The Hunt for Red November

By the simple fact of geography, the United States is the world's most isolated superpower. It is logistically impossible to invade for it is surrounded by oceans and there is nowhere to stage an opposing army. Yet the American people are not consciously aware of their isolated and protected status. They are easily frightened and heavily armed. They reach adulthood with almost no understanding of geopolitics and global economics, or of their unique and privileged place in these systems. These practical matters are not part of their public education.

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The United States is not part of the rich and varied interconnected nations and land masses of the historic civilized world, which are concentrated entirely in the Eastern hemisphere. Americans can live a lifetime and never fully understand where they are in the world and what that truly means.

It is thus a simple matter for their government to manipulate Americans with threats and bluster and misinformation. They will gladly surrender their rights for promises of safety, and they are easily worked up into an hysterical frenzy in regard to foreign relations. In their isolation, Americans eye the outside world with suspicion. To say they have little understanding of geopolitical destiny and the craft of diplomacy would be an understatement. As an uninformed democracy with an unaccountable government in a nuclear-armed world, they present a grave danger to themselves and others.

Since 2013, the US has achieved new heights of political disgrace as it attempts to demonize China and Russia with preposterous accusations. Jack Matlock has a few choice words to say about this. Matlock is a career diplomat who served on the front lines of American diplomacy during the Cold War. He was US ambassador to the Soviet Union when the Cold War ended. He shares with us his analysis of what we are seeing in what has become an open letter to the news media:

Our press seems to be in a feeding frenzy regarding contacts that President Trump’s supporters had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and with other Russian diplomats. The assumption seems to be that there was something sinister about these contacts, just because they were with Russian diplomats. As one who spent a 35-year diplomatic career working to open up the Soviet Union and to make communication between our diplomats and ordinary citizens a normal practice, I find the attitude of much of our political establishment and of some of our once respected media outlets quite incomprehensible. What in the world is wrong with consulting a foreign embassy about ways to improve relations? Anyone who aspires to advise an American president should do just that.

Yesterday I received four rather curious questions from Mariana Rambaldi of Univision Digital. I reproduce below the questions and the answers I have given.

Question 1: Seeing the case of Michael Flynn, who had to resign after it emerged that he spoke with the Russian ambassador about sanctions against Russia before Trump took office, and now Jeff Sessions is in a similar situation. Why is so toxic to talk with Sergey Kislyak?

Answer: Ambassador Kislyak is a distinguished and very able diplomat. Anyone interested in improving relations with Russia and avoiding another nuclear arms race—which is a vital interest of the United States—should discuss current issues with him and members of his staff. To consider him “toxic” is ridiculous. I understand that Michael Flynn resigned because he failed to inform the vice president of the full content of his conversation. I have no idea why that happened, but see nothing wrong with his contact with Ambassador Kislyak so long as it was authorized by the president-elect. Certainly, Ambassador Kislyak did nothing wrong.

Question 2: According to your experience, are Russians ambassadors under the oversight by Russian intelligence or do they work together?

Answer: This is a strange question. Intelligence operations are normal at most embassies in the world. In the case of the United States, ambassadors must be informed of intelligence operations within the countries to which they are accredited and can veto operations that they consider unwise or too risky, or contrary to policy. In the Soviet Union, during the Cold War, Soviet ambassadors did not have direct control over intelligence operations. Those operations were controlled directly from Moscow. I do not know what Russian Federation procedures are today. Nevertheless, whether controlled by the ambassador or not, all members of an embassy or consulate work for their host government. During the Cold War, at least, we sometimes used Soviet intelligence officers to get messages direct to the Soviet leadership. For example, during the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy used a “channel” through the KGB resident in Washington to work out the understanding under which Soviet nuclear missiles were withdrawn from Cuba.

Question 3. How common (and ethical) is that a person related to a presidential campaign in the US has contact with the Russian embassy?

Answer: Why are you singling out the Russian embassy? If you want to understand the policy of another country, you need to consult that country’s representatives. It is quite common for foreign diplomats to cultivate candidates and their staffs. That is part of their job. If Americans plan to advise the president on policy issues, they would be wise to maintain contact with the foreign embassy in question to understand that country’s attitude toward the issues involved. Certainly, both Democrats and Republicans would contact Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin during the Cold War and discuss the issues with him. As the person in charge of our embassy in Moscow during several political campaigns, I would often set up meetings of candidates and their staffs with Soviet officials. Such contacts are certainly ethical so long as they do not involve disclosure of classified information or attempts to negotiate specific issues. In fact, I would say that any person who presumes to advise an incoming president on vital policy issues needs to understand the approach of the country in question and therefore is remiss if he or she does not consult with the embassy in question.

