Translated by Eugenia (a huge THANK YOU to Eugenia for this huge and complex translation! The Saker)
The 1990s are behind us, as is the breakup of the Soviet Union. The 2000s balancing over the cliff, the years of the debt slavery to IMF, unlimited rule of the oligarchs, the status of the regional power, gangs of non-systemic opposition by the American embassy, isolation and haughty attitude – all of this is in the past.
It is very important today, having finished that part of our path, to learn lessons from the past. Particularly because the war itself hasn’t disappeared, and the pressure of the collective West on our country is very much in evidence right now.
The most important conclusion appears to be that the deepest and the most prolonged depressions in the history of Russia coincide not with wars but with the periods of revolutions. Nineteen seventeenth, nineteen ninety first, and, finally, the aborted one, two thousand twelfth.
The dynamics of the GDP per capita in Russia from 1885 through 2011. The value for 1913 is 100%.
To destroy our country, our “friend and partners” were counting precisely on revolutions. And we have to admit that relying on a revolution in Russia rather than on a military confrontation with it, they have created the largest number of problems and difficulties for us.
If the Bolsheviks managed to reach the pre-war level after the WWI and civil war in the first 5-year period, and the losses after the Great Patriotic war were already recouped by 1955, we are still recovering after the catastrophe of 1991 with great difficulty.
GDP of Russia – USSR – Russian Federation in % of the GDP of the USA
Only at the end of two thousand twelfth after the defeat of the most dangerous attempt at revolution, Russia succeeded in transferring the battle for its sovereignty to the international front. The country did not only succeed in defending itself but also developed immunity to further attempts by the West to arrest the Russia’s development using the traditional Western tools – regime change and incitement of internecine conflicts. The country has come to understand the most important thing – the mortal danger of a stab in the back administered within its own borders.
Thanks to that, we have gained time and are continuing to develop successfully.
Even the enormous pressure the West consolidated against us, its sanctions, engineered drop in the oil prices, economic sabotage and juridical outrage in 2015 – the pressure that would have brought down any other country – in Russia only resulted in 3% reduction in GDP. Furthermore, by the end of this year, according to the European estimates, Russia is to expect positive growth.
Wars, crises, pressure, maligning – all of this does not really scare us. We have always weathered storms and have always emerged from them stronger than before.
Table: Three crises in comparison
Our chief enemy has always been the “5th column” inside the country. Those “our people” that betrayed our country at some time or other and, for the money of their sponsors, deceived their former compatriots. Fortunately, today we have become much more experienced, everyone has Internet available, and the Russian society is united by the deep sense of patriotism and generally is much more cohesive that even a few years ago.
All of this gives us a good chance to move our country to a new level of development.
Today, we already are in possession of an outstanding army.
We are one of the recognized leaders in technological innovations. We are again welcoming more little compatriots as the population growth is being restored after catastrophic 1990s.
Population growth in 1961-2016.
The geopolitical, diplomatic and military multi-step combinations devised by the Russian leadership time and again win the upper hand over the multibillion dollar analytical and specialized “agencies” of the Western countries.
But all these achievements are not the accidents of fate but the results of the tremendous effort, sophisticated analysis, well-calculated tactics and brilliant strategy.
Putin’s operation of 16 years duration
In the West, propaganda is usually considered connected with two phenomena – war and power, but it is recognized that propaganda by itself is unable to guarantee the loyalty of the people or popularity to any leader. That is why powers that be often ensure loyalty by force. Since the Western world is convinced that it is the “Crown of Creation”, it explains the Putin’s popularity rating by either propaganda, or the authoritarian nature of the regime, or by both. The ordinary people in the West are restricted by biased Western media to the view of reality in those simplistic terms. Only these paradigms are discussed or described in interviews.
That is precisely how propaganda operates, not imagined one but the real Western propaganda. The truth is hidden behind the different types of lie, and an ordinary person living, say, in the US has a hard type understanding the real situation.
