The Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the World

(Obnoxious) Opening remarks of Chairman Devin Nunes

(Obnoxious) Opening remarks of Chairman Devin Nunes

House Select Intelligence Committee hearing

on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

CHAIRMAN NUNES: The Putin regime has a long history of aggressive actions against other countries, including the outright invasion of two of its neighbors in recent years

This can only refer to Ukraine and Georgia, or taken separately, Ukraine and Crimea.  ALL THREE EXAMPLES ARE FALSE.  Russia did not invade Ukraine OR Georgia.  Crimea had the right to secede from Ukraine when it was overthrown by rogue elements fostered by NATO, and did so with 95% concurrence.

Georgia invaded Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia in 2008, with much destruction and loss of life.  The people of that province appealed to Russia for help and received it.

"In recent days, there has been a remarkable change in Western opinion about the August war between Georgia and Russia over my homeland of South Ossetia. The New York Times, the BBC and Human Rights Watch have reported extensive evidence of U.S.-armed and trained Georgian troops attacking innocent civilians using cluster bombs and other banned weapons. The U.S. State Department, which initially backed Georgia strongly, now concedes that Georgia erred in launching its attack, while British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has condemned the Georgian government for its "reckless" attack."— wrote Lira Tskhovrebova in the LA Times, Nov. 17, 2008 (Georgia's shameful attack on South Ossetia)

The principle that these two provinces have the right to secede can be laid also at the feet of NATO, who demanded that right for Kosovo, which had become majority Albanian in the last century or two due to immigration, although it was long the heart of Serbian culture, the site of the tragic battle of Kosovo Polja, the "Field of Crows", when Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović was defeated by the Turks in 1389.  The chief treasure of the region, and really of all Serbian history, is the Gračanica Monastery, rebuilt by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321 on the ruins of a 6th-century early Christian three-naved basilica.

The Southern Slavs, a group of peoples and languages stretching from Slovenia on the Adriatic to Bulgaria on the Black Sea, were the earliest members of that ethnic/linguistic family to become Christianized, from the 7th to the 9th centuries, primarily through the efforts of the emissaries of the Orthodox Church at Byzantium, the two monks Cyril and Methodius, who also created the Cyrillic alphabet used in Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia.  [at left, a postcard honoring the two missionaries.]

(As a side note, Cyrillic characters — Unicode #1025 to #1273 — were part of the "evidence" in malware found, blamed on Russian hacking until the Wikileaks release of the first tranche of the Vault 7 leak, which showed conclusively that the CIA held (or failed to hold!  They flagrantly lost control of them months ago: expect them on your equipment anytime after "zero days"!) a vast horde of hacking tools from around the world, which leave the "fingerprints" of the original creators.

Such clever chaps, these Americans.

After the Kosovo war of 1999 Bishop of Raška and Prizren Artemije Radosavljević transferred his official seat to this Monastery from Prizren and since then the monastery has become not only the most important spiritual but also the national and political center of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

When the Greeks and Serbs finally fought their way to freedom from the Turkish tyrants, it was a cause celebre in the West, with leading lights like the principle English lyric poet, George Gordon Lord Byron, fighting and dying at Missoulonghi, in a role similar to that played by novelists, Briton George Orwell and American Earnest Hemingway along with his future wife and fellow war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, in the Spanish Civil War against Generalissimo Francisco Franco and his German Nazi backers.

The Kosovo War was fought to protect the right of the Albanian Muslims, recent immigrants in a historical sense, to remove the Kosovo province from the nation it had always been a part of.  Russia bowed its head and offered no contest to NATO (read: Wall Street, Wall Street's offspring the CIA, and the American Deep State).  Serbia never accepted the tearing out of its heart, but could do nothing about it, with its historic Danube bridges blown and infrastructure blown out, its president mysteriously dying in custody during a trial at the Hague.

So, the rule is, a majority of citizens of a province have an undeniable right to secede, is that it?  Apparently not.  When NATO elements, the US State Department, and Neo-Nazi gangs organized by same overthrew the legal government of Victor Yanukovich, burned to death some 50 protestors in the Labor Building in Odessa, and began hunting down Russian speaking Ukranians in the east of the country who refused to go along with the coup, the citizens of Crimea held a referendum, voting to return to Russia, after 63 years of separation since Nikita Khrushchev gave the province to his home state of Ukraine in 1954.

On April 27, 2010, Russia and Ukraine ratified the Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas treaty, extending the Russian Navy's lease of Crimean facilities for 25 years after 2017 (through 2042) with an option to prolong the lease in 5-year extensions.  So, invade?  No, the Russian Navy was in Sevastopol before, during, and after the split.  Details, details.

