History made

I'm referring to this post, of course. What did you think I was referring to?

An unlikely off-ramp

We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. If you ask when, the answer is that you cannot make a single stroke between day and night; the precise moment does not matter. There was no painted sign to say: “You are now entering Imperium.” Yet it was a very old road and the voice of history was saying: “Whether you know it or not, the act of crossing may be irreversible.” And now, not far ahead, is a sign that reads: “No U-turns.”
- Rise of Empire by Garet Garrett, 1952

Long-time readers of this blog know that I am a subject of the Atlantic Empire and therefore have the right to participate in the quadrennial ritual of electing the Emperor. While I will not disclose which one of the candidates will get my vote, between my background and what's been published here that ought to be intuitively obvious.

What I will say, however, is this. Once a republic turns into an empire, it is rare - unheard of, actually - for it to get an opportunity to turn away. That's what the quote above refers to. Yet through a combination of most unlikely circumstances, the USA has one such opportunity this year. Whether Americans will use it, or lose it (most likely forever) will shape their own destiny - and that of the world.

Let's see what happens.

Deir ez-Zor was no accident

I'm going out on a limb with this - and note that this in no way represents anything but my own, personal opinion - but today's airstrike that killed 62 and injured 100 Syrian soldiers outside of Deir ez-Zor was not an accident. Here's why.

First, the US-led "international coalition" has not previously operated in this area. Though the city is under siege by Islamic State (ISIS), it's an enclave held by the Syrian Arab Army (aka "Assad regime forces" for you mainstream media viewers). There are no US-backed "moderate rebels" anywhere near.

Secondly, the US reaction. The official line is that this was "unintentional." I may have bought that if the strike was conducted solely by F-16s flying at a high altitude, but A-10s are ground-attack planes that can get in low and close. They should have known they were striking a Syrian Army base - especially if they had intelligence on the area, which they say they did.

Now, note the Central Command statement on the incident:

“Syria is a complex situation with various military forces and militias in close proximity, but [the] coalition would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit.” 

Not only does the excuse not apply to this particular area, but "would not" does not mean "did not."  

War Without End

(via Wikipedia)

"I've said everything I've cared to say over the past thirteen years - how one cannot fight terrorism and support it at the same time, how there are no 'good' terrorists just because they currently serve one's agenda, how it's madness to appease jihadists in hopes of earning their gratitude, etc... there was never any war on terror(ism): the grand crusade was all about power."

- Eppur si muove, 2014

"Terrorism cannot be defeated. But terrorists can. The first step towards doing so is to stop enabling them, supporting them, cultivating them as a weapon against enemies real or imagined, and harboring the delusion that they can be controlled."

- From Beslan to Boston, 2013

"[B]elieving that jihad could be harnessed, controlled and directed to achieve a strategic purpose... was wrong in 1978, it was wrong in 2001, it is wrong now, and it will be wrong tomorrow." 

- 9/11, 2011

It's been 15 years. Yet we seem to have forgotten almost everything that mattered... and learned nothing at all.

Biden Does Belgrade, Again

It was seven years ago in May when Joe Biden, Emperor Obama's establishment Grand Vizier, visited Serbia in order to pressure the quisling cult in charge there to grovel faster. The objective? Finalizing the project of declaring the US-midwifed chaos as the pinnacle of order, in perpetuity:

This isn’t so much about the land as about the symbolism. For Washington’s purpose, it isn’t enough to sever Kosovo from Serbia by force, ethnically cleanse it of all non-Albanians, and obliterate the Serbian cultural heritage in the territory; for this to work as intended, Serbia has to renounce Kosovo, voluntarily. Kosovo was the place where the Serbs fought for their faith and liberty and refused to give them up even after being conquered. Washington’s outgoing ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter, told the Belgrade daily Politika that Americans are hoping for a time when Serbia will accept the fait accompli in Kosovo and "move on." But by "moving on," the Serbs would be giving up their soul. (From "Biden does the Balkans," Antiwar.com, May 20, 2009)

Now Joe is back at it again - fresh from promoting Hillary Clinton as the future Empress, back in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Only this time, Biden is not dealing with Tadic, who though spineless had at least a tenuous understanding of what Serbs tend to do to traitors. Instead, his point of contact is the delusional Aleksandar Vucic, who honestly thinks his treason is somehow beneficial to the country, or even that he himself is the country.

God help us all.

But they put up a monument to Hillary, so it's OK

Remember the Islamic State "kill list" of some 1,300 US government employees - with their credit card records and Social Security numbers obtained by hackers some months ago? No?

While the DNC and its satellite press were in throes of hysteria about "Russian" hackers (based on the completely unproven assertion of a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, naturally), it emerged that the hacker who obtained the list was one "Ardit Ferizi, an ethnic Albanian who was raised in Kosovo."

Now, forgive me for bringing this up nine days after McClatchy named Ferizi, but I was in Cleveland and then in Philadelphia, reporting from the coronations - erm, conventions - of both major parties. While in Philly, I heard no mention of this hack, or who was behind it - or "Kosovia" for that matter - from Hillary Clinton's camp.

I mean, why would I? Albanians are a great shining example that "America is great because America is good," according to the Clintonites, who persevere in the lie that Hillary inspired Bill to intervene against the (nonexistent) Serbian "aggression and genocide" in 1999. And look, the grateful Albanians have erected a gilded statue of Bill in the "Kosovian" capital, and just recently a bust of Hillary in an Albanian seaside resort. Completely unrelated to the prospect of her becoming the Empress, of course.

Even the New York Times (perpetually shilling for Empire) can no longer pretend that "Kosovia" is not an ISIS hotbed - though they throw Saudi Arabia under the proverbial bus for that, because Social Justice forbid they blame the Clintons. But the mainstream media that either made up or justified ever single vicious lie about the Kosovo War will never allow you to add the two and two. You hear hacking, you're not supposed to think "Kosovians" and ISIS and gross carelessness or criminal negligence - no, you're supposed to scream "RUSSIANS," just like the DNC-coached media operatives.

I mean, who are you going to believe, your own lying eyes or CNN?

Brexit

As I process the news coming out of the UK, I can't help but think of 25 years ago, when my own country was dismembered as a ritual sacrifice to help summon the EU into existence.

More specifically, Germany demanded of other EEC members to recognize the independence of Slovenia and Croatia - which had been declared unilaterally, illegally, and without consideration of the population that wished to remain in Yugoslavia - in exchange for backing the Maastricht Treaty that would convert the European Economic Community into a political union:

“From a position where the EC members were 11-to-1 in favor of maintaining the unity of Yugoslavia, Germany succeeded at 4 a.m. in forcing approval  for the recognition of Croatia and Slovenia as independent states.” (see here)

While I do wish the people of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all the best, and hope that their divorce from the EU (and maybe each other?) goes more smoothly and peacefully than what happened in Yugoslavia... turnabout is fair play.