Justin Raimondo writes:
* * *
Progressives have saddled themselves with a theory of
history that sees the “march of progress” as an ever upwardly-bound journey to
political perfection: thus the appellation “progressive,” as in “things are
getting progressively better.”
Yet history – real history, that is – lacks any such
teleological plan or direction.
Real history is characterized, instead, by ups and downs,
golden ages and dark ages: the golden age of Greece and Rome was followed by
centuries of ignorance and retrogression that we call – not without reason –
the Dark Ages. And while this characterization is meant to define the state of
a culture in general – its mores, its level of technology, etc. – we can apply
it to any field of human endeavor: e.g. the “golden age” of invention, the
“dark age” of political repression signaled by the Alien and Sedition Acts –
and also to the realm of foreign policy, where periods of relative peace are
interrupted by periodic wars of aggression.
History, in other words, sometimes runs “backwards,” and
we are entering such a period today in our relations with Russia.
During the first cold war, Russia and the United States
were engaged in a worldwide conflict which the two nuclear-armed protagonists
fought via proxies, avoiding direct encounters but keeping up a constant
assault on the other side’s positions.
The Soviets – having basically abandoned their ostensibly
revolutionary aims and retreated to the Stalinist revision of Marxist orthodoxy
embodied in the concept of “socialism in one country” – pursued a mainly
defensive strategy: the Americans, while supposedly set on “containment,” often
went beyond this and in several instances attempted to roll back Communist
gains in what we used to call the Third World, e.g. Vietnam, Chile, and the
various unsuccessful attempts to drive Fidel Castro from power.
In the end, the Soviets defeated themselves: their foray
into Afghanistan, made in order to prop up a vastly unpopular “People’s
Republic,” exposed their vaunted military might as a paper tiger, to use Mao’s
famous phrase. The demoralization brought on by that defeat combined with an
unworkable economic system eventually brought down the Communist colossus –
which, in the end, proved to be hollow.
Until the Great Soviet Implosion of 1989, however, that
colossus looked pretty … well, colossal.
Right up until the day the Berlin Wall fell, our
“intelligence” agencies had no clue as to the huge cracks that were appearing –
and widening – in the structure of the Red Empire.
Taken by surprise, and fearful of any sort of
“instability,” the U.S. administration of George Herbert Walker Bush tried to
hold back the tide of anti-Communism that swept through eastern Europe like a
tsunami, albeit to no avail.
As East Germany collapsed, and the other satellites
followed suit, U.S. diplomats assured Mikhail Gorbachev that the West would not
pursue their advantage by pushing NATO to the gates of Moscow. So Gorby let
Germany and the satellites go, reassured that the Russian homeland was safe.
Except it wasn’t.
* NOPE! (AND THIS HISTORY NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT AND
ABSORBED!)
The informal agreements reached during that time of
upheaval – and wise agreements they were, for they avoided a nuclear
confrontation between the superpowers – were soon forgotten. Although not by
the Russians.
(*PURSED LIPS*) (*SAD NOD*)
For a while, there was amity between the victors and the
vanquished – as long as Boris Yeltsin, the incompetent drunkard, stayed at the
helm in the Kremlin. While the oligarchs grabbed what they could, looting
state-owned industries by means of dubious no-bid “privatization” schemes,
Yeltsin took his orders from Washington – and the “golden age” of
Russo-American relations was on.
* AT THE EXPENSE OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE! (SOUND FAMILIAR,
FOLKS...??? USA... 2007... 2008...??? OLIGARCHY SEEMS TO BE A COMMON ENEMY - DOES IT NOT? ONLY PUTIN DESTROYED HIS; BUSHBAMA BAILED OUT OURS!)
It was only when Vladimir Putin rose to power and clearly
showed he was no Yeltsin that relations began to darken. U.S. companies licking
their chops over Russia’s vast stores of energy and other resources were rudely
rebuffed – and, if that wasn’t bad enough, Putin became a critic of U.S.
foreign policy as NATO inched closer to Russia’s borders, in violation of the
understanding previously reached with Gorbachev.
(*NOD*)
The Kosovo war and Bill Clinton’s inordinate interest in
the steppes of Central Asia as a source of U.S. corporate profits further
heightened tensions: us "oldsters" recall the threat of Gen. Wesley
Clark to attack Russian troops at the Pristina airport, which might have
started World War III.
(*NOD*)
The knives really came out in the run up to the Iraq war
when the Russian leader openly opposed the war plans of George W. Bush’s
neocon-infested administration – and the latter demanded Russia be kicked out
of the G-8 as punishment for Putin’s lèse-majesté.
Under Obama, relations with Russia have reached a new low
point.
* UNDER OBAMA RELATIONS WITH EVERYONE HAVE REACHED NEW
LOW POINTS!
We’re supposed to believe this is due to Putin’s alleged
“relapse” into authoritarianism, but Russia today is substantially freer than
it was under the Soviets – and no country on earth has come up from Communism
straight to Jeffersonian republicanism.
No, the reason for the retrogression of U.S.-Russian
relations has more to do with an aggressive American agenda that aims at regime
change in Russia’s “near abroad” – and in Russia itself.
* THIS... IS... TRUE...!!!
* FOLKS...!!! THIS IS ALL TRUE...!!!