But in spite of its high-handed demand that Kosovo, forever Serbian, but recently majority-populated with Albanian Muslim immigrants, must be allowed to secede and be a new country, the United States of America refuses to acknowledge the clear mandate of the people of Crimea to RETURN to their ancient homeland, Russia, of which they have been a part for at least 200 years, by the least of standards.  For that matter, Ukraine itself was Russian in the beginning.  In 985, Russia converted to Christianity, in the person of Grand Duke (St.) Vladimir, in his capital, Kiev.  They were called the Kievan Rus'.

The modern peoples of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors.

CHAIRMAN NUNES: . . . as well as its brutal military action in Syria to defend the Assad regime.

The US propaganda recited above in this fragment from Mr. Nunes ignores the fact that the Assad "regime" is the legal authority in Syria.  No one even disputes that.  But it has been quite a while since the US "regime" showed a lot of respect for international law.  Remember Alberto "Speedy" Gonzales telling us, the Geneva Conventions are 'quaint'?  That's the legal equivalent of deciding not to pay one's bills.

 The same is true for the flouting of treaty obligations that require us to GET PERMISSION to bring our military within the borders of a sovereign country.  By the way, Russia is the invited guest/ally of the legal government of Syria.  And who are they helping Assad defend his country from?????

Our MERCENARIES.  Sure, there may be some volunteers, originally unhappy with conditions in that country.  There was considerably distress in 2011 because of a severe and long-lasting drought, largely the result of GLOBAL WARMING.  Who is the biggest producer of greenhouse gas on the planet?  Well, China passed us in 2005, BECAUSE WE DO ALL OUR MANUFACTURING THERE NOWADAYS.  That's why you can't find a job.  But what fraction of US greenhouse gases does the US MILITARY produce?

" The US Air Force (USAF) is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. Fathom, if you can, the astronomical fuel usage of USAF fighter planes: the F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds. The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 55 gallons per minute; ten minutes of flight uses as much fuel as the average driver does in one year of driving! A quarter of the world's jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines; in 2006, they consumed as much fuel as US planes did during the Second World War (1941-1945) - an astounding 2.6 billion gallons.(3)" — The Military Assault on Global Climate

But the firepower that is destroying the oldest cities on earth, continuously inhabited, Damascus, still largely spared, being the oldest?  That is al Nusra, and ISIS, a.k.a. al Qaeda 2.0 and 3.0.  Remember, Zbigniew Brzrezinski created al Qaeda in the summer of 1979 to bring down the USSR.  And, yes, it worked.  And it's still working.  We can blame stuff on them, like 9/11, or we can sic them on our next targets.  We did, in Libya and Syria.  Check out my detailed summation of these matters here, the online clickable version of the placard at left.

 

The gratuitous vilification "brutal attack" is really the expression of rage at Russia actually defending the man we're trying to destroy.  And why are we trying to destroy him?  He refuses to allow the Qatar pipeline to pass through his borders.  Why? Because it is the Sunni pipeline, with the hope of cutting the Shia nation, Iran, out of the natural gas market.  Assad's family are Alowites, a branch of Shiism.  The gas field that Qatar is pumping out of is the largest in the world, and bridges the Persian Gulf — both Qatar and Iran are drawing from it.

Furthermore, the Saudis and Qatar desperately want to crush the economy of Russia, which is largely dependent on oil and gas.  If they can get their pipeline to Bulgaria, they can seriously cut into Russia's economy, already damaged by US sanctions (all unjustified, along the lines of the earlier paragraphs above.  Shameless lying attacks of greed for power, couched as moral opprobrium, wherein American citizens should partake, or be in danger of this new McCarthyism coming down on their heads.) 

Here is a great summary of the ACTUAL motive for attacking Mr. Assad, a great article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., entitled "Why the Arabs don't want us in Syria."

 

As is clear from his lead image, he sees the US Deep State, personified entirely by the brothers Dulles.

" For Americans to really understand what’s going on, it’s important to review some details about this sordid but little-remembered history. During the 1950s, President Eisenhower and the Dulles brothers — CIA Director Allen Dulles and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles — rebuffed Soviet treaty proposals to leave the Middle East a neutral zone in the Cold War and let Arabs rule Arabia. Instead, they mounted a clandestine war against Arab nationalism — which Allen Dulles equated with communism — particularly when Arab self-rule threatened oil concessions. They pumped secret American military aid to tyrants in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon favoring puppets with conservative Jihadist ideologies that they regarded as a reliable antidote to Soviet Marxism. At a White House meeting between the CIA’s director of plans, Frank Wisner, and John Foster Dulles, in September 1957, Eisenhower advised the agency, “We should do everything possible to stress the ‘holy war’ aspect,” according to a memo recorded by his staff secretary, Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster." 