In 2000s, Russia was of no interest to the world’s media. In 2007 at the Munich conference, tough words of President Putin perplexed the West. The media exploded with the headlines “Who is mister Putin?” arousing in the West a certain amount of interest towards Russia. However, since Putin’s words were addressed to the leaders of the Western countries and not to their citizens, the interest did not last long. In his speech that had the effect of turning the international relations upside down, Putin stated the most important idea – “enough is enough, Russia will no longer follow recommendations and demands from the outside. Period”.
The West was not slow to react: in 2008 the West decided to teach a lesson to that not particularly important “former superpower”. A puppet regime was used to destabilize the most vulnerable region of the country – the Caucasus. This was done in a traditionally underhanded dishonorable manner during the Olympic games, the event, for which for centuries wars used to be stopped. A signal to our country was sent.
Unexpectedly, however, a ruined fragment of once powerful country sent “rusted leftovers” of its once powerful military beyond its borders and crushed the Western-trained “invincible” army. That was unexpected, but, on the other hand, quite typical of the Russians. After all, we have always been considered the best warriors in the world, and the US did not see in the events anything menacing for itself. They understood very well that the important thing wasn’t who won on the ground but what would be told to the world about the conflict. The winner would be the one named the winner by the world media. As a result, after successfully forcing Georgia to accept peace settlement, the US easily won the information war over Russia and supplanted reality with a fiction.
Everything quieted down. Russia kept doing something in its “regional corner” without bothering the serious people of the world. The leader that said such dangerous things in 2008 left the position of the President and, judging by the reports, the current President was quite acceptable for the West. The US did not see much sense to do anything at all about Russia. Why bother pressuring the country if it is not doing anything and is incapable to overcome its own deficiencies?
The years passed, and the new elections approached. The 5th column of the country started to send alarming report, and the West decided to check them out. The disintegrated army kept buying the Western military equipment; the minister of defense was clearly incompetent individual; the economy was slowly growing but still the money was being spent incompetently. The treasuries were being bought as usual; the foreign corporations have unlimited access – so, there was no cause to worry. One thing bothered, though – the popularity rating of that same Putting who had several times defeated the western schemes. Using the data of the liberal 5th column, which has always been the conduit of the Western influence in Russia, anglo-saxons decided to use their favorite well-tested method.
After the elections to the State Duma, right in the middle of the presidential campaign, the civil unrest was initiated in the country; billions of dollars were poured into the Russia via the non-government organization (NGO), which had not been closed during the entire preceding period, via the agents of influence and embassy officials. The entire network in Russia was activated at once. The liberal puppets delivered exultant reports; local non-government media night and day broadcasted interviews and speeches of the opposition figures, and not only the ones controlled by the West but also politicians that decided it was time to join them. Everything was going according to plan, and the final hour was coming.
The first annoying sign was the refusal to grant the permission to hold the meeting on the Triumphal Square. The opposition had to settle for the permission to conduct their action on the Bolotnya Square. However, the 5th column felt on top of the world expecting total success and did not pay attention to this fact. . .
The second sign, which caused serious anxiety among the Western field agents, was the meeting of Vladimir Putin with the population that demonstrated clear disgust of the society with the opposition politicians and desire to demonstrate support for the President. But since Putin took no steps to use the popular support, these demonstrations were declared by the opposition-controlled media to have been staged, and the preparation for the meeting on Bolotnya continued according to the all too familiar plan . . .
The decisive action occurred 2 kilometers away from Bolotnoya, on Manezh Square . . . And the whole grandiose operation failed at once, within several hours . . .
All the events at that time and the actions of our President were a dangerous game. Many Russian citizens still do not appreciate how dangerous the events of that day were. Putin’s game was a complex intrigue and very risky.
It is well known that the greater the risk, the greater the prize. Net result of that operation was outing of the whole network of Western influence in the country, full takeover of the media fed by Western funds, full control over politicians and others who then acted on the side of the West, and the ability to control liberal faction in the government, which still lives under the Damoclean sword of compromising information obtained back then.
