Huge Scandal Erupts Inside NATO: Alliance Member Germany Slams NATO "Warmongering" Against Russia | Zero Hedge

Huge Scandal Erupts Inside NATO: Alliance Member Germany Slams NATO "Warmongering" Against Russia

As we reported in just the past week, not only has NATO accelerated its encirclement of Russia, with British soldiers deployed in Estonia, US soldiers operating in Latvia and Canadians in Poland, while combat units are being increased in the Mediterranean... 

... but even more troubling, was NATO's assessment that it may now have grounds to attack Russia when it announced that if a NATO member country becomes the victim of a cyber attack by persons in a non-NATO country such as Russia or China, then NATO’s Article V “collective defense” provision requires each NATO member country to join that NATO member country if it decides to strike back against the attacking country.

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Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously | Zero Hedge

Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously

Submitted by Chris Martenson via PeakProsperity.com,

As if there weren’t enough crises to worry about in the world already, from shooting rampages to accelerating species loss, the US and NATO continue to ‘poke the bear’ and risk an outbreak of war with Russia.

I wish this were idle speculation. But if you haven’t been paying close attention, you'll probably be shocked at just how much direct military and diplomatic provocation has been going on between NATO/US and Russia over the past several years -- and in recent weeks, in particular.

Even more shocking is that no one in power can provide us with a compelling reason for exactly why these tensions are flaring. It seems that Russia’s main sin is in not entirely, completely and immediately giving the US/NATO anything and everything they request.

In other words, it’s imperial hubris and petulance that seems to be driving the ship of state. That’s a dangerous thing.

I’ve written extensively on the dangers of war with Russia as my concerns have mounted ever since the situation in Ukraine devolved in 2014.

There have been plenty of chances to dial down the rhetoric and mend fences, but they've all come and gone without healing. In fact, as we detail below, quite the opposite has happened. 

The bottom line is this: If you're not already mentally and physically prepared for the prospect of a NATO/US war with Russia, you really should be.

Perhaps the chances of outright war are still low on a relative scale, but the costs would be catastrophically high -- making this worthy of your attention. A low risk of a catastrophic outcome is the very reason we all buy insurance – life, auto, and home.  Not because we wish things to go wrong in our lives, but because they sometimes do nonetheless.

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NATO Begins Encirclement Of Russia | Zero Hedge

NATO Begins Encirclement Of Russia

Via German Economic News, translated by Eric Zuesse,

NATO prepares a veritable military buildup in Eastern Europe: German soldiers are operating in Lithuania, the British take over Estonia, and US soldiers move in to protect Latvia. The Canadians will be in Poland. Also in the Mediterranean, combat units are being increased. Russia perceives the activity as a threat, but hasn’t yet announced any countermeasures.

Source: RiskAdvisory

At the NATO summit during July 8th-9th in Warsaw, the Alliance will adopt a massive military presence along Russia’s border. Russia is classified by NATO as a threat. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said in Washington that the US and the EU have the right in the form of NATO to defend its territories on foreign soil. Critics of this strategy believe that it’s possible this upgrade will increase significantly the danger of a conflict between the superpowers. Wednesday in Brussels, the defense ministers want the military alliance to take decisions which will then be sealed by the leaders in Poland. NATO wants to strengthen its military presence on its eastern borders significantly, and to position foreign combat troops battalions in Poland and the three Baltic states. Germany is the core of the Association in Lithuania, the British in Estonia, and the United States is expected to be that in Latvia. What remains unclear, however, is who will be sending troops to Poland.

