The United States Is 100% in the Right

W.J. Astore

Congressman Ro Khanna is a Democrat from California who counts himself as a progressive. He recently spoke with Briahna Joy Gray for her podcast, Bad Faith. The interview is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhnNJctvYTA

During the interview, Gray asked the Congressman about the Russia-Ukraine war and whether the U.S. contributed in any way to Russia’s decision to invade. Here’s a quick summary of Khanna’s position:

Nothing the USA did (or didn’t do) contributed in any way to the Russian decision to invade. Ukraine is a just war (for the Ukraine and USA, of course) and is 100% Putin’s fault. U.S. actions have been 100% in the right, and U.S. weapons shipments have been critical to saving Ukraine from Russian dominance. The U.S. is on the side of the vulnerable women and children in Ukraine and is supporting the freedom of a sovereign country.

Well, there you have it. Nothing the U.S. has ever done, or is doing now, is in the wrong with respect to Ukraine. The expansion of NATO, the U.S.-orchestrated coup in Ukraine in 2014, continued arms shipments to Ukraine since the coup: these actions were all 100% right and also did nothing to provoke the Russians to invade.

Naturally, I myself am against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I wish for the quickest possible diplomatic settlement and an end to the killing. But that doesn’t mean I’m blind to how U.S. actions contributed to tensions in the area before the war, and are continuing to this day to make matters worse. (Consider Joe Biden’s declaration that Putin is a “war criminal” who must be removed from power. Not much room for negotiating there!)

Take NATO expansion beginning in the 1990s. NATO was supposed to be a defensive military alliance to deter and prevent Soviet military expansion; when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, NATO’s reason for being collapsed with it. But NATO, showing the resilience of well-entrenched bureaucracies, found a new reason to exist. Its new mission, as events have shown, is not to defend against Soviet/Russian expansion, but instead to expand to the very borders of Russia, leaving the Russian people isolated, surrounded by a “defensive” alliance that keeps buying advanced military weaponry, much of it made in the USA.

NATO was not supposed to expand beyond a unified Germany, or so the Russians were told. Many prominent American officials warned that NATO expansion would aggravate regional tensions, leading possibly to a future war. We don’t need to say “possibly” anymore.

NATO expansion envisioned Ukraine becoming a member at some future date, regardless of Russian warnings that this wouldn’t be tolerated. Admitting such historical facts doesn’t absolve Putin of blame for Russia’s calamitous invasion, but it does provide essential context. Saying the U.S. is completely blameless is bonkers, but politically it sells well, I guess, and that’s all that Ro Khanna seemingly cares about.

If a so-called anti-war progressive like Ro Khanna can’t admit that the U.S. might be 1% responsible for tensions in the area, and 99% blameless, without being accused of being a Putin puppet, where are we at as a country?

Isn’t it great to be on the side of the angels and 100% right again, America?

78 thoughts on “The United States Is 100% in the Right”

  1. I agree with you. I am against the invasion, but find it hypocritical for our government to moralize about it. I am especially enraged when I think about US interference in Central and South American countries. I am shocked at Ro Khanna’s opinion. I have always admired him.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I’m guessing that Ro Khanna, and nearly all U.S. politicians, believe that playing it safe is the best course of action — for them. They are, in short, lying to us, or misleading us, by eliding or simplifying the facts. They’re basically saying : “You can’t handle the truth!”

      But Americans can handle the truth; we need the truth; we can’t have a true democracy without it.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. In another word they’re Cowards, not having the courage to stand up for the Truth going against the prevailing narrative and WAR Propaganda with so many SINS of Historical OMISSION.

        Most of my comments and the whole threads in reply in The Washington Post on the War were deleted this afternoon when I posted the link to Oliver Stone’s Documentary, ‘UKRAINE ON FIRE’ suggesting it be watched if they want to know the real History on how it’s come to the War.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Just as with Israel, US politicians will figure they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by going with the standard position of gushing support for Israel and outraged condemnation of Russia. The politician, such as Khanna, will say to himself “there is so much I want to do and can’t if I am subject to pushback on subjects that aren’t related to my particular projects, so I will avoid truth-telling in this case.”

        Regarding Putin, the man has clearly shown in the past that he is not a fool. It’s nonsense to call him crazy as if he could not foresee extreme measures of opposition to an invasion of Ukraine. Well he knows that US administrations feel all powerful and that NATO is an American creature. Russia is taking a beating right now, even if it is causing far greater pain in Ukraine. The logical and reasonable assumption is Putin feels Russia cornered and at great risk so is lashing out in desperation having tried to warn for several years that this could be avoided. All of great power history and the behavior of the US in response to the tiniest areas of opposition anywhere in the Western Hemisphere grounds this view. It appears to me he is ready to go on fighting indefinitely and will never yield to anything less than a pledge of no NATO in Ukraine. It’s a mistake to think he has to take cities and win battles, all he has to do is keep the pounding going in Ukraine.

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  2. Unless that US delusional attitude changes, this Material World is on Path to Armageddon/WWIII, led there by the US.

    Neither the Religious nor Political Leaders noticed the Red Flag Sign of the Times Warning when ISIS blew up the Islamic Mosque in Nineveh, Iraq in 2014 containing the Tomb of Jonah in the whale fame from the Jewish-Christian tradition.
    Even the Pope didn’t notice and say anything about it when he went to Iraq last year.

    According to the 3000 year old Bible record, God told Jonah to go to that “World City” Nineveh and warn them if they don’t change their Ways, they’re on the Path to Destruction. Nineveh is described as being so big it took 3 Days to walk through it.

    Jonah, not wanting to be a buzzkill, tried to get away from doing what had to be done. I interpret Jonah being in the belly of the whale as an allegory or metaphor of being in a place where there is no place left to run and hide.
    He finally did what had to be done, and going only 1/2 way through the City, the people of Nineveh got the Message, and from the king on down, repented and changed their values.

    That is where Hope comes in as it’s written, ‘And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do to them; and he did it not.’

    As if to affirm that Red Flag Warning, it was in the Year of The Lord 2014 when the US orchestrated the Coup/regime change of the Russian friendly government, installing a US puppet Neo-Nazi anti-Russian government planting the seeds for this War making the Jonah story CURRENT in Our Generations.

    BIBLICAL NINEVEH – THE WORLD CITY

    Liked by 1 person

  4. What is truly disheartening is the lack of any skepticism. From the local level to the national, there is the same enthusiastic reporting of Ukrainian-provided videos as fact, the presentation of “insights” of retired flag officers who spent the last 20 years in counter insurgency and have not studied combined-arms maneuver warfare since they were junior officers, and the embrace of the approved narrative of the Biden administration and other deep-state actors. Blue and yellow ribbons have sprouted everywhere. Critical thinking appears to have been outlawed.

