Article Image

IPFS

Pompeo in Berlin, US War Secretary Shanahan in Singapore

Written by Subject: Imperialism

Pompeo in Berlin, War Secretary Shanahan in Singapore

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

GOP and undemocratic US regimes treat all nations as US colonies or on their list for this status.

US policy toward other countries is all about pressuring, bullying, and threatening them to bow to its will — what Pompeo's visit to Berlin and Shanahan in Singapore were all about.

Instead of defending their sovereign rights responsibly, EU, most Asian nations, and others surrender them to imperial USA — at the expense of their own interests.

Pompeo's Berlin trip was all about getting its ruling authorities to support Trump regime hardball policies, what no nations should back.

He demanded Germany blacklist China's tech giant Huawei or lose access to US intelligence, falsely claiming the company serves Beijing's interests at the expense of Western security — a bald-faced Big Lie. 

He pushed hard for the Merkel regime to abandon Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction in favor of more expensive US liquified natural gas (LNG).

Draft Senate legislation calls on Trump to impose sanctions on nations, enterprises, and officials involved in the project. The Trump regime is going all out to sabotage Russia's ability to sell natural gas to the European market — on the phony pretext of its (nonexistent) threat to US national security.

Iran was a key topic of discussion. Pompeo wants Germany to cease normal relations with the country, part of the Trump regime's isolation strategy, wanting the Islamic Republic bullied into submission to its agenda, what hasn't worked throughout its history and won't ahead.

On Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov  debunked John Bolton Big Lie  about Iranian responsibility for "sabotag(ing)" Saudi and UAE vessels last month, saying:

"We've seen countless situations when Americans adjusted certain facts or events to political orders and their own narrow national beliefs of what happens and how it happens, and how something should be done" — Iran, Russia, China, and other sovereign independent states prime targets for US wrath.

Pompeo wants Germany to abandon relations with Hezbollah, part of Lebanon's government, falsely designated a terrorist organization by the State Department to please Israel.

Russia is always a prime target of Pompeo's venom, repeating a litany of Big Lies about the country, most nations going along instead of debunking them in favor of normal relations with Moscow.

Venezuela was discussed, Berlin shamefully on board against President Nicolas Maduro in favor of designated US puppet/usurper in waiting Guaido, a despicable figure with no legitimacy.

In response to a question on Iran, Pompeo stressed that hardline Trump regime policies toward the country are unbending, including an effort to starve its population into submission, the same scheme in play against Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria, and Yemen.

The US long ago abandoned the rule of law in pursuit of its imperial interests, things more extreme under Trump than his predecessors.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, acting Trump regime war secretary Patrick Shanahan falsely accused China of breaching the US-led world order, saying:

"(Some) actors undermine the system by using indirect, incremental actions and rhetorical devices to exploit others economically and diplomatically, and coerce them militarily (sic)," adding: 

"They destabilize the region (sic), seeking to reorder its vibrant and diverse communities toward their exclusive advantage (sic)."

"Behavior that erodes other nations' sovereignty and sows distrust of China's intentions must end (sic)."

"(T)he US does not seek conflict (sic), but we know that having the capability to win wars is the best way to deter them (sic)."

Shanahan lied claiming "actors" (meaning China, Russia, and other nations the US doesn't control) are engaging in "predatory economics and debt for sovereignty deals (sic), lubricated by corruption (sic), which take advantage of pressing economic needs to structure unequal bargains that disproportionately benefit one party (sic)."

US big stick policies over time make enemies and alienate allies. China's Defense Secretary Wei Fenghe warned the Trump regime not to "underestimate (Beijing's) determination and ability to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Wei and Shanahan met briefly on the sidelines of the session, the first time China's defense chief attended it in eight years, notably because of irreconcilable differences with the US on economic, trade, and military issues.

Wei's spokesman said "(t)he Chinese side resolutely opposes the recent series of negative actions by the US on Taiwan issues."

On Friday, RT named 36 countries the Trump regime bullied this week alone, including Mexico, Turkey, Cuba, Iran, China, Russia, Venezuela, India, and 28 EU countries.

At around $150 billion annually, China's defense spending is a small fraction of the US war budget. Shanahan reportedly warned its government of what he called "excessive militarization" of the South China Sea — Beijing's part of the world, not Washington's.

The difference between the US and China on military issues is stark. Beijing's spending is all about defending the nation against foreign threats.

US military spending aims to bully or bludgeon other nations into submission to its interests. According to former deputy head of the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) General He Lie, Beijing rejects Shanahan's groundless accusations against its ruling authorities, adding:

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue is used as "a platform which allows the (US dominated) West to spread the so-called China threat theory and to point an accusing finger at China."

The key topic of this year's conference is the Sino/US impasse on economic, trade, and military issues.

In his keynote address, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the Trump regime openly calls for containing China, an unacceptable agenda against the nation's development that has global benefits.

World community countries must adjust to China's larger role, he added, a nation continuing to grow and develop, the region's leading player.

"(W)e do our best to maintain our relationship with both" sides, Lee explained. US regional policy is all about containing China, wanting to dominate a part of the world not its own.

Its hostile agenda risks confrontation with China and Russia. What's possible may be inevitable because of its aim for global dominance.

A Final Comment

US hostility toward China and Russia is hugely counterproductive, both countries bonding more closely economically, financially, militarily, and through trade.

According to director of Institute of East European, Russian, and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Science (IEERCAS) Sun Zhangzhi:

"The trade war between China and the United States will have a detrimental effect on the global economy. It will affect both China and Russia's economic development." 

"But at the same time, it has provided certain opportunities for the development of economic (and other) cooperation between" both countries.

Institute of International Relations at the Chinese Academy of Sciences director Li Yongquan said the US "is guided by the principle of the primacy of (its own) interests in relations with other countries." 

"But this approach has no prospects. One can say that the rivalry between the United States and China brings China closer to Russia."

Sino/Russia unity is the strongest, most effective, deterrent to US hegemonic aims.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

www.BlackMarketFridays.com