Harbingers of the next world war

Erick San Juan

THE financial crash is on. If the “program” is on, it can be delayed but it will push through whether we like it or not.

According to EIR (Executive Intelligence Review) News Service dated Dec. 14, 2015, “The entire trans-Atlantic London-Wall Street financial system is on the very edge of total collapse. It could happen any hour, any day. The critical signs are already there, for anyone who is not wilfully blind. Four Italian banks have gone under in the past week, with the European Union imposing bail-in looting of depositor’s funds. Puerto Rico has already announced it will likely default on a $1 billion debt payment by Jan. 1, the front end of a $72 billion debt bubble; and ‘vulture’ funds are fully exposed. Already, a number of hedge funds, exposed to the Puerto Rican debt and to the shale oil and gas sector bankruptcies, have collapsed. These are merely harbingers of a total breakdown of the trans-Atlantic system that is imminent.

“The crisis is compounded by the imminent danger of world war, triggered by London and Wall Street desperation over their possible bankruptcy. Nato and the Obama administration have done everything possible to provoke Russia, from the eastward expansion of Nato to the deployment of a unilateral ballistic missile defense system on the borders of Russia, to the modernization of tactical nuclear weapons to soon be deployed throughout Eastern Europe. Russian Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valeriy Gerasimov briefed foreign military attachés in Moscow this week on the added threat of Nato’s plans for asymmetric warfare aimed at regime change in Moscow. Under President Vladimir Putin’s clear leadership, Russia will not capitulate to the threats from the likes of President Obama and UK’s Prime Minister Cameron. The danger of a thermonuclear war of extinction is greater today than at the height of the Cold War at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is driven, purely, by the bankruptcy of Wall Street and London.”

The destabilization ops from Europe to Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region are signs that the globalists wanted to start a war with Russia and China. The encirclement of the two countries through regional conflicts with the help of some allies have gradually gained momentum since the talks of an impending economic collapse.

In the midst of all these, our country plays a major role as we are situated strategically in this part of the region but unfortunately, a battleground to the next war if we will allow our territory to be used by war mongers.

If there are some flashpoints in the Middle East, some parts of Europe and Africa, we also have several flashpoints here in Asia. If we are going to talk about areas of concern for China and its neighbor, we have them here. Actually China is “fighting” so many fronts, so to speak, due to territorial claims, and any miscalculation might lead to disaster.

“China makes its deliberate ambiguity more dangerous in its apparent commitment to defend undefined claims by force. Beijing’s 2015 defense white paper states that one objective of its military is to “safeguard” the country’s “maritime rights and interests” in a situation where “some of its offshore neighbors take provocative actions and reinforce their military presence on China’s reefs and islands that they have illegally occupied.” Hawkish military leaders give more reason for concern. Retired Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan has stated, for example, that if China is biding its time, its military should at least be ready to defend Chinese interests in the event of war.

Since China’s maritime claims are not clarified, it is impossible for others to determine where and when China is willing to use force, thus increasing the chance of conflict. The majority of small and middle powers in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore, react to an uncertain security environment by hedging. They seek to accommodate China’s growing influence primarily by establishing closer economic ties with Beijing while at the same time strengthening defense cooperation with Washington. Their priority is not to be seen as choosing sides in the ongoing China-U.S. strategic competition.

China’s policy of ambiguity leads to one conclusion, Beijing wants to expand its military presence in the South China Sea as a direct challenge to the U.S. alliance system because to do so would allow China to interfere with the free movement of military vessels and aircraft. Translation: “Look for an enemy to unite their nationals and delay the economic and political in-fighting from within.”

American leaders cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. Washington needs to show that international waters cannot be turned into special zones with restrictions on other nations.

China’s behavior suggests that it see the American presence as a threat. If Beijing wishes to lower tensions, it should, as a starting point to negotiations, reassure Washington that it accepts the United States as part of Asia’s future. This requires avoiding changing the status quo in ways that ratchet up tensions.

“Sending warships to oppose American display of the freedom of navigation without explaining which legal principles Washington has violated is not a good start.” (China’s Dangerous Ambiguity in the South China Sea by Liselotte Odgaard, 12/10/15)

Yes, this ambiguity complicate matters and add to the possibilities of a regional conflict if not handled carefully by stakeholders to the disputed territories.

From economics to national security of nations involved and the next geopolitical move, are we all heading towards the next world war? God forbid!