Here is a map that explains the same story, from another page that corroborates Kennedy's piece:

Is the Qatar gas behind the continuous war in Libya and Syria?

CHAIRMAN NUNES: For example, the Kremlin has a disinformation campaign through the RT propaganda network, which traffics in Anti-American conspiracy theories.

No evidence offered.  The US government, with the assistance of the US mainstream media, pumps out so many lies, that any truth is an "Anti-American conspiracy theory."  This is nothing but a concerted Hetzjagd, hot pursuit of the prospective victims, Syria, Iran, and ultimately Russia and China, to bring them under our power while we still have power other than the nukes.

The American people are unwilling and/or unable to evaluate the validity of the claims of the US government.  They are so content to be members of the peanut gallery, the pep club, cheering on our brave military, when if they had a shred of integrity would already have long known that no war we've been engaged in, certainly since WWII, has been justifiable, helpful to anyone except power-mad and money-mad billionaires.

If any military member has a conscience they should read a little book by the highest decorated Marine of all time, MG Smedley Darlington Butler (d. 1940).

The book is called War Is A Racket, read for free here at Ratical.

 

Here's a short speech he gave at a public gathering that explains his late position:

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

What Exactly Is A Troll?

Did you know that the US military is profoundly interested in Social Media? Did you know they train and deploy armies of Social Media operatives? Ask yourself, “What do they hope to accomplish with that project?”

First, here is some prima facie evidence that they do do so.

Pentagon Wants a Social Media Propaganda Machine
“The Pentagon is looking to build a tool to sniff out social media propaganda campaigns and spit some counter-spin right back at it.“

Your Government Wants to Militarize Social Media to Influence Your Beliefs

“The overriding theme of the event is the need to exploit social media as a source of intelligence on civilian populations and enemies; as well as a propaganda medium to influence public opinion.”

Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal

“In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-“independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government.“

As a matter of fact, thanks to Edward Snowden, we have 50 slides of a PowerPoint training program created by the British equivalent of the NSA, that is GCHQ — Government Communications Headquarters — which reveal a great deal about how they size you up, my friends.

The Series is called The Art of Deception

Magicians, of course, don't perform magic, but sleight of hand.

It’s all very scientific, don’t you know?

There are step-by-step procedures that are university engineered
to be effective at deceiving large groups of people.

But one chief focus is how to split up groups. Ever encountered a troll online? Sound familiar?

This is a college, perhaps graduate course in how to make the public believe things THAT ARE NOT TRUE.

What becomes of a society that is deceived on an
industrial level by those that rule over it?

If you want to see the whole set, and read the article by Glenn Greenwald discussing the secret program that Snowden revealed, it is

How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations

Now I would like to share with you some of my own observations. Some rules of the road that I have gathered in my travels:

1. Trolls have the military mindset. They consider intimidation their chief path to success. Just as Native American warriors famously shrieked and with their hand covered and uncovered their mouths in rapid succession, for the purpose of terrifying their targets, so a troll will very frequently default to bluster and what is essentially “trash talk”, like you would overhear at the foul line in an NBA game, when somebody is trying to concentrate on his shot.

2. Along the same lines, trolls typically choose a Facebook Avatar that is as intimidating as they can think of. Roaring lions and tigers, snakes, scorpions, or images of horrible things. Likewise, hypermasculine poses and smirks. Alternatively, images of irritants, things that make you uneasy just looking at them. Again, images of the disingenuous, where the feeling you come away with is, they’re hiding something. Again, images of mockery.

3. When a troll confronts you, uses brusque language, talks down to you, insults you, remember, he or she wants to control weak minded people. If you are strong-minded, be careful not to depend on strong logic. They will slip out of the, to them, trap you have set by declaring that it is meaningless, irrelevant, or changing the subject. Once they lay that brick in the wall, the rest will follow. They don’t want to engage with people who understand the issue being discussed. They are at that point looking for an exit. They can’t wait to tip over the chessboard and flame you with a stream of invective, on the premise that the weak minded will allow them that excuse for refusing to address the very reasonable point you have made. So, bend over backwards to be as mild as Ivory Soap, as sweet as pie, and patient, simple, and take no offense. As Jesus said, “ But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. “ (Matthew 5:39) That way, they will have no excuse to cut and run, and it will be harder for them to escape the validity of your point.

