Meet the General Who Tried to Pressure Obama Into World War 3 with Russia

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Meet retired U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove. A man who back in 2014 relentlessly tried to get Obama to start what would have been World War 3 with Russia.

The Intercept reports:

Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, until recently the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, plotted in private to overcome President Barack Obama’s reluctance to escalate military tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine in 2014, according to apparently hacked emails from Breedlove’s Gmail account that were posted on a new website called DC Leaks.

Obama defied political pressure from hawks in Congress and the military to provide lethal assistance to the Ukrainian government, fearing that doing so would increase the bloodshed and provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with the justification for deeper incursions into the country.

But the leaked emails provide an even more dramatic picture of the intense back-channel lobbying for the Obama administration to begin a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine.

In a series of messages in 2014, Breedlove sought meetings with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, asking for advice on how to pressure the Obama administration to take a more aggressive posture towards Russia.

“Given Obama’s instruction to you not to start a war, this may be a tough sell,” Ullman replied a few months later, in another string of emails about Breedlove’s effort to “leverage, cajole, convince or coerce the US to react” to Russia.

Breedlove did not respond to a request for comment. He stepped down from his NATO leadership position in May and retired from service on Friday, July 1. Breedlove was  a four star Air Force general and served as the 17th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces in Europe starting on May 10, 2013.

In the European press, Breedlove has been portrayed as a hawkish figure known for leaning on allied nations to ditch diplomacy and to adopt a more confrontational role again Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine. Breedlove, testifying before Congress earlier in February of this year, called Russia “a long-term existential threat to the United States and to our European allies.”

Der Spiegel reported that Breedlove “stunned” German leaders with a surprise announcement in 2015 by claiming that pro-Russian separatists had “upped the ante” in eastern Ukraine with “well over a thousand combat vehicles, Russian combat forces, some of the most sophisticated air defense, battalions of artillery” sent to Donbass, a center of the conflict.

Breedlove’s numbers were “significantly higher” than the figures known to NATO intelligence agencies, and seemed exaggerated to German officials. The announcement appeared to be a provocation designed to disrupt mediation efforts led by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In previous instances, German officials believed Breedlove overestimated Russian forces along the border with Ukraine by as much as 20,000 troops, and found that the general had falsely claimed that several Russian military assets near the Ukrainian border were part of a special build-up in preparation for a large-scale invasion of the country. In fact, much of the Russian military equipment identified by Breedlove, the Germans said, had been stored there well before the revolution in Ukraine.

The emails, however, depict a desperate search by Breedlove to build his case for escalating the conflict, contacting colleagues and friends for intelligence to illustrate the Russian threat. Karber, who visited Ukrainian politicians and officials in Kiev on several occasions, sent frequent messages to Breedlove — “per your request,” he noted — regarding information he had received about separatist military forces and Russian troop movements. In several updates, Breedlove received military data sourced from Twitter and social media.

Karber, the president of the Potomac Foundation, became the center of a related scandal last year when it was discovered that he had facilitated a meeting during which images of purported Russian forces in Ukraine were distributed to the office of Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and were published by a neoconservative blog. The pictures turned out to be a deception; one supposed picture of Russian tanks in Ukraine was in fact an old photograph of Russian tanks in Ossetia during the war with Georgia.

Breedlove stayed in close contact with Karber and other officials who shared his views on the Ukrainian conflict.

Karber, the president of the Potomac Foundation, became the center of a related scandal last year when it was discovered that he had facilitated a meeting during which images of purported Russian forces in Ukraine were distributed to the office of Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and were published by a neoconservative blog. The pictures turned out to be a deception; one supposed picture of Russian tanks in Ukraine was in fact an old photograph of Russian tanks in Ossetia during the war with Georgia.

Weapons of mass destruction, anyone?

Breedlove stayed in close contact with Karber and other officials who shared his views on the Ukrainian conflict.

In other messages, Clark relayed specific requests for the types of military aide desired by Ukrainian officials. In addition to radar systems and other forms of military equipment, Clark recommended that Breedlove “encourage Ukraine to hire some first rate pr firms and crisis communications firms in US and Europe.” He added, “They need the right tools to engage in information warfare.”

Ukraine did hire several D.C. lobbying and communication firms to influence policymakers. In June 2015, the government signed a deal with APCO Worldwide, an influential firm with ties to senior Democratic and Republican officials.

The emails were released by DC Leaks, a database run by self-described “hacktivists” who are collecting the communications of elite stakeholders such as political parties, major politicians, political campaigns, and the military. The website currently has documents revealing some internal communications of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, among others.

Obama has been without question a very militaristic and war mongering President throughout most of his time in office, but I have to give credit where credit is due. The world dodged a very serious bullet thanks to his reluctance to start a hot war with Russia, despite constant clamoring for exactly that from within the military and State Department. Pressure which continues to this very day.

Recall what we learned from last week’s post, Is the Syrian War About to Experience a Major Escalation?

BEIRUT—Dozens of State Department officials this week protested against U.S. policy in Syria, signing an internal document that calls for targeted military strikes against the Damascus government and urging regime change as the only way to defeat Islamic State.

The “dissent channel cable” was signed by 51 State Department officers involved with advising on Syria policy in various capacities, according to an official familiar with the document. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a copy of the cable, which repeatedly calls for “targeted military strikes” against the Syrian government in light of the near-collapse of the ceasefire brokered earlier this year.

