5/4/23: STRIKING THE KREMLIN W/ JAMES PONDER

On April 25th, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson and Ranking Member Rep. Steve Cohen introduced the Ukraine Victory Resolution in the House of Representatives. Then, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse along with Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced the same resolution in the Senate.

It states that U.S. policy is to assure Ukraine’s victory against the Russian invasion, and that, if Ukraine fails to defeat Russia there, then the U.S. Government will guarantee that Russia will be defeated in Ukraine.

It is not yet a formal U.S. declaration of war against Russia but commits the U.S. to go to war against Russia if Russia wins its war in Ukraine.

In other words: it says that there will be WW III if Russia wins in Ukraine. If this Resolution becomes U.S. law, then there will be only two possibilities: either Ukraine will defeat Russia in Ukraine, or else America will go to war against Russia thereby producing WW III.

It is literally the signing of our death warrant and simply provides a means for a scorched earth policy that demands winning the war by any means necessary.

The Resolution says: “It is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the invasion and restored to its internationally recognized 1991 borders.”

This means that unless Russia will return to Ukraine all of the land that it now is controlling within what had been the 1991 borders of Ukraine, which includes Crimea, Donbas, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, there will be World War Three between America and Russia.

It would be viciously evil if only because the war in Ukraine started with the U.S. coup during 20-27 February 2014 when the Obama Administration overthrew the democratically elected leader of Ukraine in a very violent coup, which was carried out behind the scenes by U.S.-trained Ukrainian rabidly racist-fascist anti-Russian white-supremacist ideological nazis who had their organizational origins back during WW II fighting with Germany’s Nazis to cleanse away Jews and defeat Russia, which had been America’s key ally during WW II.

Any member of Congress who fails to condemn publicly, and to explain the insanity of the Ukraine Victory Resolution, doesn’t belong in Congress, because that person is a mortal threat to the entire world. This proposed law must not pass.

I am sorry but regardless of how you feel about this war — there is no need for Americans to starve because of the trillions we are throwing at Ukraine– and there needs to be accountability for powerful politicians that are willing to sign our lives away because they feel that it is important that we win this war no matter what — this appears to be a declaration of war and devastation but it has to be watered down with corporate speak in order for Americans to be okay with dying in a nuclear holocaust.

All governments produce deceptive propaganda about aspects of their foreign policy. However, Joe Biden’s administration seems intent on setting some kind of record for both the number of falsehoods and their brazenness.

Three of them stand out with respect to the latter feature.

The first one is that America is under the perception that the world is united in opposing Russia and supporting Ukraine. This boast had scant credibility even at the outset of the Russia-Ukraine war, and it has grown more frayed with the passage of time. The administration’s assertion is based on two UN General Assembly votes, one in March 2022 and the other in February 2023.

Those measures did criticize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but they were purely symbolic since they did not commit UN members to take any actions. Even so, more than 20 percent of the countries represented in the General Assembly cast negative votes or abstentions, despite knowing that such a stance would anger the powerful United States.

In terms of substantive policies, there has been little support for an anti-Russia policy outside of the NATO bloc and Washington’s long-standing security dependents in East Asia. Not only have major powers such as India and China refused to impose sanctions against Moscow, but the overwhelming majority of countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America also have maintained that posture. In terms of providing financial (much less military) aid to Kyiv, the ranks of supporters are even thinner.

Contrary to the smug assertions of Biden administration officials, it is a case of the West versus the rest on such issues.

The media and tis administration is feeding the lie that the Russia-Ukraine war is part of an existential global fight between democracy and authoritarianism.

Administration leaders and their supporters in the West’s news media echo chamber have made that argument on numerous occasions. It is false on several grounds, not the least of which is the reality that Ukraine is not a democracy by any reasonable standard. Even before Volodymyr Zelensky’s government adopted additional repressive measures following Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Ukraine received poor marks from Transparency International because of pervasive corruption and a mediocre rating from Freedom House with respect to political liberties.

Since then, Zelensky has outlawed opposition parties and media outlets, imposed rigorous censorship on the rest of the press, effectively banned the Russian Orthodox Church and other religious organizations with “links to Russia,” and jailed numerous individuals (including former top aides) on allegations of treason. The regime even created a “blacklist” of both domestic and foreign critics, accusing them of being “disinformation terrorists” and “war criminals.”

It is absurd for the Biden administration to portray the Russia-Ukraine war as a crucial struggle between democracy and authoritarianism when neither country is a democracy.

