Three dangerously related national security threats, 1. Putin's genocide, 2. Iran and Hamas' attempts at genocide and 3. the distraction Putin desires from western support for Ukraine.
Three dangerously related national security threats, 1. Putin's genocide, 2. Iran and Hamas' attempts at genocide and 3. the distraction Putin desires from western support for Ukraine.
Genocide by proxy
My best to all TAT readers, for their Monday.
This topic today is worthy of at least a book to frame properly but I will take a different approach since that I have written in-depth, on these three primary, related topics. I will paint a short summary of the issues and provide the links to the supporting articles, from a variety of earlier writings on those and related topics. The current situation (s) are perilous for the US, NATO and Western, Liberal Democracy as a whole.
I Putin’s Genocide
February 24th of 2022, a genocidal thug named Putin, launched what is now obviously, a full-scale, genocidal invasion of Ukraine. The genocide is actual and cultural, in a desperate attempt to remove Ukrainian identity, from the world. Putin does this for a variety of reasons, but the primary ones are:
To restore former Imperial Russian and Soviet empire (s)
For historical revisionism, in pursuit of making everything in his pipe dream of restored empire, exclusively Russian.
Russia is massive and includes countless specific cultural identities, which he would obliterate, in time if left to his agenda of evil.
To try and mimic his now senior partner, Xi, whose goal is to make all China and the world into two distinctly separate identities, Han, with everyone else on the planet, “barbarians.”
In the nearly two years now, since Putin’s War began, things have gone terribly wrong for the Russian army. Their grotesque incompetence in training, weapons, leadership and logistics, has imposed a virtual slaughter onto conscripts and special operations forces alike. Putin has employed PMCs/ Private Military Contractors like Wagner Group, prisoners, foreign thugs like Syrian Jihadists, Iranian cannon fodder and even Cubans, fooled into dying by lying recruiters promising high pay and privileges.
Nothing helps when a increasingly paranoid Putin, micro-manages his failures, much akin to what Hitler did increasingly during WW II.
As it pertains to today’s article, Putin is desperate for a diversion from his failures on the world stage, attempting to eradicate Ukrainian culture from history. To this end, he is at the core of several global diversions that attempt to create a “second” front for NATO so that they will have less attention and resources to offer Ukraine.
The bottom line here is that Ukraine is the first and most important to keep from falling, to prevent the axis of evil, Xi, Putin and the theocratic thugs in Tehran, from expanding their inhumane influence globally.
Here I will list earlier, TAT pieces of substantially more depth as background. They are in chronological order, as they were written with the oldest at the top.
Putin and Xi play games - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Putin “doubles down” - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Will he, or won't he? - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
The one thing that the US and allies... must not do to help Ukraine (truthaboutthreats.com)
Putin is starving Ukraine and threatens the world with hunger (truthaboutthreats.com)
Russian missiles hitting a NATO member is what we've all held our breath over. (truthaboutthreats.com)
What comes next, after Ukraine wins? - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Looking at Ukraine, nearly a year from Putin's genocidal invasion (truthaboutthreats.com)
POTUS throws some serious shade at Putin - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Let's see where we are with Ukraine, as we ease into Spring offensives and maybe even Russian counter-offensives. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Since last year, Putin in realization that he is not only losing, but must stop the bleeding of his own personal power, atop the oligarchical hierarchy of Russian power, seeks the old, tried and true military tactic of diversion. In other words, make your enemies pay more attention to less significant areas of operations, in order to divert attention from your most significant weaknesses and failures. To this end, he has now stirred up conflict with a coup in Niger, other similar efforts in other nations in central and western Africa. He has stirred conflict again in the Balkans, via Serbian trouble making, incited a brutal, low-intensity conflict in Azerbaijan, against their Armenian neighbors and of course, the next section regarding the Iran sponsored, gruesome barbarism, of the Hamas attack on Israel, on Oct. 7th.
II Iran and Hamas' attempts at genocide
There has never been a time that Hamas, has not openly called for genocide of Jews. “From the River to the Sea” is a genocidal chant, no matter what so many protesters claim. For an excellent and disturbing read, I highly recommend the piece, Understanding Hamas’s Genocidal Ideology, by highly acclaimed, terrorism expert, Bruce Hoffman, in the Atlantic, October 10th, 2023.