    And with all of that, I’ve not heard anyone attempt a cogent explanation for the following two questions: 1. Why does NATO still exist? and 2. What is the strategic interest of the US in Ukraine?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Well, we know the real answers. NATO exists because it’s useful, especially to the USA, and it’s a huge money-maker for American arms dealers. And the U.S. has no vital strategic interest in Ukraine, but a Russian-Ukraine war is seen as an opportunity to weaken Russia at low cost to the USA. But you never know with wars … once upon a time, US “experts” thought Afghanistan and Iraq were good wars worth fighting…

      Liked by 2 people

  5. Bill–

    Ro Khanna and his remarks reminds me of the Greens in Germany. Supposedly leftist, the Greens are among the most vociferous supporters of German military actions abroad on behalf of NATO. Strange that enviro leftists nowadays think like that, but alas, Rep. Khanna is obviously cut from the same bolt of cloth as the German Greens. The Greens have increasingly allied themselves up with rightest political parties and policies domestically, and cannot be called any sort of left party or progressive alternative. Same is about to happen for Rep. Khanna, on the domestic political front, if it hasn’t already. Can’t do a read on that from here, but some reporter in his district, or in DC, could readily enough do so. Doubt they have; that sort of initiative and independent thinking just isn’t to be found in journoland these days.

    Hardly a soul nowadays knows enough history or of things military to intelligently discuss issues of war and statecraft. The powers that be have such control over the means of mass communication that they have, 1984-like, filled people’s minds with such illiterate garbage that it is impossible for people to formulate ideas or discussion beyond the daily cliches. The Academy deserves a good kicking for its responsibility for its role in this (and its hypocracy and moral cowardice for doing so, too.)

    Grant, in his memoirs (absolutely an excellent read), wrote about the US Army experience in the Mexican War. Grant said that it was a good thing we were fighting an enemy as bad as the Mexican Army, or else, he said, we’d have been taught some hard lessons. Same applies to our army, and nation, today. Except in my present darker moments, I rather think that we won’t be taught such lessons because we just can’t imagine doing anything differently than what we’ve always done since WWII, militarily and politically. The brain pollution is just too strong. Goddammit we’ll just be hurt, and suffer, and do similar stupidities again, and suffer more again.

    Check out what Scott Ritter is saying here. I have been predicting a Russian military-political approach to things like this since the war started. Facts are that the best way nowadays to get the truth about events in some big event like the Ukraine war is just to assume the exact opposite of what the newspapers print. Dammit, that’s just like Nazi Germany, and that hurts.

    Best–

    Dan

    https://marktaliano.net/russia-is-succeeding-wildly-in-its-objectives-scott-ritter-on-the-war-in-ukraine/ [https://marktaliano.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-768×432-1.webp] “Russia is Succeeding Wildly in its Objectives!” Scott Ritter on the War in Ukraine – Mark Taliano Full transcript available By Michael Welch and Scott Ritter Global Research, March 29, 2022 All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). Visit and follow us on Instagram at @crg_globalresearch. *** What follows is a segment of the show March 25, 2022 Global Research News […] marktaliano.net

    ________________________________

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, Dan. And I just saw in Georgia that the state senate passed a law that essentially mandates feel-good American history. They’re so worried about Critical Race Theory (which is only taught in a few universities) that they forgot all about Critical Thinking.

      But of course they didn’t forget. The owners know CRT is a non-threat. The real threat is citizens who can think and who are willing to act. So make sure they can’t think by teaching them lies and cliches and make sure they can’t act by dividing them, distracting them, and keeping them downtrodden, working two or more jobs just to survive.

      It seems to be working, as the rich get richer …

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Which is the root of Sam Keen’s “Faces of the Enemy” (1991): provide an endless stream of diversions and distractions to the masses and they won’t be able to focus upon – let alone understand – what’s really going on. After a while, it’s not even necessary to lie, just providing a nudge in the preferred direction (“Don’t pay any attention to the man behind the curtain!”) is enough.
        (“Critical thinking” is now what we do in the final minutes of a tightly-contested NFL game which, of course, is like a chess match for – in Peter Gent’s words – “containment fascists”, from the military flyovers and “salutes to service” to the terminology. Don’t forget: weeks 10-12 on the NFL schedule are “Salute to Service” dates.)

        https://nflcommunications.com/Pages/NFL-HONORS-THOSE-WHO-HAVE-SERVED-AND-CONTINUE-TO-SERVE-IN-THE-ARMED-FORCES-THROUGH-SALUTE-TO-SERVICE.aspx

        Like

  6. Just arrived this morning: an e-mail notification from FP (Foreign Policy magazine):

    Argument
    An expert’s point of view on a current event.
    NATO Intervention in Ukraine Won’t Spark World War III
    A Western aversion to casualties and fears of Russian nuclear use are impeding NATO intervention against a vastly inferior opponent.
    By Limor Simhony, a policy advisor and researcher based in London.

    Oh, for crying out loud . . . More “expertise.”

    Liked by 2 people

    1. But Michael, without experts, how would we ever understand anything? I mean, surely Tom Clancy’s commentary during the Gulf War was invaluable to many cheering viewers in sports bars across America …

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Colonel, You wrote: “They are, in short, lying to us, or misleading us, by eliding or simplifying the facts. They’re basically saying : ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ But Americans can handle the truth; we need the truth; we can’t have a true democracy without it.”

    They have always lied ~ or elided or simplified the facts ~ to us, my Friend. It’s what they do, and how they do business. i’ve catalogued it before in a comment to an earlier Bracing Views: They lied about the MAINE, the LUSITANIA, Pearl Harbor, Tonkin Gulf, Kuwait’s “Incubator Babies,” and Saddam’s WMDs. And those are just the lies that we have come to know about; long after the Lie had accomplished its mission..

    One can only imagine the lies perpetrated and perpetuated on behalf of those owners and operators of our political system and its politicians beyond just the MIC; in, for example, the banking and finance, energy, agriculture, transportation, and communications sectors, just for starters. And, in fact, one needn’t dig very deeply into our history to discover these lies, and to learn what they led to, and who ultimately benefited from them.

    Having said all that, i have a problem with Your claim that “Americans can handle the truth.” Primarily because i am unaware of any situation in which Americans WERE given the Whole, Real, Truth about just about anything that has had significant impact in their lives.

    Why, for example, 59 years after the fact, is the government still hiding from the American people Everything it knows about the Kennedy Assassination?