Question 4: In a few words, What’s your point of view about Sessions-Kislyak case? Is possible that Sessions will finally resign?

Answer: I don’t know whether Attorney General Sessions will resign or not. It would seem that his recusal from any investigation on the subject would be adequate. He would not have been my candidate for attorney general and if I had been in the Senate I most likely would not have voted in favor of his confirmation. Nevertheless, I have no problem with the fact that he occasionally exchanged words with Ambassador Kislyak.

::

I believe it is wrong to assume that these conversations are somehow suspect. When I was ambassador to the USSR and Gorbachev finally allowed competitive elections, we in the U.S. embassy talked to everyone. I made a special point to maintain personal relations with Boris Yeltsin when he in effect led the opposition. That was not to help get him elected (we favored Gorbachev), but to understand his tactics and policies and to make sure he understood ours.

The whole brou-ha-ha over contacts with Russian diplomats has taken on all the earmarks of a witch hunt. President Trump is right to make that charge. If there was any violation of U.S. law by any of his supporters — for example disclosure of classified information to unauthorized persons — then the Department of Justice should seek an indictment and if they obtain one, prosecute the case. Until then, there should be no public accusations. Also, I have been taught that in a democracy with the rule of law, the accused are entitled to a presumption of innocence until convicted. But we have leaks that imply that any conversation with a Russian embassy official is suspect. That is the attitude of a police state, and leaking such allegations violates every normal rule regarding FBI investigations. President Trump is right to be upset, though it is not helpful for him to lash out at the media in general.

Finding a way to improve relations with Russia is in the vital interest of the United States. Nuclear weapons constitute an existential threat to our nation, and indeed to humanity. We are on the brink of another nuclear arms race which would be not only dangerous in itself, but would make cooperation with Russia on many other important issues virtually impossible. Those who are trying to find a way to improve relations with Russia should be praised, not scapegoated.

The Hunt for Red November

Jack Matlock's open letter addresses issues of common diplomacy as practiced throughout the world — while deploring the constant demonizing of Russia at every turn. Another facet of this shameful spectacle was televised today as we watched Congressional Terriers frantically sniff out the rat of "Russian interference" in the US election, which somehow stuck us with President Donald Trump.

It is vitally important to remember what is happening here because it describes the shape of the propaganda battlefield that Empire must create in order to feed their armies from the household earnings of the American people. You will be called on to fight on this battlefield again and again in the very near future. In a followup essay, I'll outline an action-plan to follow in response, one that could actually take you to Russia.

In the meantime, there were two related news items from two US vassal states, which are not sitting in stark isolation and cannot maintain the lies. They foretell the ultimate failure of this latest paroxysm of paranoid propaganda that the Democratic Establishment is conspiring to foist upon the world. How embarrassing it would be to be a member of that Party.


German Intelligence Agencies Find No Evidence of Russian Interference

Germany’s intelligence agencies have found no evidence that Russia is meddling in the country’s politics following a government-commissioned investigation.

Claims of Vladimir Putin-backed interference in the U.S. presidential election and a high-profile “fake news” case in Germany prompted Angela Merkel to ask the agencies to investigate. But while Russian influence cannot be ruled out, investigators found no “smoking gun,” Suddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Fears of foreign or far-right influence in politics are high among Germany’s mainstream politicians ahead of a September election likely to be dominated by issues of security and migration.

Facebook announced in January that Germany would be the second country after the U.S. to test its new anti-"fake news” fact-checking features.


EXCLUSIVE: Leaked cabinet letter says there's only a 'negligible' chance of Russia interfering in British elections

LONDON — The government has dismissed the possibility of Russian state-sponsored interference in the rigging of votes in British elections, a move that has surprised some intelligence officials.

In a letter seen by Business Insider, the cabinet office minister tasked with protecting future UK elections from external interference, said there was only a "negligible" chance of direct Russian interference.

"I am confident that there is a negligible risk of a foreign government or agency being able to influence the operational delivery of electoral events in the UK," Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer wrote in a letter to Labour MP Ben Bradshaw.

Bradshaw believes the government is not being transparent enough about attempted Russian interference in British democracy — particularly given there is acceptance in the US and other European nations that Vladimir Putin's regime have attempted to subvert foreign elections.