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Gartman: "The World Is Finally Awakening To The Fact That World War III Has Begun In Earnest" | Zero Hedge

Gartman: "The World Is Finally Awakening To The Fact That World War III Has Begun In Earnest"

We have no idea how to even comment on this latest observation by "world-renowned", if allegedly dead now that oil is again well above $44, commodity expert Dennis Gartman, who in his latest letter writes that World War III "has begun in earnest:"

SHARE PRICES, GLOBALLY, HAVE FALLEN PRECIPITOUSLY as all ten of the markets comprising our International Index have fallen and as one can see from the “red” in the price matrix below, 7 of the 10 markets in our Index have fallen by more than 1% and 5 of those 7 have fallen by more than 2% and 2 of those 5 have fallen by more than 3%. We have not seen a day such as this in more than a year and as our good, and very wise, friend, Mr. Doug Kass, reminds us, “Risk happens fast.”

Why now? Perhaps the markets are indeed concerned that the Federal Reserve Bank may pass on raising rates at its meetings this week, but will be moved to raise rates at a later time.

Or perhaps the markets are concerned that global economic growth does indeed seem to be waning and that a global recession lurks around the economic corner?

Or perhaps the world is concerned about the vote in the UK next week which is swiftly moving toward the UK leaving the European Union and thus the likelihood of other members of the Union at the periphery choosing to follow London’s lead.

Or perhaps the world is finally awakening to the fact that World War III has begun in earnest; that the Islamic World and the Judeo-Christian world are now truly at war in the aftermath of the murders in Orlando over the weekend. We are of the latter school of thought. We are convinced now that even the Obama Administration can no longer avoid the facts of the age; that Islam and the West are at enmity one with the other and in this light equity investment is wholly ill-advised. Add to that the concerns about the Fed. Add to that the concerns about global recession. Add to that the concerns about the UK and the European Union and one has the makings of serious equity market weakness.

We do know what to say about Gartman's next statement however: it may explain the early ramp in stocks as algos read that Dennis is now once again "net short."

We ended last week in our retirement account here at TGL modestly net short of the market in general, for we exited our long position in energy soon after the opening on Friday while we added to our short position via a derivatives position at precisely the same time.

For some it takes days to rotate their entire portfolio. Others, like Gartman, continue to manage it instantly.

Obama Slams Door in Putin’s Face: Says if Putin doesn’t want Russia’s retaliatory forces eliminated, he’ll need to be the one to press the nuclear button first | The Vineyard of the Saker

Obama Slams Door in Putin’s Face: Says if Putin doesn’t want Russia’s retaliatory forces eliminated, he’ll need to be the one to press the nuclear button first

Actions speak louder than mere words, and U.S. President Barack Obama has now acted, not only spoken. His action is to refuse to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s biggest worry about recent changes in America’s nuclear strategy — particularly a stunning change that is terrifying Putin.

On Sunday June 5th, Reuters headlined “Russia Says U.S. Refuses Talks on Missile Defence System”, and reported that, “The United States has refused Russian offers to discuss Washington’s missile defence programme, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov was quoted as saying on Sunday, calling the initiative ‘very dangerous’.”

Russia’s concern is that, if the “Ballistic Missile Defense” or “Anti Ballistic Missile” system, that the United States is now just starting to install on and near Russia’s borders, works, then the United States will be able to launch a surprise nuclear attack against Russia, and this system, which has been in development for decades and is technically called the “Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System”, will annihilate the missiles that Russia launches in retaliation, which will then leave the Russian population with no retaliation at all, except for the nuclear contamination of the entire northern hemisphere, and global nuclear winter, the blowback from America’s onslaught against Russia, which blowback some strategists in the West say would be manageable probems for the U.S. and might be worth the cost of eliminating Russia.

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The United States Has No War Strategy — War Is Boring

The United States Has No War Strategy

A multi-trillion-dollar bridge to nowhere in the Greater Middle East

by ANDREW BACEVICH

We have it on highest authority — the recent killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan marks “an important milestone.”

So the president of the United States has declared, with that claim duly echoed and implicitly endorsed by media commentary — The New York Timesreporting, for example, that Mansour’s death leaves the Taliban leadership “shocked” and “shaken.”

But a question remains — a milestone toward what, exactly?

