Category: political

President Joe Biden showed signs of statesmanship and responsibility following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Various hawks and fanatics in both parties espoused actions that threatened to increase tensions between the west and Russia. Joe Biden correctly opposed the establishment of a no fly zone and sought to avoid a confrontation between Americans and Russians.

More recently, Biden has made some rather undiplomatic and inflammatory statements. Most likely these statements were made out of carelessness, but coming from the President they were highly irresponsible. Speaking to American troops, Biden suggested they would be going to Ukraine.

Furthermore, Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be removed. The White House officials moved to correct these statements. It has been understood that American troops will not be going to Ukraine and that the President will not be pursuing a policy of regime change in Moscow.

The world would have been much better off with Donald Trump in the White House. Biden is not an ideal President but considering the dangerous rhetoric of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress we could have Presidents worse than Biden in the White House. Biden must shut up and stop making comments that do not reflect official policy.

Biden has said that he wants Putin out personally and does not support regime change in Russia. That distinction is understood when clarified but any personal opinion of Biden is going to be interpreted as being the official position of the White House. Biden should not be issuing personal opinions. He must shut up.

The Biden Presidency is compromised by the activities in Ukraine of Hunter Biden. News reports from sources such as the New York Post are implicating Hunter Biden with the bio labs in Ukraine. Hunter Biden has proven to be a very destructive individual.

At the time of this writing, there appears to be progress in talks between Ukraine and Russia. The peace process should be encouraged. Biden’s Presidency could be a successful one in the event of peace between Russia and Ukraine. Biden should shut up in the meantime.

Morality is above politics. At this point it is necessary for Russia to stop the war. The deliberate targeting of civilians in war is a war crime. American and NATO criticism of Russia is enormously hypocritical considering the targeting of American bombing of civilians in Serbia and Iraq. Regardless, two wrongs do not make a right.

There is conflicting information about what is happening in Ukraine. The existence of bio labs seems to be a fact despite denials by Washington. The biases of the western media against Russia is also a fact.

On the other hand, it is also a fact that Russia invaded Ukraine. The war must end and this will give both parties the opportunity to make their cases. Politically, the political leanings of this blog have been expressed very often over the past two years.

What matters first and foremost are the lives of people on the ground in Ukraine who either been killed or have left their homes. It should also matter to the Russians that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has condemned the war and there is a serious movement in Ukraine to break away from the Patriarch of Moscow. Russia’s claims to political leadership in Orthodoxy (which this blog champions) is being seriously compromised by the unceasing war in Ukraine.

Orthodox Christians were correctly outraged in 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia on Orthodox Pascha. Russia is bombing another Orthodox country during the great fast. It will not serve Russia well if the bombing of Ukraine continues into Pascha.

The war needs to end now and deescalation should be the goal of an Orthodox leader. The example of Byzantine Emperors who usually tried to avoid wars should have been the example of Russia. War making has usually been the love of western aggression and imperialism.

The Crusader genocide and crimes against Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem filled the Greek Orthodox with disgust and revulsion. Now, there are certain similarities between the subsequent Crusader attack on Constantinople in 1204 and NATO’s expansion to the Russian border in our own day. Ukrainian civilians however are not responsible for the acts of aggression emanating from NATO.

The Russians should learn from the self destructive actions of the Byzantine Empire which devoured itself in its final centuries through repeated miscalculations and civil wars. The inter Orthodox war in Ukraine is similar to the civil wars between Orthodox Greeks in Byzantium and the wars between the Greeks and the Serbs and Bulgarians.

The major beneficiary then was the Ottoman Empire. The war in Ukraine strengthens NATO and Turkey over the long term. Russia should end the war now.

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/victoria-nuland-ukraine-has-biological?r=oleb7&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Victoria Nuland from the State Department has acknowledged in a rather deceitful way that there are labs in Ukraine that have conducted biological research. As the above linked article states, Nuland has expressed concern about this research falling into the hands of the Russians. This may possibly indicate that Washington has not been entirely forthcoming about its activities in Ukraine.

There is much we do not know. The war however must end.

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been my favorite Democrat for some time. Actually, she is the only Democrat I like. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference Gabbard told the truth. NATO expansion to the Russian border triggered the Russian attack on Ukraine.

For speaking this truth, Gabbard was criticized by both warmongering Democrats and Republicans. The warmongers in both parties seem to think Putin invaded Ukraine simply because he is evil. Real life is more complicated. It appears the post Trump Republican Party is reverting back to the monstrosity that it was before Trump took over and cleaned it up.

Mitt Romney the opportunistic whore is gaining praise from the media and Democrats because of his anti Russian statements made over ten years ago. Any moron who is anti Russian is gaining praise. Hitler hated Russia with great passion so I would not be surprised if the media and both parties had some nice words to say about him.