Le chant des partisans

A song of the French Partisans resisting the Nazi occupation

Ami, entends-tu Le vol noir des corbeaux Sur nos plaines? Ami, entends-tu Les cris sourds du pays Qu'on enchaîne? Ohé! partisans, Ouvriers et paysans, C'est l'alarme! Ce soir l'ennemi Connaîtra le prix du sang Et des larmes!	Friend, do you hear The Black Flight of Crows On our plains? Friend, do you hear The Deaf Cries of the Country Let's go on? Oh! Supporters, Workers and peasants, That's the alarm! Tonight the enemy Will know the price of blood And tears!
Montez de la mine, Descendez des collines, Camarades! Sortez de la paille Les fusils, la mitraille, Les grenades... Ohé! les tueurs, A la balle et au couteau, Tuez vite! Ohé! saboteur, Attention à ton fardeau: Dynamite!	Climb the mine, Descend from the hills, Comrades! Get out of the straw The rifles, the grape-shot, The grenades ... Oh! the killers, At the ball and the knife, Quickly kill! Oh! saboteur, Pay attention to your burden: Dynamite!
C'est nous qui brisons Les barreaux des prisons Pour nos frères, La haine à nos trousses Et la faim qui nous pousse, La misère... Il y a des pays Ou les gens au creux de lits Font des rêves; Ici, nous, vois-tu, Nous on marche et nous on tue, Nous on crève.	It is we who break Prison bars For our brothers, Hate on our heels And the hunger that drives us, Misery... There are countries Or people in the hollow of beds Have dreams; Here, we see, We walk and we kill, We're dying.
Ici chacun sait Ce qu'il veut, ce qui'il fait Quand il passe... Ami, si tu tombes Un ami sort de l'ombre A ta place. Demain du sang noir Séchera au grand soleil Sur les routes. Sifflez, compagnons, Dans la nuit la Liberté Nous écoute...	Here everyone knows What he wants, what he does When it passes ... Friend, if you fall A friend comes out of the shadows In your place. Tomorrow's Black Blood Will dry in the sun On the roads. Whistle, companions, In the night Liberty We listen ..

Dobson: Hope For America Again

Hillary's Neocons

The US Military — Is The Problem

Europe's most agile enemy sits in Brussels (NATO)