    Why, 21 years after the fact, do the American people still not know Everything that their government knows about The Terror Event of September 11, 2001?

    And most currently, why do the American people not know Everything that their government knows about The Pandemic Event that started in 2020 and has killed over 1 million Americans?

    But i agree with You completely that Americans NEED the Truth.

    But the problem is that Americans do not have a RIGHT to the Truth; certainly not at all like they have ~ at least according to our Declaration of Independence and Constitution~ the Rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

    So along with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness should also be included the Right to Property, Privacy, and ~ at least when it comes to their government ~ Truth.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Vladimir Putin – Anyone who doesn’t regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains.
    New York Times 20 February 2000

    No one is spared in the latest by Paul Street in CounterPunch

    ‘Looking for “Good Guys” on Ukraine?’
    -Not Putin and the Kremlin
    -Not Biden and Washington
    -Not Zelensky
    -Worthy and Unworthy Refugees and Victims
    -The Media Out-Hawking the Pentagon
    -The US Weapons, Fossil Fuel, and Fascism Sectors
    -Listless Liberals Who Applaud Molotov Cocktails in Kyiv but Won’t Turn Off MSDNCNN and Get Off Their
    Couches to Fight Christian Amerikaner Patriarchy and Fascism’
    -The Only Really Good Guys and Gals…

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/04/01/looking-for-good-guys-on-ukraine/

    Liked by 1 person

    2. It was so easy to find The New York Times article/profile on Vladimir Putin from 2020, and a most interesting read.
      Reading it, I have even greater doubts he turned into the monster Western Media use every negative adjective to paint his as evil.
      American Politicians should be as disciplined and devoted to the betterment of America as Putin is for Russia.

      It’s probably because with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the US hubris and gloating they won the Cold War were the only unchallenged undisputed Superpower, they hate Putin for bring Russia back from the ashes like the rising Phoenix.

      PATH TO POWER: A political profile.; Putin Steering to Reform, But With Soviet Discipline

      Like

      1. At 78 I make more typos than ever like these I should have noticed before posting.
        “article/profile on Vladimir Putin from 2000″
        ‘US hubris and gloating they won the Cold War AND were the only unchallenged undisputed Superpower,”

        Too bad there’s no edit feature 😦

        Like

  9. NATO came into existence after World War II so as to wage Cold War I in Europe. And it stayed in existence after the USSR and Warsaw Bloc disintegrated for exactly the reason You nailed, Colonel: Guaranteed customers for America’s MIC. And that’s why NATO stayed in existence and in fact expanded after the demise of Soviet Russia.

    Another way to think of why NATO exists ~ as noted in a March 5 article on Bracing Views ~ is to recall Orwell’s 1984: We have a Eurasia with its Putin and an Eastasia with its Xi. The only thing lacking is an Oceania with its Big Brother, and NATO is proto-Oceania’s Forward Base in Europe against Eurasia, aka the Federation of Russia. [And we have a bunch of folks on the American political landscape ~ on the Left and Right ~ who would love to get a go at being BB.]

    Plus, as things get warmer and warmer, it will not be too long before The Arctic becomes a new focal point for confrontation between the Empires [particularly Eurasia and Oceania], and NATO [which includes Greenland courtesy Denmark] will be fully involved in all that that promises to degenerate into.

    And the bottom-line, bullet-hits-the-bone reason for the US/NATO interest in Ukraine is really quite nakedly simple: Ukraine is the only nation bordering Russia that is NOT formally and officially in NATO. And thus the perfect context and pretext for launching Cold War II.

    After all, nobody is really concerned about global, Islamo-Fascist Jihadist Terrorism any more [which could change in a heartbeat]; at least not like it was in the good old days after 9/11 and the WMDs. And the MIC needs to keep its cash flow going.

    And as far as “Good Wars” are concerned: Those “experts” were exactly right: How much of the money spent on Afghanistan and Iraq went into the pockets of workers, managers, executives, directors, and shareholders of the MIC? For those folks, those wars were definitely “worth fighting,” indeed. Just like every war they don’t have to fight in themselves.

    And the best part of it is that not a single American taxpayer has paid a single dime for those wars since 9/11. They’ve all been put on Uncle Sam’s tab in our first true Credit Card War. Of course, their Kids may have problems when the loans [and the interest] start coming in; but that won’t be Mommy and Daddy’s problem. At least not yet.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Ro Khanna is either a liar or incompetent. He has no idea who Chris Hedges – and is and claimed ignorance of what happened in 2014 in Ukraine?

    Like

  11. The Most Important Questions…

    We Americans are a curious people.

    As such, we demand, we need,
    we hunger and thirst for,
    we live and die by Answers.
    And not Questions.

    We depend for our livelihood and well-being,
    — for our sanity and security,
    for our sense of our Self and the Real —
    we depend on the expert, the anchorman,
    the spokesperson, talk show host,
    reliable source, and, ultimately,
    The Leader (or hero, savior, guru)
    who provides us with All the Answers.

    This way, we can make an immediate determination
    as to whether or not his [seldom her] Answers agree
    with ours.

    And, if they don’t, then, without having to bother
    with the process of thinking,
    we can dismiss his Answers out of hand
    and continue our search for The Answers
    that agree with Ours.

    A curious people indeed….

    A gnome, a pitiable creature of sorts,
    stopped looking for the right Answers
    to The Terror Event of September 11
    when he realized exactly how ready and able
    the government and its media were to provide
    exactly those Answers.

    That happened on the morning of September 12.
    And that happened again with Saddam’s WMDs in 2003,
    the 2008 financial “¢risi$,” The COVID Event,
    January 6, and most recently, Ukraine.

    So….. . Instead, he chose to focus
    on finding the right Questions.

    Because, he reasoned, if you can ask the right Questions,
    you will ultimately get to The Truth.
    Because out of the right Questions
    The Truth must inevitably emerge.

    If, on the other hand, your focus is on finding the right Answers,
    all you can get are the Answers you were looking for
    in the first place.

    And what you will get are the Answers
    that the Answer-Man on the White Horse
    intends for you to embrace.

    ###

    Like

  13. “A Cloud Never Dies” biographical documentary of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

    Streaming April 2, 2022 3pm CET, a new biographical documentary of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh narrated by actor Peter Coyote, “A Cloud Never Dies” weaves together original film and photographic archives, telling the story of a humble young Vietnamese monk and poet whose wisdom and compassion were forged in the suffering of war.

    In the face of violence, fear, and discrimination, Thich Nhat Hanh’s courageous path of engaged action reveals how insight, community, and a deep aspiration to serve the world can offer hope, peace, and a way forward for millions.