Romney ran for Senate in Massachusetts to the left of Ted Kennedy. He was firmly pro abortion and pro gay rights. By the time he started running for President over a decade later he lied about being pro life his entire life. Romney was the only Republican to vote to impeach Donald Trump and he stupidly claims to be conservative even after marching with the Marxist Black Lives Matter.

Joe Biden deserves some credit for being the voice of reason. Biden has ruled out a no fly zone over Ukraine and seems determined (for now) to avoid a direct confrontation with the Russians. This is a very responsible and logical stance.

It is more commendable considering how stupid politicians in both parties are on the matter of Ukraine.

Neoconservative Republican Adam Kinzinger wants to send American soldiers to Ukraine. He wants to set up a no fly zone which means Americans would shoot down Russian planes. The President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass has called for “regime change” in Russia. Because regime change worked so well in Iraq.

Whenever I begin to have doubts about Russian military action in Ukraine, I can always depend on American lunatics to clarify the situation. The reason we have come to this situation is because American officials are stupid or deranged. Regime change in Russia!

The Russians believe that Russia faces an existential threat from an expanding NATO. Normal people (where are you Donald Trump?) would work to ease tensions and to clear the air. By no means am I an Orthodox Christian indifferent to the suffering of Ukrainian Orthodox men, women, and children. At the same time I recognize that Russia to an extent has been placed on the defensive by warmongering lunatics.

What is needed is rational thought. There are bright signs on the horizon. Ukrainian and Russian leaders may be meeting very soon. Hopefully, there will be a ceasefire and negotiations can begin.

How did we get here? We got here because the west did not respect Russia. Russia is a great country that has been invaded numerous times throughout history. Russia also crushed Napolean and Hitler. These were not easy victories.

Russia could demonstrate good faith by withdrawing from some territory as a gesture of good will. Then negotiations could begin. Washington could give assurances that Ukraine will not join NATO and Russia could give back more territory in a land for peace deal.

Vladimir Putin is not Hitler. His family was devastated by the Nazis during the siege of Leningrad during the Second World War. We must understand that it is the west that tends to support contemporary Nazi movements. The Azav batalions in Ukraine are Neo-Nazis who glorify the infamous Nazi collaborator Stephan Banderas.

During the wars of Yugoslavia in the 1990’s the Clinton administration supported the pro Nazi Croatians over the Serbs. We should learn what we are talking about but then this is a society where knowledge is based on “the Kardashians” and other bullshit. It is time to sit down and negotiate seriously and put tensions with Russia to rest.

There can be peace between Ukraine and Russia if the west does not encroach on Russian security.

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

John 8:32

There are numerous truths regarding the Ukrainian war. Russia has very unwisely invaded Ukraine and caused suffering and death. President Vladimir Putin has disregarded appeals from many Orthodox Churches asking for an end to the invasion. Most significantly he has ignored the appeal of his beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry who is the spiritual leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

One can concede the wrongness of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, one must also concede the aggressive actions of America and the NATO alliance over the past three decades. In 1999, NATO bombed Orthodox Serbia for seventy eight days. Let’s not kid ourselves about the benevolent behavior the western alliance. General Wesley Clark advocated the firebombing of Serbian cities which led the the deaths of countless Serbian civilians.

Americans and Europeans who feign shock over Ukraine have bloody hands from the bombing of Serbia. The invasion of Iraq was a horror show that brought about a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites and the rise of Abu Al Zarqawi’s group which became ISIS. Zarqawi introduced the practice of decapitating people and burning them alive.

His successors introduced the slave trade which marketed Yazidi women. ISIS engaged in genocide. America and Europe saw Russia as the bigger threat. General Millie, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in 2015 Russia was a bigger threat than ISIS. Russia saved the Christians, Muslims and others from the genocide of ISIS and other jihadist groups.

Russia stopped Syria from becoming a failed state and a breeding ground for terrorism. But the lunatics in Washington and Brussels saw Russia as a threat. The American and NATO wars of Serbia, Iraq, and Syria produced countless horrors. This includes the sexual torture of Muslim men at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Yes, the Russians are in the wrong for invading Ukraine. This is a moral truth. It is also true that Washington was wrong to seek to expand NATO to the Russian border.

Did Washington think that Russia was Serbia or Iraq? If they did, they now should know better. On the other hand, as an Orthodox Christian Vladimir Putin should have empathy for the ordinary Ukrainian who bears no responsibility for the actions of his or her government or for the actions of NATO.

Vladimir Putin is a member of the Orthodox Church. He should respect the primates of the Orthodox Churches worldwide who have written to him asking him to stop the war. This did not have to happen.

Another truth. Hillary Clinton being the unscrupulous whore that she is, is attempting to demonize anyone who might be pro Russian. I am proudly pro Russian even though I am opposed to the invasion of Ukraine. The enemies of Russia in the west like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and others are a vile and odious group.