Gummer reassured Bradshaw there is "no evidence or reasonable grounds for suspicion" that there has been an attempt to interfere in the Brexit vote or previous general elections. This echos Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who told ITV politics show "Peston on Sunday" this weekend: "We have no evidence that the Russians are actually involved in trying to undermine our democratic process at the moment."

I know. Right?

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If there is a data point anywhere on the planet that is totally not important, the establishment media will talk about it non-stop for the whole week Rome is burning. I truly give up on this outhouse we call America.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Song of the lark's picture

and various and assorted Gangster Oligarchs pillaging Russia. As for Jack Matlock don't know him but I say chop his pablum mouthed head..

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edg's picture

@Song of the lark

Your comment would feel right at home on sites of a very different nature than c99. Where is all this childish hatred and vitriol coming from?

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Pluto's Republic's picture

...when I use it, brings them out of the woodwork, swinging.

To: @edg

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Song of the lark's picture

@edg Prague Spring, Iron Curtain, need I go on.

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@Song of the lark I see no need for you to go on. If you'd had a point you'd have made it by now.

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Bisbonian's picture

@Song of the lark , have aimed at them?

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

@edg Who else does this kind of brainwashing? "I say chop his pablum mouthed head"

Wow I'm pissed, but not violently so. Misdirected anger is a bitch, not the female dog kind. Perhaps I've been trolled by an avatar with a machete? Silly me.

Peace & Love Song of the lark
Peace & Love

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Strife Delivery's picture

With today's tech, no one could hope to invade the US.

Perhaps the Japanese during WW2 could have had a shot, but with modern tech of today, not a chance.

The amusing thing is that while we fear that the world is out to get us, from places we don't know exist 6000 miles away, we ourselves are out to get the world, bombing, slaughtering, torturing, destroying on every continent...

Except Antarctica... and my sources tell me those penguins and seals are too chummy with Putin.

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@Strife Delivery

Kidding.

Sort of.

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Steven D's picture

I mean with regards to Trump?

Over a year now. A fucking year of coverage of a mythical non-story.

Oh, and Bernie was a Casto-loving Red, too.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

@Steven D

Oh, the Humanity!

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Alligator Ed's picture

It's more basic than that. Most Americans cannot name all 50 states, could not locate India on a map, nor distinguish Spain from Portugal. During WW2, the closest the US has come to foreign invasion since the War of 1812, the Germans had a bomber that could fly to and and from New York City from inside Germany. Even crazy Hitler knew that was not a good idea, although U-boats did sink quite a bit of merchant marine off the eastern seaboard. The Japanese never got closer to the US than Pearl Harbor and one offshore artillery barrage against a vacant part of the Santa Barbara coast.

Now we have the lunatic Neo-cons thinking (if you can call it that) of the unthinkable, i.e., initiating global nuclear war. If we are to lock anybody up for threat to the US, it should start with all the Neo-cons.

What a seditious idea: talking to emissaries of foreign governments, when it would be so much easier just to bomb the crap out of their countries.

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boriscleto's picture

@Alligator Ed Five children and a pregnant woman were killed by one (out of 9,000 launched).

They were the only enemy-inflicted casualties on the U.S. mainland in WWII...

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

joe shikspack's picture

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

-- H. L. Mencken

evening pluto. i think that you'll find an article that i posted over in the evening blues tonight to be a good complement to your interview with matlock. in it bob parry takes the new york times to task for its lame-assed propaganda about russia.

NYT’s ‘Tinfoil Hat’ Conspiracy Theory

On Saturday, the Times devoted most of its op-ed page to the Times’ favorite conspiracy theory, that Trump is Vladimir Putin’s “Manchurian candidate” though evidence continues to be lacking. The op-ed package combined a “What to Ask About Russian Hacking” article by Louise Mensch, a former Conservative member of the British Parliament who now works for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. ...

How thin the Russia-Trump case is becomes evident in reading the Times’ op-ed by Louise Mensch. After introducing herself as someone who has “followed the Russian hacking story closely,” she lists 25 people by name, including various Trump advisers as well as Internet moguls Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel, who should be hauled before the House Intelligence Committee for interrogation along with unnamed executives of several corporations and banks. “There are many more who need to be called but these would be a first step,” Mensch wrote. In reviewing Mensch’s long article, it’s unclear if she’s proposing only a “fishing expedition” or would prefer a full-fledged “witch hunt.” ...