    The film’s release on April 2, 2022 coincides with the release by his students of an Open Letter calling for peace and an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine: https://plumvillage.org/articles/an-open-letter-calling-for-peace/

    Content Warning: This film includes a few brief scenes which some viewers may find upsetting (including sounds and images of war). These are intended to convey the true suffering caused by war, but they may also be triggering for some people, so please use your discretion when sharing this film with children.

    This film will remain here for everyone to view.

    Like

    1. :-). How many Albanians, Croatians and other NATO members went to war in Afghanistan to ‘protect US interests’ after 9/11 ? The ‘all for one’ doctrine works for the strongest members, even in such ludicrous phoney ‘pre-emptive defense’ cases, but I doubt that NATO would ever ‘risk WWIII’ for Montenegro et al – or even for a bigger member such as Poland for that matter. They’ll just feed us even more arms, ‘intelligence’ & ‘training’. Unless of course, some of the US/NATO military stationed here would get killed, whether intentionally or as collateral damage.

      Like

      1. Heh. And what ~ exactly ~ were America’s “interests in Afghanistan after 9/11”? Let alone anybody else’s in NATO?

        And when those US/NATO military personnel get killed by the Ruskies ~ intentionally or via “collateral damage,” however You define it ~ how sure will You be that it isn’t what they call in the business a “false flag operation”?

        Like

        1. ‘America’s interests’ in Afghanistan : revenge for 9/11, on the most defenceless country available. And as that ‘justification’ of course was cripple to say the least, it was politically helpful to have all NATO members join (‘All for One’) and then even less concerned countries from down under, etc. There’s nothing like common – diluted – responsibility for the unprovoked, unlawful occupation of a ‘sovereign country’. And NATO supposedly being a ‘purely defensive’ outfit…

          Liked by 1 person

      1. We could always threaten them with sanctions. Or confiscate their yachts. Oh, that’s right … no open water ports. On that count France has always been accommodating in the past, but … Well, yes, your point is well taken. I respectfully withdraw the suggestion.
        (Please don’t judge me too harshly: I live two hours from Dusseldorf and would much rather have Jerry facing east than northwest.)

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  16. I have recommended following F. Willian Engdhal’s website several times to get advance notice of his Newsletters, the latest Today titled, ‘Is The Fed About To Create a New Great Depression?’ It will appear on his site sometime later, and in respect of William’s request not to post articles and comments that are too long here, here is the next best thing in an audio interview, ‘‘The World War Drift’ with F. William Engdahl.’
    Since he lives in Germany, he knows more than the US MSM, Propagandists for the US War Propaganda knows.
    Actually it’s kinda of scary, what he sees unfolding in the Future based on Current leading indicators but I think it’s accurate.
    His interview is from 18:15 to 62:13 in the 154 minute podcast.

    In my understanding, I think the interview uses secular words to describe the spirit of this letter in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, ‘And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain’
    Revelation 16:10

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    1. Yesterday The Washington Posted deleted all my comments in discussion of the War but didn’t suspend me. What is so maddening is by deleting my Free Speech comments that did not violate any of their discussion rules, they are doing the exact same thing they demonize Putin for doing.

      They did not delete my comment on this breaking News this morning, ‘6 dead, at least 9 injured in Sacramento shooting’

      The US is the BIGGEST ARMS MERCHANT in the History of Nations, and the American People mirror that love of Weapons.

      Get ready for a long, hot murderous Summer when the Economic strait jacket tightens as a consequence of the US Tug of War With Russia over Ukraine

      Like

  17. I believe there is blame on all sides, Russian, NATO, United States, Ukraine. The whole issue is a spaghetti bowl of differing views, statements, policies, treaties, history, etc. Whenever I see this type of confusion it is best to step back and ask what are the basic issues? The basic issue is security for Russia, Ukraine, and Europe. If one wants to point out the chance of nuclear war then one must include the world.

    Russia has compromised the issue of security by its repeated invasions of it neighbors since the time the Soviet Union until the present, and that is limiting the history to the last 100 years. The Soviet Union was Russia. None of the satellite states wanted to be part of that union except Belarus. NATO was formed by the smaller European nations as a defense against the larger military of Russia. That purpose still exists as is clearly seen by the events of the last 30 years. Three non-NATO countries have been invaded and territory annexed by Russia. None of these territories were a security threat to Russia.

    Do the Russian people believe that NATO is encircling them and is planning an invasion? Perhaps they have been told this so often by their leaders that they believe it. I wonder if this is not a convenient lie for the Russian imperialists so NATO protection will not interfere with their plans for Russian conquest. As I pointed out in earlier posts, Russia is not encircled by NATO. The use of the word ‘encirclement’ implies a noose that one is hung by or a python smothering its prey. This is rhetoric and should be called out as such. NATO is not prohibiting Russian goods from leaving Russia. Russian people can travel to western Europe. The only thing not allowed is the Russian military. Geographically Russia shares a small border with NATO countries. Even if Ukraine had joined NATO, this would not have ‘encircled’ Russia. The Russians would still have Crimea and the eastern Black Sea ports to move goods out of southern Russia. What’s more, NATO is not an economic defense organization that is trying to strangle the Russian economy.

    The claim that some sort of treaty was signed between NATO and Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed that said no former Warsaw Pact countries would be allowed to join NATO is without any basis.
    Russia even wanted to join NATO!
    In 1991, as the Soviet Union was dissolved, Russian president Boris Yeltsin sent a letter to NATO, suggesting that Russia’s long-term aim was to join NATO.
    Formal contacts and cooperation between Russia and NATO began in 1991, within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (later renamed Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council), and were further deepened as Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program on 22 June 1994. from Wikipedia

    Russia sabotaged that by invading Chechnya in 1994.

    ‘On 27 May 1997, at the NATO Summit in Paris, France, NATO and Russia signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, a road map for would-be NATO-Russia cooperation.’ from Wikipedia.
    ‘NATO said it had no plans to station nuclear weapons in the new member states or send in new permanent military forces.’ from Wikipedia
    Note that the treaty said no nuclear weapons or to send in new permanent military forces. It says nothing about a new member state having a military that is part of NATO. It says nothing about who shall be allowed to join NATO.

    I keep hearing how Secretary of State James Baker assured Russia that NATO would not expand eastwards. As I pointed out in previous posts, this was United States secretary of state speaking for all the former Warsaw Pact countries. He had no authority to do this. No country allows another country’s secretary of state to dictate its foreign policy.

    ‘In early March 2014, tensions increased between NATO and Russia as a result of Russia’s move to annex Crimea: NATO urged Russia to stop its actions and said it supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. On 1 April 2014, NATO issued a statement by NATO foreign ministers that announced it had “decided to suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation between NATO and Russia.’ from Wikipedia.

