East Versus West: War of the Titans Being Played Out in the Ukraine?

So many questions, so little real answers. Oh sure, if you listen to the mainstream "news" outlets,  "answers" abound, however, dig a little deeper and you will find these explanations nothing more than "talking points," sound bites, and propaganda meant to mislead the public while always supporting the official Washington narrative--or in Russia, the official Moscow narrative.  Anyway, what these American talking heads always leave out is the U.S. role in creating political turmoil in the Ukraine, not to mention, playing down the role of the neo-Nazi militias in overthrowing Yanukovych.

By late 2013, US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Victoria Nuland and Sen. John McCain, as well as other neocons, were encouraging western Ukrainian protesters to challenge Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych over his refusal to sign a deal with Europe that would have included harsh austerity imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Yanukovych had opted for a more generous $15 billion aid package from Moscow.

Then, in their annual report, the US taxpayer funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED), created by the Reagan administration in the early 1980s reported 65-- destabilization-- projects in Ukraine. In other words, NED is an entirely publicly funded "private" organization created to pursue and execute independent foreign policy under the guise of “promoting democracy.”

The Latest and Biggest Battle Between East and West Converges in the Ukraine:

“There have been many wars — terrible wars — fought on Planet Earth over the past 100 years. However, the greatest war of them all could literally around the corner, unless it is stopped by the people of this planet. The epic confrontation in the Ukraine presents the most dangerous and unprecedented conflict between the world’s superpowers since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Truly, this clash between East and West represents an economic, political and religious battleground that will dwarf every other war save WWI and WWII. If the conflict in the Ukraine is not resolved peacefully, it has the potential of evolving into a full blown World War III scenario.

That may sound like hyperbole until you read what is truly at stake for both sides of this War of the Titans. There is a very serious settling of scores going on with this intensifying skirmish that has multiple roots in history. On the one side, the real perpetrators want to get even as they so often do. On the other side, there is the inexorable force of destiny which compels them to assume a courageous stance toward a seemingly intractable situation.

The Ukraine conflict is fundamentally a war between East and West, between radically different cultures, different races, different religious orientations, and between very different people. Because of the profound lack of understanding on the part of the West, as well as the desperate agenda which they are fully committed to, it appears that this war will play out in some fashion no matter what. That doesn’t mean the world will once again be drenched in a hail of bullets and bombs. The post-modern battlefield often migrates into the economic sectors and financial realms, as this one has with the imposition of the Anglo-American sanction regime.

Because of the inherent combustibility driven by numerous historical animosities and cultural hatreds, financial necessities and economic pressures, there is just no telling how this ongoing saga will end up. While there are several weighty co-factors at work, there are also numerous variables which can short-circuit the extremely precarious current trajectory toward full scale war. Were that to happen, this world will be saved from untold trial and tribulation. If on the other hand war does break out, things will change very quickly depending on where one is domiciled on the planet.

Here are some of the primary financial and economic co-factors which have been exerting unparalleled pressures on both the West and the East:

• The Western banking system is broke, busted and disgusted. The banks are living on borrowed time and want more borrowed time before they literally go bust. The ever-increasing number of suicides of high-level bankers stands as testimony as to how disgusted either the bankers are, their bosses are, and/or both are. Because there are now so many banks that have been identified as TBTF (Too BIG To Fail), the amount of necessary support from the Federal Reserve is now untenable. This single dynamic has compelled the Western powers to steal money, precious metals, real estate, and whole national economies (read: the Ukraine) wherever they can.

• The fractional reserve banking system and fiat monopoly money it creates has always had an end date built into the fatally flawed model, which no one ever talks about because it’s simply to scary to consider. With each passing day, the entire civilization gets closer to that termination date. Those who sit at the peak of the Global Economic and Financial Control Matrix (GE&FCM) know the realities which they are personally facing. They also are grimly aware of the ultimate outcomes for the world-at-large. Hence, they do WHATEVER they can to forestall the date of doom.

• Because globalization has inextricably interconnected the financial and economic sectors throughout the community of nations, each and every market is deeply affected by the other markets. Just as the real estate collapse of 2007 and stock market collapse of 2008 demonstrated, the next bubbles that burst will have calamitous effects on all markets. To the extent that any is leveraged by another, will a domino effect be initiated. The most vulnerable markets at this point are derivatives, equities, bonds, commodities (especially precious metals like gold, silver and platinum), currencies and of course real estate.

