Americans are totally clueless about the drama that is unfolding on the other side of the globe right now.

If a way to defuse this conflict is not found, we could literally be looking at a scenario that eventually leads us into World War 3.

And the clock is ticking, because once Putin gives the order to invade there will be no going back.

On Saturday, the Ukrainians once again reported that forces on the other side of the conflict zone opened fire. The following is an English translation of a report that was posted on the official website of the Ukrainian military…

Ignoring the agreements reached on July 22, 2020 within the framework of the Tripartite Contact Group, the Russian occupation forces continue to shell the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of this day, on April 3, 6 violations of the ceasefire regime by the armed forces of the Russian Federation have been recorded.

In the area of the Vostok operational and tactical group near the town of PISKY, the Russian occupiers opened fire with 120-caliber mortars, large-caliber machine guns, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms prohibited by the Minsk agreements. Near AVDIYIVKA and VODYANOY in the Azov Sea, Russian occupation forces fired large-caliber machine guns, anti-tank and automatic machine-gun grenade launchers.

Technically, the ceasefire that was agreed to on July 22, 2020 is no longer in effect because it expired on April 1st.

But the Ukrainians continue to frame these incidents as “ceasefire violations”.

On Sunday morning, the Ukrainian military posted another update…

Russian occupation forces continue to shell Ukrainian defenders’ positions in order to further accuse them of violating the ceasefire.

During the past 24hrs, on April 3, 10 violations of the ceasefire by the armed forces of the Russian Federation were recorded.

In the area of the operational and tactical group “East” near the settlement of SAND, the Russian occupiers opened fire with mortars of 120-caliber, large-caliber machine guns, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms prohibited by the Minsk agreements, and from near the village. hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers. Near the settlements of AVDIYIVKA, SHYROKYNE and VODYANE in the Azov region, Russian occupation forces fired large-caliber machine guns and grenade launchers of various systems.

Subsequently, the firing seemed to stop, and that is probably because there is a high level of respect on both sides for the religious holiday that was taking place.

But it is quite likely that the fireworks will resume on Monday, and hopefully the corporate media in the United States will start to properly cover this exceedingly important story.

At this moment, there are three seemingly unsolvable issues which need to be addressed if this conflict is to be defused somehow.

First of all, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 117/2021 on March 24th, the Russians essentially considered it to be a declaration of war against them. That document makes it the official policy of the Ukrainian government to reconquer Crimea, and the Russians consider Crimea to be their sovereign territory. I don’t anticipate that either side will ever back down, and the Biden administration has been pushing hard to make this a very important issue internationally.

Secondly, the Biden administration has been doing everything that it can think of to try to sabotage the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Selling gas to the Europeans is exceedingly important to the Russians from an economic standpoint, and the possibility that the Europeans could end that relationship is probably the number one thing holding Putin back from launching an invasion right now. But if the Biden administration is successful in killing the Nordstream pipeline and in getting the Europeans to start rejecting Russian gas, then Putin may figure that there is nothing left to lose.

Thirdly, the Russians will never, ever accept Ukraine joining the NATO alliance. Having NATO forces right on the Russian border is considered to be completely and utterly unacceptable by Russian military strategists, and the Russians are extremely alarmed that NATO forces could soon be deployed to Ukraine on a large scale…

The Kremlin said on Friday that any deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine would lead to further tensions near Russia’s borders and force Moscow to take extra measures to ensure its own security.

NATO voiced concern on Thursday over what it said was a big Russian military build-up near eastern Ukraine after Russia warned that a serious escalation in the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbass region could “destroy” Ukraine.

And it is also being reported that the Ukrainian military is scheduled to hold joint military exercises with NATO in just a few months…

UKRAINE’s armed forces have said joint military drills with NATO troops would begin in a few months’ time in a move which is likely to infuriate Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and stoke already heightened tensions with Moscow, which has expressed its opposition to the idea.

The Trump administration didn’t provoke Russia, and so for four years there was relative stability in the region.

But now the Biden administration has decided to put enormous amounts of pressure on Russia on multiple fronts, but this could backfire dramatically if the Russians decide that military action in Ukraine becomes unavoidable.

In recent articles I have described Biden as a “hothead” and a “warmonger”, and at this point his cognitive decline is apparent to everyone. He is easily persuaded, and the fact that his national security team is packed with extremely aggressive warmongers is not reassuring.

This is a story that is not going to end well, but the vast majority of Americans have very little interest in foreign policy at this point, and most of them do not regard Russia as any sort of a threat.

But once the Biden administration actually gets us into a war, all of a sudden a lot of people are going to wake up and get really upset.

Of course a potential conflict is not just looming with Russia. We are also stumbling toward potential conflicts with China, North Korea and Iran, and Biden’s national security team does not seem to know how to handle any of those relationships.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

The post The Russians Are Reportedly Using “120-Caliber Mortars” And “Hand-Held Anti-Tank Grenade Launchers” To Bombard Ukrainian Positions appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Ukrainian Troops Are Being Fired Upon By Grenade Launchers And Machine Guns As More Russian Forces Race Toward The Border

Michael — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 01:45:26 +0000

Could this be the spark that causes World War 3 to erupt? At this hour, Russian and Ukrainian military forces continue to rush toward the conflict zone, and to say that things are “tense” in the region would be a tremendous understatement. As I discussed yesterday, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 117/2021 on March 24th, it was essentially a declaration of war against Russia. Since that time, Russian forces have been massing along the borders in numbers that we have never seen before. Video after video of Russian tanks, military vehicles and troops being moved toward the conflict zone have been posted on social media, and the Ukrainians have responded by making similar moves. But if the Russians launch a full-blown invasion, the Ukrainians will be totally outmatched, and they will ask the United States and NATO to intervene.