Toward victory? Peace? Reconciliation? At the very least, toward the prospect of the violence abating? Merely posing the question is to imply that U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Islamic world serve some larger purpose.

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ClubOrlov: A Russian Warning

A Russian Warning


We, the undersigned, are Russians living and working in the USA. We have been watching with increasing anxiety as the current US and NATO policies have set us on an extremely dangerous collision course with the Russian Federation, as well as with China. Many respected, patriotic Americans, such as Paul Craig Roberts, Stephen Cohen, Philip Giraldi, Ray McGovern and many others have been issuing warnings of a looming a Third World War. But their voices have been all but lost among the din of a mass media that is full of deceptive and inaccurate stories that characterize the Russian economy as being in shambles and the Russian military as weak—all based on no evidence. But we—knowing both Russian history and the current state of Russian society and the Russian military, cannot swallow these lies. We now feel that it is our duty, as Russians living in the US, to warn the American people that they are being lied to, and to tell them the truth. And the truth is simply this:

If there is going to be a war with Russia, then the United States

will most certainly be destroyed, and most of us will end up dead.

Let us take a step back and put what is happening in a historical context. Russia has suffered a great deal at the hands of foreign invaders, losing 22 million people in World War II. Most of the dead were civilians, because the country was invaded, and the Russians have vowed to never let such a disaster happen again. Each time Russia had been invaded, she emerged victorious. In 1812 Nepoleon invaded Russia; in 1814 Russian cavalry rode into Paris. On June 22, 1941, Hitler’s Luftwaffe bombed Kiev; On May 8, 1945, Soviet troops rolled into Berlin.


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Spain ‘betrays NATO allies’ hosting Russian warships – oh, really? — RT Op-Edge

Spain ‘betrays NATO allies’ hosting Russian warships – oh, really?

Looks like Spain is in trouble. The country has been slammed for “betraying its NATO allies” allowing Russian Navy vessels to refuel in its North African territories – but in reality what the claim does is expose a massive web of hypocrisy.

Since 2011, Spain has rankled NATO by allowing 57 Russian warships, submarines and other vessels to refuel at its North African enclave of Ceuta, according to a report in the Times. Now the issue has been highlighted by US Congress after Republican Congressman Joe Pitts proposed an amendment to the annual defense bill which would require defense officials to “report on NATO countries that allow Russian warships to dock at their ports.”

Pitts is not a happy camper at all. Spain’s actions “undermine NATO’s solidarity”against Russia, while governments “across the globe” should be “isolating the Russian Navy, not accommodating it”, he writes.In fact, he goes on, NATO should have a“cohesive strategy” to deny Russia access to warm water ports.

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How Russia is preparing for WWIII | The Vineyard of the Saker

How Russia is preparing for WWIII

This article was written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/how-russia-is-preparing-for-wwiii/

I have recently posted a piece in which I tried to debunk a few popular myths about modern warfare. Judging by many comments which I received in response to this post, I have to say that the myths in question are still alive and well and that I clearly failed to convince many readers. What I propose to do today, is to look at what Russia is really doing in response to the growing threat from the West. But first, I have to set the context or, more accurately, re-set the context in which Russia is operating. Let’s begin by looking at the AngloZionist policies towards Russia.

The West’s actions:

First on this list is, obviously, the conquest by NATO of all of Eastern Europe. I speak of conquest because that is exactly what it is, but a conquest achieved according to the rules of 21st century warfare which I define as “80% informational, 15% economic and 5% military”. Yes, I know, the good folks of Eastern Europe were just dreaming of being subjugated by the US/NATO/EU/etc – but so what? Anyone who has read Sun Tzu will immediately recognize that this deep desire to be ‘incorporated’ into the AngloZionist “Borg” is nothing else but the result of a crushed self-identity, a deep-seated inferiority complex and, thus, a surrender which did not even have to be induced by military means. At the end of the day, it makes no difference what the locals thought they were achieving – they are now subjects of the Empire and their countries more or less irrelevant colonies in the fringe of the AngloZionist Empire. As always, the local comprador elite is now bubbling with pride at being, or so they think, accepted as equals by their new masters (think Poroshenko, Tusk or Grybauskaite) which gives them the courage to bark at Moscow from behind the NATO fence. Good for them.