• The ongoing technospheric breakdown, which is now accelerating due to Global Climate Change, will only add more fuel to this fire. At the end of the day, digital manipulations will only go so far in hiding gold that must be delivered to its rightful owners. Likewise, just as Superstorm Sandy shut down Wall Street, there are many other weaknesses and glitches which can be exploited by both Mother Nature and cyber-hackers alike. The ever-increasing lack of control by the GE&FCM exposes them and the rest of the world to more and more of these risky and perilous unknowns. The rapid advancement of technology is not only fundamentally altering the ‘game’ with each passing year, the obsolete technology and its IT infrastructure must be dealt with in a decisive and meaningful way.

The Ukraine is being staged as The Greatest Show On Earth

What the preceding bullets point to is a highly stressed world which has been experiencing a second Great Depression since 2008. Because there are no simple solutions, and LOTS of unavoidable adversity for many, those who control the GEFCMatrix have no other choice but to create various global dramas in order to distract and divert. It is their hope that these captivating and cataclysmic events will unfold for the rest of their lifetimes so that they will not have to deal with the eventual collapse of civil society.

This is just one reason why the current Ukrainian conflict was purposefully engineered in the financial capitals of the West. The decision-makers actually feel they have no alternative but to manufacture a world war 3 type scenario, much like WWI and WWII were fabricated in the very same capitals. What is at stake this time around, however, is far, FAR greater. The number of stakeholders is also much larger, as are the number and size of nations involved, both directly and indirectly. Simply put, everyone who sits around the Monopoly Board of Planet Earth has a HUGE stake in the ultimate outcome of the collision course in the Ukraine.

Herein lies the crux of the matter: The profusion of propaganda being disseminated by the MSM is so intense and thick that it reveals a profound desperation on the side of the West. Their many actions (and inactions) since the Ukraine first jumped off betray a push to war that exceeds all of their other illegal and engineered wars since 9/11. The big difference this time is that they are bumping up against a fierce and furious bear known as Russia.

Vladimir Putin embodies the will and resolve of Russia; he also represents the East, as well as an overwhelming worldwide consensus.

In Vladimir Putin, the West is confronting a polished warrior who will not be intimidated or threatened, deceived or bamboozled, bulldozed or railroaded … as the Anglo-American Axis (AAA) does everywhere else on the Planet Earth. Because the integrity of Ukrainian sovereignty (or lack thereof) directly affects the security and stability of Russia, there is simply no wiggle room in this evolving confrontation — NONE! When push comes to shove, Putin will be forced to respond with measures that protect Russia and safeguard her people first, second and third.

Surely, Obama, Kerry, Biden, Nuland et al. understand the extremely serious position in which they are putting Putin and the Russian Parliament. It is important to understand that both bodies of the Russian Parliament are completely behind Putin in this matter, without an iota of dissent. It is even more important to be cognizant of the fact that the BRICS Economic Union stands squarely behind Russia, as do perhaps 93 other nations which voted with Russia or abstained from the most recent UN resolution after the annexation of Crimea. Russia considered that critical vote of confidence to be a successful retroactive mandate, which the US then went on to attack as being coerced, even though it was actually Washington who threatened the dissenting nations.

That crucial UN vote alone reveals the massive and unprecedented support that Russia now enjoys among its peers with the UN General Assembly. The NATO powers, as well as the rest of the European Union, were quite surprised by the broad rejection of the coup d’état which the Anglo-American Axis (AAA) executed in Kiev. Each of those dissenting nations knows that they can be the next target of the AAA and their proxies, should they reside on the wrong piece of real estate in this unfolding geopolitical chess game.

The NATO nations have shown — repeatedly and dramatically — that they will attack anyone, anywhere, anytime they want to. The world now knows that NATO will act with complete impunity and total disregard for the opinion of the great majority of the nations of the world. This pattern of behavior has become so disconcerting to the community of nations that Russia is now looked to as the best candidate to stand up to the global bully known as the Anglo-Amercan Axis.

This evolving geopolitical chessboard is actually being set up by the real powers that be so that Russia will fulfill its duties in upholding the dharma of world governance. Putin knows that he has the support of the oppressed countries of the world. He also knows that destiny is on his side, Russia’s side, the BRICS side and the oppressed peoples of the world side. Furthermore, Putin knows that three’s a charm, as Russia was on the winning side of both WWI and II.

History provides an important perspective on the looming World War III.