Since March 24th, there have been hundreds of ceasefire violations, but the ceasefire cannot be violated any longer because it officially expired on April 1st.

On Thursday, there were multiple reports of Ukrainian forces taking direct fire. This was not reported by anyone in the corporate media in the United States, and so I had to go to a Ukrainian source to find out exactly what is going on. The following is an English translation of a report that was posted on the official website of the Ukrainian military…

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group “East”, near the settlements of SAND and WATER, in the Azov Sea, the occupiers opened fire with grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group “North”, near the settlements of SVITLODARSKE, LUHANSKE and ZOLOTE-4, the invaders fired at our positions with automatic machine-gun and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and machine guns.

From this point forward, there will probably be regular reports of both sides firing on one another.

But will the conflict soon become much larger than that?

I think that it is a really bad sign that the separatists in eastern Ukraine just announced that those born from 1994 to 2003 will start to be conscripted for military service.

In addition, the EU is accusing Russia of initiating “a conscription campaign in the Crimea peninsula”…

The European Union said Russia had launched a conscription campaign in the Crimea peninsula in a move that broke international law.

The EU said in a statement: “Today, the Russian Federation has launched yet another conscription campaign in the illegally-annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to draft residents of the peninsula in the Russian Federation Armed Forces.”

These are very alarming developments, because they indicate that the Russians and the separatists in eastern Ukraine believe that an extended military conflict is approaching.

Of course the Russians wouldn’t actually need any new conscripts in order to defeat Ukraine. The Russian military is vastly superior to the Ukrainian military, and Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Ruslan Khomchak believes that there are more than 32,000 Russian troops currently in Crimea in addition to the 28,000 separatist troops in eastern Ukraine…

Khomchak had also said that Russia has around 32,700 military personnel in Crimea, at present. Since annexing the territory in 2014, the Kremlin has significantly expanded its military presence there to include air, naval, and ground-based assets, including anti-ship cruise missile and surface-to-air missile batteries.

Russia also oversees some 28,000 personnel in “separatist” units in areas of eastern Ukraine known collectively as the Donbass who have been fighting the government in Kyiv since 2015. Though the Kremlin denies it, the evidence is clear that a substantial portion of these forces is simply regular Russian military units deployed on Ukrainian soil. There are also strong links between Russia’s intelligence services and ostensibly “local” forces.

When asked why so many troops are being moved toward Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said that this “should not bother anyone”…

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered a trio of seemingly contradictory dismissals regarding the sudden movement of Russian forces and equipment along its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, as well as a mortar attack last week by Russian-backed troops that killed four Ukrainian soldiers for which Kiev blames Russia.

“The Russian Federation moves its armed forces within its territory at its own discretion. This should not bother anyone, it poses no threat to anyone,” Peskov told reporters on Thursday morning, according to a translation of his remarks. He also said that Russia feels threatened by what it considers “increased activity of the armed forces of NATO countries” and others that “obliges us to be on the alert.”

Ultimately, these troop movements almost certainly never would have happened if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had not signed Decree No. 117/2021.

And of course Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky never would have signed Decree No. 117/2021 if he had not been given the green light to do so by the White House.

In the end, this is a game of chess between the Biden administration and the Kremlin, and one false move could plunge us into World War 3.

Unfortunately, the rhetoric on both sides just continues to escalate. On Thursday, the U.S. State Department once again accused the Russians of being “aggressive”…

Following Lavrov and Peskov’s statements, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price warned Moscow against “intimidating” Ukraine.

“We’re absolutely concerned by recent escalations of Russian aggressive and provocative actions in eastern Ukraine,” Ned Price told reporters.

“What we would object to are aggressive actions that have an intent of intimidating, of threatening, our partner Ukraine.”

And new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is the latest official to publicly pledge U.S. support for Ukraine…

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Ukraine’s minister of defense on the phone Thursday to express “unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty” and to condemn Russian aggression in the country.

But if the Russians actually launched a full scale ground invasion of Ukraine, there would be nothing the U.S. could do to stop it.

Of course the U.S. could decide to strike back militarily in other ways, and that could set off a chain reaction which could result in global war.

The corporate media in the United States loved to bash the Trump administration, but while Trump was in the White House there was never a threat that World War 3 was about to start.