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UK To Stockpile Tanks, Heavy Equipment Close To Russia's Border | Zero Hedge

UK To Stockpile Tanks, Heavy Equipment Close To Russia's Border

Following the May 12 launch of "Aegis Ashore", the operational name of Washington's European missile defense system based in Romania, which overnight swept away the tentative European nuclear arms race balance of power as it removed a Russian "first strike threat" thereby pressuring Russia to implement further nuclear offensive and defensive measures, Putin was livid, and as we reported yesterday, during his press conference with Greek PM Tsipras, the Russian president explicitly warned Poland and Romania that they are now in Russian first-strike crosshairs, and that Russia's most likely response would be the deployment of SS-26 nuclear-capable tactical missiles.

"If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin told a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. "It will be the same case with Poland," he said.

"We have the capability to respond. The whole world saw what our medium-range sea-based missiles are capable of [in Syria]. But we violate no agreements. And our ground-based Iskander missiles have also proven themselves as superb,” continued Putin.

But what was most troubling, was Putin's implicit warning that should NATO continue to escalate, and push ever more troops into countries neighboring Russia, the Kremlin would be unable to prevent a likewise escalatory response: "We've been repeating like a mantra that we will be forced to respond... Nobody wants to hear us. Nobody wants to conduct negotiations with us."

And then, as if on cue, NATO made it even more explicit that its primary prerogative remains to provoke Russia into an offensive move,when over the weekend the Times reported that the British military may soon start stockpiling tanks and other heavy equipment in Eastern Europe as part of NATO's military beef up close to Russia's border. The decision may come at the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw in July.

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As Our Past Wars Are Glorified This Memorial Day Weekend, Give Some Thought To Our Prospects Against The Russians And Chinese In World War III - PaulCraigRoberts.org

As Our Past Wars Are Glorified This Memorial Day Weekend, Give Some Thought To Our Prospects Against The Russians And Chinese In World War III

Paul Craig Roberts

The Saker reports that Russia is preparing for World War III, not because Russia intends to initiate aggression but because Russia is alarmed by the hubris and arrogance of the West, by the demonization of Russia, by provocative military actions by the West, by American interference in the Russian province of Chechnya and in former Russian provinces of Ukraine and Georgia, and by the absence of any restraint from Western Europe on Washington’s ability to foment war.http://thesaker.is/how-russia-is-preparing-for-wwiii/

Like Steven Starr, Stephen Cohen, myself, and a small number of others, the Saker understands the reckless irresponsibility of convincing Russia that the United States intends to attack her.

It is extraordinary to see the confidence that many Americans place in their military’s ability. After 15 years the US has been unable to defeat a few lightly armed Taliban, and after 13 years the situation in Iraq remains out of control. This is not very reassuring for the prospect of taking on Russia, much less the strategic alliance between Russia and China. The US could not even defeat China, a Third World country at the time, in Korea 60 years ago.

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Beware what you wish for: Russia is ready for war — RT Op-Edge

Beware what you wish for: Russia is ready for war

So foreign ministers from the 28 NATO member-nations met in Brussels for a two-day summit, while mighty military power Montenegro was inducted as a new member.

Global Robocop NATO predictably discussed Afghanistan (a war NATO ignominiously lost); Iraq (a war the Pentagon ignominiously lost); Libya (a nation NATO turned into a failed state devastated by militia hell); Syria (a nation NATO, via Turkey, would love to invade, and is already a militia hell).

Afghans must now rest assured that NATO’s Resolute Support mission – plus “financial support for Afghan forces” – will finally assure the success of Operation Enduring Freedom forever.

