RAGA Newsletter Antidote 32: Re Trump: Buchanan, Lozansky, Jatras, Babich, Mercouris, McGovern, Binney,Giraldi, Bolton, Armstrong, Zuesse, Jain, Roulston, Cobb, Semashko, Siebert

Dear friends of the Russia & America Good Will Association (www.raga.org) and antiwar colleagues!

In RAGA December 24, 2017 Newsletter Antidote 31, I re-affirmed RAGA's essentially non-political stance, but congratulated Donald Trump on his victory and wished him success in his presidency, especially, implementing new peace initiatives he promised in regard to Russia.

Since then I have been watching the American political scene with amazement, disgust and unease about a steep decline of civility in US public life. The Big Media seem to be determined to make life miserable for the new president whose electoral victory nobody dares to challenge in a court of law. CNN openly discussed feasibility of his assassination, while the Washington Post almost daily ridicules his every move.

Individually RAGA people may have strong political convictions or inclinations, but as a peace-loving community we try to over-rule political passions in favor of a sober realization that both the USA and Russia, as supreme nuclear powers, have a responsibility before humankind to find a way to co-exist and interact for mutual benefits.

History shows that a nation engaged in civil strife is more likely to embark on reckless military adventures abroad. So, I am worried twice: as a citizen of the US, I am troubled by its internal turmoil, and as a citizen of the world, I fear an eruption of hatred inside the USA may spill over to other countries and destabilize the world.

Below is a collection of sobering facts and opinions sent to me or collected by RAGA associates, beginning with an article by a conservative journalist and former member of President Reagan's team and presidential candidate himself:

1. “America First”: An Inaugural Address for the Ages. By Patrick J. Buchanan
As the patriotic pageantry of Inauguration Day gave way to the demonstrations of defiance Saturday, our new America came into view. We are two nations now, two peoples.
Though bracing, President Trump’s inaugural address was rooted in cold truths, as he dispensed with the customary idealism of inaugurals that are forgotten within a fortnight of the president being sworn in. President Trump’s inaugural was Jacksonian.
http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2017/01/president-trump-inaugural-address-america-first-pat-buchanan.html

2. Moral Supremacy and Mr. Putin. By Patrick J. Buchanan, February 07, 2017
Is Donald Trump to be allowed to craft a foreign policy based on the ideas on which he ran and won the presidency in 2016? Our foreign policy elite’s answer appears to be a thunderous no. Case in point: U.S. relations with Russia.
....Asked during his taped Super Bowl interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly whether he respected Putin, Trump said that, as a leader, yes.
O’Reilly pressed, "But he’s a killer... Putin’s a killer."
Trump replied, "There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?"
While his reply was clumsy, Trump’s intent was commendable.
http://original.antiwar.com/buchanan/2017/02/06/moral-supremacy-and-mr-putin/

3. Old friends Ed Lozansky and Jim Jatras discuss America's choice in both English and Russian
What Is Best for America - Russia as a Friend or a Foe?
By Edward Lozansky and Jim Jatras - Monday, January 16, 2017:
<<For Donald Trump and the overwhelming majority of the American people, including those who did not vote for him, the choice between friend and foe is obvious. The whole history of U.S.-Russia relations proves that if we work together it’s a win-win scenario. However, it appears that for Trump’s enemies lurking in what he calls the Washington “swamp” Russia is more useful as a foe, and all who disagree are either directly recruited by Vladimir Putin or are deplorable zombie tools of Kremlin propaganda.>>
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/16/what-best-america-russia-friend-or-foe/

Same in Russian:
«Для Дональда Трампа и подавляющего большинства американцев, включая и тех, кто за него не голосовал, выбор между другом и врагом очевиден. Вся история российско-американских отношений доказывает, что, если мы работаем вместе, это выигрышная ситуация для всех», — пишут президент Американского университета в Москве Эд Лозанский и бывший дипломат США Джим Джатрас.
Авторы предлагают обратиться к истории: за последние 30 лет Михаил Горбачёв, Борис Ельцин, Владимир Путин, Дмитрий Медведев, а затем снова Путин «стучались в дверь в Вашингтона», пытаясь добиться, чтобы Россию воспринимали как друга и союзника, но всё напрасно. В обмен на «добровольный развал советской империи», отказ от коммунистической идеологии, помощь в борьбе с терроризмом российские лидеры получили лишь аннулированный договор об ограничении систем противоракетной обороны, «смены режимов» и «цветные революции» в соседних государствах, «демонизацию» в СМИ, санкции и бесконечное расширение НАТО. Как говорится, «Россия хочет войны! Посмотрите, как близко они пододвинули свою страну к нашим военным базам!»
https://russian.rt.com/inotv/2017-01-17/Washington-Times-vraga-v-Rossii

4. The First phone call Trump- Putin discussed on RT
Restoring the countries’ bilateral relationship is underway. Putin and Trump want this – but will it happen? CrossTalking with Dmitry Babich, Edward Lozansky, and Alexander Mercouris
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/375558-russia-us-phone-call/