Unfortunately, the warmongers in the Biden administration are now running the show. They seem to think that they can push the Russians around, but if they miscalculate even just a little bit it could have disastrous consequences for all of us.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

The post Ukrainian Troops Are Being Fired Upon By Grenade Launchers And Machine Guns As More Russian Forces Race Toward The Border appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

As Russian Tanks Move Toward Ukraine, The Globe Braces For The Possibility That World War 3 Could Soon Erupt

Michael — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 02:42:25 +0000

At this hour, more Russian military forces are massed near Ukraine’s borders than we have ever seen before. Western military leaders say that they are concerned that the troop movements that we have witnessed in recent days may be leading up to an invasion, and if an invasion does happen it will greatly test the resolve of the Biden administration, EU leaders and NATO brass. In particular, the hawks in the Biden administration would almost certainly not be willing to just sit back and let the Russians conquer all of Ukraine. There would likely be a major response by the United States, and that could set off a chain reaction that could ultimately spark World War 3.

So what made the Russians suddenly move a massive invasion force toward Ukraine?

Well, it turns out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky essentially signed a declaration of war against Russia on March 24th. The document that he signed is known as Decree No. 117/2021, and you won’t read anything about it in the corporate media.

I really had to dig to find Decree No. 117/2021, but eventually I found it. I took several of the paragraphs at the beginning of the document and I ran them through Google translate…

In accordance with Article 107 of the Constitution of Ukraine, I decree:

1. To put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of March 11, 2021 “On the Strategy of deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol” (attached).

2. To approve the Strategy of deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (attached).

3. Control over the implementation of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, enacted by this Decree, shall be vested in the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

4. This Decree shall enter into force on the day of its publication.

President of Ukraine V.ZELENSKY

March 24, 2021

Basically, this decree makes it the official policy of the government of Ukraine to retake Crimea from Russia.

Of course the Russians will never hand over Crimea willingly because they consider it to be Russian territory, and so Ukraine would have to take it by force.

This is essentially a declaration of war against Russia, and Zelensky would have never signed such a document without the approval of the Biden administration.

Following the signing of Decree No. 117/2021, we started to see Russian forces pour into Crimea and into separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine at a staggering rate.

For example, you can watch a column of Russian tanks being transported by rail right here.

Крым, 30 марта pic.twitter.com/yaMoN7leio

— IgorGirkin (@GirkinGirkin) March 30, 2021

And you can see a massive column of Russian forces on the Crimea bridge right here.

Russian military equipment on the Crimean Bridge. 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, various trucks, BMP-3 IFVs.

29.03.21 pic.twitter.com/c4W2aNqp5M

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) March 31, 2021

In addition, it is being reported that the 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade is on the move, and that is not a good sign at all.

For those who don’t know, this isn’t the brigade you want to see on the move.

The 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops. The brigade was first formed in 1979 and fought in the Soviet–Afghan War, the 1st & 2nd Chechen War. https://t.co/lAthOpiIvw

— ASB News / MILITARY (@ASBMilitary) March 31, 2021

The Russians are taking Zelensky’s declaration of war very seriously, but the corporate media in the western world is blaming “Russian aggression” for the increase in tensions in the region.

But the truth is that the Russians never would have made any of these moves if warmongers in the Biden administration had not given Zelensky the green light to sign Decree No. 117/2021.

And what most people in the western world don’t know is that fighting has already begun in Ukraine. The ceasefire that was agreed to in July 2020 has been violated hundreds of times over the past week…

The OSCE’s civilian Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has reported hundreds of cease-fire violations in recent days. On March 26, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two others injured in the eastern part of the country.

The Ukrainian military said its soldiers were hit by a mortar attack it blamed on Russian troops. Russia denies having a military presence in eastern Ukraine, where it backs separatist forces.

At this point, the ceasefire of July 2020 is completely dead.

In response to the renewed fighting, U.S. European Command “has raised its alert status to the highest level”…

U.S. European Command has raised its alert status to the highest level after fighting resumed between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk Region of eastern Ukraine, marking the end of a June 2020 ceasefire, and Russian forces began building up military equipment along the border.

And we just learned that the chairman of the joint chiefs actually had a telephone call with his counterpart in Russia on Wednesday to address the escalating situation…

In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that at the initiative of the U.S., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mark Milley, had a telephone conversation with his counterpart. “Issues of mutual interest were discussed,” the statement said.

In the days ahead, the corporate media in the western world is going to continue talking about “Russian aggression”, and the Russians are going to continue to blame Zelensky and the Biden administration for the rise of tensions in the region.

Ultimately, we could spend countless hours debating who is in the right and who is in the wrong.

But what really matters is keeping this from escalating into a global conflict. Because if someone does something really stupid and the Russians feel a need to send their invasion force into Ukraine, there will be no going back ever.

I have been warning about a future conflict between the United States and Russia for a very long time, and we have never been closer than we are right now.

With Trump in the White House, relations with Russia were relatively stable, but now Joe Biden is in charge.

Biden is a hothead that is showing signs of advanced cognitive decline, and he is surrounded by a team of warmongers that are determined to put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place.

The inmates are running the asylum, and it won’t take much of a mistake at all for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

The post As Russian Tanks Move Toward Ukraine, The Globe Braces For The Possibility That World War 3 Could Soon Erupt appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Russia And Ukraine Are On The Brink Of War – And Why That Could Lead To World War 3

Michael — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 07:03:15 +0000

A respected foreign journalist living in Ukraine is warning that a war that most Americans cannot even imagine “teeters on the razor thin edge of becoming real”. When Russia opened fire on Ukrainian Navy vessels and captured three of their ships, it made headlines all over the globe. An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was hastily arranged for Monday at 11 AM, and hopefully there will be a positive outcome from that meeting. Because right now Moscow and Kiev are on the brink of war, and once a Russian invasion happens there will be no turning back. At that point the U.S. would have a major decision to make, and if we chose to defend Ukraine that could mean that we would suddenly find ourselves fighting World War 3.

