Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

In this opinion piece, we will take a look at the roles of the four actors: the US, the coup regime, Russia, and Europe. — The war in Ukraine is not the result of one man's madness, but of a deliberate process in which Ukraine was sacrificed on the altar of hegemony. Already in 1993, the US strategy was clear, and NATO began its "courtship" of Ukraine, with Western support.

The United States: Mainly Responsible for Creating the Conditions for War | The United States, through NATO, has pursued an expansionist policy that deliberately ignores the principle of the "indivisibility of security" (that the security of one state should not come at the expense of another).

It was a matter of course for the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis to demand that the Soviet Union turn its back; it would be crossing a red line, posing an existential threat to the United States, and there would be war. The United States gained support in Europe. But when the Russians used the same words about NATO's expansion eastward, they were met with the statement that "Ukraine has the right to decide who it wants to be allied with".

By pushing military infrastructure right up to Russia's borders and ignoring diplomatic warnings for 30 years, Ukraine was turned into an existential battlefield. This was not a coincidence but a calculated strategy to weaken Russia. Manipulating Russia into war was the means.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

Norway seems incapable of cleaning up its own mess before her feudal masters are destroyed.

Tender care | Norway, along with other European countries, has shown a touching concern for Ukraine. We have probably given a hundred billion kroner of our tax money, which should have gone to health, schools, roads, police, and other welfare tasks, to Ukraine.

We have provided them with weapons, ammunition, and artillery shells. We have helped pay for heavy American weapons systems. We fly injured Ukrainians to Norway for treatment, we have opened the floodgates for refugees—closing them a little recently—and in our rhetoric, there is no limit to how sorry we are for Ukraine, which is being attacked by the horrible Russians. That is why we join in boycotting and sanctioning Russia as much as we can.

Tender care, well, not exactly | Norway, together with other countries in Europe, has not shown the same touching concern for Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran after they were exposed to an unprovoked, illegal war of aggression by Israel and the USA. We are in effect supporting Israel and the US by tacitly agreeing that Israel had the right to commit mass murder, war crimes, and genocide in self-defense. But we do not mention that people who are illegally occupied and oppressed have the right to use all means to fight their occupying power. We sit quietly and watch as Lebanon, the only country that has militarily supported the Palestinians in Gaza, is reduced to rubble.

And now Iran, an ancient civilization and great and powerful country: The US wants to crush it because Israel wants it done. Israel cannot bear living with a great and powerful country in its vicinity.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene (.pdf)

Since World War II, the US has been almost continuously involved in conflict and war.

According to the late William Blum:

❖ The US has attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments.
❖ The US has interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.
❖ The US has attempted to assassinate more than 50 leaders in other countries.
❖ The US has dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries.
❖ The US has attempted to crush popular or nationalist movements against intolerable regimes in more than 20 countries.

So how does the US facilitate regime change around the world?

    1. Reasons why the US replaces regimes

The desire to replace the regime has nothing to do with what kind of regime or government the country has, nothing to do with a desire for “democratization,” nor anything to do with whether the country carries out executions, smuggles drugs, or kills “Christians.” It's about oil, gold, resources, and the US's access to do whatever it wants in the country.

And for Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, and Iran, it also has to do with these countries' desire to move away from the petrodollar, something the US fears more than anything. And we must not forget the US's hatred of Russia. This results in an eternal desire to weaken and dismantle this enemy, to install a new government, and divide the spoils between the US, the UK, and the EU.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his farewell
address to the nation on January 17th, 1961 (YouTube)

What would the world look like if states spent a fraction of their GDP on PEACE?

The US has a finger in everything | There is no doubt that the US has played a central role in most, if not all, wars since World War II. Here, we will examine the two most recent ones.

The US has equipped Israel with weapons, ammunition, bombs, money, and diplomatic backing so that Israel has been able to carry out mass murder, war crimes, and genocide. The US is therefore directly complicit in mass murder, war crimes, and genocide. Some media outlets have discussed whether Israel controls the US or the US controls Israel. What is certain is that they are closely linked.

Through NATO, the US has equipped Ukraine for war against Russia and, with impressive planning, has managed to provoke a war between Russia and NATO. There is also no doubt that the US controls NATO economically, ideologically, politically, and militarily, and thus has good control over Europe. When you look at NATO, there is no doubt that they have worked hard to ensure that Ukraine, which is NOT a member of NATO, finds its place in the sun. Where does this concern come from? Some say: from the arms industry, as if it were all about money.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

We call them sanctions, as if they were a neutral judgment handed down in a courtroom, but in reality, they are our modern form of siege. In the old days, warships were sent to starve a city; today, we use codes and bank transfers to suffocate an entire people. We have seen sanctions against Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, and other places. Now it is Iran that the EU wants to sanction.

We have NOT seen sanctions against the US, either for illegal warfare, support for genocide, killing of civilians in international waters, regime change, actions contrary to international regulations, or, as now, readiness to wage a crushing war against Iran.

We condemn the brutal reactions of a regime that has been backed into a corner, but we choose to close our eyes to who actually painted them into that corner. By strangling the economy and making people desperate, we ourselves have helped fuel the fire that we are now sanctioning them for trying to extinguish.

The most painful thing is not only the use of power, but the hypocrisy that accompanies it. We talk about human rights and international obligations with a matter-of-factness as if we ourselves follow them, but the story of Gaza stands as the ultimate proof that our principles only apply when they do not cost us the friendship of the strongest.

