STEVE PIECZENIK TALKS

The Russian Ruble is Crashing Thanks to US/EU Economic Sanctions/Warfare!

In the course of my thirty year career in national security, I have discovered that contrary to the consensus, bullets and artillery shells are not the most powerful tools of regime change. In fact, we are witnessing the strategy first implemented by Nixon, then carried out by Reagan and primarily Bush Sr/Baker of psychological warfare inducing fear through an economic system wherein the opposing regime cannot minimize the effect of an American Economic War.

I am not gloating over the fact that the Ruble; as well as, the Russian economy is literally on the brink of complete financial collapse. I am merely pursuing a narrative which I had started years ago about how powerful the American economy can be when judiciously targeted against a weaker more fragile, artificial economy, be it the Soviet Union, or the present Putin government. In the world of experts spouting geopolitical imperatives for the destiny of nations, I refute their basic constructs by pointing out that in the long term, most nations, like individuals or groups of individuals respond to FEAR. No nation is immune to the fear of an Ebola Epidemic or economic instability.

The very core of nation-state is based on the foundations of economic and political security. If one falters, then both will tumble. In both WWI and WWII what made America so powerful and lethal in combat was the fact that our economic capacity to turn out bombers, tanks, and war materials overwhelmed all the combatant nations. The fact that our crippled FDR understood that WWII was about allowing competing economic systems—both communism and national fascism –to destroy each other showed an incredible insight into the dynamics and faith he had about our unique capitalist economy.

During the Cold War, it was not weapons or missiles that won the war, but our ability to harness our economic power to over-ride any false confidence that the Politburo had about their failing, self-destructive economy and the useless weapons and goods that they manufactured. The one factor that had always impressed me about the Russians is their ability to delude themselves into believing that they were a formidable nation-state.  During this time, I helped to construct the strategy for the psychological warfare of regime change in the Soviet Union, starting with the Nixon administration sending me to Moscow to negotiate for the release of Christian dissidents [Baptists]  incarcerated in  psychiatric hospitals [ Kaschenko Psy. Hosp—GRU/KGB]  as ‘sluggish schizophrenics’ [a concocted term].  I immediately developed an economic matrix where I commoditized the value of the incarcerated Christian against the value of Wang Computers.

How did that work?
If I wanted a very important Christian dissident out of the psychiatric hospital,  I had to determine with my adversary, Stalin’s personal doctor/psychiatrist, how many Wang computers was the individual worth to the Russians. I got the Christians and Stalin’s henchman got the computers. We never talked about Human Rights or anything other than the worth of a ‘dissident’ in terms of an American asset that they wanted.

Similarly, in developing the strategy for regime change in the Soviet Union, the notion that Star Wars was not real but rather complete fiction was a way of creating fear in the Soviet Military Industrial Complex to spend whatever little remaining resources they had on a highly contrived psychological operation which finally depleted the Soviet Economy.  The rest of the regime change involved cultural manipulations of imposing religion where atheism existed; as well as, creating a youthful foment [Agitprop] with Radio Free Europe/Jazz/ Rock’n Roll. This led to an underground swelling of the ‘intelligentsia’ demanding change along the lines of the west.  Finally, all the factors combined—Financial, Cultural, and Agit Prop—defeated the existing Soviet System. This is contrary to Gorbachev’s statements that ‘Russia just collapsed in on itself’.

Next Gorbachev was chosen by the USG but he failed to make the necessary changes in both the economy and political body to sustain a viable Russia. Now, Putin, as many of you know from my past blogs, has literally fallen into the same psychological trap that the Soviets had done despite warnings from myself and others. He is NOT stupid yet his arrogance and ignorance of the world economy and the ability of America to literally vanquish any opponent economically [forget about the military] was not taken seriously. So the present Russian catastrophe of the Ruble crashing is the result of lessons not learned from the past.

If the occupation of the Ukraine was the initial precipitant, it was, at best, a false start on both sides. The real give away for me that Russia and Putin had failed miserably was the Sochi Olympics which was a bust—literally and financially. It cost Russia over 50 Billion Dollars of wasted money given to the Kleptocracy in the Kremlin. Once again, we initiate a economic war in order to teach Putin that his narcissism was completely out of control and that his weapon of choice against the EU, gas distribution on a selective basis, would never work.

The key turning point in this economic war was not the Ukraine or anything that we, Americans did or not do. It was Angela Merkel, the leader of Germany who had understood Putin so well, because both grew up in East Germany under the rule of Stasi [Putin was trained by Stasi], and had decided that Germany could no longer work with Putin suis generis. Her assessment that Putin was out of control because of his ego and inane behavior, marked the end of the Ruble and the Russian economy. Putin should leave office for the benefit of both Russia and world peace. Nothing good will be accomplished by Putin’s remaining in power.

For those who genuinely believe that Russians can continue to suffer because of their legendary soul-searching angst, I would caution both the Americans and Russians to think again. Angst and hunger do not play too well with the 21st Century Russian youths who have never witnessed the ravages of WWII and poverty.

As we say in the French Casinos:
“Les Jeux Sont Faits!” 

The Game Is Over, Ladies and Gentlemen! No more Bets!

Adieu Putin! Good bye!