Most people don’t realize that this crisis has been simmering for over a week. The following is from a U.S. News & World Report article that was posted on November 19th…

A dispute over shipping lanes is threatening to reignite the 4-year-old simmering war between Ukraine and Russia following confrontations sparked by both sides in recent days.

Russian border guards on Monday detained Ukrainian fishing vessels in the Sea of Azov, a strategically important body of water contained to the north by Ukraine, to the west by the Crimean Peninsula and to the east and south by Russia. Monday’s incident came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed Kiev for detaining Russian commercial ships also in the Azov in what he described as “a totally illegal move” and which Kremlin officials have warned may prompt retaliation.

When you realize what has already taken place, it puts the most recent events in an entirely different context.

The Russians blocked the Kerch Strait in retaliation for having had their own commercial vessels detained by the Ukrainian government.

And when the Ukrainians decided to test the Russians by sailing Ukrainian Navy vessels into the Kerch Strait, the Russians decided not to back down. The following comes from Sky News…

Russia has opened fire on Ukrainian ships and captured three vessels in a major escalation of tensions off the coast of Crimea.

Three sailors have been wounded after the Ukrainian navy said two artillery boats were hit by the strikes in the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko called an emergency session of his war cabinet and said he will propose that parliament declare martial law.

So the truth is that neither side is exactly “innocent” in this situation.

The Kerch Strait is absolutely critical, because it is the only way into and out of the Azov Sea…

The strait connects the Azov Sea with the Black Sea and runs between the Crimean Peninsula and Russia. It’s a shallow, narrow stretch of water just two to three miles (3.2 to 4.8 kilometers) wide at one point near the Chuska landspit.

The strait is an important economic lifeline for Ukraine, as it allows ships leaving the port city of Mariupol to access the Black Sea.

It’s also the the closest point of access for Russia to Crimea, a peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. The international community has largely not recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but that did not stop Russia from building a bridge over the Kerch Strait connecting Crimea to mainland Russia. The Kerch Strait bridge was opened in May.

In addition to asking for a declaration of martial law, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has also been gathering with his top military leaders. Poroshenko is pledging that Ukraine will not take any “offensive” military actions, but he also says that they are ready to defend against any attacks from Russia.

The Russians are accusing Poroshenko of manipulating this crisis in order to pump up his flagging approval ratings for the upcoming presidential elections. There is a very real possibility that Poroshenko could lose, and he is desperate to stay in office.

Of course the Ukrainians are blaming Russia for everything, and Poroshenko says that what happened on Sunday “was an act of war”…

Finally, Ukraine has called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting over ‘Russian aggression’ while Ukraine’s secretary for national security, Oleksander Turchynov, accused Russia of engaging in an act of war: “We heard reports on incident and have concluded that it was an act of war by Russian Federation against Ukraine”.

At this point, it is unclear what the Russians will do next.

Hopefully they will see that a full-blown invasion of Ukraine would not be wise.

But if they decide that such a war is inevitable, they will move with lightning speed as we have seen in other conflicts. For example, Russia had already annexed Crimea before the rest of the world even started talking about it. And we all remember what happened in Georgia.

If and when Russia finally pulls the trigger, their forces will be halfway to Kiev before the mainstream media in the western world even realizes what is happening.

And if Russia does invade, the Trump administration will be under tremendous pressure from Republicans, Democrats and other NATO members to intervene. Already, there has been some very tough talk from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo…

It’s yet unclear how far the U.S. is willing to go in support for Ukraine. In a joint statement after Klimkin’s meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, both sides “condemned Russia’s aggressive actions against international shipping transiting the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait to Ukrainian ports” and agreed that “Russia’s aggressive activities in the Sea of Azov have brought new security, economic, social, and environmental threats to the entire Azov-Black Sea region.”

But if we directly intervene in a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, that could very easily trigger World War 3.

Most Americans are not concerned that a conflict between Russia and Ukraine could potentially affect the United States, but the threat is very real. In fact, according to foreign correspondent Nolan Peterson such a war “teeters on the razor thin edge of becoming real”…

This is the most dangerous moment I’ve seen in Ukraine in years. Tonight, a war that many people in America can only imagine thanks to Hollywood movies, teeters on the razor thin edge of becoming real. Tonight in Ukraine we go to sleep not knowing what tomorrow will bring.

Let us hope for peace, because right now the world is becoming a more chaotic place with each passing day…

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is publisher of The Most Important News and the author of four books including The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters.

The post Russia And Ukraine Are On The Brink Of War – And Why That Could Lead To World War 3 appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Winds Of War: Is Russia Conducting A Massive Mobilization Of Troops For An Invasion Of Ukraine?