Libyans must be reassured, in the words of NATO figurehead secretary Jens Stoltenberg, that we “should stand ready to support the new Government of National Accord in Libya.”

NATO exercises on Russian border: Are these people actually mad?

And then there’s the icing on the NATO cake, described as “measures against Russia”.

Stoltenberg duly confirmed, “We have already decided to enhance our forward presence in the eastern part of our alliance. Our military planners have put forward proposals of several battalions in different countries in the region. No decision has been taken on the numbers and locations.”

These puny “several battalions” won’t cause any Russian planner to lose sleep. The real “measure” is the deployment of the Aegis Ashore system in Romania last week – plus a further one in Poland in 2018. This has been vehemently opposed by Moscow since the early 2000s. NATO’s argument that the Aegis represents protection against the“threat” of ballistic missiles from Iran does not even qualify as kindergarten play.

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Transition to Multipolar World Only Barrier to Washington's Domination - Russia Insider

Transition to Multipolar World Only Barrier to Washington's Domination

The decline of US influence in key regions around the world, such as the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, North Africa and Europe, directly results from the so-called phenomenon of imperial over-stretch.

The most tangible consequences are Washington's reduced ability to predict and react in focal areas of the world. The constant need to subdue and control each aspect of life has ended up alienating the involvement and importance of the US role in these regions. For the moment, it is important to focus on where Washington continues to demonstrate considerable influence and strategic skills, it is still able to influence the course of events.

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US Army Completely Fails NATO Tank Competition | The Daily Sheeple

US Army Completely Fails NATO Tank Competition

Recently the US military co-hosted the Strong Europe Tank Challenge, the first of its kind since the end of the cold war. It was no doubt an attempt to showcase the overwhelming superiority of Western militaries, and to present NATO’s united front to Russia. Unfortunately, the only thing the US military managed to showcase was its own incompetence.

Tank platoons from Denmark, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United States were pitted against each other in a variety of wargames at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany. During the three day event, the games tested these tank crews with both offensive and defensive maneuvers, obstacle courses, simulated chemical weapon attacks, medical emergencies, IED’s, and the identification of friendly and unfriendly targets.

Unfortunately the US tank crews didn’t win. In fact, despite being the only nation to provide two tank platoons instead of one, the US didn’t even place. Germany wound up coming in first place, followed by Denmark and Poland.

As Popular Mechanics noted, this wasn’t the first time that the Armor Branch of the US Army has been embarrassed. During a recent competition in the US, a North Carolina National Guard tank platoon with a crew that contained an insurance adjuster, a truck driver, a college student, and an aspiring cop, managed to beat all contenders including active duty tank platoons with the US Army, Marine Corps, and the Canadian Army.

Most observers and commenters of these events seem to agree on one thing. That the US Army placed so poorly because it has lost its edge. After more than a decade of fighting terrorists and insurgents, the US military is pretty rusty when it comes to conventional warfare. Again, according to Popular Mechanics:

For decades, the U.S. Army’s Armor Corps was a pillar of land power expected to fight the tank forces of Soviet Union on the European battlefield. After 9/11, with the exception of the invasion of Iraq, fighting so-called “high intensity conflict” took a back seat to fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. While most of the countries involved in the Strong Tank Challenge also sent ground forces to both countries, their commitments largely allowed their tankers to stay oriented on training and operation related to more traditional tank missions—i.e. fighting in big wars against other tanks.

The results in both competitions echo recent comments madeby Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley and published in last Sunday’s New York Times. Milley stated, “Today, a major in the Army knows nothing but fighting terrorists and guerrillas, because he came into the Army after 9/11. But as we get into the higher-end threats, our skills have atrophied over 15 years.”

Perhaps this will be a wake up call to the member states of NATO. The US military isn’t all that capable of defending them from Russia anymore. Our government talks a big talk and continues to be belligerent towards Russia, but can’t back it up on the battlefield.