Hillary, Orthodox Christians do not forget the destruction of Orthodox Serbia by your husband. We do not forget the seizure of the Serbian Orthodox holy places of Kosovo and the ethnic cleansing of the Serbian Christians. This destruction of an Orthodox country by your sexual predator husband.

One last truth. I am an Orthodox Greek who believes that despite my anti war views that the slap that Putin has given the Democratic Party is well deserved. Now, all sides to the negotiating table to put a permanent end to all wars.

I was on the island of Rhodes in 2016 reading the International New York Times when I read an op-ed by neoconservative Max Boot. Boot was like his fellow neocons a proponent of war and international meddling. He supported Hillary Clinton for President over Donald Trump. At that moment I decided to vote Trump for President.

During the campaign dozens of neoconservatives from the Republican camp endorsed Hillary Clinton. You can tell a lot about someone based on who their opponents are. Trump ran on an anti war platform because he understood the madness of unending wars and he understood the stupidity of turning Russia into an enemy.

If Donald Trump were President today Russia would not have invaded Ukraine. Trump respected Russia as a great power and had no inclination to expand NATO to the Russian border. Under Clinton, Bush, and Obama NATO gradually began to encircle Russia. Former Assistant Defense Secretary (and psychopath) under Bush Paul Wolfowitz once said the United States should go to war with Russia over Lithuania.

One can believe the Russians are wrong for invading Ukraine while simultaneously holding pro Russian sympathies. The Russians might be wrong for invading but they are correct in challenging the world order that the Clintons, Bushes, and Bidens have attempted to impose on the world. The United States has made it a practice to engage in war after war and has no business condemning the Russians as there is still a defensive aspect to the Russian offensive.

The United State bombed Serbia for three months in 1999 and took Kosovo, the spiritual center of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Russians were weak at the time and in no position to challenge the aggressors. Make no mistake about it, the Russians have never forgotten the bombing of Serbia.

The United States invaded Iraq and created a humanitarian disaster while opening the door for the Islamic State to rise and perpetrate genocide. The overthrow of President Khaddafi in Libya was also disastrous and led to a humanitarian disaster and the presence of Al Quada and ISIS in Libya. The western attempt to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad was more insanity. Thankfully, the Russians intervened and stopped the genocide of Syria’s Christians and the takeover of Syria by jihadist groups.

For about the past decade, there has been a wave of anti Russian hysteria in America. This predated the 2016 elections but became more fierce when Queen Hillary lost the election. The origins to the anti Russian hysteria lie in both the ideology of American social progressives and neoconservative ambitions to rule the world.

The neocons desire a free hand to intervene anywhere they like in the world. The expansionism of NATO began under Clinton but progressed further under Bush. The foreign policy elites of both parties are under the influence of the neoconservatives who follow the traditional anti Russian sentiments of the British and the French during the nineteenth century.

The social progressives and liberals were outraged when Orthodox Russia punished the criminal girls of “Pussy Riot”. This group desecrated the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow under the guise of “free speech”. Western journalists and celebrities condemned the prosecution of women who defiled an Orthodox Cathedral!

Furthermore, western funded non governmental organizations in Russia were promoting the teaching of gay propaganda in Russian schools. The objections of the Russian Church and Orthodox people of Russia put a stop to this. This further enraged western leftists.

Hillary Clinton, the power hungry hag could not accept her election loss with class. No, the evil Russians fixed the elections for Trump. The Democrats and the media played upon the dislike of Russia to exacerbate hatred of all Russians everywhere, including the Russian Orthodox Church.

Democrat Paul Begala suggested that if Trump wanted to prove he was not a Russian tool, then he should have bombed Russia. It has been clear for many years that the Democrats are psychopaths. It is also true that there are also psychopathic Republicans who share these deranged views.

Years of anti Russian hatred have culminated in the violation of religious freedom of Orthodox Christians. American pressure on the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church of Greece are well known among the Orthodox. In 2018, Patriarch Bartholomew recognized non canonical and schismatic groups in Ukraine (part of the Russian Church) as a legitimate Church in violation of Orthodox canon law and ecclesiology.

In 2019, at the behest of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Church of Greece recognized the Ukrainian schismatics. The chaos within the Orthodox Church continues up to the present time. There is nothing the war mongering neocons and their left wing interventionist allies will not do to undermine Russia.

In 2014, neoconservatives such Victoria Nuland and Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt supported the overthrow of the Ukrainian government to install an anti Russian regime. Pyatt later became Ambassador to Greece where he was involved in lobbying the Archbishop of Athens to recognize the fake church in Ukraine. The NATO alliance can talk about freedom and democracy but they have a hold over Greece that calls into question Greek sovereignty.