We sanction Iran because it is defined as an enemy, but we never dare to raise our voices against the US or Israel, which are now ready to crush this regime without having the right or authority to do so.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

What arguments lead some to say that the US is a threat to world peace? The US has gone from being a stabilizing big brother to a source of unpredictability and economic pressure. Here are the main arguments that have emerged in the debate among Western allies:

1. Unpredictability and security guarantees

   ● “Transactional” politics: The argument is that under the Trump administration, the US views alliances as business deals. If a country does not “pay enough” (i.e., the 2% target), it is implied that the US may not defend it. This creates uncertainty that Russia can exploit.

   ● US interest in Greenland has caused deep friction. When Denmark recently added the US to its list of national threat assessments, it was precisely because of fears of US pressure or “gunboat diplomacy” aimed at securing control over Arctic resources.

2. Economic warfare against allies

The US is increasingly using its economic power to exert influence, even against its friends.

   ● Tariffs and customs duties: The argument here is that the US is using tariff barriers as a punishment or leverage to get its way in completely different political issues. This undermines the free world market that the West has built together.

   ● Sanctions: The US has a tradition of imposing sanctions that also affect European companies (so-called “secondary sanctions”). This is perceived as an attack on the sovereignty of allies and their right to pursue their own trade policies.

3. Ideological and democratic instability

There is growing concern that the US's internal political divisions pose a threat to stability in the West.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

The war in Ukraine has become a media war and a psychological operation of enormous proportions. However, as Russia's victory becomes increasingly clear, the media is beginning to take a more nuanced and truthful approach. Here we will briefly highlight some lesser-known aspects of the issue.

1. A red line – an existential threat | During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US said of the Soviet Union, which was sending shiploads of missiles to Cuba: "This is crossing a red line, an existential threat to the US. If the Soviet Union crosses it, there will be war." Fortunately, mature leaders talked and found a good solution, and there was no war.

In 2008, Putin said about NATO's eastward expansion: "This is crossing a red line, an existential threat to Russia. If the US/NATO crosses it, there will be war.“ The US responded: ”Ukraine is free to decide who it wants to belong to." And there was war.

2. The promise that was broken | The promise made by the US, NATO, and West Germany upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which was a prerequisite for East Germany's incorporation into West Germany, was crystal clear and referred to on several occasions: “NATO would not expand eastward, not one inch.” Some 30 documents, minutes, telegrams, memos, and correspondence have been collected at George Washington University, where they were released in 2017.

The US and NATO have behaved as if this promise was never made or never had any validity. Former NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg tried to explain it away by saying that "no written agreement was ever made." Jens Stoltenberg should know that a verbal promise is just as valid as a written promise. And as an aside: the agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev was also verbal.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

Examples from other wars | If you can point to the other person and give a good reason to say He started it!, you can get away with war, even if it's based on an outright lie. In international law, it is forbidden to start a war unless someone has attacked you first. To some however it is so imperative to start one, that they would create a false attack against themselves to legitimize it.

When we look at the USA's wars after the Second World War, this is a recurring pattern. All of the wars for which the US has been responsible were started because of false, self-created events, and all were probably illegal under international law.

Examples include the Vietnam War, the Iraq War in 1990, Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq again in 2003, Libya in 2011, and Syria in 2011, to name but a few. As long as it looks credible, we buy it. And in hindsight, we forgive our friends, no matter how horrible what they did was. Love is blind, especially when a lot of money is involved.

The war between Israel and the Palestinians has the same problem, but that's for another article. For the war in Ukraine, there are two theories that dominate.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

Dramatically different versions—The Russian version of the war in Ukraine dramatically differs from the version we are presented with in Norway. One of the versions is heavily tainted with lies, deception, and propaganda. The problem is which one. Because the Western version is well covered, this post will look at the issues as seen from the East. Such an angle is not only legitimate - it is necessary.

The West did not want to help Russia.—Resentment towards Russia is old. Several of the countries in the old Soviet Union experienced economic problems when the union was dissolved and the Berlin Wall fell. Jeffrey Sachs - a well-known American economist - led the work on economic reform in Poland in the 1990s with financial support from the US. Afterward, he was asked by Russia to assist them in the same process, but this time Washington clearly said NO, helping Russia was out of the question. He has since publicly criticized the US and the IMF for letting Russia collapse, saying: "Washington wanted Russia to go under. There was no interest in a prosperous, stable Russia. The goal was control."

Even then, Russia was an enemy, and the Cold War was still hanging on.—The result for Russia in the 1990s was a massive economic crisis, hyperinflation, and a collapse in living standards. A small group of oligarchs took control of large parts of the country's resources - often with Western assistance and corruption, and Russian fortunes were invested in the West. As Putin came to power and began to re-establish state control over the energy sector (such as Gazprom, Rosneft, etc.), he was increasingly seen as an obstacle to US-style "reforms".

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

This was written on Reidar’s Norwegian blog on April 5, 2024

The Israeli regime has exhibited ugly psychopathic behavior lately. The regime is probably beyond treatment, the madness has gone so far that there is no hope for change. If Norwegians carried on as Israelis are now doing, they would be locked up for the rest of their lives.

In this madness, Israel uses rhetoric that shows a frightening lack of self-awareness, as expected of psychopaths. In their wake are lots of people who have been killed and injured. The psychopaths elegantly rise above all criticism by saying that it is everyone else who is wrong. And to emphasize the madness, they claim that "it is God's will".

Israel is not alone. Israel has gained acceptance and support for its policy. This applies to the US, which actively supports and participates in the genocide with money, weapons, and bombs, and it applies to Jonas Gahr Støre, who still sees no reason to introduce diplomatic reactions and is helping to prolong an untenable situation.

Here I'm going to poke a little at Israel's rhetoric to show how bad things have become, the order is random.