Written by Eric Zuesse; Originally appeared on strategic-culture.org
In recent decades, the US Constitution’s clause that requires a congressional declaration of war before invading any country, has been ignored. Furthermore, ever since 2012 and the passage by Congress of the Magnitsky Act sanctions against Russia, economic sanctions by the US Government have been imposed against any company that fails to comply with a US-imposed economic sanction; a company can even be fined over a billion dollars for violating a US economic sanction. And, so, sanctions are now the way that the US Congress actually does authorize a war — the new way, no longer the way that’s described in the US Constitution. However, in the economic-sanctions phase of a war — this initial phase — the war is being imposed directly against any company that violates a US-ordered economic sanction, against Russia, Iran, or whatever target-country the US Congress has, by means of such sanctions, actually authorized a war by the US to exist — a ‘state of war’ to exist.
For the US Congress, the passage of economic sanctions against a country thus effectively serves now as an authorization for the US President to order the US military to invade that country, if and when the President decides to do so. No further congressional authorization is necessary (except under the US Constitution). This initial phase of a war penalizes only those other nations’ violating companies directly — not the target-country. Though the US Government punishes the violating corporation, the actual target is the targeted (sanctioned) country. Sanctions are being used to strangle that target. The fined companies are mere ‘collateral damage’, in this phase of America’s new warfare. In this phase, which is now the standard first phase of the US Government’s going-to-war, the US Government is coercing corporations to join America’s economic war, against the given targeted country — in this case, it’s a war against Russia; Russia is the country that the US Government wants to strangle, in this particular instance.
On Tuesday, 11 December, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously (no member objected), by voice vote — unrecorded so that nobody can subsequently be blamed for anything — that President Donald Trump should impose penalties, which could amount to billions of dollars, against any EU-based corporation that participates with Russia in Russia’s Nord Stream II Pipeline to supply gas to Europe. This “Resolution,” H.Res.1035, is titled “Expressing opposition to the completion of Nord Stream II, and for other purposes,” and it closes by asserting that the US House of Representatives “supports the imposition of sanctions with respect to Nord Stream II under section 232 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.” With no member objecting, the US House thereby warns corporations to cease doing business with Russia, because the US Government is determined that any such business will be terminated and will maybe also be fined. The US Government imposes its will as if it were the dictator to the entire world, and without even needing to use its military, but just economic coercion.
The US Senate doesn’t yet have a similar bill, but the unanimous passage of this one in the House constitutes a strong warning to Europe’s corporations, that unless they obey the US sanctions, huge financial penalties will be imposed upon them. There are not many issues on which the US Congress is even nearly 100% united in agreement, but during this phase, the introductory phase, of America’s war against Russia, the war against Russia is certainly among those few instances — entirely bipartisan.
According to RT, on December 12th, headlining “US lawmakers want to put a cork in Russia’s gas pipeline to Europe”: “On Monday, Austria’s OMV energy group CEO Rayner Zele stated that the company is set to continue financing the pipeline next year. OMV has already invested some 531 million euros ($607 million) into the project, Zele told Ria Novosti. In early December, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also said that Berlin’s abandoning the project would not make sense as Russia will still go on with it. Germany earlier rebuked Trump’s criticism of the project after the US leader accused Berlin of being a ‘captive’ of Moscow citing Germany’s alleged dependency on natural gas from Russia.”
If the US Government fails to strangulate the economies in the countries such as Russia and Iran against which it has imposed sanctions, then the next step, of course, would be some type of armed invasion of the given targeted country. Before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, America’s economic sanctions killed from 100,000 to 500,000 Iraqi children, but then the US invaded and destroyed the country vastly more than just that.
Economic sanctions are an attempt to coerce a targeted country’s — in effect — surrender, but without needing to use a military invasion as the coercive means. Any sanctioned country is therefore in America’s bomb-sights, and will be conquered in one way or another, unless the US Government backs down, at some point.
According to the most extensive study that was ever done of US military bases worldwide, there are over a thousand such bases, and this is a huge multiple of all non-US military bases put together. That study was published in 1995. Many new US military bases have been built and manned since 1995, such as several dozen in just one country, Syria, where the sovereign Government has never invited them in and many times has ordered them to leave, but they refuse to leave. Currently, the US Government spends more than half of all monies that are being spent worldwide on the military.
Regarding the Nord Stream II Pipeline, the beneficiaries if that Pipeline is never completed and placed into service, will be American LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) producers, and also America’s allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel. World War III could actually start as a result of the US Government’s serving America’s (and its allies’) fossil-fuels producers above all other concerns regarding not only global warming, but even world peace itself. Those are the interests that are, in effect, at war against the entire world. This is not a statement of opinion: it is established and well-demonstrated fact. It is the overwhelmingly documented reality.
“This is not a statement of opinion: it is established and well-demonstrated fact. It is the overwhelmingly documented reality.”(c) Example of very norrow view of world events.
Fortunately for all, the lunatic Bolton is not the US.
Stupidity on parade. So companies and individuals participating in Nord Stream II can be sanctioned. Well, easy to resolve, just make companies run be people with no connection to the US. I don’t know fellas, maybe they need to open the windows and get some more oxygen circulating in the ‘halls of power’ located in D.C.. This is embarrassingly dumb stuff, which will only accelerate the demise of my country.
Makes no difference if companies have no connection to US at all. The US freezes their accounts. Blocks financial movement so they can’t operate anywhere in the world. A bit like if your bank stopped you from taking money out of your account , paying bills or transferring money to other accounts. Effectively you are bankrupt.
Ah ………. that’s only if they use the SWIFT system. ;)
The thing is, if the European companies pull out, Russia will complete it by itself, and increase its profits. Russia was trying to spread the wealth around, if they cower before America, and lose money, that’s their problem.
