Is Obama a Russian Agent?
Dmitri Orlov, Club Orlov (Blog), Dec 29 2016
Sometimes a case looks weak because there is no “smoking gun.” There’s no obvious direct evidence of conspiracy, malfeasance or evil intent. But once you tally up all the evidence, it forms a coherent and damning picture. And so it is with the Obama administration vis à vis Russia. By feigning hostile intent, it did everything possible to further Russia’s agenda. And although it is always possible to claim that all of Obama’s failures stem from mere incompetence, at some point this claim begins to ring hollow. How can he possibly be so utterly competent at being incompetent? Perhaps he just used incompetence as a veil to cover his true intent, which was always to bolster Russia while rendering Pindostan maximally irrelevant in world affairs. Let’s examine Obama’s major foreign policy initiatives from this angle. Perhaps the greatest achievement of his eight years has been the destruction of Libya. Under the false pretense of a humanitarian intervention, what was once the most prosperous and stable country in the entire North Africa has been reduced to a rubble-strewn haven for Islamic terrorists and a transit point for economic migrants streaming into the EU. This had the effect of pushing Russia and China together, prompting them to start voting against Pindostan together as a block in the UNSC. In a single blow, Obama assured an important element of his legacy as a Russian agent. No longer will Pindostan be able to further its agenda through this very important international body. Next, Obama presided over the violent overthrow of the constitutional government in the Ukraine and the installation of a Pindosi puppet regime there. When Crimea then voted to rejoin Russia, Obama imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation. These moves may seem like they were designed to hurt Russia, but let’s look at the results instead of the intentions.
Russia regained control of an important strategic region.
The sanctions and the counter-sanctions allowed Russia to concentrate on import replacement, building up the domestic economy. This was especially impressive in agriculture, and Russia now earns more export revenue from foodstuffs than from weapons.
The severing of economic ties with the Ukraine allowed Russia to eliminate a major economic competitor.
Over a million Ukrainians decided to move to Russia, either temporarily or permanently, giving Russia a major demographic boost and giving it access to a pool of Russian-speaking skilled labor. Most Ukrainians are barely distinguishable from the general Russian population.
Whereas before the Ukraine was in a position to extort concessions from Russia by playing games with the natural gas pipelines that lead from Russia to the EU, now Russia’s hands have been untied, resulting in new pipeline deals with Turkey and Germany. In effect, Russia reaped all the benefits from the Ukrainian stalemate, while Pindostan gained an unsavory, embarrassing dependent.
Obama’s next “achievement” was in carefully shepherding the Syrian conflict into a cul de sac. Some insist on calling it a civil war, although virtually all of the fighting there has between the entire Syrian nation and foreign-funded outside mercenaries. To this end, Obama deployed an array of tactics. He simultaneously supported, armed, trained and fought various terrorist groups, making a joke of the usual Pindosi technique of using “terrorism by proxy.” He made ridiculous claims that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against its own people, which immediately reminded everyone of similarly hollow claims about Saddam’s WMDs, while offering Russia a legitimate role to play in resolving the Syrian conflict. He made endless promises to separate “moderate opposition” from dyed-in-the-wool terrorists but repeatedly failed to do so, thus giving the Russians ample scope to take care of the situation as they saw fit. He negotiated several ceasefires then violated them. There have been other achievements, as well. By constantly talking up the non-existent “Russian threat” and scaremongering about “Russian aggression” and “Russian invasion,” of which no evidence existed, and by holding futile military exercises in Eastern Europe and especially in the geopolitically irrelevant Baltics, Obama managed to deprive NATO of any residual legitimacy it once might have had, turning it into a sad joke. But perhaps Obama’s most significant service on behalf of the Russian nation was in throwing the election to Donald Trump. This he did by throwing his support behind the ridiculously inept and corrupt Hillary Clinton. She outspent Trump by a factor of two, but apparently no amount of money could buy her the presidency. As a result of Obama’s steadfast efforts, Pindostan will now have a Russia-friendly president who is eager to make deals with Russia, but will have to do so from a significantly weakened negotiating position. As I have been arguing for the last decade, it is a foregone conclusion that Pindostan is going to slide from its position of global dominance. But it was certainly helpful to have Obama grease the skids, and now it’s up to Donald Trump to finish the job. And since Obama’s contribution was especially helpful to Russia, I propose that he be awarded the Russian Federation’s Order of Friendship, to go with his Nobel Peace Prize.
But meanwhile, unobserved by Orlov, but I’ll put it here anyway:
On Xmas Day, Netanyahu Summons Envoys for Reprimand Over Settlement Vote Barak Ravid, Haaretz, Dec 25 2016
PM Netanyahu ordered the Foreign Ministry to summon the ambassadors of the UNSC member states on Sunday to reprimand them over the resolution taking Israel to task that passed on Friday. All the envoys will be summoned except for the Pindosi ambassador. According to an Israeli official, each ambassador will be personally reprimanded. A senior diplomat in Jerusalem and a Western diplomat told Haaretz the summons were extremely unusual, considering the timing: Xmas Day. The Western diplomat said:
What would they have said in Jayloomia if we summoned the Israeli ambassador on Yom Kippur?
The ambassadors summoned were from those countries that operate embassies in Israel: Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, France, Britain, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay and Spain. Friday’s vote was able to pass the 15-member council because Pindostan broke with a long-standing approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and did not wield its veto power as it had on many times before. The UNSCR’s two main clauses state that the settlements have “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law,” and call on the nations of the world “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.” At the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that he shares the ministers’ anger and frustration over the vote, which he called “hostile and unbalanced.” He said that according to information that reached Israel, there was no doubt that the Obama administration was behind the UNSCR, coordinated its wording and made sure it passed. Netanyahu said this completely contradicted traditional Pindosi policy against forcing conditions on Israel via the UNSC and explicit commitment from Obama in 2011 to that effect. Netanyahu then addressed the ministers in English, telling them:
As I told Jackass Kerry on Thursday: friends do not take friends to the UNSC. Pindo administrations and Israeli governments have always disagreed over the settlements, but they agreed that the UNSC wasn’t the place to resolve this issue. We knew that going there would make negotiations harder and drive peace further away. I am encouraged by statements of our friends (among the Congress critturs) Republican and Democrat alike. They understand how reckless and destructive this UNSCR was. I look forward to working with those friends and with the new Pindo administration when it takes office next month.
Donald Trump criticized the UNSCR, tweeting after the resolution was adopted that “things would be different” after he takes office on Jan 20. Netanyahu addressed the UNSCR on Saturday evening (after Shabbat), saying that the Obama administration had carried out an “underhanded and an anti-Israel maneuver” at the UNSC. The PM called the resolution “crazy” and vowed to cut funding to UN institutions, while reviewing Israel’s relations with the international organization. On Friday, the PMO announced that Israel’s ambassadors to New Zealand and Senagal, two of the countries that pushed for the vote on the UNSCR, had been recalled and that sanctions would be put in place against both countries. The PMO said:
The Obama administration not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded with it behind the scenes.
Netanyahu also canceled a visit by Ukrainian PM Groysman, who was scheduled to arrive in Israel in the coming week, in light of Ukraine’s vote in favor of the resolution.