5. Emails were leaked, not hacked, according to US intel specialists
William Binney, Ray McGovern, JANUARY 5, 2017,
<<the alleged interference by Russia and WikiLeaks in the U.S. election, it is a major mystery why U.S. intelligence feels it must rely on "circumstantial evidence," when it has NSA's vacuum cleaner sucking up hard evidence galore. What we know of NSA's capabilities shows that the email disclosures were from leaking, not hacking.>>
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-hacking-intelligence-20170105-story.html

6. Some people are unhappy about Trump's presidency
The Neocon Lament. Nobody wants them in Trump's Washington
PHILIP GIRALDI • JANUARY 24, 2017
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/the-neocon-lament/
The think tanks sit around and come up with formulations that benefit certain groups, individuals and corporate interests and then reap the rewards when the cash is handed out at the end of the year. How fantastic it would be to see lobbies and the parasites who work for them put out of business, particularly if our much beloved neoconservatives are simultaneously no longer calling the shots on national security policy and their think tanks are withering on the vine. What a wonderful world it would be.

As a scholar formerly associated with Hoover Institution (it was then just about the only anti-communist think tank in the USA where Alexander Solzhenitsyn did research), I found the article WORTHY to be posted on facebook https://www.facebook.com/vladislav.krasnov

7. Skepticism about Trump's willingeness or ability to change things.
The Trump Enigma: Is Trump Draining or Replenishing the Washington Swamp?
By Kerry R Bolton | Jan 13, 2017
<<Does Trump believe he can harness American’s oligarchs for America’s interests, as Putin has done in Russia? Or is Trump simply selling out double-quick, in a revolt against plutocracy that might be the biggest con job since Trotsky returned to Russia courtesy of the U.S. State Department and British Secret Service? How will conflicting views among the White House team be reconciled? Can there be any coherence in the Trump administration? Is Trump out of his depth, blinded by hubris, or does he have a Machiavellian plan?>>
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2017/01/13/the-trump-enigma-is-trump-draining-or-replenishing-the-washington-swamp/

8. RAGA's long-time friend and colleague from Canada, Patrick Armstrong, also cools some hot heads about Trump in his standard JANUARY 26, 2017, RF SITREP
TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY. In his inaugural speech he said that other countries were quite right to put their own interests first. Has any other US President in recent decades ever said that? The official site continues the echo of President Adams’ policy to not go abroad to seek out monsters. All to the good – the world has suffered enough from the Exceptionalists – 26 thousand bombs in 2016. However, some things disturb me. I don’t like the hostility towards Iran from him and his team – Iran (much stronger today thanks to the inept machinations of Washington, by the way) may be a concern for Israel and Saudi Arabia, but it isn’t for us; to say Iran is “the foremost state sponsor of terrorism” while ISIS/Daesh is “the greatest threat globally” is not only idiotic but self-contradictory. https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2017/01/26/russian-federation-sitrep-26-january-2017/

9. RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 9 FEBRUARY 2017. BY PATRICK ARMSTRONG
<<Wikipedia says Canada’s GDP is greater than Russia’s and Germany’s is about two and a half times greater. There’s something deeply misleading and, in fact, quite worthless about these GDP comparisons. Russia has a full-service space industry including the only other operating global satellite navigation system.>>
https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2017/02/09/russian-federation-sitrep-9-february-2017/

10. ERIC ZUESSE | 13.01.2017 | has more misgivings about Trump. Trump Team Targets Iran
Maybe the only good thing that one can reasonably say about Donald Trump as U.S. President is that, unlike his electoral opponent Hillary Clinton, he’s not heavily committed to forcing World War III. In fact, unlike her (and President Obama), he’s not (at least not yet) at all committed to conquering Russia. But still, America’s aristocracy rules; only now they’re aiming to conquer Iran, instead of to conquer Russia.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/01/13/trump-team-targets-iran.html

11. The latest NEWS is especially disturbing: Russia Considers Returning Snowden to U.S. to ‘Curry Favor’ With Trump: Official. By CYNTHIA MCFADDEN and WILLIAM ARKIN. FEB 11 2017
U.S. intelligence has collected information that Russia is considering turning over Edward Snowden as a "gift" to President Donald Trump — who has called the NSA leaker a "spy" and a "traitor" who deserves to be executed.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russia-eyes-sending-snowden-u-s-gift-trump-official-n718921

12. My own exchange of letters with Obama at the end of 2016 may seem too old to be relevant. I disagree. Just about all recommendations I offered to Obama have even more validity now, under Trump. You can find this exchange on RAGA site in both English and Russian, but I would like to draw your attention to the site of Ms Sandhya Jain of India who found the exchange interesting enough for her readers. After all, both India and Russia are BRICS members.