    I do not want to get into the economic bickering that happened between Russia and Ukraine as that would take many pages. I want to keep on topic which is NATO, Ukraine and Russia.

    No country has the right to punish another country for wanting to do something that it considers in its best interests to do. Russia invading Ukraine because the Ukrainians were talking to NATO about membership is unjustified. Joining a defensive alliance is different than joining an offensive alliance that has an ongoing offensive against a country. NATO is certainly not an offensive organization. It can hardly collect the dues from its members let alone mobilize an invasion force. What’s more, the NATO members know an invasion of Russia would likely degenerate to a nuclear war since France, Great Britain and the U.S.A are nuclear powers.

    Wake up from the hypnotic trance the Russian politicians have chanted about how they fear NATO because it will invade Russia. Turn that around, Russian fears it will not be allowed to invade its former satellites because they are NATO!

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    1. I think you’re revising History Scott. You probably didn’t watch the link to ‘UKRAINE ON FIRE’ posted earlier.

      The Soviet Union did more to defeat Hitler than the British and Americans, arriving at Berlin about the same Time as the Americans during WWII. Moving Westward was the result of the War, not because of the Soviets just taking over other Countries. The US took over the Imperial Mantle from the 247 year British Empire as a result of the War and now has over 800 Military Installations all over God’s Earth.

      The US introduced Nuclear Weapons to this World, and is the only Nation to drop them on civilian populations. Since WWII, the US has invaded and bombed only poor, 3rd World Nations resulting in MILLIONS of Deaths doing it. Even so, with the most expensive Military Force in the History of Nations, couldn’t get a win in any of them, the latest humiliating defeat being the frantic exit from Afghanistan after the $2 Trillion 20 year occupation. The latest US violent act we know of being the murder by drone of an innocent family of 10 including 7 children. No American has been held accountable.

      Only the wilfully blind will not recognize US dominated NATO is the US sphere of influence creating a Market for it’s Weapons of War. The US is the BIGGEST ARMS MERCHANT in the History of Nations.

      You dismiss the fact the 1st War in Europe since WWII, was not Russia, but by the 4 month NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 violating the same International Law Russia is accused of violating.

      There are too many SINS of Historical OMISSION in your line, “In early March 2014, tensions increased between NATO and Russia as a result of Russia’s move to annex Crimea: NATO urged Russia to stop its actions and said it supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
      Crimea was part of Russia since 1786 until it was turned over to Ukraine for Administrative control as an Autonomous region while Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. With the 2014 US Coup, Russia saw the US end game. There was no invasion force from Mainland Russia. After the US regime change, with all the uncertainty, Russian troops who were already in Crimea by Treaty came off base to maintain order.
      Besides, what kind of an invasion is it when no one is killed, unlike all the USA invasions of other Nations since WWII?

      American WAR PROPAGANDA and you leave it out, but the US orchestrated the 2014 Coup/regime change of the Elected Russian friendly government the majority Russian speaking Ukrainians in the East and Crimea voted for, installing the UN-Elected Neo-Nazi anti-Russian government headed by the man US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland was caught on tape saying she wanted to head the changed government before the regime change was completed.
      I’m sure that was the last straw that broke the camel’s back for Putin after the US abrogated the ABM Treaty so it could deploy US anti-missile missiles now in Poland and Roumania aimed at Russia. Americans might not understand, but Russia saw that deployment gave the US 1st strike capability.

      You think “Russia invading Ukraine because the Ukrainians were talking to NATO about membership is unjustified.” Since the 2014 CIA Coup in Ukraine, it was already a de facto part of NATO with US/NATO arming and training Ukrainian Forces in their use in preparation of setting the trap to provoke the Russian incursion.

      When all the US Propaganda started in January of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, I started going to the the daily OSCE report of the Truce violations in the Civil War between the US puppet Ukraine government and the Donetsk who refused to accept the 2014 US Coup. Western media didn’t cover the 14,000 people killed in that 8 year Civil War, but there was a dramatic increase of Ukrainian shelling of the Civilians that provoked the Russian incursion NATO WAR PROPAGANDA omits to mention.

      Liked by 1 person

  18. I see it differently WJS. How you have massaged the facts is typical of how Western politicos and pundits happily imagine the world. Divided between the good, peace-seeking nations of the West, and the disruptive, chaos-inducing power of Russia – a power desperate to revive some quasi-Tsarist dream of Greater Russia.

    This is a simple-minded Manichean take on geopolitics. And it wilfully obscures the West’s hypnotic trance in stoking tensions in eastern Europe. Russia is not the main actor here, and certainly not the agent of chaos. Rather, what’s happening is a product of a long-running fear, on Russia’s part, of Western aggression and expansion. Respectfully the evidence overwhelmingly points to that if there is a disruptive, destabilising force here, it is not the Kremlin, it is NATO.

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    1. I don’t see any evidence that you have provided to support any of your statements. Generalized statements such as “there is a disruptive, destabilizing force here, it is not the Kremlin, it is NATO” are not evidence, this is merely opinion.

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    2. WJS: The U.S. spends 10X as much on its military than the Russians spend on theirs. The U.S. has a global network of 750 overseas military bases; Russia has about 20, with a regional focus, not a global one. The U.S. has imperial ambitions that are unbounded; Russia, with a much smaller GDP and military, necessarily has smaller ambitions.

      Admitting all this in no way excuses Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But, as many experts predicted in the 1990s, Cold War specialists like George Kennan and Henry Kissinger, NATO expansion to Russia’s doorstep would always be seen by Russia as a provocation that would risk war. And so it has proven to be.

      Of course, it’s Ukraine that’s paid the price, as Russia emerges (temporarily?) weakened from this war. The U.S. thinks it’s winning, but I believe we are losing, as America’s hawks use this war to sell more weapons and boost military spending even higher in the USA ($813 billion and climbing).

      Think of the help we could give to the homeless, the poor, the suffering, with just 10% of the Pentagon budget. For $80 billion, there would be no homeless in America. But our “leaders” prefer to devote more than half of federal discretionary spending to more weapons (and threats of war) in the alleged cause of peace. This is not a way of life at all …

      Sadly, as Ike said, we are hanging from a cross of iron. Russia isn’t to blame for this; Putin is not our big enemy. Our biggest enemy is within.

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      1. I agree with all your points WJA.

        As I have stated repeatedly, I am ashamed of being an American because of all the aggression, undeclared wars, regime toppling of democratically elected governments ( especially in Latin America ) and support of dictatorships that make a deal with U.S. corporations that despoils that country.