Michael — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:37:14 +0000

The drumbeats of war are growing louder. Fighting in eastern Ukraine between separatists and pro-government forces has risen to an intensity not seen in well over a year, and the Russians claim that they recently foiled a “Ukrainian plot” to conduct terror attacks in Crimea. As tensions in the region have increased, the Russians have used the cover of “military drills” to move massive amounts of troops and military equipment up to the border with Ukraine. This is something that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, but things have intensified since then, and a huge military exercise is planned for September. Needless to say, the Ukrainians are quite alarmed by this, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is warning that a full scale mobilization of the Ukrainian military may be needed. If something is going to happen, it is likely to happen soon. As you will see below, once we get into October it will become much less likely that we would see a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We aren’t hearing much about this conflict in the U.S. media, but over in Europe this is a very big deal. Just consider the following excerpt from an article in the Independent entitled “Russia is teetering on the brink of ‘all out war’ with Ukraine“…

Ukraine is holding a major military parade in Kiev today to mark its 25th anniversary as an independent state. But, at a time that should otherwise be a moment of national celebration, a serious crisis with Moscow is flaring up. So serious, in fact, that on Tuesday the Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were forced to hold a three-way phone call to try to de-escalate the situation.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has even warned that there is growing risk of a “full scale Russian invasion along all fronts,” ratcheting up what is already the bloodiest European conflict since the wars over the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

And the truth is that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has some very good reasons to be concerned. As the Washington Post has pointed out, the Russians have used military exercises as an excuse to stage forces for military action in the past…

As violence in the east heats up, Ukrainian officials have suggested that Russia may use the upcoming military drills, called Kavkaz (Caucasus) 2016, as cover for military action against Ukraine. The drills are the first to integrate the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, into the country’s military planning, and thousands of Russian troops will be brought in for air, land and sea exercises.

Ukrainian government analysts have recalled that exercises served as staging grounds for troop incursions in 2014, as did Russian military exercises held shortly before the Georgian war of 2008. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations suggested that Russia may have “bad intentions,” while the West has also said it would like observers to be present.

If there is going to be a Russian invasion of Ukraine in September, Kavkaz 2016 will likely be used as cover for invasion preparations. It is a yearly exercise, but in 2016 it looks like it will be much bigger than ever before, and some analysts have pointed out that the Russians have not conducted a mobilization on this scale since the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Here is more on Kavkaz 2016 from the Daily Signal…

In September, Russia has plans for a large-scale strategic military exercise called Kavkaz-2016. The exercise, which is an annual event, will include units deployed near the borders of Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan—including two Russian military districts in the Southern and Northern Caucasus, the Russian Black Sea Fleet (headquartered in occupied Crimea), and the Caspian Flotilla.

It is not immediately clear the exact size of this year’s exercise, but last year it comprised 95,000 troops, 7,000 vehicles, and 150 aircraft, according to a report by IHS Markit, a U.K.-based intelligence and analysis firm.

If the Russians are going to do something, they need to do it soon, because the weather turns very bad during the month of October. Here is one how one analyst assessed the situation…

“But will there be a war – we’ll see, no much time for guessing left… In this situation, the main thing for Russia is to achieve strategic and tactical surprise. And if she does not start now – then it will be too late. One would need to turn off full-scale operations in October because of the rains and the next draft to Russian army (it would mean the demobilization of current wave of conscripts and training the new ones – UT).”

A Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean that Russian relations with the U.S. and with Europe would immediately plunge to Cold War levels. Of course some would argue that we are already there. In any event, a Russian invasion would force the U.S. and NATO to make some very uncomfortable decisions.

Would the U.S. and NATO just stand by and do nothing while Ukraine is overrun by the Russians?

Maybe.

But if the U.S. and NATO responded with military force, that would risk a full scale nuclear confrontation with Russia.

Right now, a war with Russia is about the last thing that most Americans are thinking about, but the truth is that we are not that far away from such a scenario.

Over in Russia, the mindset is totally different. The following is from a Newsweek article entitled “In Europe and Russia, There’s Talk of War“…

Recently, I grabbed a taxi in Moscow. When the driver asked me where I was from, I told him the United States. “I went there once,” he said, “to Chicago. I really liked it.”

“But tell me something,” he added. “When are we going to war?”

The question, put so starkly, so honestly, shocked me. “Well, I hope never,” I replied. “No one wants war.”

At the office, I ask a Russian employee about the mood in his working class Moscow neighborhood. The old people are buying salt, matches and gretchka [buckwheat], he tells me—the time-worn refuge for Russians stocking up on essentials in case of war.

In the past two months, I’ve traveled to the Baltic region, to Georgia, and to Russia. Talk of war is everywhere.

Most Americans don’t realize that Russians already view the United States more negatively than they did even during the height of the Cold War. On Russian television they openly talk about the inevitability of a war between the United States and Russia, and the Russian military has feverishly been preparing for such a future conflict.

If we can get to October, we can probably breathe a bit of a sigh of relief because the Russians are not likely to conduct an invasion once the weather turns bad.

But for now there are very good reasons to be concerned, and we shall see what happens over the coming weeks…

The post Winds Of War: Is Russia Conducting A Massive Mobilization Of Troops For An Invasion Of Ukraine? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Is Barack Obama Actually TRYING To Start World War III?

