A Saker is a very large falcon, native to Europe and Asia.
“The Saker” is a pseudonym for a top level American military analyst who lives in Florida, the author of the leading blog covering Russia and the Ukraine crisis, The Vineyard of the Saker, which gets an astounding 50,000 page views per day. Of the many blogs covering the subject, his has shot far ahead of the others, due to his sharp analysis and insight.
Paul Craig Roberts is an American economist and columnist. He served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration and was noted as a co-founder of Reaganomics. He is a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Scripps Howard News Service. He has testified before congressional committees on 30 occasions on issues of economic policy.
He has written extensively on the effects of the neo-liberal economic policies pursued since the 1990s and about jobs-offshoring which he has strongly criticized. He has argued that these policies, favoring the financial services “industry” at the expense of other sectors of the economy, has eroded America’s industrial capacity, its workers’ skills and has sharply decreased upward social mobility. He has stated that these policies which condemned American workers to low-paying unskilled jobs, as the only jobs available, caused them to increase their net personal debt to maintain living standards, significantly contributed to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. These positions are covered in greater detail in his book The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West.
Roberts has written extensively about the effects of the Bush (and later Obama) administrations related to the War on Terror, which he says have destroyed the US Constitution’s protections of Americans’ civil liberties, such as habeas corpus and due process. He has taken positions different from former Republican allies, opposing the War on Drugs and the War on Terror, and criticizing Israel’s policies and actions against the Palestinians.
In this interview, these two powerful writers get together to offer their unique slant on what’s going on in the Ukraine.
A sample follows:
Does Washington Intend War With Russia? The Saker interviews Paul Craig Roberts
While the US was focused on its MidEast wars, Putin restored Russia and blocked Washington’s planned invasion of Syria and bombing of Iran. The “first objective” of the (Wolfowitz) neocon doctrine was breached. Russia had to be brought into line. That is the origin of Washington’s attack on Russia.
You can read the rest of it here:
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/03/23/washington-intend-war-russia-pcr-interviewed-saker/
Don't bother with this blog
So I checked out the “Saker” blog – typically anti-Semitic blog. His major contributors are some of the same anti-Semites found elsewhere on the internet ( Gilad Atzmon, Israel Shamir). While the original poster might find this sharp and insightful, I would suggest most would find this blog repulsive.
Random example::
” I don’t know why so many folks are under the impression that Jews, especially Ashkenazim, are so smart. They strike me as completely delusional and their actions bordering on suicidal.
What is certain is that organized Jewry certainly does not give a damn about the well-being or safety of the average non-politicized Jew. In fact, the more Jews get assaulted or killed as a direct results of the criminally reckless policies of the leaders of organized Jewry – the better for the latter, as that just fuels their favorite myth about Gentiles being inherently and mysteriously anti-Jewish.
I am convinced that most of the so-called “anti-Semitism” out there is deliberately fueled by the 1%ers who are at the top of most Jewish organizations. Yet another reason not to fall into their trap and to categorically reject the crude and primitive anti-Jewish propaganda spewed by various racist groups or individuals and remember the words of Saint Paul “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Epistle to the Ephesians 6:12).
Still, I wonder what it would take for most Jews to realize that their real enemy is not the mythical “always anti-Semitic goy” but their own leaders…
Sadly, I am not holding my breath.
The Saker “
Anti-Semitism is in the eye of the beholder.
I thought this discussion was about the Ukraine.
On the subject of anti-Semitism, the Saker has pointed out that the Kiev government shares power with the Right Sektor and Svoboda political parties, who also make up the bulk of the Ukraine National Guard. These parties have explicit elements of anti-Semitism. Their vocabulary and public behavior looks, sounds and feels like some of the things we saw years ago: Hitler salutes, swastika tattoos even SS symbolism.
BTW, research indicates that both Gilad Atzmon and Israel Shamir were born to Jewish families. Isn’t the proper label “self-hating Jews”?
BTW, you missed this from Wikipedia
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, has criticized Roberts as promoting anti-Semitism for his increasing focus on “criticism of Israel and Jews “.
Roberts cautions against blaming all Jews for the actions of a right-wing government: “The world will need to remember that although Israel is a Jewish state, it is a state whose policies many Jews find objectionable, just as a majority of American Jews oppose President Bush’s wars of aggression in the Middle East and his unconstitutional policies at home. We must not confuse Israel’s Zionist government with world Jewry, just as we must not confuse the American people with the war criminals in the Bush regime.”
Saker is highly informative
I’ve been a regular viewer of the Saker Blog for over a year , and in no way view it as repulsive. In fact I find it highly informative , with in-depth analysis about the events occurring in Ukraine & Russia, from a perspective that is almost entirely missing from the Western mainstream media.
The example of Saker’s “anti Semitism” that sender submitted was from the following article on the Saker blog of April 2014…..
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-jewish-elites-deliberately-endanger.html
The Saker was trying to point out the ugly dangers of the newly installed Ukrainian governments alliance with
the ultra-nationalist, neo-Nazi groups….