This is where very few comprehend the significance of how the two previous world wars have set up the current geopolitical dynamic in favor of Russia and her allies. Much of the most relevant history can be reduced to two subjects as follows:

1) The Romanovs versus the Rothschilds (and Rockefellers)

2) The Creation of the Modern State of Israel

Both of these matters are intricately intertwined and can only be properly understood by rewriting a volumes of history. Rather than alienate the readership with such accurate revisions, we have taken the liberty of reducing them to a few statements of truth. We leave it up to the reader to corroborate these facts on the internet, as each of them represents major contributing factors to the War of the Titans being played out in the Ukraine.

• Historically, Russia has always gone its own way. For instance, twice in the progress and development of the American experiment known as the United States of America, Russia came to its aid; once during the Revolutionary War, and once during the Civil War. Were it not for the presence of the Russian Navy in both instances, the outcomes of both wars might have been much different. In both cases Rothschild banking interests were heavily invested and affected by the direct intervention of Russia in those two wars of great consequence.

• Russia has been routinely disrespected by the monarchies of Europe as though they are the stepchild of Eurasia. There have always been those who have been tempted to exploit it’s vast size and wealth. Bolshevik Communism was one Western plot which succeeded in doing just that. That chapter known as the USSR was the final gambit in the chess game between the Rothschild family of Europe and the Russian Romanovs. It proved to be a disastrous enterprise which turned Russia into a crucible of pain and suffering. Out of that crucible has emerged a renewed nation, which has learned monumental lessons.

• The establishment of the Modern State of Israel was the primary reason for both World Wars I and II. Difficult though this may be to believe, a close reading of the actual history plainly reveals this purpose. Russian involvement in WWI came begrudgingly and unaware of the plot to use the Balfour Declaration to mobilize Jews towards Israel. What the USSR’s understanding of the hidden purpose behind WWII is unknown. However, no one can deny that the Western powers harbored strong intentions to further encourage migration of Jews to Palestine. Therefore, Russia’s role in this global machination can only be guessed at. Nevertheless, it was the Russian Jews who relocated there in the greatest numbers, which was critical to the establishment of the Modern State of Israel.

• The Ukraine was traditionally a safe haven for Jews throughout the last century … before WWII. While there were sporadic instances of repression, this great nation has served as a melting pot for different religions due to it location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Ukrainian tolerance has always been appreciated and enjoyed by many diverse cultures, religions, races and nationalities. It location, size, agricultural prowess, industrial might, etc. have always been coveted by neighbors and superpowers alike.

• The Ukraine suffered its own Holocaust during WWII, which was fantastically downplayed by the West. The New York Times even employed a ‘reporter’ — Walter Duranty[1] – who explained away the genocide of millions of Ukrainians, known as the Holodomor[2], in the most casual and misleading way. Whereas this other holocaust was perpetrated by the USSR, it was actually ordered and carried out not by Russians, but by hidden elements[3] within the Communist leadership for specific reasons.

The upshot of these revelations go way beyond what little has been stated here. However, in light of these crucial historical facts, there are major scores being settled by both sides of this evolving geopolitical chess game traditionally known as the Great Game. Whether this game was played out in the Crimea as it once was, or in Central Asia as we now see in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, or on the North American continent, the pursuit on both sides has always been extremely vigorous, explosive, and of great consequence. After all, it is world supremacy vs. national sovereignty which is and has always really been at stake.

As the West backs Russia into the proverbial corner, they are severely limiting Putin’s options to either an epic military contest or highly destructive economic/financial warfare.

Who would have ever thought that a US President … VPOTUS … Secretary of State … and other high-ranking diplomats would engage in such an exercise of treacherous subterfuge, routine betrayal and incessant prevarication in order to foment war and revolution. The White House, it now appears, will fabricate any story that is required to trigger civil wars or start revolutions. There conduct throughout the CIA-engineered coup in Kiev serves as the lowest point of statecraft in US history.

What is particularly shocking about Washington’s behavior is that they appear to be both shameless and without conscience as they execute their subversive implementation plans with their every move on the geopolitical chessboard. In so doing, they have tried Putin’s patience. Truly, the Nobel Peace Prize belongs to him (consider Syria), not Obama. Because of US bellicosity, Putin may be forced to launch a pre-emptive military action inside the eastern Ukraine.

In addition to this, Russia is also able to coordinate a series of financial and economic initiatives against the Ukraine which would, for all practical purposes, not only incapacitate the nation but also bring it to economic ruin … as in bankruptcy. The same strategies concerning Russian natural gas supplies, which utilize conduits throughout the Ukraine, would also make life very uncomfortable throughout Europe … as in turning off the lights or turning off the air conditioning and heat for the foreseeable future.