Change of subject, but another military jet just flew over. I have been living here nearly 40 years, and until recently you might get one or 2 military planes a year fly over, now it’s 2 or 3 a day. Since Australia let the yanks set up bases here, the air traffic has been increasing, and this year it is off the charts. They are up to something?
Okay, a complicated question but, a good one.
1) The US is running out of pilots. This is both for commercial and military aviation. 2) Much of the US inventory of aircraft, can’t even fly. F-22s, F-18s for example, have severe shortages of parts. This expands multiple chains of things which cause more problems. 3) US/NATO aviation is basically sitting ducks, just like the carriers now.
In essence, Occidental aviation is FUBAR and in a constant state of Operation BOBHICA. They are trying to get beyond the limited sandbox they find themselves trapped in at this point, with practice or anything they think might work and are simultaneously putting on the ‘oh yeah muthers, we are ready for anybody’ nonsense image protection mode. They might even be trying to do things, out of reach of Russian or Chinese surveilliance.
There are reasons for it. It is just hard to tell if it is one thing or a host of things. My take, I wish well to you Sinbad.
If in case of a war whit Russia All life will finish in the world, Russia, China, India, Syria, Iran, are United and if America thinks that a war in their own Country wont be possible are so foolish. Now a war can touch anybody in the world. And if they think that Europe will back America to start a war against Russia, well lol American Government is taking the most crazy Drugs before bedtime…. What happens to people when they are to rich??? They get insanely idiots.. what happen to people whit power???? They want more…in the end they get fucking to greedy, And when you get to fucking greedy you destroy yourself… and eventually you are left with nothing…. this is America a fucking greedy Nation
In the highly unlikely scenario of the US actually fighting a country like Russia, China, Iran or North Korea, even the lapdog obedient partners in worldwide mass murder like Britain or La France are too wise and weak to get involved. They, like the US only feel brave when attacking, extremely poor, virtually defenseless countries. The US would have to rely on the little worms like Luxembourg, Iceland, Denmark or Norway. The evil, despicable, brain-damaged, mental freaks and morons who run US foreign policy are not as clever as the British or French lapdogs. Why would a Russia or China even want to fight the US? Americans already do their best to exterminate each other with over 17,000 homicides each year in 2016 and 2017. (Those figures are almost twice the number than in China and China has over FOUR TIMES the number of people – China ~ 1.41 billion and the US ~ 327 million. Add to that the number of suicides and drug overdose deaths in the US: over 47,000 and 70,000 in 2017 respectively.) So the US doesn’t need anybody’s help when to it comes to national suicide. That’s why Americans are so loved all over the world – sarcasm.
Look at Mr. Fucking Trump. Has toilet from Gold ,when people around the world are dying from lack of food. Mis Fucking Clinton whit all her charity foundation which she keeps 90%of all donations to herself ,and many other mother fuckers.. Unfair WORLD
And they are not even remotely close to the worst of them so what has changed in the last 1000 years . Nothing apart from free flowing information which allows those without dark glasses on to perhaps see a little of what has been hidden .
There is no lack of food but more in the world, then people need. So You say that hard working and productive people should give the non changeables food, so the world can make more of them to feed.
I dont. If anything, the world need less people incl. some in the rich level.
12 mio Syrians not in their homes. Almost everyday people svimming to Europe. Almost all of them are muslims. So You have to look at Your own garden, so to speak. Why are almost all fleeing people muslims.
And why do we dont want them. Well we try equla rights, go to school, educate, use our skills and are payd pr hour in staed of ineffective men are rewarded with flowers and vomen get some flowers here and there.
Go home in You own settlement and store food for starving kurds and other in norther Syria for the years, when its harly raining. More then 500.000 dead seemes not to solve things there. Removing Dicatators or most of the dirty Sharia will fo it – But og no, then You show no respeckt for staying in the same bad solutions as You have choosen Yourself.
The United States is the strongest, richest and most powerful country in the world and you are expendable sh.thole countries and thats facts and you know it.
Thats why you should think twice and behave nicely when we demand your cooperation. Otherwise you could easily loose your job or what you have on your small bank account………………………..LOL.
The fuktard is strong with this one….
The end for America is near. They could have had another hundred years of wealth, if they had taken the British path and slowly relinquished their empire. But the Americans are like the addicted gambler, always willing to double the losing bet, and so they will get nothing, from the richest nation on earth to India, in less than a decade.
So far only one af those comments see the whole world. The rest is a closed cirkel of hairy behinds making internal talk not worth listening to and rely.
I always find it curious that you insist on replying and discussing the matters you describe as “worthless”.
What would we do without you Jens? Slowly but surely you are filling the empty shoes of Solomon, even better than he does himself. Keep up the good work!
Jens, Tommy, Solomon, all one person…
Since 2001 the US Neo-Con clique has been presenting domestic legislative acts that actively override and/or circumvent the US Constitution and its original Amendments. The US Constitution and its Amendments are a giant, legal, obstacle to the Neo-Con’s pursuit of their international and domestic political agenda, with result Neo-Con’s have been systematically attacking these by legislative means from the Patriot Act to the Magnitsky Act. It is always worth recalling the original US Neo-Cons were essentially ex-Trotsky-ites, who changed their stripes after 1967, when they abruptly realized their hard left ideological position was not going to be of any assistance to Israel in its wars – for that they needed the US military, and a new public policy position – based around use of US power structures. However, the US Neo-Con faction originates from a totalitarian ideological background, and that remains baked into their core world view, and that totalitarianism is starkly revealed in their zeal to effectively destroy through legislative acts the Constitutional legal limits and restrictions of the US government’s actions – both in international relations (aggressive war) and domestic citizenry rights (information control).