Many of Mensch’s suggestions pertain to people associated with the Trump campaign who gave speeches in Moscow or otherwise communicated with Russians. It appears any contact with a Russian, any discussion of disagreements between the U.S. and Russia, or any political comment that in any way echoes what some Russian may have said becomes “evidence” of collusion and treason.

The extremism of Mensch’s tendentious article is further illustrated by her suggestion that Trump should be impeached if there is any truth to his widely discredited tweet that Obama had ordered wiretaps on Trump Tower. She wrote:

“If … the president tweeted real news, he revealed the existence of intercepts that cover members of his team in a continuing investigation. That would be obstruction of justice, potentially an impeachable offense.” ...

Mensch seems to believe that the more serious offense would be if Trump somehow were telling the truth. She wants any truth-telling on this issue to be grounds for Trump’s impeachment, even though he may have been referring, in part, to her November article reporting on the FISA warrant that supposedly granted permission for members of Trump’s team to be put under electronic surveillance.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

…to the Russian propaganda onslaught. Perhaps it's because there's an element of clownishness about it, with America dragging its broken wing across the world stage, moaning and messaging that it got its ass kicked by the smarter and more agile Russians.

To @joe shikspack : Thanks for the Parry link. You're right. It's of a piece with this essay — analytical breakdowns presented by expert witnesses who know what happened. And what did not. The comments were quite good, as well.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
edg's picture

The NYT and their minions are trying to set up a Catch-22 for Trump. If he's lying about wiretaps, he needs to be impeached. If he's telling the truth about wiretaps, he needs to be impeached. Heck, let's just impeach him because something something. As if President Pence would be better. Although, come to think of it, Pence seems kind of easy to control. The MIC/deepstate wouldn't have much trouble rickrolling him.

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earthling1's picture

It's the neo liberal and neocon cartels doing it right under our noses.
The "someone else did it" is a successful distraction.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Exceptional, they said. Pity

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Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever

SnappleBC's picture

... is insanely suicidal not to mention blindingly stupid. Somehow people seem unable to remember that even if they are, in fact, guilty of everything they are charged with, what it amounts to is that they told the truth to the American people at the expense of the oligarchy. I can live with that.

What I'm still not understanding is what, exactly, Russia has done to us that makes them such a threat. It astonishes me that cold-war sentiments still prevail. It embarrasses me that all too often, when I listen to actual speeches, it seems like Putin is the adult in the room.

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A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

@edg @SnappleBC
a greater Economic Cooperation Sphere in partnership with the EU, that the Putin bashing become 100% of the commentary from our rulers. Before that it was mixed, starting with his clawback of Russian resources from the days when Yeltsin just gave them away for just pennies to West-friendly oligarchs.
It's been the nightmare of the Anglo-Saxons since Peter the Great right through the Great Game in Afghanistan and into WWII that a unified power would arise on the European Continent. With the US taking the baton after WWII, anything vaguely like Putins proposal of the EU joining the former Soviet states in trade and open borders -- well read "The Grand Chessboard" by Bryzynski to see why stopping a great Union on the Eurasian landmass is Job 1 for US security.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

@SnappleBC
and I hope we can all become more aware of that whole area of concern. But also Crimea is the purported reason we're supposed to believe Putin wants to take over Europe. Crimea is a complex series of events, and I think we should all become as knowledgeable as possible about it in order to counter the narrative that, out of the blue, Russia just annexed Crimea. But the truth is that jim p is right, Crimea and everything about it is also about the struggle between cooperation and strangulation by the EU debt machine.

Syria too is a reason our Deep State is mad at Putin, because he pointed out we weren't trying to destroy ISIS. When he started targeting ISIS and demonstrating that it could be done, everything turned around in the war, which is to say, it became clear we weren't fighting terrorism, as we had said we were.

And I agree, Putin's speeches and talks are refreshingly intelligent and loaded with common sense, especially when compared to the inane pronouncements by our leadership. It's frightening.

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janis b's picture

to take more responsibility for policing hate speech.

This may be somewhat off topic, but I think also related in some way to the call for greater understanding, and the diminishing of suspicion.

The irony is that within America’s physical isolation from exotic lands, live a great number of different nationalities. So in essence, Americans have the perfect opportunity to be introduced to different cultures, without ever having to travel very far.

I was thinking about racism today, and thought that the confluence of people of different nationalities is an important element in getting to know and appreciate other cultures and differences. For example in NZ, there are many different cultures celebrated by festivals (which include music, dance, food, clothing and crafts) throughout the year. It’s the perfect environment for getting a flavour of other places in the world. Imagine standing in a happy crowd of different colours and languages, moving to whatever the music playing, or indulging in exotic flavours. You might even communicate with the foreigner beside you, or simply share a smile. It might do wonders for one's sense of suspicion.