        Yes, the MICC will use this war to lobby for a larger military budget ‘to assure our security’.

        As far as what Kissinger and Keenan said, these men made as many blunders as good decisions.

        The question I pose to you is: What reasonable alternative did Ukraine or any of the former Warsaw Pact countries have to protect themselves from the growing aggressiveness of Russia? See above for the various territorial seizures since 1994 which forced these decisions.

        Ukraine failed to join NATO and is now paying the price. Ukraine did try to co-exist with Russia but was constantly interfered with. This gets into the economic stuff which gets very complicated. They were being pressured into being a client state of Russian. That meant no European Union membership which the people wanted.

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        1. Again Scott, you’re revising History.
          In 2012-13 there was a bidding War between the IMF/EU/NATO and Russia to bail out the failed Ukraine Economy. Russia offered better terms, and the Elected Ukraine government of Viktor Yanukovych decided to take up the Russian offer. That’s when the CIA started planning the Coup/regime change of the legitimate government.
          You really should watch the Oliver Stone Documentary ‘UKRAINE ON FIRE’ posted upstream. You would learn some interesting facts of History instead of just parroting US Propaganda.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I reviewed the film Ukraine on Fire by Oliver Stone and it is propaganda.

            Not once did Stone interview any of the opposition leaders. All the interviews were of Yanokovich and his chief of police. This is not an objective film when only one side is interviewed.

            Here is refutation of some of the film’s talking points.
            https://khpg.org/en/1480891067
            The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest and most active Ukrainian human rights organizations. As a legal entity, it was established in 1992, but it has been working as a human rights protection group in the Ukrainian SSR since 1988 under the Society “Memorial”. It was the first official human rights organization in the former USSR. Many members of the organization took part in a human rights movement of the 1960s – 1980s.

            The film focuses too much on violence during the Maidan. No one can say with absolutely certainty who started the violence, but most sources say it was the police. Yanokovich claims he did not authorize the police violence, but it was too well timed and organized to be random in my opinion; especially when provocateurs arrive at the same time as the police.

            Not enough time spent on what the Ukrainian people wanted during the time between the tainted elections of 2004 and the mass demonstrations of 2014. Not enough details as to why Yanokovich did not follow through on his pledge to have Ukraine join the EU. The film only gives his version of his reversal about that pledge.

            All in all it is a disappointing film and no better than propaganda.

            I am looking for the truth of what has gone on, not a slanted personal view by Oliver Stone. As I said at the beginning of my post above, it is a spaghetti bowl of stories.

            My final conclusion is that when thousands of people risk their lives in a demonstration and 100 get killed this is probably a legitimate protest and not a bunch of hired provocateurs. The Nixon government said the same thing about the anti-Viet Nam protestors. They were all a bunch of communists or dupes of the communists. When thousands of people demonstrate in dozens of towns it is difficult to believe they are all enemies of the state.

            Finally, please no more pseudo-evidence, it takes a lot of time to review these things. I am willing to look at objective evidence but not propaganda.

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            1. TRUTH is the 1st casualty of WAR is an old adage, especially in this one.

              Just like US MSM and the US Dominated NATO just accept as Truth anything Zelensky says with no proof required as all dissenting voices from the US/NATO narrative are not allowed on TV in case you haven’t noticed!

              The West has made a snap judgment about who is responsible for the massacre at the Ukrainian town of Bucha with calls for more stringent sanctions on Russia, but the question of guilt is far from decided.

              Unlike their judicial systems, when it comes to war, Western nations dispense with the need for investigations and evidence and pronounce guilt based on political motives: Russia is guilty. Case closed.

              Except the case hasn’t even been opened yet and the sentence is already being proposed. French President Emmanuel Macron, for instance, has called for Russian coal and oil to be banned from Europe. “There are very clear indications of war crimes,” he said on France Inter radio Monday. “What happened in Bucha demands a new round of sanctions and very clear measures, so we will co-ordinate with our European partners, especially with Germany.”

              If there were to be a serious probe, one of the first places an investigator would begin is to map out a timeline of events.
              Last Wednesday, all Russian forces left Bucha, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
              This was confirmed on Thursday by a smiling Anatolii Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, in a video on the Bucha City Council official Facebook page. The translated post accompanying the video says:
              “March 31 – the day of the liberation of Bucha. This was announced by Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk. This day will go down in the glorious history of Bucha and the entire Bucha community as a day of liberation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Russian occupiers.”

              There were no bodies in the streets at that time of the Mayor’s exhilaration over the liberation!

              https://consortiumnews.com/2022/04/04/questions-abound-about-bucha-massacre/

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              4. One of the slides,
                We are 36 days into Russia’s “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine and the joint-U.S./NATO response has achieved two concrete results–1) Thanks to a massive, at times crude, propaganda campaign, most people in the West, especially America, are convinced that Russia is evil and has no redeeming qualities; 2) The United States’ post-World War II dominance of the international financial system is now at risk and has made a multi-polar, gold based trade system more likely.

                The West’s decision to demonize every thing Russian will be viewed by future historians as a hideous strategic mistake. The reason for the West’s anger is impotence. There was nothing that NATO could do militarily short of starting a nuclear war to thwart Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Rather than deal with the reality of the situation and seek a genuine diplomatic solution that would have addressed Russia’s legitimate security concerns, the vast majority of punditry, politicians and media opted for name calling and meaningless gestures, such as demanding that more weapons be sent to a Ukrainian Army and Air Force that were castrated in the first 24 hours of the invasion.

                The decision to take punitive measures against all Russians, not just Putin, proved to be a wake up call to those Russians who harbored some hope of being able to enjoy a cooperative, bilateral relationship with the West. Instead of creating a rift between the Russian populace and Putin, the West’s punishment of Russian athletes, musicians, artists and entrepreneurs strengthened support for the Russian government.

                If the West had focused solely on demonizing Putin, the political dynamic in Russia might have changed. The West propaganda campaign, for example, could have pounded out the message that Russia is inherently good but is being led by a madman. (Note–Putin is not a madman. He is a rational nationalist proposing and implementing a course of action that he believes will make Russia more secure). But the West did not do that. Even great artists from the past, Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky come to mind, were vilified and attacked by the juvenile cancel culture that now defines what once passed for Western culture.

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            2. I haven’t watched the documentary.

              Oliver Stone is a gutsy guy and a talented director. I don’t know how he rates as a historian. I’ll give him credit for wearing his biases clearly and openly.

              Stone’s documentary, I’m guessing, is biased and one-sided but also a corrective to coverage by the U.S. media, which is also biased and one-sided.