The British newspaper the Guardian had written that in 2008, Washington and London brought about the overthrow of the Karamanlis government in Athens. Prime Minister Karamanlis had negotiated an agreement with Russia over an oil pipeline because he thought it was in the interests of Greece. NATO objected and vetoed the deal.

Years of anti Russian propaganda and policies have brought about the lamentable war in Ukraine. The narcissism and arrogance of American and European officials who do not comprehend that other countries have security interests brought this about. I voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. The wisest votes that I have ever cast.

Turkish theologian: The Koran does not accept the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque

A Turkish Islamic theologian has criticized the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. Mustafa Islamoglou said the conversion of Hagia Sophia is contrary to the teachings of the Koran. It is good to see such voices of moderation in Turkey today.

Hopefully, such voices will continue to protest and speak out and will grow stronger over time.

In addition, Eliza Vozemberg -Vryonidis a member of the European Parliament has written a letter to the European commission informing them of the further damage being done to the Great Church by the Turkish authorities.

(Hagia Sophia Diaries are entries being posted whenever there is news regarding the Great Church. The number refers to the number of entries. The first diaries-entries of the Hagia Sophia Diaries began in July 2020 during the run up to the conversion of Justinian’s Church)

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis has said Greece will support Ukraine’s territorial integrity in the event of a Russian invasion. What exactly does this even mean? What isAthens going to do should Russia actually invade? Furthermore, why does Athens have an interest in Ukraine? What Greek interests are at stake?

Turkey has occupied Cyprus since 1974 and has ethnically cleansed the occupied territories of Greece. Turkey is openly threatening war with Greece by demanding the demilitarization of the Greek islands. Why does Mitsotakis care about Ukraine?

Sadly, the answer to this rhetorical question is that Greece is internationalist in its foreign policy. Greece has been westernized to such an extent that its sovereignty and independence in foreign affairs is nonexistent. Mitsotakis is much better in his foreign policy than his predecessors but far from perfect.

NATO and the European Union view Russia as a threat. Serious Greeks with a nationalist ethos and who are solidly Orthodox are pro Russian. Russian is not a threat to Greece and alone among the great powers has never dominated Greece or interfered in the internal affairs of Greece. Sorry, the Communists of the Soviet era do not count.

The only obstacle to the flourishing of Greek-Russian relations are ties between Russia and Turkey. The Russians sat on the sidelines when Azerbaijan with the backing of Turkey defeated the Armenians over a year ago. Russian support for Turkey is an obstacle to good relations with Greece. Of course, Patriarch Bartholomew has made Greek-Russian relations worse with his meddling in Ukraine.

For now, Greek foreign policy needs to concentrate on one thing. Defending its territorial integrity from Turkey. NATO has made very clear it has no interest in helping Greece. Within the European Union, the Germans have made it clear that Greece can expect no help or assistance.

Greece needs to keep all options open in Moscow and Washington. Washington right now cannot be depended on because it is agitating for war in Ukraine. As long as Russia is considered the enemy, Washington will support Turkey. Incidentally, Turkey is supplying Ukraine with drones which is angering the Russians.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis is in a tough position. For now, he should make no commitments to any cause other than the Hellenic cause. That means staying out of Ukraine and concentrating on defending the Hellenic homeland from Turkish aggression.

The Turkish Ambassador to the United Nations Feridun Sinirlioglu has written a letter to the United Nations Security Council claiming that the militarization of the Greek islands by Athens represents a threat to Turkey. The Turkish government of course ignores its own persistent violations of Treaties. The Treaty of Lausanne was supposed to provide autonomy for the Greek populations of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos.

The Treaty of Lausanne was supposed to protect the Greek Orthodox population of Constantinople. Furthermore, at the Lausanne conference of 1923 Turkey officially renounced all claims to Cyprus. Turkey has violated all of the aforementioned agreements that it made.

Turkey is becoming more aggressive and is using Greece’s militarization of the islands as an excuse to justify potential invasions of the islands. One of the few wise things that Greece has done is to militarize the islands. Without military bases and troops the islands would have likely been invaded decades ago.

Where exactly is NATO on this? NATO is threatening war with Russia over Ukraine. NATO does not want to be bothered with Greece. The Mitsotakis government has previously asked NATO to intervene. NATO refused to do so.

NATO was indifferent to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and to the ethnic cleansing of Greeks from Constantinople in 1955 and later during the 1960’s. Athens and the Greek world in general have made a mistake by aligning themselves so closely with the west. As of this writing it appears that Turkey is offering to assist Ukraine against Russia by providing them with drones.

The Turks are snubbing the Russians. This could again open the door for Greek-Russian cooperation. Whatever Greece does, Athens should not participate in any way in a conflict over Ukraine considering the problems with Turkey.

The Biden administration is proving to be useless to Greece. Anti Russian hysteria is going to make Turkey to important to alienate. Greece needs to think long and hard about future options.