When the Russian invasion began, Biden administration officials quickly assured the American people that, while the United States and its NATO allies would assist Kyiv’s defense efforts, there would be no US “boots on the ground” in Ukraine. However, leaked Pentagon documents in April 2023 confirmed that the United States and several other NATO countries had dozens of Special Forces personnel in Ukraine. In a sarcastic comment about that revelation, some so-called experts speculated that perhaps the US troops were wearing slippers instead of boots.

Even without a ground troop presence, the United States (along with other NATO members) has been deeply involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

NATO, led by the United States, has been waging a full-blown proxy war against Russia. Moreover, the apparent objective goes far beyond helping Ukraine fend off Russia’s aggression. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin candidly confirmed that point when he stated that Washington’s goal was to “weaken Russia” to the point that it could no longer pose a security threat to Ukraine or any other nation. The United States has pushed the International Criminal Court to prosecute Vladimir Putin for war crimes. Administration officials, including Biden, have hinted that NATO’s underlying goal is regime change in Moscow.

Now comes the cherry on top– of this farce.

Yesterday, in case you missed it, there was a video that was put on repeat as the news media reported that a drone somehow invaded airspace over the Kremlin and was then destroyed by Russia. This has been reported as an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin.

If this is not a Russian false flag then once again this would be seen as a major accomplishment by Ukraine — although now after Russia has accused Zelenski as the mastermind behind the attack, they are switching gears and now blaming the United States for the event.

According to President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, Moscow is considering “various” options in response to the Wednesday morning drone attack on the Kremlin, which it accuses Ukraine of orchestrating “under the dictate of Washington.” Washington is “definitely” behind the alleged assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin yesterday, the Kremlin has said.

Moscow claimed two drones attempted to attack the Kremlin, but were disabled and failed to cause any damage.

The drones were allegedly picked up by the Kremlin’s air defenses and blown to pieces before they could do any harm.

Russia has multiple response options, it said, but declined to comment on whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a legitimate target.

But they are certainly doing the nuclear saber-rattling that again has people worried that this war is certainly going too far.

Those who still feel the need to choose sides in this situation need to learn that no one is winning this war – the US is going broke, Ukrainians are being slaughtered and there is no meaningful solution.

The Kremlin claimed the US was selecting the targets and Ukraine was merely implementing American plans, without providing evidence.

John Kirby, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications, called accusations from Russia that the US directed Ukraine to carry out an alleged Kremlin drone attack and assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin “ridiculous.”

For Kyiv and Washington to try to disown the incident was “absolutely ridiculous”, the Kremlin said.

Mr. Zelenskyy has denied that Kyiv had anything to do with the incident.

The US response is that it was a Russian False flag.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev – now a top Putin security official – called for the “elimination” of Zelensky.

In a chilling statement, he said: “After today’s terrorist attack, there are no options left except for the physical elimination of Zelensky and his cabal.

“It is not even needed to sign an act of unconditional surrender.”

And the Kremlin blasted the alleged strike as a “planned terrorist action” – and said it reserves the right to retaliate.

The U.S. State Department issued a security alert on ‘heightened threat of missile attacks’ across Ukraine.

But looking at the continued press coverage and a video on repeat — you can realize just how infuriatingly incipid this is looking.

Making no comment on who and/or what was responsible, if the attack was a genuine attempt on Vladimir Putin’s life, it was completely absurd.

Flying two small drones into some of the most protected airspaces in the world is only going to end with them getting vaporized.

Even if that doesn’t happen, and by some miracle, your drones somehow evade detection by air defense turrets and radar and somehow make it into Kremlin airspace, what then?

The Kremlin is not just one building, it is a complex of over a dozen buildings – including 3 Cathedrals and 4 palaces – covering an area of almost 70 acres.

Supposing your drones make it to the Kremlin, they have no way of knowing which room of which building Putin is in…if he is there at all. After all, while the Kremlin might be the “official residence” of the Russian President, it is common knowledge he doesn’t actually live there and in fact, was not there according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

So yes, the plan, if it was sincere, is silly — and perhaps some clever propaganda — but in the blame game, we are caught up in what looks like an exploding paper airplane.

Then we get accusations of assassination attempts — which doesn’t make sense then an equally stupid response from Zelensky saying — We would never try to assassinate Putin.

Oh no?

For close to a decade pretty much everyone in Western Ukraine has been calling Putin literally Hitler, and for the last year have been accusing him of genocide…but now suddenly they claim they would never try and assassinate the man?

Why not? Because Zelensky and others are just too morally squeamish to go that route? They happily would kill innocent civilians but draw the line at seeking the death of a man they call a mass murderer.

So yes, the Ukrainians taking umbrage at the accusation is completely disingenuous.

Do we forget that during the Ides of March Senator Lindsay Graham who is a psychotic warmonger was calling for Russians to assassinate him?