Should Russia decide to coordinate a more global strategy against the US, they may decide to unify the massive leverage which exists within the BRICS nations when acting in concert. Because many of their financial and economic dealings are now done below the radar, the stratagems that the BRICS employ are not telegraphed via the media. They are undertaken by stealth and with as much secrecy as possible. Each of these nations knows, especially Russia and China, that they are under direct attack by the US, EU and their proxies. India, too, has been under assault by the AAA as they experienced with the second indictment against their New York City based diplomat.

The European Union was created to function as a 2nd Superpower after the USA; then Russia and China and India could be marginalized, or at least more easily controlled, so they thought.

The truth be told, this was the very purpose behind the European Union. Creating the largest economic bloc of nations in the world, with the full force of NATO behind it, was the central organizing principle of the EU. Although there are many others, constructing a new unified military power and economic powerhouse is why the European Union was formed in the first place. The EU now serves as a rather monolithic force in matters of negotiation within the economic and financial realms, as well as in matters of war and other geopolitical conflicts. However, the EU takes orders begrudgingly from Washington as a thoroughly passive-aggressive partner, just as each member nation responds to unwanted dictates from Brussels.

The entire Eurozone has lost a tremendous amount of influence since the 2nd Great Depression that started in 2008. Particularly because the EU has been so dominated by Germany has its intended influence waned outside of its borders. Many of the member nations, especially the PIIGS, no longer march in lockstep with Angela Merkel’s financial Third Reich. Such latent animosities are boiling over and undermining the cohesiveness of an economic union that has but one engine — Germany. The PIIGS have simply dropped their oars.

Furthermore, the EU’s substantial reliance on Russian trade during a prolonged ‘recovery’ has lessened its resolve to join the AAA. The prospect of being involved in yet another world war within a hundred year span is not what Europeans want. Their unrepresentative overlords in the European Parliament in Brussels, however, see war as their only way out, just as they did prior to WWI and WWII. Hence, we once again see their drive to Moscow, as if the hard lessons from the Napoleonic Wars, WWI and WWII were not instructive enough!

Conclusion:

Given the preceding analysis, it is clear that the Ukraine is shaping up to be the “War of the Millennium”. The opposing forces, which have been pitted against each other over many centuries, are as dug in as such disparate powers have ever been. East versus West are now represented by Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama respectively. Putin truly finds himself between the proverbial rock and hard place. He has the will and the courage to confront the GE&FCM cabal wherever and however he needs to, unlike previous Russian leaders.

Obama, on the other hand, has very little will and lacks the necessary spine to do the right thing. Granted, he is operating under enormous pressures, and risks his and his family’s life by not obeying his masters. Therefore, Obama will likely cave to every order that he is given in regard to launching military attacks and economic assaults against Russia. Unless other influential forces intervene post haste in this matter, it will only escalate, so determined are both sides to come out on top.

It is critical to note that “coming out on top” for Putin simply means neutralizing an existential threat to the Russian Motherland. Russia knows that the West is desperate to forestall the ongoing collapse of the Anglo-American brand of predatory capitalism, even if it means starting World War III. On the other side, the GE&FCM cabal is equally committed to victory in the Ukraine. They are also vulnerable to aforementioned existential threats, which in turn threaten the entirety of Western civilization.

Given the realities of a much larger conflict going on in the Ukraine — one where East and West are at loggerheads in the most profound and fundamental ways — there is very little that can be done on the political level or diplomatic fronts … unless the West relents. Russia, in particular, has been tested and put upon for many years by the West, in ways that are as extreme as they are completely unacceptable by any standards. The final breaking point has arrived, and the Ukraine appears to be the real location of Armageddon.

Therefore, whoever is reading this essay — PRAY — for a speedy and successful resolution to this unrivaled “War of the Titans” — ASAP! If ever there was a need for Deus ex Machina, this decisive predicament is it.

Links:

US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev from 2004:

“…while the gains of the orange-bedecked “chestnut revolution” are Ukraine’s, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes.

Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.

"The Great Game" or "Tournament of Shadows" was a term for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia

Overthrowing other people’s governments: The Master List

Timeline of United States military operations

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Who Really Won the Cold War?