Michael — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 22:39:29 +0000

Why has Barack Obama airdropped 50 tons of ammunition into areas that “moderate rebels” in Syria supposedly control? This is essentially the equivalent of poking the Russians directly in the eyes. Much of this ammunition will end up in the hands of those that the Russians are attempting to bomb into oblivion, and so to Russia it appears that we are attempting to make their job much harder. And of course the truth is that there aren’t really any “moderate rebels” in Syria at all. Nearly all of the groups that are fighting are made up primarily of radical jihadists and/or hired mercenaries. Personally, I don’t see anyone over there that you could call “the good guys”. At the end of the day, the U.S. supports just about anyone that wants to get rid of the Assad regime, and the Russians are working very hard to keep Assad in power. Just like the civil war in Ukraine, the conflict in Syria is in great danger of being transformed into a proxy war between the United States and Russia, and many fear that these conflicts could eventually be setting the stage for World War III.

The ferocity of Russian airstrikes in Syria has surprised observers all over the planet, and over the past couple of days these airstrikes have been extended to include some new areas…

Russian Air Forces have extended the range of their airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Syria to four provinces, focusing primarily on demolishing fortified installations and eliminating supply bases and the terrorists’ infrastructure.

Over the last 24 hours Russian aircraft have attacked terrorist positions in the Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Raqqa provinces of Syria. In total, 64 sorties targeted 63 Islamic State installations, among them 53 fortified zones, 7 arms depots, 4 training camps and a command post.

When I read reports like this, I am deeply troubled. The Obama administration claims that it has been bombing ISIS positions in Syria for over a year. So why in the world do these targets still exist?

Was the U.S. military incapable of finding these installations?

That doesn’t seem likely.

So why weren’t they destroyed long ago?

Did the Obama administration not want them destroyed for some reason?

What seems abundantly clear is that the Russians are doing what the Obama administration was either unwilling or unable to do. There is now mass panic among ISIS fighters, and thousands of them are fleeing the country…

An estimated 3,000 Islamic State fighters as well as militants from other extremist groups have fled Syria for Jordan fearing a renewed offensive by the Syrian army in addition to Russian airstrikes, a military official has told RIA news agency.

“At least 3,000 militants from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), al-Nusra and Jaish al-Yarmouk have fled to Jordan. They are afraid of the Syrian army having stepped up activities on all fronts and of Russian airstrikes,” the RIA source said.

The mainstream media in the United States is not talking much about this, are they?

But the U.S. media is reporting on this latest airdrop of ammunition to rebel groups in Syria. For example, the following comes from CNN…

U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as the first step in the Obama Administration’s urgent effort to find new ways to support those groups.

Details of the air mission over Syria were confirmed by a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly because the details have not yet been formally announced.

C-17s, accompanied by fighter escort aircraft, dropped small arms ammunition and other items like hand grenades in Hasakah province in northern Syria to a coalition of rebels groups vetted by the US, known as the Syrian Arab Coalition.

If you were the Russians, how would you feel about this?

I know how I would feel.

And just as Joe Biden has previously admitted, the “moderate middle” in Syria simply does not exist. The following is an extended excerpt from a piece that was originally written by investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed…

The first Russian airstrikes hit the rebel-held town of Talbisah north of Homs City, home to al-Qaeda’s official Syrian arm, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the pro-al-Qaeda Ahrar al-Sham, among other local rebel groups. Both al-Nusra and the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs) in Homs City, which is 12 kilometers south of Talbisah.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that as part of “US and Turkish efforts to establish an ISIS ‘free zone’ in the northern Aleppo countryside,” al-Nusra “withdrew from the border and reportedly reinforced positions in this rebel-held pocket north of Homs city”.

In other words, the US and Turkey are actively sponsoring “moderate” Syrian rebels in the form of al-Qaeda, which Washington DC-based risk analysis firm Valen Globals forecasts will be “a bigger threat to global security” than IS in coming years.

Last October, Vice President Joe Biden conceded that there is “no moderate middle” among the Syrian opposition. Turkey and the Gulf powers armed and funded “anyone who would fight against Assad,” including “al-Nusra,” “al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI),” and the “extremist elements of jihadis who were coming from other parts of the world”.

In other words, the CIA-backed rebels targeted by Russia are not moderates. They represent the same melting pot of al-Qaeda affiliated networks that spawned the Islamic State in the first place.

It has been well documented that many of these so-called “moderate rebel groups” in Syria have fought alongside ISIS and have sold weapons to them. So this false dichotomy that Barack Obama keeps trying to sell us on is just a giant fraud. The following comes from a recent Infowars report…

In September, 2014 a commander with the FSA admitted cooperating with ISIS and the al-Nusra Front.

“We are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army’s gatherings in … Qalamoun,” Bassel Idriss said. “Let’s face it: The Nusra Front is the biggest power present right now in Qalamoun and we as FSA would collaborate on any mission they launch as long as it coincides with our values.”

In July of 2014 a report in Stars and Stripes documented how the 1,000 strong Dawud Brigade, which had previously fought alongside the FSA against al-Assad, had defected in its entirety to join ISIS.

The same month factions within the FSA — including Ahl Al Athar and Ibin al-Qa’im — pledged services to the Islamic State.

Members of the Islamic State claim to cooperate with the FSA and buy weapons provided by the U.S.