Obama administration officials have expressed concern that attacking the Assad regime could lead to a direct conflict with Russia and Iran.

The internal cable may be an attempt to shape the foreign policy outlook of the next administration, the official familiar with the document said. President Barack Obama has balked at taking military action against Mr. Assad, while Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has promised a more hawkish stance toward the Syrian leader. Republican candidate Donald Trump has said he would hit Islamic State hard but has also said he would be prepared to work with Russia in Syria.

The importance of all this cannot be overstated. Though we dodged a bullet thanks to Obama, Hillary Clinton is waiting in the wings, and she’s got a very itchy trigger finger.

For related articles, see:

More Troubling Evidence That Hillary Clinton Will Start WW3

Is the Syrian War About to Experience a Major Escalation?

Clinton Emails Reveal Google’s Role in Attempting to Oust Syria’s Assad

UK Prime Minister David Cameron Compares Those Against Syrian Airstrikes to “Terrorist Sympathizers”

Further Details Emerge on the Epic U.S. Foreign Policy Disaster that is Syria

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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9 thoughts on “Meet the General Who Tried to Pressure Obama Into World War 3 with Russia”

    • You took the exact words outta my mouth ! Great minds must think alike. This guy is a cartoon figure

  1. So the MIC is out of control and occasionally has the opportunity
    to push for WW3. That is suicidal for all humanity.
    I enjoy the US Soviet attitude towards “our allies.” They’re the US
    patsies. Military colonies that have missiles on their soil, could be
    ordered to attack Russia and pay the whole price for the carnage.
    I guess Breedlove is the one who has supplied them with NATO
    stuff and convinced them to risk everything. None of them have
    sniffed out that the US is exactly the same as the USSR was. And
    that’s not to mention the EU.

    Reply
    • First,There Will be No Shuria Law in USA.Got it ,You Live Here,You Have Our USA Laws ,Done,ok,You Dont Like USA Laws,You Should Not Live Here in USA,When You Came Here,You Took a Oath to Our Country, USA ! And .Not Allowed to Bring Your Former Country’s Laws, If You Attempt to Follow Your Former Laws and Ways of Life,That is a Treasonist Act Against USA.! ,and You Will be Deported,After you Finish your Sentences, We Americans Had Enough B/S.! Treasonist Acts Can Be A Hanging Offense ! Even In Our USA Government there are Some Treasonist Actions by Our Own People in Charge ,Hopefully Soon They Will be Charged and Sentenced by Law ! ThankYou ! God Bless America ! Again Please ! The Fight For Our America is On Going ! USA Constitution Upholds,!!! and Should Not be Undermined by Anyone in office ! Our Country Has been Under Strong Attack since The Nazi Bush Crime Family Took Power ! Since 1963 Assassination of JFK ! Now Wake Up Fellow Americans, Its Known Now So ,,Unite ,and Take Back Our USA,From All Corruptions Now !,,, Find Out ,Think and Unite ! God Bless America ! I Swore to Protect and Defend Our USA Constitution !

  2. there is no more important story than this in the news since brexit and yet, it will go uncovered and unnoticed by the big Media cartel. why? they are dedicated towards increasing conflict and starting the next war.

    there is no way around it. goebells was pretty clear about how this works and why it cannot be stopped. the problem is as much the people themselves as the cartel. the people won’t rebel until they are pushed over the edge of poverty. and even then, if they are ever so gently and gradually lowered into poverty they still might not push back.

    as much as people look at the candidates for president , it’s not even like trumps’ rhetoric about ending nato is even 100% honest . people know that. trumps foray into owning the atlantic city casinos started with his purchase of resorts international from james crosby…..this was on the heels of some very interesting investors, including former cia actually and the rothschilds, who remained his partners.

    and gary and jill and 3rd parties don’t have a chance in hell. even if they got into office, i don’t know they’d understand how to wield power, or if they even could wield power against the status quo if they tried.

    trump is not necessarily a wild loose cannon. he is on board with some groups that are elite.

    and trump supports head of the cfr , richard haas, who is a globalist single banking agency.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY6zxGQ0epU

    trumps’ anti-nato stance is not necessarily to be trusted………..he

    Reply
  3. Hillary’s dual responsibility issues related to past administrations is alarming. Can she govern under these double binds? Yet, her wall street buddies know there are Gold In Them There Hillarys.

    Reply
  4. Sounds like Doctor Strange Love to me.

    The Main Danger to Europe is the EU, NATO,IMF ,Bultic States and US.

    Somthing I Have Noticed about these strange People when they Talk they appear tobe speaking to someone in the distance ,am i doing alright Hillry Clinton is a good example and they have a smerk ,Blair and Bush.

    Please keep your nutters in the US we have plenty of our own we dont need anymore Thank you.

    Reply
  5. amercan peoples are very helpfull to others but i am affraid of that their capital in tight grip of stupids those are alwayz going far from their coutry to disturbe other nations resultant they definitly invite misery to the decent amercan peoples which is not accetable please stop them not to meddling other nations as you demonstrate against iraq war but that was iraq very weak military now the scnario is much diferent the power of russia please wake up and stop those tv channel also those are no job but only ignite flams of war and making ready to the world for war they bravely broadcasting their bad voices on air i love usa i love russain too

    Reply

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