              I haven’t gone down this rabbit hole because I’m not sure how deep I’d have to go to find a semblance of truth. There’s an incredible amount of corruption and misinformation; let’s not forget Hunter Biden’s “job” for Burisma at $50K a month, for example. And the billions of dollars at stake selling fossil fuels to Europe, and which country controls this, Russia or the U.S. or some other …

              I seriously need a “job” like Hunter’s!

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        2. In a rare moment of clarity, President Obama put it well. Ukraine is a vital interest for Russia, but not for the USA. The harder the USA pushed for Ukraine to be our vassal, the greater the pushback from Russia. Push too hard, and a “hard” Russian response was inevitable. That’s what so many experienced diplomats and generals predicted, including George Kennan and Henry Kissinger.

          Sure, Kennan and Kissinger made mistakes. But they knew the USSR/Russia and knew NATO expansion and continued US meddling in Ukraine would provoke a response. That doesn’t mean the US is to blame, but it also doesn’t mean we are blameless.

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  19. The U.S. Has Its Own Agenda Against Russia
    Ukraine is ground zero for the expansion of the U.S.-Russia proxy war.

    The war in Ukraine is simultaneously a war of aggression being waged by Putin and part of a larger geopolitical battle between the U.S., NATO, and Russia. “We are engaged in a conflict here. It’s a proxy war with Russia, whether we say so or not,” said Leon Panetta, the former CIA director and defence secretary under Barack Obama. “I think the only way to basically deal with Putin right now is to double down on ourselves, which means to provide as much military aid as necessary.” Speaking to Bloomberg News on March 17, Panetta laid out the U.S. strategy: “Make no mistake about it: Diplomacy is going nowhere unless we have leverage, unless the Ukrainians have leverage, and the way you get leverage is by, frankly, going in and killing Russians. That’s what the Ukrainians have to do. We’ve got to continue the war effort. This is a power game. Putin understands power; he doesn’t really understand diplomacy very much.”

    https://theintercept.com/2022/04/01/russia-ukraine-proxy-war-washington-diplomacy/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I don’t have the energy to read it now, it’s still too sore, but I would guess that if those 13 US military had not been killed in the ISIS blast, an innocent Afghan family would not have become the victim of the – if not random than at least poorly investigated – revenge bombing. After all, 160 dead Afghans were nothing exceptional and would not require such a demonstration of drone power. This by the way is not an expression of hate – which is relatively easy to deal with – but of sorrow (re the Buddhist film above).

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  21. ‘Pundits Who Advocate Hot War With Russia Are Enemies Of Humanity’

    In an appearance on the MSNBC show Velshi, The Modern War Institute’s John Spencer explicitly advocated direct US military conflict with Russia due to allegations of war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

    “I’m ready to commit at this moment — unlike I was before this day — to put people in direct contact with Russia, to stop Russia,” Spencer said. “Call it peacekeeping. Call it what you will. We have to do more than provide weapons. And by ‘we,’ I mean the United States. Yes, we’ll do it as a coalition with lots of other people, but we are the example. So put boots on the ground, send weapons directly at Russia.”

    Notice the bizarre verbal gymnastics being used by Spencer to obfuscate the fact that he is advocating a hot war with a nuclear superpower: “put people in direct contact with Russia,” “send weapons directly at Russia”. Who talks like that? He’s calling for the US military to fire upon the Russian military, he’s just saying it really weird…………………………………………………………..

    https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/pundits-who-advocate-hot-war-with?s=r

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  22. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
    For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth (American & Russian Oligarchs, Presidents, Prime ministers, CEOs and other Idols of the People) and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
    Revelation 16

    Unfolding in REAL TIME TODAY

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    1. I’ve never been able to get through Revelation. It’s like an acid trip of doom and disaster.

      I would really prefer not to witness the end of the world, even if I’m “saved.”

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      1. I would really prefer not to witness the end of the world, even if I’m “saved.”
        Me Too Bill, and that’s why I sound off as I do.
        But don’t take my word for it. Just watch TV and read The NYT & The Washington Post, the 5th Horseman of the Apocalypse in their Revelation.

        I’m between a rock and a hard place.The Nation of Israel named itself after one man, Jacob, who God renamed Israel for his Individual Faith.

        Israel: the hidden meaning
        The man said to Jacob: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed” (Gen. 32:28). Therefore, it is widely believed that the name “Israel” comes from the Hebrew word sharit (שרית), which in biblical Hebrew means “to struggle”, “to exercise influence”, or “to prevail”. There is another way to interpret this name, one which helps us comprehend the depth of the transformation at Penuel.
        The name Israel can be read as Yashar- El (ישר-אל). The Hebrew word Yashar (יָשָׁר) means straight, honest, honorable, law-abiding and in biblical usage, it also means “righteous, God-fearing person”. The root akov (עָקֹב֙), on the other hand, (the root of the name Yakov) might mean also “crooked”, as in this verse: the crooked (הֶֽעָקֹב֙) shall be made straight (Is 40:4). Then we understand the meaning of this change: Israel is the one whom God makes straight, as opposed to “being crooked and uneven”.

        So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
        When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.

        DAY OF AWAKENING – DAVID vs GOLIATH vs ARMAGEDDON

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        1. “The Lord renewed the covenant he had made with Abraham with Jacob and changed his name to Israel because of his righteousness (Gen. 35:9–11)…like all of the Bible is just a myth Ray. We don’t know with certainty who wrote this stuff. And we have no way of proving a “God” actually did this, or even if such a “God” existed.

          Liked by 1 person

  23. I’ve always felt one of the great things about being Catholic was that it wasn’t necessary to quote from The Bible, because we wrote it. The history of The Bible, its various permutations and how it came to be written, is fascinating. The Bible as history, however, is bunk. And Revelations … “a horror story to keep the simple in line.” I would have thought everybody knew that by now.

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  24. “The Church was slow to accept Revelations as scripture. Origen, an early Christian theologian, used the term antilegomena to describe those books — including Hebrews, James 2, Peter 2, John, 3 John and Revelations — whose inclusion in the official canon of the Bible was actively disputed. In the fourth century CE, when the canon of the Bible was assembled from among the approximately 50 gospels and hundreds of epistles then in use by the Christian movement, Revelation was only reluctantly included. To this day, Orthodox churches do not use Revelation for scripture readings during worship.

    Martin Luther downgraded the significance of Revelation. It portrays God as inflicting horrendous punishments on humanity — a concept that is today sometimes called “Ambush Theology.” Luther concluded that he could not readily harmonize the God described in Revelation with the God to whom Jesus prayed to as Abba. When Luther translated the Bible into the German language, he downgraded Revelation by relegating it to an appendix.”

    https://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_ntb5d.htm

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    1. There is much more in The Revelation than blood and gore.