Dr. Sahra Wagenknecht (DIE LINKE, i.e., "THE LEFT"):
This powerful rebuke from Bundestag member shows how the Right Wing loves war and austerity, whether they are here or there, Republican or Democrat
Herr Präsident! Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Frau Bundeskanzlerin, Geschichte wiederholt sich nicht, aber es gibt Phasen, in denen die politischen Uhren rückwärts zu gehen scheinen, unerbittlich zurück in eine Zeit, die sich eigentlich niemand zurückwünschen kann. Wer die Entwicklung der letzten Jahre verfolgt, der wird das beklemmende Gefühl nicht los, dass wir heute in genau so einer Phase leben, und ich möchte mir nicht ausmalen, wie das enden kann.	Mister President! Dear Colleagues! Madam Chancellor, history does not repeat itself, but there are phases in which the political clocks seem to go backwards, inexorably back to a time that no one actually could wish to return to. Anyone who follows the trend of recent years will not be quit of the nightmarish feeling that we are living in precisely such a phase, and I do not want to imagine how it can end.
75 Jahre nach Beginn des deutschen Vernichtungskrieges gegen die Sowjetunion finden in unmittelbarer Nähe der russischen Grenze wieder martialische Kriegsübungen unter deutscher Beteiligung statt.	75 years after the start of the German war of annihilation against the Soviet Union once again finds martial war exercises, with German participation, in the immediate vicinity of the Russian border.
(Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU/CSU): An der Grenze zum Baltikum auch!)	(Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU "Christian Democratic Union"/ CSU "Christian Social Union in Bavaria"): Located just outside the Baltics, too!)
Die US-Atomwaffen in Deutschland werden modernisiert ‑ nicht abgebaut, Frau Merkel: modernisiert - und Raketenbasen in ganz Europa aufgebaut. Angeblich geht es immer nur um Abschreckung, darum, Putin davon abzuhalten, ins Baltikum einzumarschieren. Es würde mich wirklich interessieren, ob diejenigen, die uns diesen Schwachsinn erzählen, auch nur eine Sekunde selber daran glauben.	The US nuclear weapons in Germany are to be modernized - not reduced, Mrs Merkel: modernized - and missile bases in Europe will be set up. Supposedly it's always only about deterrence, to keep Putin from invading the Baltic. I would be really interested to know whether those who tell us this nonsense, even for a second themselves believe it.
Beifall bei der LINKEN - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU/CSU): Warum macht er denn dann ein großes Manöver?)	(Applause from The Left - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU / CSU): Why does he do then a big maneuver?)
Wer hat denn seine Grenzen in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten immer weiter nach vorne geschoben?	Who has always extended its limits in the past two decades?
(Gunther Krichbaum (CDU/CSU): Russland!)	(Gunther Krichbaum (CDU / CSU): Russia!)
Russland in Richtung NATO, oder war es nicht eher umgekehrt?	Russia toward NATO, or was it not rather the reverse?
(Beifall bei der LINKEN - Gunther Krichbaum (CDU/CSU): Russland über die Ukraine! So wird ein Schuh draus!)	(Applause from The Left - Gunther Krichbaum (CDU / CSU): Russia via Ukraine So a shoe out of it![i.e., the other way round])
Die USA haben 5 Milliarden Dollar in einen Regime-Change in der Ukraine investiert. Das Ergebnis ist ein zerrissenes Land mit marodierenden faschistischen Banden und, ja, die russische Annexion der Krim, die immer als Beweis für die Aggressivität der russischen Außenpolitik herhalten muss.	The US has invested $5 billion in a regime change in Ukraine. The result is a torn country with marauding fascist gangs and, yes, the Russian annexation of the Crimea, which is always to be used as an evidence of the aggressiveness of Russian foreign policy.
(Gunther Krichbaum (CDU/CSU): Für die Friedfertigkeit bestimmt nicht!)	(Gunther Krichbaum (CDU / CSU): For the readiness of peace it speaks not!)
Auch die neue Aufrüstungsspirale dient angeblich immer nur dazu, den russischen Bären im Zaum zu halten. Eine dümmere Begründung kann man sich wirklich nicht ausdenken.	The new arms race supposedly serves only to keep the Russian bear at bay. A sillier reason really one cannot think of one.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Aktuell liegen die Militärausgaben der NATO beim etwa 13-Fachen der russischen. Und jetzt brauchen wir noch mehr Aufrüstung, um die Sicherheit in Europa zu gewährleisten? Was ist denn das für ein Irrsinn!	Currently the military spending of NATO is at about 13 times the Russian. And now we need more upgrading in order to ensure security in Europe? What kind of a madness is this!
