For the guests, the athletes, the media and the
delegations it is a time to show the world the best side of their
countries and to get to know the people and the customs of the hosting
nation. A time when we can all be friends, regardless of race, religion
or political beliefs and above all put aside conflicts and for once,
attempt to find peace amongst our fellow citizens of the world.
Given
all of that therefore it would truly be antithetical to the spirit of
the games and in fact an unthinkable abomination to bring uninvited
warships into the hosting nations’ waters no matter what the pretext.
But that would be in a normal world. Unfortunately one country believes
it can unilaterally propose such a move and pretend it is doing so out
of some concern for security against a threat that is being over-hyped
to the level of hysteria.
Are US warships really necessary?
The
United States has been unilaterally working on “contingency” plans
which require two US warships to enter Russian territorial waters in the
case of a terrorist attack. This is unheard of US secretary of State
Chuck Hagel has stated that the US has already deployed two US Navy
warships to “stand guard” in the Black Sea during the games just in case
Americans have to be evacuated.
According to Pentagon
spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby:
"The United States has offered its full support to the Russian government as it conducts security preparations for the Winter Olympics. Air and naval assets, to include two Navy ships in the Black Sea, will be available if requested for all manner of contingencies in support of – and in consultation with – the Russian government."
In reality however there is no need
for US warships. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is perfectly capable of
dealing with such contingencies and there is no doubt the Russian Navy
could deploy the necessary resources if the need were to arise.
The
same is true of the helicopters and C-17 transport planes the US is
saying will be on standby in Germany. Russia has analogous aircraft and
air support much closer to the scene and ready to respond in minutes if
needed rather than the hours that the US aircraft will take.
According to the Guardian (LINK 1)
“US officials have concluded there would be major obstacles to mounting a large-scale effort by the military or other US government resources to evacuate Americans from Sochi, said a source familiar with Obama administration debates. The most formidable roadblock US officials have discussed regarding contingency plans for Sochi is that Russian authorities have historically been reluctant to allow foreign military forces, especially those of the United States, on Russian territory.”
So then why the warships?
US flexing of muscles in the Black Sea
US/NATO are desperate to obtain a military footing and eventual military control of the Black Sea, the real reason for the attempts at pulling Georgia and Ukraine and other neighboring countries into NATO and many experts would argue the real reason for the current push to force Ukraine to integrate with the EU and turn its back on Russia.
The
US also will do anything to steal the show from Russia or make Russia
look weak especially at such an important event as the Olympics. This is
obvious by US coverage of the events and the preparations for the
games. The level of hysteria in the US media about the Sochi Games would
be laughable if it were not for the fact that such coverage is all the
Americans get. There is in reality no threat that
requires warships and even former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden
has said he trusts Russia’s ability to provide security and that
Americans will be safe. If there was such a real and present threat the
US Government would issue a travel ban or other such measure to prevent
Americans from travelling to Sochi.
The universal pretext
Just
like 50 Al-Qaeda fighters are the reason for a 13 year occupation of
Afghanistan and the deployment of hundreds of thousands of US troops,
one lone “terrorist” woman appears to be the bogeyman for stationing
warships in the Black Sea.
Yet terrorism is the reason
for the season in the US and in a “war on Terror” how else can they
respond? With a quiet team of snipers and special forces? No. Bring in
the warships.
Different Approach
Americans
are saturated and bombarded with the terrorist behind every tree that
allows the US hyper security surveillance state to continue and the
American mass media are so used to hyping and over-hyping the terrorist
bogeyman, in unison with the entire US Government security apparatus
while never foiling a real unarguable terrorist plot that even people
like Mitt Romney (who said he would go to the Sochi Olympics and take
his family) are amazed that Russia actually has and obtains actionable
intelligence, effectively deals with and neutralizes terrorist threats.
According to the Daily Mail (LINK 2)
“Mr. Romney who organized the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, told The Today Show last week that the fact that the Russian organizers have released the names and photos of suspected terrorists who may be plotting an attack shows that they have an 'extraordinary intelligence' program.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service
(FSB) and the entire Russian security apparatus works very differently
than how the Americans do and with regard to terrorism the differences
are striking. Where the Americans love to advertise and
raise threat levels etc., and bombard the populace with imagined or
possible threats, such as in Sochi, the FSB and Russian security quietly
identify, locate and neutralize.
