Neocon Games--What Kinds Of Prizes?

Nov 17, 2023

The consequences of the brilliant schemes the Neocons let loose on the world after they got their hands on the levers of power in the Zhou regime—just like chickens—are coming home to roost. Willy nilly, because that’s how the world works—you can’t just wish away the consequences of your stupidity. Let’s take stock of what’s up.

The good news for some of us—those who may want relations to be able to fly home for Thanksgiving—is that the government shutdown has been sidestepped again. But there was a significant aspect to the deal that could turn into a major setback for the Neocons:

Ukraine, Israel aid in limbo as US Congress beats shutdown deadline

That limbo will last, I believe, for something like two weeks—the duration of the current recess. Or maybe longer. There are no guarantees. Ukraine aid is by no means a given. In normal times, aid to Israel is a gimme. But have you noticed? These aren’t normal times. In these times two weeks could seem like an eternity. Today the Russians made a sudden 2km advance near Bakhmut, and nobody knows what other tricks they may have up their sleeve. As regards Palestine, the UN is getting restive. The world bestriding colossus of the Zionist-American Empire is not as dominant as it once was. Things could change unexpectedly, especially given the deep doo-doo that the Zhou regime finds itself in:

Why Joe Biden’s Poll Numbers Are Even Worse For Democrats Than They Think

But there are deeper and far more meaningful insights to mine from the survey, and they don’t spell good things for the Democrat Party.
For instance, it’s worth noting that not only does Biden appear to be losing generally to Trump, but the incumbent is losing his own dependable voters to his rival. Polls show Biden is hemorrhaging black, Hispanic, suburban, and young voters — all demographics that reliably vote Democrat.
It could have something to do with how Biden has handled major crises he’s either caused or exacerbated. According to Quinnipiac, voters disapprove of his response to the Hamas attack and subsequent fallout (54 percent disapproval to 37 percent approval), his economy (59 to 37 percent), his foreign policy (61 to 34 percent), his border crisis (65 to 26 percent), and his response to the Russia-Ukraine war (49 to 47 percent).

Yes, I bolded the issues that have Neocon fingerprints all over them. What will “lawmakers” hear from their constituents over the recess? Will they return to DC to conduct business as usual, or … what? We don’t know. Business as usual always seems like the safe bet, but these aren’t normal times.

What could happen in the Middle East in the next two weeks? Almost anything. Pepe Escobar, in his latest article, is calling out the collective Arab world as cowards, after not much came out of the Riyadh summit. He’s not repeating the Zionist talking points that Don Surber did the other day—he’s not suggesting that the Arab world is happy about the situation in Gaza. But he’s savage enough:

Why the US needs this war in Gaza
Washington needs to win its Gazan war against Iran because it failed to win its Ukrainian war against Russia.

They are all boxed in, victims of a vassal mentality. They’re not ready – yet - for their close-up facing History. And sadly, they still remain hostage to their own “century of humiliation.”
The humiliating coup de grace was dispatched by none other than the Tel Aviv genocidal maniac himself: he threatened everyone in the Arab world if they don't shut up - which they already did.

If you’re interested, Escobar goes right down the list, explaining why each country—with a few exceptions—remain in vassal status to the West. It’s an interesting read, even though Turkey receives nary a word and the Russian military presence in Syria also goes unmentioned. I remain of the view that the WH still sees the stakes that would be involved in a regional war as way too high, going into an election year. Gaza still looks to me like a political lose-lose for Zhou. Following the big lose in Ukraine. If Americans are unhappy with Zhou’s “foreign policy”, wait till they finally realized that he has largely dismantled NATO.

To be fair, Alexander Mercouris sees the Riyadh summit differently. He sees it as a rejection of US “mediator” status. In the meantime, there are plenty of flashpoints across the Middle East from the Mediterranean Coast (the Levantine coast of Lebanon and Syria), across Syria and Iraq to Iran. Attacks on US installations in this broad region are a daily occurrence, as are back and forth attacks between the IDF and Hezbollah. Two weeks? Anything could happen.

Now …

This afternoon I listened to Judge Nap interview Lawrence Wilkerson. In fact, I listened twice, and the second time through I took notes, which I’ve pasted in below. I have very definite reservations about Wilkerson, but there’s no questioning his creds as an insider (he was Chief of Staff for Colin Powell for many years). He was an insider during many momentous years that are essential to understanding how the Neocons got us in the fix we’re in. And that was exactly the topic that Judge Nap wanted to discuss with Wilkerson:

How the Neocons have ruined the US

This session was more of a Q&A than many of the judge’s Youtubes with big name guests, so I’ve framed the notes in Q&A fashion. Stick with it—it gets pretty interesting:

Q: Were Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Dubya complicit in torture?
A: Absolutely. They absolutely committed war crimes. This wasn't the first time in US history, but it was the first time that it was signed off as policy at the POTUS level. Torture was national policy.
Q: Did Dubya pardon or immunize the actual torturers? Without a pardon there is no statute of limitations?
A: Legislation under the aegis of McCain got us out of the torture business but included a get out of jail card for past torturers.
Q: Did the CIA hack the Senate Intel Committee?
A: Yes, and they also hacked the UN Security Council.
Q: Did Cheney and Dubya lead us into Iraq under false pretenses?
A: At least Cheney knew that many of the things he said were untrue. BTW, the big argument in the first Gulf War was that if we took out Saddam Hussein there would be no "balancer" against Iran. [IOW, the US Neocon Desert Storm made Iran the big winner.] Our biggest defense outlay is in the Middle East and would be even huger if it weren't that Qatar pays the full bill for Al Udeid Air Base, biggest in the world. [Qatar also is HQ for Hamas.]
[Plays clip of Colin Powell claiming Saddam had vast amounts of anthrax.]
Q: Was the US led into war with Iraq under false pretenses?
A: Unquestionably so. Powell didn't know that--he believed the intel assessment he got from George Tenet. John McLaughlin and George Tenet fed Powell false information. They knew the info they provided was either inaccurate or too circumstantial to justify a war. They were trying to connect Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda and 9/11. Powell took that stuff out, but McLaughlin and Tenant persuaded Powell to put it back in by false representations from info from new interrogations connecting Saddam to 9/11. It was false. It was an interrogation under torture.
Q: Does the CIA murder people?
A: You bet. [Laughs heartily]
Q: Why were people held in Guantanamo who were innocent or for whom there was little evidence.
A: It would have been politically devastating.
Q: How have the Neocons captured and ruined American foreign policy?
A: There not a new strain in US foreign policy, but since WW2 they've normally been kept in check. They came out of the woodwork during the Dubya administrations because Dubya was incredibly inexperienced and Cheney was incredibly experienced as a national security expert, and so ran FP for the first four years. Cheney was a hyper nationalist. That played right into the Neocon agenda.
Douglas Feith DoD Undersec for Policy's office was "surrounded by Mossad agents." Powell told Dubya, ‘Do you know that your #3 at DoD is a card carrying member of the Likud Party?’ Dubya, taken aback, said, ‘You don't mean if I pulled his wallet out ...’ Powell: ‘No, what I mean is, he's working for Israel.’
Q: How damaging has the Neocon influence been in Ukraine? [Recounts what a total disaster it is.]
A: You left one major consideration out--Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and a whole lot of other people made billions. The Neocons and Victoria Nuland--God forbid she should ever become SoS--were present at the beginning of US meddling in Ukraine. Ukraine ran on criminal activity, and the Neocons were dealing with those criminals. We had CIA all over Kiev. It was clear we were up to something very ill advised in the heart of Europe and which violated all the promises we had made to Russia. We started very early to undermine any prospect for an independent Ukraine.
Israel had a lot to do with HWBush losing the election, because he had forced Israel toward the Oslo process.
Q: Putin has said Gorbachev was naive to have accepted the words of HWBush and Jim Baker--is Putin correct?
A: I lay many of the sins of the American Empire at the feet of Bill Clinton. His eight years may have been the worst in the post Cold War era. He was inexperienced like Dubya, but he had no morals at all. He bombed innocent civilians in the Balkans for 78 straight days--kinda like what's happening in the Levant. Whatever you say about Milosevic, many of the problems in the Balkans can be laid at our feet, whether as sins of omission or commission.
[LW appears to suggest that Gorbachev was foolish for operating on the basis of word of mouth assurances from the US.]
Q: Do the Neocons have an off ramp for Ukraine? What would Victoria Nuland say?
A: I think she'd say what she probably has already said: ‘Over to you, Germany!’
Germany is trying to pick up the pieces, because they understand: We're leaving. Germany is voting all sorts of money and arms. Scholz appears to be saying they will take our place.

Think about that for a moment. Wilkerson is saying that Germany is being set up by the Neocons to take over the war on Russia. Well that certainly explains the German suggestion that German troops should be permanently stationed in Poland (stated by a former German ambassador to Poland just before the Polish elections). What will Russia think of that, and what might they do? What will every country between Germany and Russia think of that?

LW believes the US blew up the Nordstream pipeline.

Next, Wilkerson sounds some themes that Doug Macgregor has been pounding on: Turkey, and the dissolution of NATO.

NATO is totally falling apart. The southern flank of NATO is anchored by the strongest land army in Europe--not the US, Turkey is. You heard me correctly. Erdogan is making noises like he might take on Israel, and Israel would be short shrift [sic] if Turkey did that. Germany is the linchpin of NATO's center, but we're treating them like a pariah. Germany is looking for alternatives, and we're the ones who put them in this situation by blowing up the pipeline.
As Napolitano is winding up, inviting LW back to talk about Palestine, LW appears to be saying under Judge Nap's voice: We have our focus in the wrong place, Mearsheimer is right. Meaning, LW thinks our focus needs to be on China.

Food for thought, I hope. What a crazy world! Speaking of which …

Star Canadian singer's Indigenous heritage disputed in bombshell report
CBC News reports Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in Stoneham, Mass., to White parents