“A philosophy founded by Karl Marx… which forms the basis of Communist doctrine: it combines the materialistic idea of matter over mind with the Hegelian dialectic in which opposing forces are constantly being reunited at a higher level.” -- Lexicon Webster Dictionary

Many fallaciously believe that the cold war is over and that we actually won, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Manipulation of public opinion and the media are at an all time high. Our indoctrinated young citizens are so dumbed down and so addicted to their micro-screens of virtual reality, they almost present as zombies. Dissenters and whistle-blowers are increasingly being portrayed as enemies of the state, and "Big Brother" grows larger every single day. Then there is the breakdown--intentional, I might add, and no, it has nothing to do with gay marriage, and everything to do with the erosion of values and, of course,  economics--of the family, our increasing militarized culture of death, and  Agenda 21, whose mission encapsulates true communism.

In 1970, Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov (aka Tomas Schuman) son of a high ranking Soviet army officer, trained by the KGB as a subversive, defected to America due to his disgust of the Soviet system. Prior to defecting, he did his job as a subversive, spreading Soviet propaganda in other countries in order to subvert their teachers, politicians, and other policy makers to a mindset receptive to the Soviet ideology. Prior to his defection, he was posing as a "journalist" in New Dehli, India in the 1960s.

In the interview (below), he said unbeknownst to most, the KGB spent only 15% of time, money and manpower on intelligence/espionage, as portrayed in Hollywood movies, while  85% of the Soviet's resources were dedicated to a slow process called ideological subversion or active measures or psychological warfare. The goal of which is to change the perception of reality to such an extent that despite the abundance of information, that no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interests of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country. It's a great brainwashing process which goes very slow.  It's divided into four basic stages:

1. Demoralization, It takes 15-20 years to complete this stage because this is the minimum required to demoralize one generation of students exposed to the ideology of the enemy. Marxism/Leninism was being pumped into the students across three generations without being challenged of the basic ideals of Americanism. By 1985, the demoralization process was completed. .Thanks to a lack of moral standards, most of it is done by Americans to Americans. Exposure to true information does not matter anymore. .Someone who is demoralized in unable to assess true information. The facts do not matter.. This person will not understand the truth until the military boot crashes into his face.

2. Destabilization This stage takes approximately 2-5 years. At this stage, the subverter does not care about your ideas or the patterns of your consumption. What matters is the essentials: economy, foreign relations, and defense system. The influence of Marxist/ Leninist ideas in the United States is absolutely remarkable.

3. Crisis: This stage can take up to six weeks to bring a country to the verge of crisis. After crisis, with a violent change of power, structure and economy,

4. Normalization: This stage lasts indefinitely. When the Soviet tanks moved into Czechoslovakia in 1968, Comrade Brezhnev said, "Now the situation in Czechoslovakia is normalized."

These leaders--benevolent dictators-- promise all kinds of goodies, paradise on earth, "hope and change" while destabilizing the economy, eliminating the principle of free market competition, and installing a "Big Brother" government. Sound familiar?




Interestingly enough, the “Department of Homeland Security” translated to Russian is: Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti or KGB.

Links:

Community Oriented Policing

"The concept of the dialectic has been around for a long time. It is simply that of opposite positions: Thesis (position) vs. Antithesis (opposite position). In traditional logic, if my thesis was true, then all other positions were by definition untrue. For example, if my thesis is 2 + 2 = 4, then all other answers (antithesis) are false. Georg W.F. Hegel, the nineteenth century German philosopher, turned that concept upside down by equalizing Thesis and Antithesis. All things are now relative. There is no such thing as absolute truth to be found anywhere. Instead, “truth” is found in Synthesis, a compromise of Thesis and Antithesis. This is the heart and soul of the consensus process.
[...]
Who asked the citizenry if they wanted their communities “transformed” and their government “reinvented?” Who asked parents if they wanted their children to learn with their feelings instead of learning facts? Who asked your local police officers if they wanted their beliefs and attitudes manipulated? No one asked because if someone did, they would have been run out of town. Instead, using dialectic-reasoning skills, they have schemed to seduce, deceive and manipulate every community in the land into a utopian vision of so-called “unity in diversity.” These social engineers have no intention of taking America back to individual conscience within the family structure in order to preserve domestic peace and tranquility. That would mean a return to recognizing and submitting to the Higher Authority. This “vision” has failed whenever it has been tried. By participating in the dialectic, we have deified human reason; traded in God and truth for relative values and consensus; and abandoned individual liberty and inalienable rights for the common good and diversity. In the final analysis, we are destined for Totalitaria, and worse, the loss of our souls.

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Military Experimented on Unsuspecting Americans to Understand the Effects of Weaponized Radiation.

The Cold War cover story stated that the Army was testing smoke screens to protect cities from a Russian attack. The truth was much more sinister. New declassified documents show that the Army was conducting radioactive experiments upon thousands of unsuspecting low-income American citizens in St. Louis between 1945-1970.

