Washington’s attack on Russia has moved beyond the boundary of the absurd into the realm of insanity.
The New Chief of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, Andrew Lack,
has declared the Russian news service, RT, which broadcasts in multiple
languages, to be a terrorist organization equivalent to Boko Haram and
the Islamic State, and Standard and Poor’s just downgraded Russia’s
credit rating to junk status.
Today RT International interviewed me about these insane developments.
In prior days when America was still a sane country, Lack’s charge
would have led to him being laughed out of office. He would have had to
resign and disappear from public life. Today in the make-believe world
that Western propaganda has created, Lack’s statement is taken
seriously. Yet another terrorist threat has been identified–RT.
(Although both Boko Haram and the Islamic State employ terror, strictly
speaking they are political organizations seeking to rule, not terror
organizations, but this distinction would be over Lack’s head. Yes, I
know. There is a good joke that could be made here about what Lack
lacks. Appropriately named and all that.)
Nevertheless, whatever Lack might lack, I doubt he believes his
nonsensical statement that RT is a terrorist organization. So what is
his game?
The answer is that the Western presstitute media by becoming
Ministries of Propaganda for Washington, have created large markets for
RT, Press TV, and Al Jazeera. As more and more of the peoples of the
world turn to these more honest news sources, Washington’s ability to
fabricate self-serving explanations has declined.
RT in particular has a large Western audience. The contrast between
RT’s truthful reporting and the lies spewed by US media is undermining
Washington’s control of the explanation. This is no longer acceptable.
Lark has sent a message to RT. The message is: pull in your horns;
stop reporting differently from our line; stop contesting the facts as
Washington states them and the presstitutes report them; get on board or
else.
In other words, the “free speech” that Washington and its EU,
Canadian, and Australian puppet states tout means: free speech for
Washington’s propaganda and lies, but not for any truth. Truth is
terrorism, because truth is the major threat to Washington.
Washington would prefer to avoid the embarrassment of actually
shutting down RT as its UK vassal did to Press TV. Washington simply
wants to shut up RT. Lark’s message to RT is: self-censure.
In my opinion, RT already understates in its coverage and reporting
as does Al Jazeera. Both news organizations understand that they cannot
be too forthright, at least not too often or on too many occasions.
I have often wondered why the Russian government allows 20 percent of
the Russian media to function as Washington’s fifth column inside
Russia. I suspect the reason is that by tolerating Washington’s blatant
propaganda inside Russia, the Russian government hopes that some
factual news can be reported in the US via RT and other Russian news
organizations.
These hopes, like other Russian hopes about the West, are likely to
be disappointed in the end. If RT is closed down or assimilated into
the Western presstitute media, nothing will be said about it, but if the
Russian government closes down Washington’s agents, blatant liars all,
in the Russian media, we will hear forever about the evil Russians
suppressing “free speech.” Remember, the only allowable “free speech”
is Washington’s propaganda.
Only time will tell whether RT decides to be closed down for telling
the truth or whether it adds its voice to Washington’s propaganda.
The other item in the interview was the downgrading of Russian credit to junk status.
Standard and Poor’s downgrade is, without any doubt, a political act.
It proves what we already know, and that is that the American rating
firms are corrupt political operations. Remember the Investment Grade
rating the American rating agencies gave to obvious subprime junk?
These rating agencies are paid by Wall Street, and like Wall Street they
serve the US government.
A look at the facts serves to establish the political nature of the
ruling. Don’t expect the corrupt US financial press to look at the
facts. But right now, we will look at the facts.
Indeed, we will put the facts in context with the US debt situation.
According to the debt clocks available online, the Russian national
debt as a percentage of Russian GDP is 11 percent. The American
national debt as a percentage of US GDP is 105 percent, about ten times
higher. My coauthors, Dave Kranzler, John Williams, and I have shown
that when measured correctly, the US debt as a percent of GDP is much
higher than the official figure.
The Russian national debt per capita is $1,645. The US national debt per capita is
$56,952.
The size of Russia’s national debt is $235 billion, less than one
quarter of a trillion. The size of the US national debt is $18 trillion, 76.6 times larger than the Russian debt.
Putting this in perspective: according to the debt clocks, US GDP is
$17.3 trillion and Russian GDP is $2.1 trillion. So, US GDP is 8 times
greater than Russian GDP, but US national debt is 76.6 times greater
than Russia’s debt.
Clearly, it is the US credit rating that should have been downgraded
to junk status. But this cannot happen. Any US credit rating agency
that told the truth would be closed and prosecuted. It wouldn’t matter
what the absurd charges are. The rating agencies would be guilty of
being anti-american, terrorist organizations like RT, etc. and so on,
and they know it. Never expect any truth from any Wall Street denizen.
They lie for a living.