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Trotzdem gehörten Sie, Frau Bundeskanzlerin, wieder einmal zu den ersten, die die Umsetzung des 2-Prozent-Ziels angekündigt haben. 2 Prozent, das bedeutet 25 Milliarden Euro jedes Jahr mehr für Mordwaffen, für Panzer und für Kriegsgerät, aber für gute Renten fehlt uns angeblich das Geld, und für bessere Bildung erst recht. Was sind denn das für absurde politische Prioritäten, die Sie hier setzen? Das kann doch nicht Ihr Ernst sein.	Nevertheless, you were, Mme. Chancellor, once again among the first who announced the implementation of the 2 percent target. 2 percent, which means 25 billion euros every year for murder weapons, for tanks and military equipment, but for good pensions and for better education allegedly we lack the money more than ever. What is the policy for the absurd priorities you set here? You can not be serious.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Der große Außenpolitiker George F. Kennan hat die NATO-Osterweiterung schon Ende der Neunziger als den verhängnisvollsten Fehler der US-Politik seit der Ära des Kalten Krieges bezeichnet, eben weil die Einkreisung Russlands den Weltfrieden nicht sichert, sondern gefährdet. Und trotzdem wird sie immer weiter vorangetrieben, auch mit Ihrer Unterstützung, Frau Merkel. Wir finden das unverantwortlich.	The great foreign policy expert George F. Kennan, called the eastward expansion of NATO at the end of the nineties the most fatal error of US policy since the era of the Cold War, precisely because the encirclement of Russia does not secure world peace, but endangers it. And yet it is always pressed ahead, with your support, Mrs. Merkel. We find that irresponsible.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Sie haben auf Artikel 5 des NATO-Vertrages hingewiesen. Leider haben Sie Artikel 1 nicht erwähnt, der die NATO-Mitglieder verpflichtet, sich jeglicher Drohung oder Gewaltanwendung zu enthalten. Ich glaube, es liegt auf der Hand, dass die NATO und allen voran die USA mit ihren völkerrechtswidrigen Kriegen und ihren Drohnenmorden ihren eigenen Vertrag tagtäglich mit Füßen treten. Dazu hätte ich von Ihnen auch ein Wort erwartet.	You have referred to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. Unfortunately, you have not mentioned Article 1, which obliges the members of NATO to refrain from any threat or use of force. I think it is obvious that NATO and foremost of all the United States with their international law violating wars and their drone murder are treading their own contract underfoot every day. For this I would have expected from you a word.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU/CSU): Es lebe die völkerrechtliche Verlässlichkeit der Russinnen und Russen!)	(Applause from The Left - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU / CSU): Long live the international legal reliability of Russians and Russians!)
Ich muss schon sagen: Über die Destabilisierung des Nahen Ostens zu reden, wie Sie es eben getan haben, aber die Hauptverantwortung von NATO-Staaten und den Irakkrieg noch nicht einmal zu erwähnen, das zeugt nun wirklich von bemerkenswerter Einäugigkeit.	I have to say: Talking about the destabilization of the Middle East, as you have just done it, but not even to mention the primary responsibility of NATO and the war in Iraq, that testifies now really of remarkable monocular vision.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Die Manöver in Osteuropa, die Hochrüstung, die Raketenbasen, die Truppenstationierung: Was kann Moskau darin denn anderes sehen als Kriegsvorbereitung? Auf jeden Fall wird so die Wahrscheinlichkeit und die Möglichkeit einer militärischen Eskalation mit der Atommacht Russland beträchtlich erhöht. Der Ernstfall, für den Sie in Osteuropa so lässig proben und von dem neuerdings in Militärkreisen wieder geredet wird, als wäre er ein kalkulierbares Ereignis - - Frau Merkel, ich finde es ja interessant, dass Sie sich mit Herrn Hofreiter unterhalten; aber ich würde es doch gut finden, wenn Sie meiner Rede wenigstens etwas Gehör verleihen würden. -	The maneuvers in Eastern Europe, the weapons upgrades, the missile bases, the stationing of troops: How can Moscow otherwise regard them but as war preparations? In any case the likelihood and the possibility of a military escalation with the nuclear power Russia is considerably increased. The real thing, for which you rehearse so casually in Eastern Europe and spoke of recently in military circles again, as if it were a predictable event — Mrs Merkel, I think it's interesting that you talk with Mr. Hofreiter (a far-Left Green); but I would find it good if you would give my speech at least some hearing.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN - Sabine Weiss (Wesel I) (CDU/CSU): Vielleicht sollten Sie ihr einmal zuhören! - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU/CSU): Das liegt natürlich auch ein bisschen an Ihrer Rede! - Gunther Krichbaum (CDU/CSU): Wir wollen lieber den Bartsch hören!)	(Applause from The Left - Sabine Weiss (Wesel I) (CDU / CSU): Maybe you should you even listen - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU / CSU): This is of course a bit of your speech - Gunther Krichbaum (! CDU / CSU): We would rather hear the Bartsch)!
Nach einem solchen Ernstfall, für den Sie in Osteuropa so lässig proben und von dem neuerdings in Militärkreisen wieder geredet wird, als wäre er ein kalkulierbares Ereignis, würde es Europa mit seinen über 700 Millionen Einwohnern vielleicht nicht mehr geben.	After such an emergency, for which you will rehearse so casually in Eastern Europe and spoke of recently in military circles again, as if it were a predictable event, there might be no more Europe with its more than 700 million inhabitants.