These events, a complete defeat of Anglo-Saxons in a game they were considered great masters of, caused total prostration of the collective West. The West put in a considerable effort to determine the real situation in the country, as it clearly saw the discrepancy between the reports of the “5th column” and reality. However, as the network of Western influence and its sources were “cleaned up” by the Russian special services, and every step of known agents of Western influence in power was controlled, this work was slow…
But the longer was the analysis, the more dreadful looked the reality…
It turned out that the army, which was presumably being destroyed by one “economist”, in reality had been thoroughly reformed; the industry serving the military was regularized; engineering teams had lots of contracts; military units that were thought to increase only a little were rearmed at incredible pace, and all that after reports that the country cannot produce anything and is buying Western samples for that reason. But the worst (for the West) situation was in the economy. How did in just ten years a country that was 69thby GDP surpass Germany, fifth economy in the world and #1 in Europe! How did the economy grow almost at Chinese speed!
Dynamics of Russia GDP per capita from 1885 through 2011 (The value for 1913 is 100%)
The strategy of containment was revived, specialists were reassigned to this direction, a huge army of special services personnel was directed against this old and still unbroken competitor. The West knew full well that if it does not stop the Russian revival now, while Russia is still not quite stable on its feet, it could lose not only the influence over Russia, but also the world hegemony.
From 2014 to 2015, Russia was subjected to assaults that no country was supposed to withstand, particularly not a country that just had a pre-revolutionary situation.
The project, which is at least 600 years old, of making part of the Russian people a weapon against Russia, is revived. Ukraine, which was quetly being destroyed by the West during all this period, using an example that worked in the middle of the XXth century, is rapidly converted into a military battering ram against Russia.
The West acts quickly, often sloppily, and at the beginning the Russian special services successfully counteract this. However, the pressure and financing turns out to be so great, with so many countries involved, that the situation changes dramatically. Several operations, including Maidan, are conducted in rapid succession. The majority of European countries unexpectedly support the creation of the temporary government, depriving Russia of the claim of illegitimacy of the new powers, whereas the media organize an unprecedented operation of whitewashing the coup in Ukraine. Under the circumstances, Russia has to wash its hands off the Ukrainian political process. Although in this the West won, it does not stand to reason to accuse Russia of doing nothing in Ukraine during the last 20 years.
In the 90s, Russia was in many ways weaker than separated from it Ukraine, and could only focus on its own survival. The Western media wrote with glee that the military potential of military Ukraine was greater than that of the Russian Federation. Indeed, as far as military hardware is concerned, Western analysts were right. One has to wonder how this colossal potential, essentially stolen from the Soviet people by “independent” Ukraine, could be wasted in just 20 years… Next, in the 2000s, Russia with great effort but quietly was restoring itself and did not have the capacity to interfere with the affairs of a foreign state. Only after 2012, Russia reemerges on the international stage.
What could have been done in just two years, when by that time the West had more than two decades to nurture in Ukraine a generation of its admirers?
Everything cannot be done at once.
However, Russians do not surrender, so, having distanced itself from the events in Kiev, Russia concentrated on Crimea.
The first actions of the new power in Kiev caused protests in Crimea, where the majority of the population is Russian-speaking. In parallel, Russian influence was mobilized via public organizations, such as “Russian community of Crimea” and party “Russian Unity”. In addition, direct dialog with the local powers in the autonomy was established. Few people know that, by Crimean peninsula, being an autonomy within Ukraine, right after Maidan events received an ultimatum from new Kiev authorities. The leadership of Crimea was told that within a day a plane will depart in the direction of Crimea, with new administration, and that military hardware is moving towards Crimea. The leadership was strongly recommended to leave before the arrival of the new administration. The details of the military operation prepared against them by the junta were forwarded to the Crimean authorities by Russia, and the Crimean authorities immediately asked the Russian Federation for the help.
