Sochi Olympics: A Cyncial Reason for Another US War
Welcome to Sochi, No US Warships Required 29 January, 2014 17:11 Throughout history the Olympics have been a
celebration of sport and a time when even warring nations lay down their
arms and settle their differences on the playing field. It has been a time
when all nations regardless of their geo-political leanings, internal
conflicts or spats with their neighbors have a chance to put aside
differences and celebrate human advances and achievements in sports. For the guests, the athletes, the media and the
delegations it is a time to show the world the best side of their countries
and to get to know the people and the customs of the hosting nation. A time
when we can all be friends, regardless of race, religion or political
beliefs and above all put aside conflicts and for once, attempt to find
peace amongst our fellow citizens of the world. Given all of that therefore it would truly be
antithetical to the spirit of the games and in fact an unthinkable
abomination to bring uninvited warships into the hosting nations’ waters no
matter what the pretext. But that would be in a normal world. Unfortunately
one country believes it can unilaterally propose such a move and pretend it
is doing so out of some concern for security against a threat that is being
over-hyped to the level of hysteria.
Are US warships really necessary? The United States has been unilaterally working on
“contingency” plans which require two US warships to enter Russian
territorial waters in the case of a terrorist attack. This is unheard of US
secretary of State Chuck Hagel has stated that the US has already deployed
two US Navy warships to “stand guard” in the Black Sea during the games just
in case Americans have to be evacuated. According to Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John
Kirby: "The United States has offered its full support to the Russian
government as it conducts security preparations for the Winter Olympics. Air
and naval assets, to include two Navy ships in the Black Sea, will be
available if requested for all manner of contingencies in support of – and
in consultation with – the Russian government." In reality however there is no need for US
warships. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is perfectly capable of dealing with
such contingencies and there is no doubt the Russian Navy could deploy the
necessary resources if the need were to arise. The same is true of the helicopters and C-17
transport planes the US is saying will be on standby in Germany. Russia has
analogous aircraft and air support much closer to the scene and ready to
respond in minutes if needed rather than the hours that the US aircraft will
take. According to
the Guardian (LINK
1) “US officials have concluded
there would be major obstacles to mounting a large-scale effort by the
military or other US government resources to evacuate Americans from Sochi,
said a source familiar with Obama administration debates. The most
formidable roadblock US officials have discussed regarding contingency plans
for Sochi is that Russian authorities have historically been reluctant to
allow foreign military forces, especially those of the United States, on
Russian territory.” So then why the warships?
US
flexing of muscles in the Black Sea US/NATO are desperate to obtain a military footing
and eventual military control of the Black Sea, the real reason for the
attempts at pulling Georgia and Ukraine and other neighboring countries into
NATO and many experts would argue the real reason for the current push to
force Ukraine to integrate with the EU and turn its back on Russia. The US also will do anything to steal the show from
Russia or make Russia look weak especially at such an important event as the
Olympics. This is obvious by US coverage of the events and the preparations
for the games. The level of hysteria in the US media about the Sochi Games
would be laughable if it were not for the fact that such coverage is all the
Americans get. There is in reality no threat that requires
warships and even former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden has said he
trusts Russia’s ability to provide security and that Americans will be safe.
If there was such a real and present threat the US Government would issue a
travel ban or other such measure to prevent Americans from travelling to
Sochi.
The universal pretext Just like 50 Al-Qaeda fighters are the reason for a
13 year occupation of Afghanistan and the deployment of hundreds of
thousands of US troops, one lone “terrorist” woman appears to be the
bogeyman for stationing warships in the Black Sea. Yet terrorism is the reason for the season in the
US and in a “war on Terror” how else can they respond? With a quiet team of
snipers and special forces? No. Bring in the warships.