Das Urteil Willy Brandts, dass ein Krieg mit Russland nicht die Ultima Ratio, sondern die Ultima Irratio ist, das gilt doch heute nicht weniger als in den 70er-Jahren. Deshalb ist es dringend an der Zeit für eine eigenständige europäische Außenpolitik in der Tradition der Entspannungspolitik und natürlich auch für die Ersetzung der US-dominierten NATO durch ein kollektives Sicherheitssystem unter Einschluss Russlands.	The judgment of Willy Brandt that "a war with Russia is not the Ultima Ratio (last resort), but the Ultima Irratio" (ultimate irrationality) — that applies though today no less than in the 70s. There is an urgent time for an independent European foreign policy in the tradition of detente and of course also for the replacement of the US-dominated NATO through a collective security system which includes Russia.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Schon Helmut Schmidt war der Meinung, dass heute mehr Gefahr von den USA als von Russland ausgeht. Das dürfte nach den nächsten US-Präsidentschaftswahlen, wenn im Weißen Haus entweder ein Halbverrückter oder eine Marionette der US-Rüstungslobby regiert, nicht viel anders werden.	Helmut Schmidt was already of the opinion that today assumes more danger proceeds from the US than from Russia. After the next US presidential election, when the White House is governed either by a lunatic or a puppet of the US arms lobby, it will likely be not much different.
(Gunther Krichbaum (CDU/CSU): Oh je, jetzt wird es vom Niveau her langsam unerträglich!)	(Gunther Krichbaum (CDU / CSU): Oh, now it is at this level becoming unbearable!)
Aber das Verhältnis zu Russland und die Kriegsgefahr sind leider nicht die einzigen Punkte, bei denen die politischen Uhren rückwärts laufen. Ich muss schon sagen: Ich finde es ebenso bezeichnend wie traurig, dass Ihre Regierungserklärung zu den Ergebnissen des Europäischen Rates letzte Woche mal eben von der Tagesordnung abgesetzt wurde. Wegschweigen, aussitzen, bloß nicht über Veränderungen reden - das können doch nicht ernsthaft Ihre Schlussfolgerungen aus der aktuellen Krise sein.	Unfortunately, the relationship with Russia and the threat of war are not the only issues where the political clocks run backwards. I have to say: I think it's as significant as it is sad that your government statement on the European Council last week results, it was just withdrawn from the agenda. Zip the lip, sit out, just do not talk about changes - that can't seriously be your conclusions from the current crisis.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Der französische Ökonom Piketty hat doch recht, wenn er Ihnen, Frau Bundeskanzlerin, eine wesentliche Mitverantwortung für den Brexit und den zunehmenden Nationalismus andernorts gibt.	The French economist Piketty has it quite right when he gives you, Madam Chancellor, a substantial share of responsibility for the Proposed Referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union and the rise of nationalism elsewhere.
(Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU/CSU): Das ist doch lächerlich!)	(Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU / CSU): This is ridiculous!)
Ihre ständigen Alleingänge haben den europäischen Zusammenhalt ebenso wenig gestärkt wie die Besserwisserei, mit der die deutsche Regierung versucht, ganz Europa auf die Linie der deutschen Wirtschaftspolitik zu bringen. Halten Sie doch endlich einmal inne, und überdenken Sie Ihre Politik, bevor es wirklich zu spät ist.	Your persistent go-it-alone style has strengthened European cohesion as little as the condescension with which the German government is trying to bring the whole of Europe to the line of German economic policy. Hold it in at last, and reconsider your policy before it is really too late.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Das geeinte Europa, Verständigung und Zusammenarbeit zwischen jahrhundertelang verfeindeten Völkern, ein europäisches Sozialmodell als Alternative zum entfesselten Kapitalismus, das war einmal ein großes, ich würde sagen, ein großartiges Projekt. Es geht längst nicht mehr darum, ob dieses Projekt eine Zukunft hat. Es geht darum, ob es wieder eine Gegenwart bekommt; denn die europäische Integration hat sich doch längst ins Gegenteil verkehrt, in ein Projekt zur Entfesselung der Märkte und zur Aushebelung der Demokratie, in ein Projekt, das europaweit die Prekarisierung der Arbeit und den Abbau sozialer Leistungen vorantreibt. Die Wachstumsraten sind heute in den meisten EU-Staaten niedriger und die Arbeitslosigkeit höher als vor Einführung des Binnenmarktes. Ländern, in denen jeder zweite Jugendliche keinen Job und keine Perspektive hat, werden mit kaltem Ehrgeiz Kürzungsprogramme diktiert. Dieser Ehrgeiz verlässt die EU aber sofort, wenn es zum Beispiel darum geht, den Steuertricks von Apple, Google & Co. endlich die Grundlage zu entziehen. Dabei tragen sie weiß Gott mehr Verantwortung für die öffentlichen Defizite als angeblich generöse Sozialprogramme.	The united Europe, understanding and cooperation between nations warring for centuries, a European social model as an alternative to unfettered capitalism, was once a large, I would say a great project. It's no longer about whether this project has a future. It's about whether it regains a presence; because European integration has nevertheless long been reversed, in a project to unleash the markets and to slash the democracy, in a project wherein Europe promotes the casualization of labor and the reduction of social benefits. The growth rates are lower today in most EU countries and unemployment is higher than before the introduction of the internal market. Countries where every second young person has no job and no prospects[, these countries] are dictated with cold ambition austerity programs. This ambition [then] leaves the EU, but immediately, for example when it comes to finally escape, the tax tricks from Apple, Google & Co. pull the rug out from under [us]. They carry, God knows, more responsibility for the public deficit than a supposedly generous social program.