From: Misty 
Subject: SNET: Kremlin deception at Munich - J R Nyquist
Date: 8 Feb 2001 04:23:56 -0500
To: SNET ,
        Armageddon or New Age? 

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Kremlin deception at Munich
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21655
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© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com


Human beings are creatures dominated by propaganda. Most are not
philosophers or scientists. Instead, they want to be flattered and tickled.
As Monday's column pointed out, the public will believe almost anything.

Beliefs can even be imposed on enemies.

Recently we had a good example of this kind of cunning at the Munich
Conference on Security Policy, where a prestigious Russian speaker
hypnotized a crowd of Western statesmen with a subtle but misleading
explanation. The Russian speaker was a long-time KGB professional named
Sergei Ivanov, currently serving as the secretary of Russia's Security
Council. Sitting before him last weekend, like lambs before the slaughter,
were various NATO officials and Western leaders, including Henry Kissinger,
Lord George Robertson and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

It is believed by some analysts that Sergei Ivanov's power is second only to
President Vladimir Putin's. Some even suspect that Ivanov is the chief of
all Kremlin strategists. As a creature imbued with professional cunning,
with many years of secret police experience behind him, Ivanov is unlikely
to make honest admissions. He is also unlikely to say anything that will
hurt his overall strategy.

So what did Ivanov say to the assembled NATO sheep?

Ivanov accused NATO of creating a refugee problem in Kosovo. He said that
the use of uranium shells during the 1999 Kosovo crisis had resulted in a
"Chernobyl-like nuclear disaster." The NATO sheep blinked as they listened.
Why was Mr. Ivanov bombarding them with exaggerated propaganda?

Ivanov was showing that Russia could play naughty or nice. It all depended
on the West's reaction. Russia could even renew the Cold War, and a great
deal of mischief could be done, costing the Western economies many billions
of dollars. Why not write off a large chunk of Russia's debt and avoid the
expense of future Kremlin mischief?

Ivanov further suggested that Russia's diplomatic initiatives to North
Korea, Iran and Cuba could also be explained. "My dear sheep," one could
almost hear him saying, "there is nothing to fear! We are not aiming to
butcher you! This is our way of leveraging debt relief!"

One pictures a Kremlin leader standing at NATO's door with a tin cup,
screaming about uranium shells in Kosovo, begging for cash. Not to worry,
Russia's hostile diplomacy is merely about money. Surely, you capitalists
understand how important money is! We would never attack you, Ivanov lied,
but we might hold you up for cash because we're so dirt-poor.

To manipulate a crowd of enemies is no easy matter. The Kremlin cannot
pretend to love the West forever. Eventually, as your hostile acts are noted
year after year, you lose all credibility. And besides, the old excuses for
violating treaties X, Y and Z no longer carry conviction. So what do you do?

Well, you devise new lies for old.

The flock of Western officials assembled in Munich must be told something.
They must be diverted from discovering Russia's intentions. So why not give
NATO a dose of false honesty and frankness? Why not explain why you have
been breaking your word? Send out a Kremlin strategist as one would send a
diplomat. Reassure those fat Western sheep.

But as Stalin once said, "A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden
iron."

As a KGB veteran, Ivanov would never confess Russia's real strategic aims
and objectives -- especially before the assembled flock in Munich. If you
think the Kremlin's top strategist would reveal his objectives, then you
don't understand Kremlin strategists.

A virtuoso does not give a concert to play "Chopsticks."

Certainly, Russia would like debt relief. It is also true that Russia is in
a position to make trouble for the Free World. But things are not so simple.
The Middle East is ready to explode into a regional war that could result in
a devastating oil embargo against the West. Certainly, this could cost the
West a great deal. But should we believe that Russia has proliferated
weapons to Iran, Iraq and Syria merely to get debt relief from Western
banks?

If this disinformation message is accepted, further hostile moves by Russia
and its allies will be misunderstood. Should war break out in the Middle
East, should North Korea attack the South or China blockade Taiwan, the West
must awake to the realization that this is an all-out assault -- and not
mere mischief.

Western leaders have been slow to realize their danger for many months. This
slowness is due to the way the Kremlin diverts attention with false
statements. Ivanov's Munich performance is one link in a vast chain of
deception. In truth, Russia and its allies have been preparing for a future
confrontation.

Consider the following recent moves.

In mid-January Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov told the Russian press that Moscow
would send its fleet into the Indian and Pacific oceans. This fleet move
would take place in February and March. "The time has come," said Adm.
Kuroyedov, "to protect our interests in the oceans."

In January Russia sent two anti-submarine warships to the South China Sea,
perhaps to assist China's military buildup against Taiwan. Also in January,
as if we should be surprised, Russia cancelled military cuts that were
loudly announced last summer. The election of George W. Bush was blamed for
this -- as if Russia ever intended to actually slash its forces as
dramatically as advertised.

At the same time, it has been learned that Iraq has at least two operational
nuclear weapons. While military equipment is being shipped from Russia to
Iran in larger and larger quantities. Bill Gertz of the Washington Times
recently reported that China's missile buildup opposite Taiwan is entering a
new and dangerous phase. North Korea also remains poised to attack, despite
a starving population.

If you believe that Russia's construction of a huge anti-Western alliance is
merely a means for debt relief, perhaps you ought to think again. There has
been a frenzy of war preparations in the anti-Western countries. The leaders
of these countries, in addition, have engaged in many huddles recently. We
learn from recent news reports that the leaders of North Korea and Iran are
scheduled to visit Moscow this spring. A large number of high-level meetings
has also taken place between Russia and China, Russia and Cuba, China and
Cuba, etc.

As everyone who watches football knows, there is always a huddle before a
big play. And now that the big play draws near, they want you to think it's
about debt relief for the financially strapped war machine in the East.

Don't believe a word of what the Kremlin says, even if it has a ring of
truth. Every gram of poison offered for Western consumption has been
carefully weighed. But Western leaders, like the West in general, have
become like sheep. And if present trends continue, they will end like sheep.



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J.R. Nyquist, a WorldNetDaily contributing editor


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