Ritter on Smolenkov and Some Thoughts on Christian Discernment

https://consortiumnews.com/2019/09/14/the-spy-who-walked-away/

Ritter will be remembered by some as the patriotic American ex- UN weapons inspector who refused to accept the Bush administration's line on Iraq. He exposed the administration as dishonest and challenged the WMD narrative.

He has continued to write and speak and yet was undoubtedly blacklisted to a degree for his activities. He has also questioned the narrative with regard to Syria and now he has written a rather thorough, insightful and thought provoking article with regard to the Smolenkov story... a story the media has tried to hype but one that has proven too confusing to gain much traction.

Mainstream outlets such as CNN are tying the Smolenkov story in with the 2016 collusion narrative. Ritter challenges this.

In addition it might be pointed out that far from being Putin's best pal, the Trump administration has actually stepped up the pressure on Moscow and despite some token gestures on the part of Trump at international gatherings, relations have continued to worsen.

At this point based on statements made by current and ex-government officials, as well as the Pentagon's official policy, the United States is effectively at war with Putin's Russia. The Pentagon's euphemistic label of 'strategic rival' is tantamount to enemy. The bullets aren't flying but the animosity and enmity are at Cold War levels.  

Growing up during the Cold War I drank in the propaganda probably as much as the next person and yet looking back I cringe and sometimes laugh. The Establishment really worked over the American public. From the news, to movies and television we were barraged by an agenda and in retrospect a great deal of misinformation... a great deal of it deliberate.

We ought to keep that in mind. Most commentators will mark 2014 as the critical year in US-Russia relations, the year Putin annexed the Crimea. And yet that too would be misleading. The critical year is 1989. By the mid-1990's Washington was openly manipulating Russian elections and seeking to fully subjugate Moscow and eliminate its historical claims and spheres. But then Vladimir Putin took office and more importantly the 9/11 attacks took place. The Middle East would consume US attention over the following decade and by the end of Bush's second term, the economy was in shambles, the War on Terror had moved sideways and the US Empire had lost tremendous ground in Latin America and had failed to check the growing power of nations like Russia and China. The Obama era sought to change this through various means and yet the animosity turned into a state of undeclared war.

The US corporate media isn't just a tool of the Establishment. It's part of the Establishment. Profits come first and then an ideological defense of the ruling order comes next. While there's some limited information to be found in their reports, they are not to be trusted. The lies surrounding Russia have been substantial and thus every claim must be subject to rigorous evaluation. In almost every case their heavily slanted and biased arguments either collapse or at the very least wither upon examination.

This is not to exonerate Vladimir Putin or his corrupt regime. Putin is logical, even reasonable from the standpoint of his own country's interests. This however is not laudable as his regime is filled with poison and in reaction to fears of Western aggression and machinations it has turned to brutality and to persecution. He certainly represents a rejection of Classical Liberalism. As Christians we too must reject this paradigm and yet once again this does not for a moment suggest that we wed ourselves to authoritarianism, oligarchy, pseudo-theocracy or the mafia-like rule of Putin and his would-be sacralist regime.

We have to think through these issues and seek wisdom. In times of intensified polarity it will certainly mean that we find ourselves outside all camps, at odds with most public opinions and ideologies. Such a wilderness exile is actually part of our calling, something that should be reckoned a norm, even a comfort. Or at least it would be if the American Church was faithful... for then we would share in great fellowship. Sadly, those seeking to apply the Scriptures to our understanding of current events and to live by their wisdom and doctrine... will only result in isolation. The way of the cross is not a popular message and most professing Christians reject it outright, even many who claim otherwise. Others, false teachers, Balaams and Sophists, stir the Christian masses and profit from the upheaval and the angst.

And yet this isn't the first time this has happened to God's people. Covenant History is replete with episodes of apostasy. In fact it could almost be described as the default setting and yet we must never allow such corruption to overshadow or negate the full spectrum of Biblical doctrine.