“We are buying weapons from the FSA. We bought 200 anti-aircraft missiles and Koncourse anti tank weapons,” ISIS member Abu Atheer told al-Jazeera. “We have good relations with our brothers in the FSA. For us, the infidels are those who cooperate with the West to fight Islam.”

U.S. anti-tank weapons are playing a critical role in the Syrian conflict. As reported by the Washington Post, U.S.-made anti-tank missiles are being used by the rebels to destroy lots of Russian-made tanks that are being used by the Syrian army…

So successful have they been in driving rebel gains in northwestern Syria that rebels call the missile the “Assad Tamer,” a play on the word Assad, which means lion. And in recent days they have been used with great success to slow the Russian-backed offensive aimed at recapturing ground from the rebels.

Since Wednesday, when Syrian troops launched their first offensive backed by the might of Russia’s military, dozens of videos have been posted on YouTube showing rebels firing the U.S.-made missiles at Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the Syrian army. Appearing as twirling balls of light, they zigzag across the Syrian countryside until they find and blast their target in a ball of flame.

Like I said earlier, this is looking more and more like a proxy war between the United States and Russia.

Could that be what Obama actually wants?

Obama is poking China in the eyes lately too. CNN is reporting that U.S. warships may soon be sailing into territorial waters around the Spratly Islands. These are islands that the Chinese government claims ownership over, but the U.S. government disputes that claim, and Obama seems determined to flex his muscles in the area…

The United States (US) may soon deploy war ships near China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea.

It wants to send a message that it does not recognize China’s territorial claims over the area.

This is according to a Financial Times report quoting a senior U.S. official who said its ships will sail within 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as its territory around the Spratly Islands within the next two weeks.

If Obama sends warships into that area, there is a very real chance that they could get shot at. According to Newsweek, the Chinese are saying that they will not permit U.S. ships to violate those territorial waters under any circumstances…

“We will never allow any country to violate China’s territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in response to a question about possible U.S. patrols. “We urge the related parties not to take any provocative actions, and genuinely take a responsible stance on regional peace and stability.”

Such exchanges appear to be moving China and the U.S. toward a much feared, yet long expected, military confrontation. Just as unsettling, both sides seem confident they can prevail.

Over the past couple of years our relations with China have really gone downhill very rapidly, and if the trading relationship between the two largest economies on the planet breaks down, that would have massive implications for the entire global economy.

In addition to everything above, the civil war in Ukraine continues to rage on. The United States funded, equipped, trained and organized the forces that violently overthrew the democratically-elected government in Ukraine, and then once those thugs (which actually included some neo-Nazis) took power, the Obama administration immediately recognized them as the legitimate government of Ukraine.

The Russians were absolutely infuriated by this, and they have been providing soldiers, equipment and supplies to the rebel groups that are fighting back against this new government. Of course the Russians deny that they are doing this, but it is exceedingly obvious that they are.

The rebel groups that the Russians have been backing have been doing very well and have been steadily taking ground, and this is not how the power brokers in D.C. envisioned things playing out in Ukraine. So in a desperate attempt to shift the momentum of the conflict, a bill is going through Congress that would provide “lethal military aid” to the government in Kiev. Initially the bill would have provided 200 million dollars in lethal aid, but now it has been upped to 300 million dollars. There are some that believe that the final figure will be significantly higher.

Once this bill gets passed, it will be an extremely important event. For the Russians, it will mean crossing a red line that never should have been crossed. You see, the truth is that Ukraine is Russia’s most important neighbor. Just imagine how we would feel if the Russians helped overthrow Canada’s government and then start feeding weapons to the new pro-Russian government that they helped install. That is exactly how the Russians view our meddling in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, I wrote an article in which I discussed an opinion poll that showed that 81 percent of all Russians now view the United States negatively, and only 13 percent of Russians have a positive view of this nation. Not even during the height of the Cold War were the numbers that bad.

The stage is being set for World War III, but most Americans are completely and totally oblivious to all of this because they are so wrapped up in their own little worlds.

Most Americans still seem to assume that the Russians and the Chinese are our “friends” and that any type of conflict between major global powers is impossible.

Well, the truth is that conflict has already begun in Ukraine and Syria, and tensions are rising with each passing day.

It won’t happen next week or next month, but we are on the road to World War III.

So what will the end result be? Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below…

The post Is Barack Obama Actually TRYING To Start World War III? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

You Can Add Iraq And Ukraine To The List Of Economies That Are Collapsing

Michael — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 02:51:51 +0000

The list of nations around the globe that have collapsing economies just continues to grow. In recent weeks I have written about the ongoing saga in Greece, the stock market crash in China, the debt crisis in Puerto Rico and the economic meltdown in South America. But there are more economic flashpoints that I have not even addressed yet. For example, did you know that a full-blown economic collapse is happening in Iraq right now? And did you know that the economy of Ukraine is contracting rapidly and that it cannot pay its debts? Back in 2008, the financial crisis was primarily centered on the United States, but this time around it is turning out to be a truly global phenomenon.

When the U.S. “liberated” Iraq, the future for that nation was supposed to be incredibly bright. But instead, things have just gone from bad to worse. This has especially been true since we pulled our troops out and allowed ISIS to run buck wild. At this point unemployment in Iraq is at Great Depression levels, the economy is steadily contracting and government debt is spiraling wildly out of control…

But Iraq’s oil industry, and the government’s budget, is being squeezed by low oil prices. As a result, the nation’s finances are being hit hard: the market price is now half that needed to break even, expanding the budget deficit, forecast to return to balance until the rise of IS, to a projected 9% of GDP.