We need more festivity so that we can relate as human beings.

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Bisbonian's picture

@janis b a folk festival that shares music, food, and dance between all the various ethnic groups represented in Tucson. Started and organized by Big* Jim Griffith, Arizona's folklorist, and banjo-player infrordinaire. I think it's been an annual event for something like 30 years.

* "Big" being quantified at five foot, seventeen and a half.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

janis b's picture

@Bisbonian

Thanks for the introduction to him.

Tucson is lucky.

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polkageist's picture

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-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962

Pluto's Republic's picture

To @polkageist : Thank you for the very kind words.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

The Bogeyman can't be stopped from invading us by mere oceans. He can pop up anywhere at anytime. Like when we had the North Vietnamese approaching Oklahoma, Saddam's nuclear-bearing drones, Noriega's voodoo spells, the film Red Dawn, ... and now Putin slashing the defense budget by 25%, an obvious ploy to get us to cut ours AND KILL AMERICAN JOBS!!!!

Enemies, we have enemies everywhere. But not in the Democratic and Republican parties, the media, the 1% (anyone remember them?),nor the CIA.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Pluto's Republic's picture

The Democratic strategy of blaming their failed election strategy on Russia served only to turn off millennials. They just weren't buying it.

Why all the alarm over Trump ties to Russia, American millennials ask

Amid an avalanche of news raising alarm about Russian meddling in the U.S. election and ties between President Donald Trump’s administration and Moscow, many younger voters are questioning how big a threat the former Cold War foe really is.

“Russia is just not the same danger they were to us 40 years ago,” said Sara Herrera, a 24-year-old who lives in Boca Raton, Florida. “Obviously if they’re trying to be interfering in our business that’s not OK, but how is that really dangerous to Americans? It’s not life and death anymore.”

Mark Nguyen, 26, of Oakland, California, remembers his grandparents’ stories of “duck and cover” drills at school to prepare for a potential nuclear attack. “They were legitimately scared back then,” he said. “But no matter what Russians do to us now, it’s more annoying than a real threat. I’m not saying we have to let them get away with it, but it’s not worth all the hyperventilating.”

Younger voters tended to describe coverage of the meetings and connections between Trump administration officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government as overblown and alarmist. The fact that reports of Russian meddling in the election are seen in Democrat-vs-Republican terms only reinforces that view.

Many young adults say news accounts of U.S.-Russian relations in 2017, were full of spies and secretive meetings with ambassadors, seemed like a Cold War thriller with no connection to modern reality. For older voters it “feels like déjà vu,” in the words of 62-year-old Jenna Long of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“That is just really, really scary, that the Russians thought they could just do that, whether or not it made a difference,” Long said, speaking of Russia’s election meddling and ties to some people in Trump’s administration, like former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn was fired after just 24 days for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about a conversation he’d had with the Russian ambassador.

But the assumption that the American public is as hawkish about Russia as U.S. military and diplomatic leaders creates a stumbling block in explaining that perspective to a younger generation.

“I just don’t see why everything related to Russia has to be nefarious,” said Ben Norris, 31, of Kansas City, Missouri. “Is meeting with the Russian ambassador really a bigger deal than the French or German ambassador?”

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article138733223.html

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
gulfgal98's picture

@Pluto's Republic @Pluto's Republic that we give them credit for. I found that out with the millennials I met in Occupy and during our Peace vigil. They do not trust authority or the mainstream media. They know that they have been left with a horrendous mess created by decades of government that has served only corporate interests. The Democratic party's idea that Bernie could sheep dog millennials into supporting her heinous was laughable to me based upon my own anecdotal experience.

I look for millennials to take a far different direction in trying to tackle and solve the problems of this country and the environment. It will be a movement, not a political party or even in the political arena.

This is an excellent essay Pluto. I have not been commenting much lately (or clearly) due to battling a nasty case of the flu. I should have gotten the flu shot.

I look forward to your next part of the Hunt for Red November. Clever title too.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

lotlizard's picture

$250 per household per year, with no discount for seniors on a fixed income and/or those living alone — that’s a lot to be forced to pay, especially for German public TV news that muffles criticism and serves as a top-down establishment propaganda op against the 99%.