An Exchange of Letters with President Obama - I - Vijayvaani
www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=4192
Jan 16, 2017 - In this context, historian Vladislav Krasnov had an interesting exchange of letters with
An Exchange of Letters with President Obama - II - Vijayvaaniwww.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=4193Jan 17, 2017 - TO: Mr. Barack Obama, POTUS.
Focused on Russia and the USA, RAGA has a number of peace-minded allies elsewhere.

We value friendship with the UK's Westminster Russia Forum whose president Nicholas Cobb is a long time friend of Russia and also my friend http://westminster-russia.org.uk/about-the-wrf/meet-the-wrf-team/).

Just yesterday I got a letter from another Brit, David Roulston, of
Oxford Perm Association
Оксфорд и Пермь — города-побратимы
http://www.oxfordperm-assoc.org/layout.htm.

I have known David since about 2008 when I was visiting my native Perm to promote a Russian cause best known in English thanks to Donald Crawford's excellent book The Last Tsar: Emperor Michael II. Our cause is not for monarchy or against it. The cause is to uncover the Truth from the 73-years of Communist lies to destroy it: Lenin's Bolshevik revolution was not against the Tsars but against the democratically elected Constituent Assembly which Michael II instituted (he ruled for ten hours) and which the Bolsheviks dissolved after loosing the election.

In his letter Dr. Roulston complains about the same we complain in the States: the overwhelming Russophobic lies of the MSM. "Although our association is non political," writes David, "We meet twice a term to exchange views on 'misleading/false' reporting in the UK and US press of Russia and Putin. I use the ACEWA and Sharon Tennison sites for many of the articles. I am amazed how bad the UK press is in publishing misleading or false reports - even the Guardian."

I am also glad to introduce Dr. Leo Semashko of St. Petersburg who has been tirelessly working for peace on a global scale
http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=253

I also introduce Leo's American friend
Professor Rudolf J. Siebert,
Department of Comparative Religion,
Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA
rsieb3@aol.com
http://www.rudolfjsiebert.org
http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=51

Below are excerpts of Siebert's letter
To: Mr. Donald Trump, President of the United States,
Subject: Your Global Peace Paradigm for the US geopolitics, its Christian meaning, and convergence with President Putin’s Global Peace Paradigm of Russia....
More than 11 years ago, I became a member of the international peacemaking organization Global Harmony Association (GHA: http://peacefromharmony.org). It brings together thousands of individual and collective members from over 60 countries, and has a prominent place in the global civil society. The GHA has published 8 books, and has created more than 50 projects of global peace for 12 years (http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=472). The GHA has created a Global Peace Science (GPS) with the help of 174 co-authors, including the President of India, Abdul Kalam, three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and dozens of distinguished scientists and peacemakers from 34 countries, including 59 of them, coming from the US (http://peacefromharmony.org/docs/global-peace-science-2016.pdf).
...You and President Putin are pragmatists in the best sense of the word, and both of you are the peacemakers, who can make use of the proposed soft-power resources, in your quest to find a new vision, new minds, ideas and approaches (Trump) for your common peace geopolitics...
...Our deep concern is to ensure, that your peace program is not only a pre-election promise, that is easily forgotten, but that it will find its development and validation in a radical change of the US relations with Russia, which recently have reached a very dangerous point in the nuclear standoff.


Dear friends of the Russia & America Good Will Association (www.raga.org) and antiwar colleagues!

Since RAGA's last Newsletter Antidote 30 (of October 11), the USA got a new President. While re-affirming RAGA's essentially non-political stance, we congratulate Donald Trump on his unexpected victory and wish him success in implementing new peace initiatives he promised in regard to Russia.

We also wish to congratulate American citizens on their ability to resist the anti-Russian slant of the Big Media's and political establishment's neo-con influenced pundits. We hope that our readers see RAGA's contribution to helping move the country into a more realistic, benevolent and sound mood, more conducive to dealing with Russia as a sovereign and proud nation. I take this opportunity to thank many American and non-American authors whose articles I cited in RAGA's newsletters (now available on the internet).

One of them is Sharon Tennison, a long-time antiwar activist (CCISF.org). October 3, 2016 she issued an alert that I quoted in RAGA's previous newsletter: <<We need to flood President Obama with demands to back off of this insane policy to pursue a war with Russia. Call and email daily!>>
Call the White House: 202-456-1111 (9 thru 5 EST)
Email the President: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

I responded immediately and pasted my email letter to Obama inside the newsletter.

Meanwhile a Russian woman from the Crimean translators association liked my letter so much that she translated it to Russian
http://www.raga.org/1053105410421054105710581048/4142875

On October 14, Veterans Today ran my Open letter to Obama with an introduction "From Russia with Love" by its staff writer Jonas Alexis. He wrote that <<(Krasnov's) honest letter deserves a fair hearing precisely because New World Order agents have already been beating the war drum against Russia. >>
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/10/14/from-russia-with-love/

On October 21, 2016, I was surprised to find Obama's reply in my email box. Russia Insider posted it as "Obama'sThreatening Russophobic Letter Full of Lies, Hubris and Aggression"
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/read-barack-

Welcome everyone to respond! or introduce new topics!