In the past, Iraq’s leaders approved budgets without seriously taking into account a drop in the price of oil. Now the severe revenue shortfall is forcing leaders to cut back on new investments. Russia’s Lukoil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Italy’s ENI are also cutting back, eyeing neighbouring Iran’s pending economic opening as a safer investment.

Despite improving its finances after the US troop withdrawal, the drop in oil prices and the rising costs of battling IS have pushed Iraq’s economy into a state of near-crisis. According to the IMF, the nation’s GDP shrank by 2.7% in 2014 and unemployment is estimated to be over 25%.

Things are even worse in another nation that was recently “liberated”. The new U.S.-friendly government in Ukraine was supposed to make things much better for average Ukrainians, but instead the economy is absolutely imploding…

The country’s GDP contracted by 6.8 percent last year, and is forecast to shrink by another 9 percent this year — a total loss of roughly 16 percent over two years.

Just like in much of southern Europe, the banks are absolutely overloaded with bad loans and the entire banking system is on the verge of total collapse. The following comes from a CNN article that was posted earlier this year…

Ukraine’s banking sector is one of the weakest parts of the economy. The key interest rates are the highest in 15 years, and experts estimate bad loans make up between one third and one half of all banking assets.

Over 40 banks have been declared bankrupt since the war began, with the country’s fourth largest lender, Delta Bank, going under earlier this week.

Just recently, the government of Ukraine declared that it could not pay its debts. We didn’t hear much about this in the United States, because the Obama administration wants us to believe that their policies over there are a success. But the truth is that Ukraine now needs a “debt restructuring deal” similar to what Greece has received in the past…

Progress between Ukraine and its creditors on a $19 billion restructuring may be losing momentum as a proposed high-level meeting was canceled amid further disagreements over terms.

Ukraine’s $2.6 billion of 2017 notes fell the most in a month after a person familiar with negotiations said a new offer put forward by Ukraine this week would be unacceptable to bondholders. Later on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry said that a Franklin Templeton-led creditor group should prepare an improved offer for meetings next week.

Speaking of Greece, things just continue to unravel over there. Earlier this week we witnessed the greatest one day stock market crash in Greek history, and there was more financial carnage on Wednesday. The following comes from the Economic Policy Journal…

For a second straight day, following the reopening of the Greek stock market, there were heavy losses in Greek banking stocks, with shares across the sector once again falling by about 30 percent, the bottom of their daily limit.

Bank of Piraeus and National Bank of Greece fell the most, falling by the daily limit of 30 percent t. Alpha Bank was 29.7 percent lower and Eurobank Ergasias lost 29.6 percent.

At this point you would have to be blind to not see what is happening.

A financial crisis is not just imminent – one is already starting to erupt all over the planet.

And none of us can say that we weren’t warned. In a recent piece, Bill Holter included a long list of ominous financial warnings that were issued over the past two years by either the IMF or the Bank for International Settlements…

July 2014 – BIS –BIS Issues Strong Warning on “Asset Bubbles”

July 2014 – IMF –Bloomberg: IMF Warns of Potential Risks to Global Growth

October 2014 – BIS –”No One Could Foresee this Coming”

October 2014 IMF Direct Blog — What Could Make $3.8 Trillion in global bonds go up in smoke?

October 2014 IMF Report –”Heat Wave”-Rising financial risk in the U.S.

***December 2014 – BIS –BIS Issues a new warning on markets

December 2014 – BIS —BIS Warnings on the U.S. Dollar

February 2015 – IMF – Shadow Banking — Another Warning from the IMF – This Time on “Shadow Banking”

March 2015 – Former IMF Peter Doyle – Don’t expect any warning on new crisis -Former IMF Peter Doyle: Don’t Expect any Early Warning from the IMF –

*** April 2015 IMF – Liquidity Shock –IMF Tells Regulators to Brace for Liquidity Shock

May 2015 BIS – Need New “Rules of the Game” –BIS: Time to Think about New Global Rules of the Game?

June 2015 BIS Credit Risk Report –BIS: New Credit Risk Management Report

June 2015 IMF (Jose Vinals) –IMF’s Vinals Says Central Banks May Have to be Market Makers

***BIS June 2015 (UK Telegraph) –The world is defenceless against the next financial crisis, warns BIS

July 2015 – IMF – Warns US the System is Still Vulnerable (no blog article) –IMF warns U.S.: Your financial system is (still) vulnerable

July 2015 – IMF – Warns Pension Funds Could Pose Systemic Risk (no blog article) –IMF warns pension funds could pose systemic risks to the US

Overall, there are currently 24 nations that are dealing with a major financial crisis right now, and there are another 14 nations that are right on the verge of one.

But even though a global financial crisis is already unfolding right in front of our eyes, there are people that come to my website every day and leave comments telling me that everything is going to be just fine.

So what do you think?

What do you believe the rest of this year will bring?

Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below…

The post You Can Add Iraq And Ukraine To The List Of Economies That Are Collapsing appeared first on The Economic Collapse.