Sociologist Martino-Taylor, author of a study on the "covert Manhattan Project spin-off organization referred to here as the Manhattan-Rochester Coalition, and an obscure aerosol study in St. Louis, Missouri, conducted under contract by the U.S. military," said the greatest concentration was centered on Pruitt-Igoe housing complex, just northwest of downtown St. Louis in Carr Square neighborhood. It was home to 10,000 low income people. An estimated 70% she says were children under age of 12.

You might want to think twice before getting that Flu vaccination shot considering the relatively recent urgent and widespread push to get vaccinated. Never got one, and never will.

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The Man Who May Have Saved Millions of Lives

In September 1983, Soviet fighter jets shot down a Korean Airliner, killing 269 civilians, including many Americans and a US congressman. President Ronald Reagan described the Soviets actions as "barbaric" and "a crime against humanity that must never be forgotten".

The tension between the US and Russia increased to an all-time high and Soviet aircraft were banned from US airspace.

Strategic Rocket Forces Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov was filling in for someone else the night he received a computer report that a nuclear missile had been launched from the US to strike Moscow.

Petrov knew that he should immediately launch an all-out nuclear weapons counterattack against the United States, but Petrov thinking it was very odd that only one missle was launched held off.

Seconds later, four more missiles were spotted but Petrov decided to go with his initial instinct and hold off on the counterattack. Upon further investigation it was found the computer error resulted from a very rare sunlight alignment, which the computer read as missile.

Soviet leaders did not find Petrov's decision heroic and he was let go with $200 a month pension. Petrov consequently suffered a nervous breakdown.

This incident was not revealed until a Russian officer who was witness to Petrov's brave decision not to start WW III, wrote a book detailing what happened that night in 1983. In 2008, a documentary film entitled 'The Man who saved the World' is set to be released.

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That Was Them, This Is US!

Our nation, after 9/11, believing we are unique, surreptitiously evaded the laws we hold other nations accountable in our effort to seek justice for all those who died that horrific day. We knew that other countries have endured what we experienced on 9/11 and much worse, however, that was them, this is us! We are radically distinctive and without equal. We have every right to do whatever it takes to hunt those who viscously attacked us down, even if that means one thousand innocent victims for every one innocent American killed on 9/11.

It's our "Super Power" status that interferes with and threatens what makes this country so great.

Fred Kaplan, War Stories Columnist for Slate Magazine and author of Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power believes the end of the Cold War and 9/11 changed America. Mr. Kaplan claims it gave those in power the feeling that the old rules no longer applied. America defeated the only other super power, the Soviet Union, and because we were attacked on 9/11 that the Bush Administration in particular, could dismiss every lesson of history especially when those lessons applied to policies they were endorsing.

Mr. Kaplan goes on to explain the end of the Cold War and America's emergence as a super power gave many people, including George W. Bush that we no longer needed alliances, that we, America, reined supreme. What Bush did not understand was that the Cold War paradoxically provided a system of international security because at that time the world was divided into two spheres creating a default western coalition. Our allies at the time depended on us for their security therefore went along with our policy without too much question. When the Soviet Union disappeared, the common enemy disappeared hence the default mode of international relations disappeared. Diplomacy now would be even harder and even more important.

Our "we don't need anyone attitude" after 9/11, ruined what was at the time a perfect chance to revitalize the alliance when the European nations wanted to invoke article 5 where an armed attack against one or more the NATO countries shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them will be there to help the other.

Since the Cold War ended and especially since Bush took office almost eight years ago, we have basked in American Exceptionalism. Rightfully so, we were horrified by the attack on 9/11, but instead of reacting the way we would expect any other country to act if attacked, "we the people" reacted as if our superior status in the world, earned by our "irreproachable behavior" over the last two centuries, somehow gave and gives us the right to bypass the lessons of history, the treaties, the charters, and all the rules and regulations we expect other countries to follow.

As Howard Zinn said in his article Removing America's Blinders,

"our inability to think outside the boundaries of nationalism. We are penned in by the arrogant idea that this country is the center of the universe, exceptionally virtuous, admirable, superior.

We conveniently forget the atrocities that have occurred in direct connection to the actions or inaction of our great country. There is no doubt that our country is exceptional, however "we the people" cannot afford to live and act as if we deserve special treatment, for it is our belief in equality and that no one deserves to be "specially" treated based on gender, race, creed etc. that make us exceptional.

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