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if Trump and Spicer and the rest of the clowns involved in Trump admin which this blog keeps protecting acted a little more "not guilty" I might agree with the posters here but instead Trumps Admin is thowing each other under the bus and I don't need the NYT to tell me that, I can see it for myself. Trump is going down and it's because he's guilty as shit. He's acting guilty and that is SAD. It's irrelevent if this shit has been going on for years, what's relevant is whether Trump was involved in working with the Russians to achieve an objective of trying to influence our elections.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

@the_poorly_educated
was this necessary to make your point?

I think most posters here may be taking too many prescription drugs to realize that.

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Steven D's picture

@JtC I assume.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

@Steven D
The quoted sentence was edited out by the_poorly_educated after it was pointed out.

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Even the 19th century Brits attacked the USA and burned DC. If we disband the military and refuse to fight anyone, someone will come along that wants some nice real estate. You don't think a country with ten times the population of the USA can send a military force and just take what they want? Especially if we disband the military and pledge to never fight anyone?

How asinine? What Ivory Tower did you grow up in. I'll tell you where I grew up. Chicago's Near West side. If you don't fight bullies, you die. Apparently you were sheltered and didn't have to face a bully with a knife.

It's a long way from unnecessary wars to no wars no matter what. That's why the term Wars of Choice. We didn't have to invade Iraq. We didn't have to invade Syria. Back in the nineteenth century we didn't have to invade Mexico or Cuba or the Philippines. We did have to fight the British in 1812. We did have to fight the Japanese in 1941. And also the Germans after they declared war in retaliation of our declaring war on Japan.

No, no never have to fight. You can always bare your throat and die.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness just quoting you back:

We did have to fight the British in 1812.

okay

We did have to fight the Japanese in 1941.

okay

And also the Germans after they declared war in retaliation of our declaring war on Japan.

okay

No, no(sic) never have to fight.

I think you meant "we" not "no", but oops one of those things is not like the other.

I'll take Option #4, the option that nobody has tried yet. Maybe bullies took that option away from you, that's how I understand the cycle continues, individual acts handed down through generations. Violence begets violence.

I think at some point our leaders simply need to stop it, and I don't think that is naive, I think it is courageous. Prove it, that's what I say to the ones who can't believe peace works. Give it a chance for once in a lifetime, that's all I'm saying. Give peace a chance. No super-power ever really tried it, as far as I know. Where's the innovation? There's already enough weaponry to destroy the planet, why keep doing that? Stop the madness.

Thanks, I guess we'll never agree but thanks for the discourse. Cheers

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earthling1's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness is advocating reducing our military to 0. It's ludicrous that you should suggest that.
A credible boomer fleet would suffice to maintain a nuclear deterrent and protect our shores from mass invasion.
The fact that every citizen can legally possess WMDs (don't even tell me an AK47 isn't one) gives us an enormous advantage should any invaders manage to get here.
Plus, the fact that we have home field advantage makes it insane that any fool dictator would even try.
Our current trillion dollar military is all offense. Built to back up our multi national corporations in their rape of country after country through bullying and/or regime change.
As we have been reminded with the demise of Rockefeller, the New World Order is moving along nicely.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

earthling1's picture

Ask a co worker or a stranger "Besides Russia, what other countries are currently under communist rule"?
I'd bet it goes over the head of 9 out of 10. Especially those who refuse to come in from the wilderness.
IMHO.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

@earthling1 I blanked after the first two, ha! Not sure if this is correct, it seems current:
https://www.thoughtco.com/communist-countries-overview-1435178

#1 China, of course
#2 Cuba, hi neighbor
#3 Laos, omg wasn't I just talking about it? /seivebrain
~doink!~
... it keeps going.

The rest are pretty pretty obvious too, but I think you're right about 9 of 10 people unable to answer. Thanks.

Peace & Love

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earthling1's picture

@eyo in todays Russia. It is capitalist rule there now.
But ask your congresscritter about communist Russia and they won't correct you, which is a definite tel.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

not to mention history and civics:

The culprit here is a misbegotten "discipline", you should excuse the expression, called social studies, which needs to be replaced ten years ago, with instruction in history, civics and geography as separate classes.

Plato's Republic have you ever attended a school board meeting? Have you ever VOTED in a school board election? Have you ever asked teachers or school administrators what they propose to do about the ignorance of all of us Americans about the rest of the world?

BTW, parents, if history and geography were taught in schools as they ought to be, yes indeed, your little darlings would have to memorize boring stuff like dates, names of countries and their capitals, etc. etc. Memorization is an essential intellectual skill.

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Mary Bennett