“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” the South Carolina Republican asked in a tweet.

Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and others in the Rome Senate on the Ides of March. Graham was also referring to German Lt. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, who tried to kill Adolf Hitler in the summer of 1944.

“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service,” Graham said.

Lawmakers were concerned over Graham’s suggestion and said that words like this could trigger World War III.

Assassination during military conflict is specifically forbidden by the Lieber Code, which President Abraham Lincoln issued as a general order for U.S. forces in 1863.

Section IX of the code states that the laws of war forbid declaring a member of a hostile force or a citizen or subject of a hostile government to be an outlaw “who may be slain without trial.”

“Civilized nations look with horror upon offers of rewards for the assassination of enemies as relapses into barbarism,” according to the Lieber Code, which underpins international conventions of warfare.

However, we now live in times where treaties are thrown out, constitutional mandates are negated and political officials run Amok.

We are being led all over the world by psychopathic tyrants.

I also am very surprised that some are calling this a false flag. Do you know why? Because I rarely hear the media use the term false flag when they describe what is happening with the war — and now we are being told that False Flags are business as usual for Russia.

Not that Ukraine or the United States have carried out any nefarious false flags.

False flags are a centuries-old political maneuver, employed regularly by leaders from all over the world, and yet the media only ever use the phrase when something gets blown up in Moscow.

The mainstream press’s attitude that – essentially – every bombing or shooting in Ukraine is real, and every bombing or shooting over there is fake is very telling and should be an obvious nod to the fact that there is no truth coming out of the War.

The Russian government is not inherently morally superior to the US or other Western governments-false flag attacks are not the exclusive property of history’s bad guys.

Good guys can false flag too.

A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party.

The Gulf of Tonkin incident is considered a false flag operation because the military was used by the CIA to heighten the involvement of the US in Vietnam.

The US military devised a plan intended to provoke war with Havana and get rid of Soviet ally Fidel Castro. Plans were drafted in the 1960s to create chaos in US cities, believing it would drum up public support for a war against Cuba.

Operation Northwoods included a plot to target an empty US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame it on Havana. “Sabotage ship in harbor; large fires,” says a Pentagon memo. “Sink ship near harbor entrance. Conduct funeral for mock victims.” In March 1962, plans were reportedly presented to President John F. Kennedy’s administration and rejected.

The US hoped to undermine the Iranian government in 1953, as part of a plan to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. One of the tactics reportedly used in Operation TPAJAX was to carry out attacks on mosques, which would be blamed on Iranian communists loyal to the government. The CIA destroyed almost all of the files on its proposed 1953 coup, however, so the full details aren’t clear.

In 1954, the Israeli Army is suspected of recruiting Egyptian Jews who were caught with plans to bomb American, British, and Egyptian targets in Egypt. The bombings were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian communists to create a climate of violence and political instability. The plot was exposed by Egyptian authorities before it began, however. Israeli defense minister, Pinhas Lavon, resigned but was he really to blame? Documents released later indicate that the head of military intelligence, Col. Benjamin Gili, may have acted without Lavon’s approval.

During the Cold War, the East German Stasis deployed ‘Romeo’ spies, attractive men sent to entice West German secretaries to reveal top-secret intelligence. The honey trap mission was also a false flag operation.

Several of the female West German civil servants believed they were handing classified documents to members of West German peace advocacy groups. According to Jack Barsky, a SPYEX consultant and ex-KGB sleeper agent: “Many a right-wing radical had given information to the Soviets under a ‘false flag’, thinking they were working with a Western ally, such as Israel, when in fact their contact was a KGB operative.”

False flag operations come in many disguises including cyber attacks. When cyber warriors attacked Israeli government computers in 2019 and 2020, Iran was the first suspect – after all, the hackers wrote in Farsi and used techniques similar to the Iranians.

Looks can be deceiving, however, as analysts gathered more evidence, they determined that Iran wasn’t the culprit. Instead, it was more likely that Chinese operatives posing as Tehran hackers were to blame. The US cybersecurity firm FireEye, working with the Israeli military, exposed what they suspected to be a false flag cyber op.

In the case of the striking of the Kremlin, we don’t know who did what, and probably never will, but both sides are equally capable of doing something stupid and then lying about it for political gain.

The American people should not have to worry about being deceived by their own government. With respect to the Russia-Ukraine war, however, the Biden administration and its allies have systematically misled the public about several important issues. Such behavior exhibits utter contempt for fundamental democratic norms.

This is why independent journalists like myself and others have to now tread lightly in a world where information is highly scrutinized and taken down — if it doesn’t fit the narrative of the mainstream media but even then they certainly don’t want to call a spade a spade.