Sometimes a case looks weak because there is no “smoking gun”—no
obvious, direct evidence of conspiracy, malfeasance or evil intent—but
once you tally up all the evidence it forms a coherent and damning
picture. And so it is with the Obama administration vis à vis Russia: by
feigning hostile intent it did everything possible to further Russia’s
agenda.
And although it is always possible to claim that all of Obama’s failures
stem from mere incompetence, at some point this claim begins to ring
hollow; how can he possibly be so utterly competent… at being
incompetent? Perhaps he just used incompetence as a veil to cover his
true intent, which was always to bolster Russia while rendering the US
maximally irrelevant in world affairs.
Let’s examine Obama’s major foreign policy initiatives from this angle.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of his eight years has been the
destruction of Libya. Under the false pretence of a humanitarian
intervention what was once the most prosperous and stable country in the
entire North Africa has been reduced to a rubble-strewn haven for
Islamic terrorists and a transit point for economic migrants streaming
into the European Union. This had the effect of pushing Russia and China
together, prompting them to start voting against the US together as a
block in the UN Security Council.
In a single blow, Obama assured an important element of his legacy as a
Russian agent: no longer will the US be able to further its agenda
through this very important international body.
Next, Obama presided over the violent overthrow of the constitutional
government in the Ukraine and the installation of an American puppet
regime there. When Crimea then voted to rejoin Russia, Obama imposed
sanctions on the Russian Federation. These moves may seem like they were
designed to hurt Russia, but let’s look at the results instead of the
intentions.
First, Russia regained control of an important, strategic region.
Second, the sanctions and the countersanctions allowed Russia to
concentrate on import replacement, building up the domestic economy.
This was especially impressive in agriculture, and Russia now earns more
export revenue from foodstuffs than from weapons. Third, the severing of
economic ties with the Ukraine allowed Russia to eliminate a major
economic competitor. Fourth, over a million Ukrainians decided to move
to Russia, either temporarily or permanently, giving Russia a major
demographic boost and giving it access to a pool of Russian-speaking
skilled labour. (Most Ukrainians are barely distinguishable from the
general Russian population.) Fifth, whereas before the Ukraine was in a
position to extort concessions from Russia by playing games with the
natural gas pipelines that lead from Russia to the European Union, now
Russia’s hands have been untied, resulting in new pipeline deals with
Turkey and Germany.
In effect, Russia reaped all the benefits from the Ukrainian stalemate,
while the US gained an unsavoury, embarrassing dependent.
Obama’s next “achievement” was in carefully shepherding the Syrian
conflict into a cul de sac. (Some insist on calling it a civil war,
although virtually all of the fighting there has between the entire
Syrian nation and foreign-funded outside mercenaries).
To this end, Obama deployed an array of tactics. He simultaneously
supported, armed, trained and fought various terrorist groups, making a
joke of the usual US technique of using “terrorism by proxy.” He made
ridiculous claims that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons
against its own people, which immediately reminded everyone of similarly
hollow claims about Saddam’s WMDs while offering Russia a legitimate
role to play in resolving the Syrian conflict. He made endless promises
to separate “moderate opposition” from dyed-in-the-wool terrorists, but
repeatedly failed to do so, thus giving the Russians ample scope to take
care of the situation as they saw fit. He negotiated several cease
fires, then violated them.
There have been other achievements as well. By constantly talking up the
nonexistent “Russian threat” and scaremongering about “Russian
aggression” and “Russian invasion” (of which no evidence existed), and
by holding futile military exercises in Eastern Europe and especially in
the geopolitically irrelevant Baltics, Obama managed to deprive NATO of
any residual legitimacy it once might have had, turning it into a sad
joke.
But perhaps Obama’s most significant service on behalf of the Russian
nation was in throwing the election to Donald Trump. This he did by
throwing his support behind the ridiculously inept and corrupt Hillary
Clinton. She outspent Trump by a factor of two, but apparently no amount
of money could buy her the presidency. As a result of Obama’s steadfast
efforts, the US will now have a Russia-friendly president who is eager
to make deals with Russia, but will have to do so from a significantly
weakened negotiating position.
As I have been arguing for the last decade, it is a foregone conclusion
that the United States is going to slide from its position of global
dominance. But it was certainly helpful to have Obama grease the skids,
and now it’s up to Donald Trump to finish the job.
And since Obama’s contribution was especially helpful to Russia, I
propose that he be awarded the Russian Federation’s Order of Friendship,
to go with his Nobel Peace Prize.
The above is speculation of course, but it is an interesting and compelling speculation to mull over ..Keygar! |
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