Posted on 09/19/2024 3:07:28 PM PDT by ransomnote
Alex Christoforou: Introduces the topic of the long range missile strikes, the UK push to get the US's approval to launch Storm Shadow missiles into pre-2014 Russian territory, and Kier Starmers personal involvement, obsession with getting authorization to launch them. Starmer's meeting last week with Biden and his staff is also up for discussion. Kier Starmer didn't get the authorization, but he's not giving up.
Starmer is now going to Italy, Germany and France to convince them to join his plan to 'attack Russia' (with long range missiles via Ukrainian proxies); Christaforou says he can't find other words to describe what Starmer is attempting with the use of long range missiles on Russia. These three countries have previously said or hinted they want nothing to do with long range missile strikes into pre 2014 Russia. 1:24
Alexander Mercouris: It is an obsession, it's dangerous, and it's going to end badly. Regarding 'Britain launching missiles on Russia' (via Ukrainian proxies), the British would say 'it's not about us (Britain) doing anything at all, it's about the Ukraine doing it, using our long range missiles...' However, there's an astonishing, very revealing article in the London Times which contains a phrase in which it says Britain cannot launch missiles against Russia by itself, it need American help to do it. They're not saying 'Ukraine can't launch long range missiles without American help,' they are saying, 'Britain cannot do it without American help.' (Mercouris is laughing here, surprised at the candor of the statement).
It could have been a slip, sometimes that happens. The article was clearly based on very high level briefings from very high level people, including British Defense Ministry. This is clearly what we're looking at.
It's a complete obsession becoming a personal crusade. You'd think what happened to prior leaders in the UK (Johnson, Sunak etc.) who embraced Zelensky would warn Kier Starmer not to follow in their tracks. You'd think the advice from the British Foreign Office, to dial down and back off would have an impact. The article says the Foreign Office advised Starmer that Britain is too far ahead and out on a limb about this, that they should stay with the pack and not go out alone on this. 4:04
Alex Christoforou: What is the Foreign Office's connection to the...?
Alexander Mercouris: The Foreign Office is the Foreign Ministry (British). We don't have a Foreign Minister; we have a Secretary of State, and the Foreign Office is our Foreign Ministry. Let's call it the Foreign Ministry. It's advising Starmer not to do this, and Starmer rejected their advice. Former National Security Adviser as well as being the former ambassador to America, Lord Darroch, said in an interview with the Financial Times that this is an incredibly bad idea and it could get us into all sorts of trouble, but Starmer continues as he is determined to press forward for the use of long range missiles.
The article in the Times told us a lot of other things. 5:17 They said he (Starmer) had been encouraged to take this course by Tony Blinkin. This is what we've been saying, Blinkin and neo cons are intent on this. Starmer assumed that when Blinken said people in Washington were starting to endorse this idea, that it was true, so when Starmer went to Washington he expected Biden and other American officials he met would say yes. He was shocked when they said 'no' and that 'we're not doing it now, it's not an option for the moment.' They're now blaming Jake Sullivan, saying he doesn't believe in any of this, as if he's exercising influence over Biden and the entire US government. It is Jake Sullivan alone who is apparently preventing these 'brilliant' attacks on Russia with these missiles.
Meanwhile, the European interest in this tactic is quite cool. Olaf Scholz (Chancellor of Germany) has absolutely ruled it out; he won't supply TAURUS missiles to Ukraine and won't authorize strikes against Russia. Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni is saying the same thing. A few weeks ago, France's President Macron might have backed this idea.
Britain's Storm Shadow missile is basically a French missile, derivative of a French design developed in the 1980s. 7:14 They (France) are the ones who produce it, although there's been some British input. Since they produce the missile, the French are the ones who have to give permission to use it (i.e., in Ukraine against Russia). After the recent parliamentary elections in France, the public is clearly against the use of the long range missiles. Most of the political class on the left and right oppose it too. Mercouris thinks President Macron's designate (Prime Minister Michel Barnier) will probably oppose it too.
So the French oppose the idea, but Starmer is obsessed with this goal. Ultimately, the people who matter are the Americans. If they change their position, it will happen. But if the Americans continue to say 'no', then it won't and it can't. 8:14
This is the last incredible revelation in the Times article: In regards to the Storm Shadow missiles, because the Russians are jamming all the signals, the only way to get Storm Shadows through Russian defenses is to use ground mapping technology, and this depends on American satellites. While they don't quite say that the data has to be uploaded by American technicians, the article says this is an American proprietary system.
This information takes us straight back to what Vladimir Putin said a couple of days ago in his warning. Putin said that the Ukraine cannot launch these missiles by itself; it needs NATO personnel to format the missiles for that to happen. Those words Putin said have not been publicized in the West very well, and in Britain, they have not been publicized at all, but the Times is effectively confirming their truth. The Americans have to be involved; they have to provide the satellite data and they probably have to provide the formatting as well.