Ukraine has become the flashpoint of this campaign, where
American-backed “pro-democracy” groups – in alliance with openly neo-fascist
elements – overthrew an elected President and declared war on “separatists” in
the eastern provinces who wanted nothing to do with the coup leaders. That
vicious war, which features air strikes on “separatist” population centers, has
claimed nearly 5,000 lives up to this point. The U.S. media has taken note of
this only to illustrate the supposed innocence of the Kiev authorities – but
groups such as Human Rights Watch have had to point out that the use of cluster
bombs by government forces, as well as alleged violations by the rebels, fly in
the face of international law (as well as the basic rules of human decency).
(*NOD*)
Cold War II is now in full swing, and on the home front
this means a wave of Russophobia not seen since the days of the Cuban missile
crisis. U.S. officials decry the Russian state-owned propaganda channel,
“Russia Today,” as a “propaganda bullhorn.” (That the privately-owned U.S.
media willingly acts as Washington’s own propaganda bullhorn is something we
aren’t supposed to notice.) Not only that, but a Russian spy scare is all the
rage, replete with McCarthy era hysterics in government and media circles. The
latest is the story of a Russian “spy” operation supposedly working out of that
nexus of top secret U.S. security installations otherwise known as... "the
Bronx."
Early Monday the FBI tweeted this:
“Just in: FBI arrests Russian spy in the Bronx who was
part of ring attempting to collect economic intelligence & recruit #NYC
residents.”
So, was the Red Army about to invade Times Square? Well,
not exactly.
(If you read the official complaint, it’s more like the
antics of Boris and Natasha from the cold war era “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”
than the real life underground network inhabited by Soviet spies Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg.)
Indeed, if anything, the activities of the three accused
“spies” point to their utter incompetence rather than any real threat to U.S.
security interests. According to the complaint, the “recruiting” of New York
City residents to this supposed spy ring amounted to musings by the accused
about the possibilities of approaching unnamed New York University co-eds in
order to gain access to unknown “information,” with the three winding up
rejecting the proposal on the grounds that one has to “f—k them” in order to
get close enough to gain access. As to what national security secrets these
ladies have hidden in their purses, it is apparently too sensitive – or too
minor – to be detailed.
Another “crime” – the three were apparently using Google
to research U.S. “efforts to develop alternative energy” sources, with the goal
of sending the results of their research back to their superiors in Russia.
(As to whether the American Republic would survive such
an obviously subversive operation as spying on our windmills, I leave it to my
readers to decide.)
We leave the realm of low comedy...
(And yes, of course... "They hate us for our
freedom!")
(*SNORT*)
...with the “charge” that the three worked in tandem with
a “Russian media organization,” a.k.a. Russia Today, in order to plant
questions at news conferences.
(*ROLLING MY EYES*)
The charges describe instructions given by Moscow to make
inquiries as to the workings of the U.S. Stock Exchange – particularly
automated buying programs that might have a deleterious effect on Russian bonds
and other financial instruments. This is clearly an attempt to put teeth into
John Kerry’s denunciation of the Russian network and pave the way for banning
it from the U.S.
Last but not least we have the FBI’s tried and true
method of entrapment, their favorite ploy when it comes to uncovering potential
“terrorists” who live in their parents’ basement – only in this case it was a
bunch of hapless “spies” who had no idea what they were doing. This is perhaps
the funniest episode of this cold war remake:
The trusting “Zhenya,” whose “cover” is working for a
Russian bank, is approached by a FBI informant who supposedly wants to build
casinos in Russia. His superior derides the proposal as “bullshit,” and
speculates it may well be a “trap,” but Zhenya falls for it and goes to a
meeting in Atlantic City where the trap snaps shut. His interlocutor, “CS-1,”
asks him if he’d be interested in receiving “U.S. government documents”
detailing plans for further sanctions against Russia. Zhenya says yes, takes
the documents, and goes straight to his superior’s house to deliver the goods –
with the FBI watching and recording his every move.
(Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale were professionals by
comparison!)
Indeed, my theory is that the FBI pursued this case in
order to show up and publicize the sheer witlessness of the Russian “spy”
operation in the U.S. – and in that they certainly succeeded.
(What they did not succeed in doing was to show how any
of this represents a danger to American national security – or why U.S. law
enforcement is picking this kind of very low-hanging fruit. Although, as far as
the latter is concerned, I’ll tell you why: because we’re back in the 1950s,
with the Russians in the role of Official Bad Guys and the FBI – in league with
their best friends in the “mainstream” media – hyping the Russian "Threat.")
It’s garbage of the worst sort, just like the accusations
of “Russian aggression” in Ukraine and elsewhere – and of course our complicit
media, which worships at the shrine of “access,” is all too eager to take their
cues from Washington.
Yes, foreign countries – including some of our supposed
“allies” – do indeed engage in espionage on American soil, but the Russians are
far from the worst offenders. According to the intelligence community, our very
best friend Israel is the most aggressive when it comes to industrial espionage
of the sort the Russians stand accused of – but you don’t hear anything about
that in the media, do you?
* SOME. NOT MUCH. (YOU CAN GOOGLE AND SEE WHAT THE AUTHOR IS REFERRING TO.)
(And it isn’t just stealing economic trade secrets the
Israelis are heavily involved in – which is one reason why efforts to ease visa
restrictions on Israeli visitors are being blocked by U.S. officials – but also
more serious stuff like this.)