      These things say the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Beginning of the Creation of God;
      I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot.
      So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth.
      Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
      I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
      As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
      Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

      To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (you can’t get a more level playing field than that)

      He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
      Revelation 3:14-22

      THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: From 19/11 to 9/11

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      1. Revelation is so allegorical, with so many “signs,” that it can be interpreted in all kinds of ways. And I suppose that’s its “genius”: it doesn’t say Armageddon is coming on June 12th, 1514; it talks about all kinds of signs and portents that the faithful will have to interpret. And people have been “interpreting” it for centuries, and they’ve pretty much been wrong every time.

        I see it as a major distraction from the core truths of the Gospel. All you really need are the teachings of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I honestly believe the rest of the Bible can be tossed aside. The New Testament replaced the Old, and all the books after the Gospel are superfluous as well.

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        1. See the Timeline in my reply to your brother at 8:31downstream. Was that just a lucky guess on my part being so exact looking to the Future? I got that 30 month figure calculating wording from the Bible in 1976.

          As far as the Date of THE END, Jesus confessed he didn’t know that Date, the Angels don’t know that Date, only God knows that Date for Individuals and the END of Civilization as we know it, but there would be SIGNS of it coming we could see.

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    2. Btw Dennis, Origen lived a couple of hundred years before the Church came to power and a Church Committee in the 4th Century decided what manuscripts in circulation would make up the Bible as we know it Today.
      I can’t remember where I got the idea, but apparently Origin was a likeable person and to spare him the torture for his Faith he was told the World is against him for that Faith, and he answered something like ‘No, it is I who is against the World.’ If it is True, I can relate to that!

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  25. I believe in Biblical Revelations, and give them about as much credence as Nostradamus, or a Zombie Apocalypse! Too many ways they can be misinterpreted! Armageddon outa here…, but in closing so why do no end of the World predictions ever come true throughout History?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Verily, verily, I say unto you: Toss all that nonsense aside and follow the teachings of Christ.

      If people would just listen to and absorb the Sermon on the Mount, they wouldn’t need much else.

      Of course, they can still watch “Pale Rider.” 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

          1. There is something close to an 11th commandment Phillip,
            ‘Not by military force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.’

            That dovetails with ‘And he shall judge between the nations and reprove many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’

            Those OT lines are reinforced with your Brother citing the Sermon on the Mount as all you really need to know, ‘Blessed are the Peace Makers, for they shall be called the Children of God.’

            Their voices cannot be heard with the War inciting MASS Media manipulating the MINDS of the MASSES, inciting the Children of War to be in ascendancy.

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    2. Phillip, that’s because ours is the Generation with Nukes unlike all the Generations up to now!

      It’s undeniable the possibility of a Nuclear Holocaust is increasingly being talked about in the Revelation of the Secular Media if the US Tug of War with Russia over Ukraine is not resolved Diplomatically.
      There’s no SIGN Ukraine and US dominated NATO is interested in any Diplomatic Solution as far as I can see. Can you?

      Armageddon was derived from Har Megiddo located in Occupied Palestine when the Revelation was written. Israel as a kingdom ceased to exist some 700 years before Jesus was an itinerant traveller in the Land during the Occupation.
      Har Megiddo/Armageddon still exists as a physical Place in Israeli Occupied Palestine in violation of the same International Law Russia is accused of violating.

      You can lead a horse to water,
      But you can’t make it drink.
      You can lead People to Knowledge,
      But you can’t make them think!

      Over 2 Generations ago The Kansas City Times was quoting me on September 13, 1976 as Americans were celebrating their Revolution,
      “He came to town for the Republican National Convention and will stay until the election in November TO DO GOD’S BIDDING: To tell the World, from Kansas City, this country has been found wanting and its days are numbered […] He gestured toward a gleaming church dome. “The gold dome is the symbol of BABYLON,” he said.” […] He wanted to bring to the Public’s attention an “idea being put out subtly and deceptively” by the government that we have to get prepared for a War with Russia.”

      That 1976 FUTURE is NOW with the Revelation of the details GENERALLY unfolding in the spirit of the letter.
      The World is waking up to see Americans may hasten “its days are numbered” part of the 1976 Vision, and waits with bated breath.
      With the benefit of 45 years hindsight, the last 8 years of intensified Military, FBI and Intelligence “experts” on TV constantly, unanimously, demonizing Putin and Russia, the People have been prepared as all the evidence shows that’s happening beyond any doubt with all the US/NATO WAR PROPAGANDA.

      That same September 1976 article explicitly records, ¨There are 30 months before the fate of the world will be sealed with EITHER Destruction OR the Universal Brotherhood of Man,¨ he said. ¨The 30 month figure concerned a Treaty between Israel and Egypt.¨

      NOTE: This does not say Armageddon happens in 30 months from the article.

      Not 29 or 31, but EXACTLY 30 months later, in March 1979, history shows a Treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed. The Camp David Accord. History shows talks broke down on the 12th day and no Treaty was to be signed. Begin and Sadat were leaving. It was on the 13th Day, as in the date of the Article and the picture accompanying it, an unexpected window of opportunity appeared and opened the way for the Treaty to be signed.

      This signified the Universal Brotherhood part of the quote.

      The Iranian Revolution happened the month earlier, and all these years later, if you believe the Secular News Media, the Destruction part is still on the table, and with the War, it certainly appears to me this World is opting for the Destruction part which is not my favoured choice.

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    3. Well, Philip, your answer today comes from the pages of the “You Can Always Tell A Convert, But You Can’t Tell Him Much” file.
      Like the end of the Second Millennium, the coming of The Anti-Christ, the Age of Angelic Popes, you name it, it’s the dates that are always troublesome. F’rinstance, anything built along a timeline associated with the Second Millennium is about as valid as the face on Mars. Those who really hadn’t a clue said the year 2000 was The Big Date. No. It wasn’t even the start of the 21st Century.
      Some – who knew a bit of Church history or read “The Name of the Rose” – pointed out that was wrong, because the start of the Second Millenium dated from the 4th Century’s Donation of Constantine, which would push the Second Millenium into the 24th Century.
      Except, except … the Donation of Constantine has been proven to be a forgery, so y’know ….. that throws everything out of whack.
      And didn’t I read something in here about excessively long posts? I’ve gone on too long as it is. Dominus vobiscum, kiddies …

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Men change it from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time and vice versa to suit themselves.
      I do like the extended light in the Summer.
      When I was young, I could stay out till the we hours of the Night. At 78, I don’t like driving at Night at all. I can’t see as well

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