Right Sector
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Sector,
and Svoboda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svoboda_%28political_party%29
Recently the Right Sector leader, Dmitri Yarosh, chillingly stated in an interview for a Ukrainian newspaper that the “unruly residents” of eastern Ukraine should be deported and deprived of their civil rights before a program of “affectionate Ukrainianization” can begin. If anyone can find this being reported in the western mainstream press, please point that out.
http://thesaker.is/ukraines-right-sector-leader-wants-donbas-residents-deported/
So I would thank you , tomaidh, for bringing the Saker blog to the public’s attention.
War and Rumors of War
I’ve been reading elsewhere, but not from this Saker person, that it looks like the US is trying to pick a war with Russia. Based on what I’ve been reading, there could be some truth to this theory, and in fact, a month or so ago, Germany and France brokered an emergency deal to bring about a (fragile) ceasefire in Ukraine. Hollande at the time made some dark statements about the consequences if their efforts failed — he seemed to fear full-on war in Europe which both France and Germany have an interest to avoid. Russia too. The only country that doesn’t share this interest, at least as far as geography is concerned, is America.
There’s also the assertion made by many on the Russian side that the new Ukrainian gov’t and army are heavily influenced, shall we say, by neo-Nazi ideology. Yet the US supports that government.
This story is incredibly convoluted but I’m sure there will be a long, thoughtful piece somewhere putting it all together for us. In the meantime, it’s interesting to watch, and as long as WWIII doesn’t break out, I’m sure we’ll all be fine.
Right Sector and War
Lise,…there’s more than just an assertion made by the Russians that the Ukrainian Army is influenced by Neo Nazi ideology, which has certainly been true, but it appears that the Neo -Nazi Right Sector will officially become a part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
See here……..
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/03/right-sector-will-become-autonomous.html
One of the commentors at the end of the article very accurately describes this as legitimizing US/NATO support for these Right Sector Neo Nazis..
“Integrating Right Sector para military forces into UAF gives legitimacy – if one can call having neo-nazi contingency of the official armed forces of the country legitimacy – to US / NATO and international support for Right Sector armed militias. With integration to UAF, US/NATO is no longer backing non-government para-military forces in Ukraine – a serious breach of international law. Support for neo-nazi militia now becomes “legitimate” support for Ukraine and Ukraine has not problem acknowledging it relies on neo-nazi forces to terrorize the Russian population of Ukraine and anyone else who opposes the coup, the junta, and the US/NATO agenda for war in eastern Europe. And yet the western leaders get together for photo ops, shed tears and pledge “never again” when it comes to Nazi-ism!”
The utter hyprocrisy of the US is beyond belief!!!
I agree, it’s incredibly convoluted, but I really don’t think ” there will be a long, thoughtful piece somewhere putting it all together for us”. I wish that were true, but I think it’s too complex and fluid a situation. The more I look into it, the deeper the rabbit hole seems to go, but there’s one thing seems certain, and that’s the United States’ constant brutal meddling in other countries’ affairs, overtly & secretively, trying to maintain control of the world. There’s a great amount of history there in Ukraine / Russia , with many layers, players ,and alliances formed & broken over a greater period of time. One person I respect as knowledgeable about the situation is Stephen Cohen, NYU and Princeton professor Emeritus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_F._Cohen
He writes articles, gives talks , and does a weekly talk show appearance on the John Batchelor Podcast show, every Tues.
Yesterday’s show, March 31, was very good, I highly recommend taking the time to listen to it…..
http://johnbatchelorshow.com/podcasts/tues-33115-hr-2-jbs-stephen-f-cohen-nyu-princeton-professor-emeritus-author-soviet-fates
Since this thread opened with an interview of Paul Craig Roberts,…… thought I’d just give a link to one of his latest, compelling articles ……
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41405.htm
Paul Craig Roberts is an American Christian propagandist ?
I probably stand alone with this view of Roberts, but if I’m right, and in this case I think I am, the core problem of the America’s warwhoops is in fact its heavyhanded preoccupation with deranged Christianity.
PC Roberts is a propagandist for his own Christian belief dependency, and therefore has more in common with what’s wrong this country than we are led to believe. He sees Washington as “Satan.” He is part of and more of the same old Christian infighting that the Jews, Christian and Muslims have fostered on us, before and after the Constantinian dynasty, except for Julian, the last Constantinian emperor.
Had Julian survived a long reign, the Hellenistic diversity he envisioned might have saved history from the horrors of Jukrislim.
Here, http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/pages/about-paul-craig-roberts/ , is found Roberts following quote:
PC Roberts says – – –
…’on Christmas Day, 2003, he wrote: “There is plenty of room for cultural diversity in the world, but not in a single country….All Americans have a huge stake in Christianity. Whether or not we are individually believers in Christ, we are beneficiaries of the moral doctrine that has curbed power and protected the weak….Power that is secularized and cut free of civilizing traditions is not limited by moral and religious scruples.”’
This is an astonishing thing to say, much less actually believe in – what should be a pluralistic nation where secularism should be equal to (or greater) than dubious ” moral and religious scruples.” !!