Different Approach Americans are saturated and bombarded with the
terrorist behind every tree that allows the US hyper security surveillance
state to continue and the American mass media are so used to hyping and
over-hyping the terrorist bogeyman, in unison with the entire US Government
security apparatus while never foiling a real unarguable terrorist plot that
even people like Mitt Romney (who said he would go to the Sochi Olympics and
take his family) are amazed that Russia actually has and obtains actionable
intelligence, effectively deals with and neutralizes terrorist threats. According to
the Daily Mail
(LINK 2)
“Mr. Romney who organized the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, told
The Today Show last week that the fact that the Russian organizers have
released the names and photos of suspected terrorists who may be plotting an
attack shows that they have an 'extraordinary intelligence' program.” Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and the
entire Russian security apparatus works very differently than how the
Americans do and with regard to terrorism the differences are striking. Where the Americans love to advertise and raise
threat levels etc., and bombard the populace with imagined or possible
threats, such as in Sochi, the FSB and Russian security quietly identify,
locate and neutralize. Where the US sends in warships, calls in drones
strikes on “suspected” terrorists, and invades countries, the Russian
services quietly and with almost no fanfare send in small highly trained
teams and quietly “liquidate” or neutralize threats. Unlike the US, most anti-terrorist operations are
only known about in Russia after they have been completed and most threats,
such as any that might exist in Sochi, are quietly dealt with by seasoned
professionals with effective tried and proven methods and tactics. Most of the successful anti-terrorist operations in
Russia are not even heard about by the populace as the Russian state has no
need to make the populace fearful and does not seek to make citizens accept
a stripping of their rights in the name of security. Even as a journalist with access to hundreds of
information sources both internal and external, news of FSB anti-terrorist
operations sometimes only comes in a year end accounting to the president by
the head of the FSB and perhaps a small posting on their site. As I have written in the past, just like the
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, the FSB is staffed by quiet dedicated
professionals who know their jobs and understand how to deal with any
threat, be they internal or external. The FSB and Russian security are also no strangers
to large scale mass events, this experience (a carryover from Soviet times)
has been proven time and time again and with the World’s attention focused
on the Sochi Games you can be sure that every resource available has been
put into overdrive to guarantee security. Also unlike their American security counterparts
the Russian services deal with human intelligence (HUMIT) on a far larger
scale and more effectively. While their US counterparts are sitting at
computer screens looking for keywords or gaining questionable intelligence
through “enhanced interrogation” Russia’s professional are speaking to
reliable sources, intercepting real communications and in the end
liquidating real threats rather than some kids with gasoline in a bottle (US
NATO Summit in Chicago). I could continue but I think you get the idea. I
would definitely go to Sochi and feel perfectly safe doing so, especially
since I am also sure the Russian state would never engage in false flag
terrorism and has never negotiated, backed, armed or otherwise cooperated
with terrorists.
Media Hysteria It is sad to watch the US and Western media
coverage of the issue of a possible attack at the Sochi Games. Experts,
politicians and every kind of pundit and commentator under the sun is ready
to come out of the woodwork and scream about how “dangerous” Sochi is. This
cannot be further from the truth and people with real operational
intelligence like Michael Hayden are refreshing to hear (I never thought I
would say that) when they say they would feel safe and bring their families
to the Sochi Olympics. The western media seems to be in Russo-phobia
overdrive on this one with CNN appearing to be heading the unprecedented US
campaign to discredit the Sochi Olympics with almost non-stop broadcasts of
supposed terrorist threats inside Russia that they themselves seem to have
more knowledge about than the Russian security services themselves. The hysteria which is being promoted by certain
elements of the US Government and disseminated worldwide by the subservient
US media is disturbing on many levels. However for this writer the most
damning omission present (or rather “absent” depending on how you want to
look at it) in all of the western media debate and analysis and endless
commentary is one very loud, real and documented threat that has been made
public and that directly involves the Sochi Olympics. That threat is one
made by Saudi Prince Bandar last summer to President Putin. During the
conversation in question he even admitted that Chechen terrorists were under
Saudi control. To which President Putin quietly responded: “We know”. Saudi Prince Bandar who has since been on another
official visit to Moscow at first attempted to bribe Russia’s president in
order to force Russia to pull its support for Syria, then when that did not
work, in slightly veiled language threatened a terrorist attack during the
Sochi Olympics. Will the US media report on US partner Prince Bandar “Bush”?
Not likely. However it is important to recall such a threat was made.
Conclusion The Olympics are about peace, sports and the
brotherhood of all nations. Let’s focus on that, after all if we focus on
“phantom terrorists”, the terrorists win without even having to lift a
finger. Let the professionals worry about security, in
Russia the FSB, along with other anti-terrorist and security services, may
not be making loud press statements or raising the alarm every time there is
a threat, that does not mean they are not on the job. During the Sochi Games there will be literally tens
of thousands of vigilant quiet professionals guaranteeing security. Who
knows? One of them might sit next to you on a bus. If you happen to meet one
of these quiet warriors, tell them thank you. It would mean more to them
than the glory many American colleagues seek. As for the warships? Please keep the warships at
home. Believe it or not Russia has plenty of ships and helicopters and
transport aircraft (even an entire fleet in the Black Sea) and in the event
they are needed is always generous and ready to help anyone in need,
especially foreign guests who come in peace to celebrate human achievement
in sport. Welcome to Sochi! Let the games begin.
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