This takes us directly to what this (use of long range missiles) is all about. It's about getting the United States directly involved in the war (ransomnote: it's not a bug, it's a feature) because the British know the Ukraine is losing the war and the situation in Ukraine is becoming desperate. The British are extremely over-invested in Project Ukraine, so the only way to turn things around is to find a way to pull in the United States. They plan to do it by launching Storm Shadow missiles against Russia. Mercouris thinks the Americans, at least some of them, have figured this out and it's why they are resisting.
IN Starmer's case, it's a personal crusade.
Alex Christoforou: Well, Americans like Blinkin...
Alexander Mercouris: They want it too. Absolutely.
Alex Christoforou: I think the Pentagon would too if they thought they could win, but the Pentagon finally understands that they've lost this. This would really endanger the U.S. military if they did something like this. So, they're putting a brake on this.
The Defense Ministers - the Defense Ministry in the UK is, according to the Sunday Times, are egging Starmer on. UK Defense ministers and Boris Johnson are telling Starmer to go it alone. Forget the US, launch the missiles.
Alexander Mercouris: Yes. Which of course, he can't, according to what the Times tells us, you need American input to do it. But some of these ministers, these ex ministers, are lobbying for this thing. It's because Britain has massively over invested in Project Ukraine and is far out on a limb; if Ukraine is defeated, it is a defeat for Britain. This is unendurable to them as it would be a defeat of Britain, by the Russians. We know the British have some massive problem with Russia.
Alex Christoforou: So the whole goal is to pull the US into war with Russia. Hopefully the American people understand this is what's happening. Zelensky's 'Victory Plan' is to pull the United States into the war. There is no 'NATO'. The United States is NATO.
So the whole goal is get the US involved, maybe even with boots on the ground. That's their only possible chance, and it's not a guarantee, of perhaps pulling off some sort of a stalemate or victory. If they don't get the US into the war, it's done. Everyone understands this, including Jake Sullivan and the Pentagon, although they may want to keep this thing going until after the elections, until January or February when they're gone.
The Netherlands says they don't have Patriot Air Defenses to give to Ukraine, but they have been saying they would provide them. There are no Patriot Missile systems to give to Ukraine. 13:51
The money is running out - various US publications say if Harris wins in 2024, there's just no more money to give to Ukraine. Yet you still have defense ministers Blinkin, Starmer going to the Ukraine, and they are still trying to get the US involved.
Alexander Mercouris: That's exactly what's happening, and it's not so different from what Macron was trying to do a few months ago. RIght after the fall of Avdyevka (sp) there was a big panic, fear the Ukraine was going to lose. Macron goes out and talks about sending French troops to hold the line there; we said at the time, along with others, what Macron was really doing is create a situation where the French came up against the Russians, and then the French would ask the Americans to come save them. French society was deeply hostile to that whole plan. Parliamentary elections showed that French society was dead against that whole idea.
Now the British are trying to do the same thing; they understand that British society would never agree to British troops being sent to fight in Ukraine, openly fight in Ukraine. Covertly, they are of course there, and they have been there all along. Remember we did a live stream with Jim Webb in which he talked about how the SAS was fighting the Russians at the airport in Feb/March 2022. The British may be there covertly, the British people will accept that. But they would never accept if the British army, which is not in great shape, were to overtly enter the fight.
So instead what they are trying to use long-range strikes with Storm Shadows against Russia to drag in the United States. That's exactly the same story as Macron's efforts.
Some Americans are opposed, and some Americans are in favor. Blinkin wants to enlarge the war, along with others in the State Department. But the Pentagon is opposed because they don't want war with Russia and they understand how dangerous that would be. They don't want to be in a situation where the Russians might want to retaliate against American assets around the world. 16:56
Jake Sullivan, NSA Advisor, has to listen to the Pentagon daily has cooled on the idea, but wants to keep the war going until the election and beyond. But he no longer believes in a Ukrainian victory - if you want confirmation of that, go to the Times article; an ex British official says Jake Sullivan doesn't believe in the possibility of a Ukrainian victory. This so-called 'terrible' man never believed in anyway, going all the way back to Feb 2022. They're saying a really nasty set of things about Jake Sullivan. The British agree with him. 18:26
Alex Christoforou: Two final questions. What would happen if the UK just stopped supporting Project Ukraine? Why is this such an existential issue? Just let it go.
Alexander Mercouris: It would be a huge relief to them. Back in Feb/March 2022, you couldn't move around Britain without seeing Ukrainian flags, stickers on houses and windows. That's gone - the British people have many other concerns to worry about, many many problems to deal with, rather than Ukraine. Criticism and skepticism about the whole thing has grown. This commitment to the Ukraine is making the problems of the British worse. It's causing energy crisis, energy costs to rise, it's led to vast expenditures of money, it's led to a critical situation with the British defense system, and it's led to claims, and Mercouris doesn't know if they are true, that it's left British banks exposed because supposedly they've given guarantees for Ukrainian loans. Mercouris stresses that's something he's heard, but he's never seen any reports about it.