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Überall in Europa wächst die Ungleichheit. Zwischen schamlosem Reichtum am oberen und hoffnungsloser Armut am unteren Ende lebt eine schrumpfende, abstiegsgefährdete Mittelschicht, die sich politisch im Stich gelassen fühlt. Die Zustimmung zur EU geht doch nicht deshalb zurück, weil irgendwelche Nationalisten Stimmungen schüren. Die Zustimmung geht zurück, weil die Mehrheit schlicht keinen Grund hat, sich für eine EU zu begeistern, die ihren Wohlstand verringert und ihre demokratischen Rechte aushebelt.	Across Europe, growing inequality. Between shameless wealth at the top and at the bottom desperate poverty lives a shrinking, relegation-threatened middle class who feels politically abandoned. Approval of the EU is not therefore falling back because any nationalists stoke moods. The approval is falling off because the majority simply has no reason to be enthusiastic for an EU which reduces their prosperity and annuls their democratic rights.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU/CSU): Dann müssen sie in den Mitgliedstaaten mal die richtige Politik machen! Nicht immer nur Schulden machen, sondern eine bessere Politik! Das wäre der richtige Weg! - Max Straubinger (CDU/CSU): Dann müssen die sozialistisch regierten Länder mal eine bessere Politik machen!)	(Applause from The Left - Michael Grosse-Brömer (CDU / CSU): Then they have to make for once in the Member States the right policies.  Not always make only debt, but better policies! That would be the right way! - Max Straubinger (CDU! / CSU): Then the socialist led government must sometimes make better policies)!
Die agilsten Gegner Europas sitzen heute in Brüssel. Es ist nicht bekannt, ob Marine Le Pen Herrn Juncker inzwischen für ihre Frexit-Kampagne als Mitarbeiter verpflichtet hat; aber er ist definitiv ihr bester Mann. Die Stimmen in Großbritannien waren kaum ausgezählt, als Herr Juncker noch einmal bekräftigte, dass das Handelsabkommen CETA ohne Zustimmung der Mitgliedstaaten in Kraft gesetzt werden soll. Inzwischen hat die Kommission den Mitgliedstaaten zwar großzügig das Recht zur Ratifizierung eingeräumt; allerdings ist das wieder nur ein Täuschungsmanöver, weil sie das Abkommen vorläufig in Kraft setzen will. Ich hätte von der Bundesregierung schon gerne gehört, wie sie zu dieser erneuten Unverschämtheit unserer Brüsseler Antidemokraten steht.	The most agile opponent of Europe is sitting in Brussels today [NATO]. It is not known if Marine Le Pen has subsequently engaged Mr. Juncker for their Frexit campaign as an employee; but he is definitely her best man. The voices in the UK were barely counted, before Mr. Juncker once again reiterated that the trade agreement CETA, without the consent of the Member States, should be put in place. Meanwhile, although the Commission has generously given to Member States the right to ratify; however, this is just a ploy again, because she wants to put the Agreement into force provisionally. I would have liked to have heard from the federal government how it stands on this renewed insolence of our Brussels Antidemocrats.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Das ist ja nicht alles. Wenige Tage nach dem Brexit entschied die EU-Kommission, das mutmaßlich krebserregende Pflanzengift Glyphosat für weitere anderthalb Jahre zuzulassen. Das Defizitverfahren gegen Portugal und Spanien soll trotz Krise verschärft werden. Ignoranz gegenüber demokratischen Rechten, Einknicken gegenüber der Wirtschaftslobby und Gleichgültigkeit . . .	That's not all. A few days after the Brexit [Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union], the European Commission decided to allow the suspected carcinogenic plant poison glyphosate for further one and a half years. The excessive deficit procedure for Portugal and Spain will be strengthened despite the crisis. Ignorance vis-à-vis democratic rights, buckling against the business lobby and indifference . . .
(Max Straubinger (CDU/CSU): Sie wenden sich gegen Arbeitsplätze, Frau Wagenknecht, gegen die Wirtschaft!)	(Max Straubinger (CDU / CSU): They are opposed to jobs, Mrs Wagenknecht, against the economy!)
. . . gegenüber einer perspektivlosen jungen Generation: Deutlicher als mit diesen drei Entscheidungen konnte man in der kurzen Zeit seit dem Brexit wirklich nicht all das demonstrieren, was die Menschen an der EU abstößt.	. . . vis-à-vis a perspectiveless young generation: you really could in the short time since the Brexit not demonstrate all that repels people in the EU more clearly than with these three decisions.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
Wer nicht will, dass Europa endgültig zerfällt, der muss doch spätestens jetzt auf einen sozialen und demokratischen Neubeginn setzen, auf ein Europa, das die Menschen wieder begeistern kann und in dem Referenden nicht als Bedrohung, sondern als normaler Bestandteil der Demokratie empfunden werden.	Whoever does not want Europe to finally disintegrate, must then finally now set [her] on a [path to] social and democratic rebirth, to a Europe which can again inspire people and in the referenda perceived not as a threat but as a normal part of democracy?
(Beifall bei der LINKEN)	(Applause from The Left)
So ein Europa wollen zumindest wir als Linke, gerade weil wir nicht wollen, dass die Geister der Vergangenheit über unsere Zukunft bestimmen.	Thus a Europe we want, at least we as the Left, just because we do not want the ghosts of the past determine our future.
(Beifall bei der LINKEN - Ulli Nissen (SPD): Wer kann das klatschen?)	(Applause from The Left - Ulli Nissen (SPD): Who can clap?)