“I can tell you based on the information that we have, that that is not accurate, that we are not aware of China and Cuba developing a new type of spy station,” said Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder.

“I’ve seen that press report. It’s not accurate,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in an interview on MSNBC.

Cuba to Host Secret Chinese Spy Base Focusing on U.S. [according to no one]

The U.S. has intervened before to stop foreign powers from extending their influence in the Western Hemisphere, most notably during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war after the Soviets deployed nuclear-capable missiles to Cuba, prompting a U.S. Navy quarantine of the island.

The Soviets backed down and removed the missiles. A few months later, the U.S. quietly removed intermediate-range ballistic missiles from Turkey that the Soviets had complained about.

H/T: Emil Cosman

US would rather see the world end than lose its supremacy

May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Editor’s Note:
The recent developments in East Asia, such as the détente between South Korea and Japan, South Korea’s increasing hostility toward China, and the talk of a liaison office of NATO in Tokyo, have raised alert of observers, as the US escalates confrontation with China. What are the obstacles for East Asia to maintain peace? Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen discussed these issues with K.J. Noh (Noh), a US-based journalist, political analyst, writer and educator specializing in the geopolitics and political economy of the Asia-Pacific region. He is a member of Veterans for Peace and Pivot to Peace.
US would rather see the world end than lose its supremacy

Washington’s Position in Syria Under Fire (Literally)

April 1, 2023April 1, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

In late March a drone strike was carried out in Syria. Not by the United States or Israel, but by forces opposing the illegal US occupation of eastern Syria. The strike left one American contractor dead and several US service members injured.
Washington’s Position in Syria Under Fire (Literally)

Exclusive: Ukrainian soldiers seen with depleted uranium ammo in UK

March 28, 2023March 29, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

The presence of a US soldier at the training session could escalate tensions further, after the White House denied sending its own depleted uranium stocks to Ukraine.
Exclusive: Ukrainian soldiers seen with depleted uranium ammo in UK

Dr. Strangelove is No Longer Satire

March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Expansion of U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine makes nuclear war more conceivable
Dr. Strangelove is No Longer Satire

Thousands in Italy protest West’s weapons supplies to Ukraine as war enters 2nd year

February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Thousands of Italians have demonstrated across the country in Rome, Florence and Genoa against Western sanctions imposed on Russia and transfer of lethal military hardware to Ukraine, a day after the first anniversary of the Ukraine-Russia war.
Thousands in Italy protest West’s weapons supplies to Ukraine as war enters 2nd year

Video via World Politics

Making Taiwan the Ukraine of the East

February 12, 2023February 12, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

To understand the contemporary geopolitical significance of the Republic of China, Vijay Prashad says it is necessary to examine Cold War history.
Making Taiwan the Ukraine of the East

In Canada’s Parliament, Voices of Peace Have Been Silenced

February 11, 2023February 11, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

From the outset of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, only one of the five political parties in Canada’s Parliament had opposed the transfer of lethal aid to Ukraine. Until now, the only opponent of lethal aid was the Green Party of Canada (GPC).
In Canada’s Parliament, Voices of Peace Have Been Silenced

Amidst hysteria, calling for peace is hate; more war is peace

February 10, 2023February 10, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Apparently discussing the “path to peace” in Ukraine is hateful. After trying to ban a talk questioning Canada’s role in the NATO proxy war a Ukrainian student group smeared it.
Amidst hysteria, calling for peace is hate; more war is peace

An Overblown Balloon Headline Inflates False Narrative on China

February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

For several decades the American public has been instilled with an intrinsic fear of and hatred for China.

No singular event in this seemingly inevitable march to war is more emblematic of the American public’s warped psyche than the “Chinese Spy Balloon” narrative—perhaps due, in part, to its facial absurdity. The happening eclipses even similarly nonsensical yarns such as widespread TikTok paranoia (see the NSA’s PRISM program), China’s American farmland purchases (Chinese firms account for <.5% of all foreign-owned land in the U.S.), and the “invasion” of Chinese fentanyl through the Southern border (fentanyl trafficking is illegal in China).

…

While some populist Republicans have bravely departed from the establishment’s support for Ukraine, many led the chorus of voices urging escalation—and not diplomacy.

…

The banner narrative favored by mainline Republicans and the populist Right alike—that Joe Biden is weak—is insidious, because it implies that Biden should be more aggressive. Furthermore, it excuses Biden’s objectively ultra-hawkish policy against China.

Just in the last few weeks, the Biden administration continued its redoubling of the Asia Pivot launched by Barack Obama and furthered by Donald Trump: the U.S. Marine Corps opened a new base in Guam as the U.S. opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands, furthered diplomatic measures meant to militarize Japan, announced the opening of new military installations in the Philippines and Palau, and furthered a deal that would secure it exclusive military access to Micronesia, an area of the Pacific Ocean as large as the continental U.S.—all with the express and stated aim of confronting China.

…

Unfortunately, the prevailing narrative won the day—while Americans’ heads were in the clouds, imagining a biowarfare attack, or falsely reporting the balloon carried explosives, Sino-American relations deteriorated even further. Distressingly, the American public exhibited its eagerness to rush to just about any conclusion concerning China.
An Overblown Balloon Headline Inflates False Narrative on China

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Ms. Cat’s Chronicles

“The most violent element in society is ignorance.” —Emma Goldman

Tag: escalations

Cuba, Pentagon and White House dismiss reports of China building a spy base in Cuba

Washington’s Position in Syria Under Fire (Literally)

Exclusive: Ukrainian soldiers seen with depleted uranium ammo in UK

Dr. Strangelove is No Longer Satire

In Canada’s Parliament, Voices of Peace Have Been Silenced