According to this site: the US owes Russia as of January 2013 $162.9 billion. As the Russian
national debt is $235 billion, 69 percent of the Russian national debt
is covered by US debt obligations to Russia.
If this is a Russian Crisis, I am Alexander the Great.
As Russia has enough US dollar holdings to redeem its entire national
debt and have a couple hundred billion dollars left, what is Russia’s
problem?
One of Russia’s problems is its central bank. For the most part,
Russian economists are the same neoliberal incompetents that exist in
the Western world. The Russian economists are enamored of their
contacts with the “superior” West and with the prestige that they image
these contacts give them. As long as the Russian economists agree with
the Western ones, they get invited to conferences abroad. These Russian
economists are de facto American agents whether they realize it or not.
Currently, the Russian central bank is squandering the large Russian
holdings of foreign reserves in support of the Western attack on the
ruble. This is a fools’ game that no central bank should play. The
Russian central bank should remember, or learn if it does not know,
Soros’ attack on the Bank of England.
Russian foreign reserves should be used to retire the outstanding
national debt, thus making Russia the only country in the world without a
national debt. The remaining dollars should be dumped in coordinated
actions with China to destroy the dollar, the power basis of American
Imperialism.
Alternatively, the Russian government should announce that its reply
to the economic warfare being conducted against Russia by the government
in Washington and Wall Street rating agencies is default on its loans
to Western creditors. Russia has nothing to lose as Russia is already
cut off from Western credit by US sanctions. Russian default would
cause consternation and crisis in the European banking system, which is
exactly what Russia wants in order to break up Europe’s support of US
sanctions.
In my opinion, the neoliberal economists who control Russian economic
policy are a much greater threat to the sovereignty of Russia than
economic sanctions and US missile bases. To survive Washington, Russia
desperately needs people who are not romantic about the West.
To dramatize the situation, if President Putin will grant me Russian
citizenship and allow me to appoint Michael Hudson and Nomi Prins as my
deputies, I will take over the operation of the Russian central bank and
put the West out of operation.
But that would require Russia taking risks associated with victory.
The Atlanticist Integrationists inside the Russian government want
victory for the West, not for Russia. A country imbued with treason
inside the government itself has reduced chance against Washington, a
determined player.
Another fifth column operating against Russia from within are the US
and German funded NGOs. These American agents masquerade as “human
rights organizations,” as “women’s rights organizations,” as “democracy
organizations,” and whatever other cant titles that serve in a
politically correct age and are unchallengeable.
Yet another threat to Russia comes from the percentage of the Russian
youth who lust for the depraved culture of the West. Sexual license,
pornography, drugs, self-absorption. These are the West’s cultural
offerings. And, of course, killing Muslims.
If Russians want to kill people for the fun of it and to solidify US
hegemony over themselves and the world, they should support “Atlanticist
integration” and turn their backs on Russian nationalism. Why be
Russian if you can be American serfs?
What better result for the American neoconservatives than to have
Russia support Washington’s hegemony over the world? That is what the
neoliberal Russian economists and the “European Integrationists”
support. These Russians are willing to be American serfs in order to be
part of the West and to be paid well for their treason.
As I was interviewed about these developments by RT, the news anchor
kept trying to confront Washington’s charges with the facts. It is
astonishing that the Russian journalists do not understand that facts
have nothing to do with it. The Russian journalists, those independent
of American bribes, think that facts matter in the disputes about
Russian actions. They think that the assaults on civilians by the
American supported Ukrainian Nazis is a fact. But, of course no such
fact exists in the Western media. In the Western media the Russians,
and only the Russians, are responsible for violence in Ukraine.
Washington’s story line is that it is the evil Putin’s intent on
restoring the Soviet Empire that is the cause of the conflict. This
media line in the West has no relationship to any facts.
In my opinion, Russia is in grave danger. Russians are relying on
facts, and Washington is relying on propaganda. For Washington, facts
are not relevant. Russian voices are small compared to Western voices.
The lack of a Russian voice is due to Russia itself. Russia accepted
living in a world controlled by US financial, legal, and
telecommunication services. Living in this world means that the only
voice is Washington’s.
Why Russia agreed to this strategic disadvantage is a mystery. But
as a result of this strategic mistake, Russia is at a disadvantage.
Considering the inroads that Washington has into the Russian
government itself, the economically powerful oligarchs and state
employees with Western connections, as well as into the Russian media
and Russian youth, with the hundreds of American and German financed
NGOs that can put Russians into the streets to protest any defense of
Russia, Russia’s future as a sovereign country is in doubt.
The American neoconservatives are relentless. Their Russian opponent
is weakened by the success inside Russia of Western cold war propaganda
that portrays the US as the savior and future of mankind.
The darkness from Sauron America continues to spread over the world.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate
editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week,
Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide
following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost
Source: paulcraigroberts.org
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