Of course, for those who read TAT regularly or even semi-regularly, you know that I have written 16, in-depth articles about the conflict, since Oct. 9th. The link below is to the last piece, which also contains links to the previous fifteen. It is a chronological history of the current conflict, its causes and who is to blame. Believe me when I say that there is plenty, including the extremist, right-wing administration of Prime Minister Netanyahu, or rather, the Israeli “Trump.” Included in this link below are also those explaining in-depth, related issues. In a way, it’s almost a library of relevant and credible reporting.
I derive no satisfaction from this, "I told you so." (truthaboutthreats.com)
One way to understand the complexity of the threat to global stability is via the chart I created below, when analyzing who to blame for the tragic war in Gaza. There is a hierarchy of threats, which I explained in this early Gaza article, which is explained, throughout the piece. For a variety of reasons, critical to putting that and the war in Ukraine into context, this piece is a highly recommended read.
Let's unpack the complex, barbaric attack on Israel and those to blame. (truthaboutthreats.com)
III Putin’s attempts at diversion
Xi’s China is now the largest and most severe threat to Western Liberal Democracy and human rights globally. Xi’s is also now, the “top dog” where Putin, Iran and their underlings, like Hamas and Hezbollah, have obligations, little different from the Mafia styled, “you owe me a favor” concept. Everyone knows that if the “Godfather” does you a favor, you owe him and at the time and place of his choosing. No direct orders need be issued, it is well understood, within such relationships.
Putin owes Xi since Xi is his primary entity to back him up. Iran owes Putin, Hamas and Hezbollah owe Iran. There are plenty of other backers as well, not the least of which can be found in select Gulf States and other nation-states. More on these at a different time.
If we allow public opinion, dishonestly shaped by fraudulent western media reporting about civilian casualties, we are directly contributing to Xi and Putin’s success against innocents, the world over. Iranian, Hamas and similar thugs, are simply the hitmen perpetrating crimes against humanity for thuggish overlords.
In my assessment, Xi’s behavior the past 5 or 6 years has included some of the worst, strategic decision-making in the history of China. His China Dream strategy, accomplished largely by a massive influence campaign called the BRI/ Belt and Road Initiative is quite good but his execution, a strategic faux pas of incalculable failure. Thank goodness because the US and West in general, have had little success in competing and still have no definitive strategy.
That the US and NATO in general, are incompetent and influence campaigning due to self-inflicted wounds of four decades, is not the topic today although I have written on it exhaustively. I will only say this; if we don’t remove our head from our hindquarters in this profession and stop overpaying the grotesquely underproducing and alleged “experts” we are doomed. Not one thing in our NSS/ National Security Strategy can be accomplished without a complete overhaul of our national security architecture, in the field of ethical influence. In an era where influence is everything, we are not even on the battlefield.
These links describe our failures and incompetence in detail
Combat ineffective, the rusted, broken hulk of US Influence Operations (truthaboutthreats.com)
On the battlefield of influence, the US is unarmed (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US National Security Community has left us a critical vulnerability in US national security. (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US always fights the "last war," instead of the one we're in. (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US National Security community is incapable of managing mis/ disinformation threats (truthaboutthreats.com)
A Five Point Strategy to Oppose Russian Narrative Warfare (truthaboutthreats.com)
We can't protect ourselves from mis/ disinformation, until we understand influence (truthaboutthreats.com)
Counter-narratives and a failure to campaign leave the West in a perpetual reactive mode which when it comes to influence, equals losing. Even if we campaigned, we no longer know how. This, especially in a war of influence that encompasses all that is discussed in today’s article leaves us all at the mercy of Chinese, Russian, Iranian and terrorist campaigns who “win” because they are unopposed in influence.
There are plenty of verifiable comparisons between Xi, Putin, Iran, Hamas and the other terrorist thugs globally aligned with them. Some form or attempt at genocide, is a trait they all display proudly, and not one human life is safe, if that life stands between them and their immoral pursuits of authoritarian rule. If we allow them to succeed due to lack of resilient character, incompetence on the battlefield of influence, and lack of political will to fund Ukraine and other victims, then it is us who is contributing to their genocides as well. This is neither a US nor human value.
I will close with this: few things, issues or conflicts are stand-alone elements. Like the proverbial ripples on a pond when throwing a stone into it, everything in the pond is touched by those ripples. Unless we get our act together nationally, politically and in conjunction with our allies, those ripples will become tsunamis that are a threat to all of us.
My best for everyone’s Monday,
Paul