Mercouris thinks most British would probably say 'maybe we're a bit sorry the Ukraine has gone down, but ultimately we've got more important things to worry about.' 20:24
He says the political class is different, the security (or securities?) establishment, the defense establishment, people in Westminster, the people of the two major parties are different. They've made the duel that they believe they are conducting with Russia, the central element in their claim that Britain is still a world power. By matching off against Russia, as they see it, they can tell the Americans they are still important. They can tell the world, "Look. We're still important. You see the Russians are big and powerful and strong, and the fact that we're dueling with them must also mean that we, too, are big, powerful and strong." If Ukraine goes down, if Britain, by extension, loses, then that whole psychologically important narrative of the British political class falls and they are reduced to accepting they are leading a diminished country, as they would see it, on the margin of world affairs. They can't accept this.
Mercouris thinks that they would be liberated if they stopped dreaming these fantasies of great British power etc. They could turn their attention to Britain - there's a lot they could do, and it would be exciting and interesting to start doing it, to start addressing real British problems. But they won't accept that. Mercouris recalls reading an article which said if Russia wins, it would be a humiliation for the two most powerful nations in NATO (Mercouris laughs here), bracketing Britain with the US, giving it equal status to the United States. It's an absurd idea, but the British political class still clings to it. 23:00
Alex Christoforou: Final question, on a lighter note: What's up with Boris Johnson? What's his angle? Does he want to become another Tony Blair figure where he's just traveling the world, getting paid ungodly amounts of money to cause trouble and chaos? He popped up in Kyiv a couple of days ago - no one is understanding what his role is in Britain's government, in the Globalist elite architecture.
Alexander Mercouris: You've answered the question as you posed the question. The reason Boris is doing this is to maintain his status, Ukraine was his big thing so he just continues with that, to look and sound important. His travel to Kyiv makes him look like a world statesman, he'll still be invited to important conferences and places, and speak there about the dangers from Russia, reciting again and again and again his own versions of Winston Churchill's 'Iron Curtain' speech in the 1940's. Boris Johnson wrote a biography of Churchill; Mercouris says it's not a very good one.
Johnson is working to preserve the fiction he's still someone important. It's good for him, he gets paid. Mercouris is not saying Boris doesn't believe in what he's saying, but with him the material benefits play a large role in making him do what he does. Johnson will never acquire Tony Blair's level of influence over British politics, which is unfortunate is because Blair's influence is disastrous, as would Johnson's influence also be if he ever rose to Tony Blair's status. Blair is much more intelligent and manipulate and dangerous figure than Johnson will ever be.
one possible scenario: we in, take a direct hit from Russia, elections cancelled.
wonder if there’s a betting market for stuff like that.
We have FReepers who agree with the UK.
PING
But it ain't our fight. It ain't. The #1 way we should undermine Russia is to drill baby drill and export energy. That is best for us anyway.
Thanks for taking the time to provide the transcript.
In the General/Chat forum, on a thread titled UK wants US directly involved in UKRAINE CONFLICT (My notes on the excellent 26 minute RUMBLE video.), Kazan wrote: Thanks for taking the time to provide the transcript.
Just notes, FRiend. But you are welcome. I think this is one of the best Ukraine videos I've seen.
Keir Starmer is an unreformed Trotskyist. In the 80s he was editor of an idiotic Trotsky-Marxist magazine, and later headed a professional group of “Trotskyist” lawyers
Like our own Fed.gov marxist moles, he climbed the greasy pole of state politics in the Crown Prosecution Service, the equivalent of USA’s DOJ
These leftist pigs are In no way natural allies of Americans
If a war is to take place - it should be on the UK and people like Keir Starmer
playing with fire......
And oh yeah, he's a liar, a conman, and a disbarred fraudulent lawyer.
Barrister who was disbarred after forging Lady Hale letter sued for £200,000 by ex-client
Disciplinary Finding - Alexander Stamatis Mercouris
Beautician wins right to sue barrister who 'lied over payout'
Yep.
You mean that wall of worthless fuzzy text?
It’s nice to know the Brits will always be there for us when they need us.
The US should be telling the now Commie GB to f off.
How is being Commie not being a Rooskie Stooge?
WWII ended 80 years ago, the Cold War ended 35 years ago and Great Britian ceased being a World Power when Margaret Thatcher left politics in 1990. This coincides exactly with America’s decline at the end of the Reagan administration and the rise of the Bush/Clinton/Obama regimes. Starmer is the latest mistake. He has all the charisma of Tim Walz without the Jazz Hands.
Silly stuff.
Sorry UK. We saved your asses twice. Third time is not the charm. Europe never learned anything after two World Wars. You’re still all asshats.
There are idiots. Sink or swim limeys. We have invaders on our own shores now. We will get back to you.
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