In the morning of February 23, Putin tasked the heads of the armed forces and police to begin preparatory work for the return of Crimea to Russia. On March 1, Russian solders with local volunteers blocked all installations of the Ukrainian military on the peninsula. In the early morning of February 27, in response to an attempt of supporters of Mejlis and new Ukrainian powers to take over the building of the Crimean parliament, Russian special forces took over the defense of Crimean administrative buildings, and Supreme Soviet of Crimea decided to conduct an all-Crimea referendum. Sergey Aksenov, the leader of “Russian Unity” party, became the head of the new Crimean government. He announced that Crimea does not recognize new the Ukrainian government and asked Russia to “help ensure peace and quiet in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea”. The referendum about the status of Crimea was held on March 16. Based on its results, Republic of Crimea signed a treaty about joining Russia.
After that huge fiasco with the loss of the most valuable for the West part of its new colony and inglorious retreat of the battleship “Donald Cook” sent to “help”, the US became furious.
Virtually immediately, in April, the West showed its true colors by initiating a hot conflict. Using its puppets and supported by a part of Ukrainian population, Kiev starts an aggression against Eastern Ukraine bordering Russia. The operation verges on genocide of Russian population in the area. Ukraine uses prohibited by international conventions phosphorus bombs, cassette bombs, burns people alive, deliberately targets civilians, and so on. All this demonstrated cruelty has one purpose: to force Russia to invade the territory of a foreign country. Everything was done to achieve this, but even more was done to close the trap thus prepared for the “Russian bear” once it is in it …
The world media were on the ready; engaged politicians froze with microphones near their mouths, the world public opinion was prepared, and in Russia the game “Putin, move in the troops!” was played out…
The world stopped in anticipation… And… nothing happened…
Nothing that the West expected happened, but something else did happen. Putin withstood enormous pressure, but dozens of spy satellites observing Russian-Ukrainian border showed that Russian army remained on its positions. While collective West held the trap open and looked at it, in a different place, a bit to the side, two independent republics were declared unexpectedly, which unexpectedly had armed militias. Every day the quantity and quality of these militias, their supplies and support, grew. Since then the army of the aborigines in the new colony, Ukraine, taught by the US, suffered shameful defeats, encirclements, and surrenders. In the meantime, the West pretended to be a second Napoleon trying to convince the world without a modicum of proof of Russian involvement that one of the most powerful armies on the planet fights in Ukraine with its invisible ghost divisions…
The military path turned out to be a dead end for the US, and to prevent further defeats, which tarnished the image of the world “policeman”, the West, as is its wont, asked to start negotiations…
At the same time, the collective West conducted in another part of the world a greatest military operation since WWII – the creation of controllable tools –the terrorist armies.
Thing is, right now we live in the world with a military balance. The nuclear potential of the two powers does not allow the West to start a war for absolute world domination. The probability of mutual destruction for many years prevents the US and its satellites from starting a global war against Russia and its allies. Russian breakthrough in the development of hypersonic weapons (read here) makes the prospect of military success against it even less likely.
Even incorporation of new colonies the West has to conduct via financial expansion, which is slow, expensive, and not as effective as it would like. Thus, on the background of weakened Russia, with unprecedented provocation on September 11, the grand operation of destabilizing whole parts of the planet was launched, and the policy of controlled chaos was initiated. After staged events with twin towers, the world was told that terrorism is the main enemy. Interestingly, in 2001 terrorism was not a great threat; futheremore, few countries were familiar with it, except Russia and Israel. Importantly, the influence and spread of terrorism increased as the US, under the pretext of war on terrorism, occupied one country after another. While Russia, after taking over new territories, leaves universities, culture, economy, and life in its wake, the US taking over countries leave anarchy, chaos, and always the armies of ORGANIZED terrorists.
Thus, on the one hand, the US got a pretext to invade resource-rich countries and the ability to print more money to finance these wars, while, on the other hand, forming terrorist armies controlled by them.
There were several reasons for this plan.
First – the American debt. And ever increasing problems of servicing it, as it grows.
Second – the creation of chaos. By creating it everywhere except at home the US forms an impression that it is a “safe haven” for capital, attracting enormous financial flows to the US from destabilized regions.