Where the US sends in
warships, calls in drones strikes on “suspected” terrorists, and
invades countries, the Russian services quietly and with almost no
fanfare send in small highly trained teams and quietly “liquidate” or
neutralize threats.
Unlike the US, most anti-terrorist
operations are only known about in Russia after they have been completed
and most threats, such as any that might exist in Sochi, are quietly
dealt with by seasoned professionals with effective tried and proven
methods and tactics. Most of the successful
anti-terrorist operations in Russia are not even heard about by the
populace as the Russian state has no need to make the populace fearful
and does not seek to make citizens accept a stripping of their rights in
the name of security.
Even as a journalist with access
to hundreds of information sources both internal and external, news of
FSB anti-terrorist operations sometimes only comes in a year end
accounting to the president by the head of the FSB and perhaps a small
posting on their site. As I have written in the past,
just like the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, the FSB is staffed
by quiet dedicated professionals who know their jobs and understand how
to deal with any threat, be they internal or external.
The
FSB and Russian security are also no strangers to large scale mass
events, this experience (a carryover from Soviet times) has been proven
time and time again and with the World’s attention focused on the Sochi
Games you can be sure that every resource available has been put into
overdrive to guarantee security.
Also unlike their
American security counterparts the Russian services deal with human
intelligence (HUMIT) on a far larger scale and more effectively. While
their US counterparts are sitting at computer screens looking for
keywords or gaining questionable intelligence through “enhanced
interrogation” Russia’s professional are speaking to reliable sources,
intercepting real communications and in the end liquidating real threats
rather than some kids with gasoline in a bottle (US NATO Summit in
Chicago).
I could continue but I think you get the
idea. I would definitely go to Sochi and feel perfectly safe doing so,
especially since I am also sure the Russian state would never engage in
false flag terrorism and has never negotiated, backed, armed or
otherwise cooperated with terrorists.
Media Hysteria
It
is sad to watch the US and Western media coverage of the issue of a
possible attack at the Sochi Games. Experts, politicians and every kind
of pundit and commentator under the sun is ready to come out of the
woodwork and scream about how “dangerous” Sochi is. This cannot be
further from the truth and people with real operational intelligence
like Michael Hayden are refreshing to hear (I never thought I would say
that) when they say they would feel safe and bring their families to the
Sochi Olympics.
The western media seems to be in
Russo-phobia overdrive on this one with CNN appearing to be heading the
unprecedented US campaign to discredit the Sochi Olympics with almost
non-stop broadcasts of supposed terrorist threats inside Russia that
they themselves seem to have more knowledge about than the Russian
security services themselves.
The hysteria which is
being promoted by certain elements of the US Government and disseminated
worldwide by the subservient US media is disturbing on many levels.
However for this writer the most damning omission present (or rather
“absent” depending on how you want to look at it) in all of the western
media debate and analysis and endless commentary is one very loud, real
and documented threat that has been made public and that directly
involves the Sochi Olympics. That threat is one made by Saudi Prince
Bandar last summer to President Putin. During the conversation in
question he even admitted that Chechen terrorists were under Saudi
control.
To which President Putin quietly responded:
To which President Putin quietly responded:
“We know”.
Saudi Prince Bandar who has since been on another official visit to Moscow at first attempted to bribe Russia’s president in order to force Russia to pull its support for Syria, then when that did not work, in slightly veiled language threatened a terrorist attack during the Sochi Olympics. Will the US media report on US partner Prince Bandar “Bush”? Not likely. However it is important to recall such a threat was made.
Conclusion
The
Olympics are about peace, sports and the brotherhood of all nations.
Let’s focus on that, after all if we focus on “phantom terrorists”, the
terrorists win without even having to lift a finger. Let
the professionals worry about security, in Russia the FSB, along with
other anti-terrorist and security services, may not be making loud press
statements or raising the alarm every time there is a threat, that does
not mean they are not on the job.
During the Sochi
Games there will be literally tens of thousands of vigilant quiet
professionals guaranteeing security. Who knows? One of them might sit
next to you on a bus. If you happen to meet one of these quiet warriors,
tell them thank you. It would mean more to them than the glory many
American colleagues seek.
As for the warships? Please
keep the warships at home. Believe it or not Russia has plenty of ships
and helicopters and transport aircraft (even an entire fleet in the
Black Sea) and in the event they are needed is always generous and ready
to help anyone in need, especially foreign guests who come in peace to
celebrate human achievement in sport.
Welcome to Sochi! Let the games begin.
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