The US has become the international equivalent of an insecure bully. You know, the kind of guy who insults people and says he knows karate when they get offended. That’s our government. We threaten and issue demands to every nation that doesn’t bow to us. We swagger around this planet as if we have the baddest and most lethal military on the planet; one that can back up our threats. But clearly we don’t have that military anymore. All we do is start fights that we can’t finish, and the nations of Europe better realize that before we drag them into a war with Russia.

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

WWIII? A "Hybrid Geo-Financial War" Between NATO and Russia Is Dangerously Escalating | Zero Hedge

WWIII? A "Hybrid Geo-Financial War" Between NATO and Russia Is Dangerously Escalating

Submitted by Mac Slavo via SHTFPlan.com,

Russia is preparing for war against the West.

Putin is being urged to do so because the U.S. and NATO have been preparing for war themselves.

Syria and Ukraine have just been warm ups. The real thing could be around the corner, and other proxy flashpoints are ready to line up.

The rising tensions for military conflict are sharply complicated by the stealthier financial war that is nonetheless taking a serious toll across the globe, in particular as collapsing oil prices put incredible pressure on those regimes who have cast a big social benefits net financed primarily by $100/barrel oil.

As SHTF previously reported, that made Venezuela the most vulnerable, and it is plain today that the oil rich nation is collapsing. However, the manipulation of these prices was also meant to put pressure on Russia (as well as other countries)… while the attempt to undercut Russian natural gas by taking over Ukraine and have NATO supply gas to Europe instead of Russia has so far failed.

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Look, If Russia Wanted to Invade Ukraine, This Is What It Would Actually Look Like - Russia Insider

Look, If Russia Wanted to Invade Ukraine, This Is What It Would Actually Look Like

Originally appeared at Live Journal. Translated by Julia Rakhmetova and Rhod Mackenzie

Recently the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kiev refused to find any armed aggression by Russia against the Ukraine. Ukrainian human rights activist Stanislav Batrin filed a lawsuit back in 2014, and according to him, the authorities are cowardly, talking about  Russian aggression everywhere but afraid of legitimizing it. 

There are reasons for that. 

That’s what Stanislav Batrin told:

On February 9th, the Presidency sent a fax to the court requesting it to postpone the session on legal views and their justifications.  Furthermore, the position of the President was clearly stated.  Poroshenko asked the court to dismiss the claim on the verification of armed aggression by the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs played a strange part in the process: at first, the MIA posted some information on its site that disputed the presence of regular Russian troops in the Ukraine.  However after the court demanded evidence, the Ministry responded that they couldn’t provide it because  the person who has it is on a business trip.

Ukraine can’t decide whether there was an aggression or not. Probably, they are afraid that the world media and political entities that verbally support the Kiev government know there has been no aggression. Military observer Andrei Vadzhra clearly explained  what would happen if Russians actually decided to attack the Ukraine:  

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Putin Is Being Pushed to Abandon His Conciliatory Approach to the West and Prepare for War - Russia Insider

Putin Is Being Pushed to Abandon His Conciliatory Approach to the West and Prepare for War

Originally appeared at The Huffington Post

Something significant happened in the last few days of April, but it seems the only person who noticed was Stephen Cohen, a professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University.

In a recorded interview, Cohen notes that a section of the Russian leadership is showing signs of restlessness, focused on President Vladimir Putin’s leadership. We are not talking of street protesters. We are not talking coups against Putin — his popularity remains above 80 percent and he is not about to be displaced. But we are talking about serious pressure being applied to the president to come down from the high wire along which he has warily trod until now.

Putin carries, at one end of his balancing pole, the various elites more oriented toward the West and the “Washington Consensus“ and, at the pole’s other end, those concerned that Russia faces both a real military threat from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and a hybrid geo-financial war as well. He is being pressed to come down on the side of the latter, and to pry the grip of the former from the levers of economic power that they still tightly hold.

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