Third, which is the most important, terrorist groups are not state armies. They cannot be attacked with nukes, as they act on the territories of countries. The terror does not maintain a traditional frontline, but it has commanders. This makes them a controllable tool. The only party that could stop terror, according to the Western plan, was the US, and any disobedience towards the US would immediately precipitate a terrorist attack.
Forth – TTIP. The treaty needed by the shadow financial rulers, corporations and finance groups. To stimulate its signing, millions of migrants, created by controlled chaos, were sent to Europe. The final act was getting close and everything was ready.
On September 29, 2015, the US and terrorist and mercenary groups controlled by them are within 20 km of Damascus. The key piece of the American operation, Syria, was almost ready to take its appointed place, the US is celebrating…
All of a sudden, on September 30, 2015, Russian air force starts airstrikes against terror groups all over the Syrian territory, which the world community and its special services did not expect. Bombers and strikers, protected by fighter jets and helicopters, Russia-based planes of Russian strategic air force, launches of cruise missiles from ships of Black Sea and Caspian fleets, salvos of newest cruise missiles “Calibr” of various modifications nobody knew about. The Russian airbase was protected by marines, paratroopers of the Russian airforce an army special forces. Also, the base was protected by arriving systems of PRO, radio-electronic warfare, whereas Russian warships entered the Mediterranean. Military transport planes, which Russia, according to presumably reliable intelligence, could not have in such quantities, created a “bridge” between the two countries, transporting unbelievable quantities of military supplies.
The seemingly successful Western operation of creating an arc of instability and forming from the remnants of Libya, Syria and Iraq of a new state controlled by the US, which was supposed to supply terrorism, that was almost competed, was ruined. More than 10 years of work, several states, many hundreds of billions of dollars, with the endgame in Syria, were crushed by the Polite Army…
Naturally, nothing is over yet. While in Syria mile after mile of the territory is taken away from terrorists, and the country, thanks to Russia, got a peace of sorts, the US still has Libya and Iraq.
But these are geopolitical issues, which will be dealt with in due time. The Russian Syria, meanwhile, is a question of our security, a foothold beyond the state borders. With this foothold, Western plans to push controlled terror by it to the Central Asia, the Russian underbelly, became much less acute and dangerous.
Still, it is guaranteed that right there we should expect the next “gift” from our foreign “friends and partners”.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
Unfortunately, lots of people still do not think about why the US and England now pressure our country so fiercely. One can find the answer above. As well as in evaluating what exactly did stop the first large-scale military operation of post-Soviet Russia outside of its territory.
There is no doubt that Western attempts to put pressure on our economy, destabilize our civil society, lure Russia into anti-Russian unions, and play on inter-ethnic tensions will continue.
However, we must acknowledge that the fears of Western states are quite justified…
Huge territory, colossal resources, intelligent population, high morality – Russia has everything to become a dominant state. History shows that every time Russia overcame one aggression or another and the pressure on it temporarily weakened, a period of furious development followed. Getting rid of “shackles and burdens” that held the country down, Russia invariably responded by numerous actions, accomplishments, successes, and rapid growth.
Thus, it is hardly surprising that during these periods the West hastily united and collectively put pressure on our country. In other words, it did exactly what we see today.
Luckily, excellent diplomacy, masterful actions in geopolitics and a well-reasoned approach to internal enemies, as well as the best in the world nuclear defense force, in addition to the highly mobile and professional army, allow Russia to strengthen its constructive role as a Eurasian super-power, the role of the main counterbalance to imperial hegemony of the US and liberal madness of the EU.
Taken together, all of this can in the foreseeable future make our country a recognized leader of the world resistance to corporatocracy, globalization, false tolerance and political correctness, turn it into the main defender of traditional spiritual, religious, moral, and historic values of all peoples on Earth against the West that lost all bearings.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
Uprooted Palestinian 
Bahrain Ulama called on the locals to avoid Friday prayers due to the regime repressive measures across the country.
