Back Story Newsletter
Good Morning,
Sedition - U.S. Conviction
A Federal Court in Washington, ruled yesterday the Jan 6, 2021 march on the Capitol was the product of an organized conspiracy.
This was a jury trial and an unprecedented, historical moment in America, that brought clarity and truth, to the events leading up to the violent assault on the Capitol that was designed to keep Donald Trump in power, and block the peaceful transfer of power to President elect Joe Biden.
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was convicted on Tuesday along with one of his subordinates of seditious conspiracy, and the verdict cuts through all of the smoke screens thrown up by pro Trump forces, which have sought to confuse and deny from what really happened.
Prosecutors showed Mr. Rhodes placed a “quick reaction force” of heavily armed Oath Keepers at a Comfort Inn in Arlington County, Va., ready to rush their weapons into Washington. They even organized a boat to ferry guns across the Potomac river.
Rhodes bizarrely believed Biden was under the control of the Chinese and led his militia, made up of ex army and police into the Capitol to used armed forces to block the transfer of power and he urged Trump to invoke the insurrection act.
There are 900 criminal cases stemming from the investigation of the Capitol attack, and many more criminal cases are looming but this is by far the most serious so far.
How high did Rhodes links go to others in Washington? That’s the next chapter in all this. Stay tuned…
China Unrest
The Chinese Communist Party is under increasing pressure as thousands have demonstrated in multiple cities to against harsh Covid measures and lockdowns.
Protests have continued despite a crackdown to stop the campaign, with some protesters calling for President Xi Jinping to step down, in a rare direct challenge to his leadership. Public disobedience are uncommon in China and are a sign of the pressure many people are under due to repeated lockdowns and economic disruptions.
Chinese TV has blamed external forces for stirring the unrest including the CIA and America.
But the protests seem to be spontaneous and are a measure of the frustration and anger at the zero Covid policies in China that seem to have no end point.
Ukraine’s Winter
The head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg has said Russia is aiming to use the freezing cold of Ukraines winter as a weapon to flood Europe with refugees, and missile attacks are Putin’s last resort to cause chaos in a war he can’t win.
Stoltenberg spoke as NATO ambassadors gathered in Romania to discuss their next support package for Ukraine and the possibility of it one-day becoming a member.
What seems jarring is that Stoltenberg is offering to take Ukraine into NATO one day, instead of discussing the demilitarization of Ukraine, or security guarantees in return for a Russian withdrawal.
But then again Putin isn’t offering to withdraw, and has formally annexed parts of Ukraine, some of which are not under Russian control now.
Is the final outcome of this conflict somewhere between those two extremes?
'NATO's door is open,' Stoltenberg said, adding that Russia 'does not get a veto' on who can apply to join the military pact.
But NATO of course would not extend membership to a country in the middle of a war. And if Russia believes NATO membership is in the offing the fighting won’t stop for years to come.
That may be where we are … Years of fighting ahead of Europe, supporting an expensive war that grinds on disrupting energy and economics and the lives of millions.
While at the same time the rot in Russia, the economic fallout, the human price of war, is also staggering and possibly unsustainable for the Kremlin.
Stoltenberg has been clear since the start of the invasion back in February that avoiding all-out conflict between the West and Russia is his main goal.
That may be why there are contradicting reports this week that NATO and the U.S. could soon supply Ukraine with Patriot missile systems that are largely designed to down aircraft and incoming missile attacks.
The EU is inching towards a deal on a price cap on Russian oil as part of a new round of sanctions against Russia. The deadline for a deal is 5 December because that is when the EU’s own full embargo on purchases of Russian seaborne oil, agreed at the end of May, comes into effect.
Other News…
-The first drug to slow the destruction of the brain in Alzheimer's has been heralded as momentous. The medicine, Lecanemab works in the early stages of the disease by telling the immune system to clear amyloid from the brain.
-Iranian fans had mixed emotions as they tried to support their national team in the World Cup, while at home violence is widespread by authorities against demonstrating demanding regime change. In the end the U.S. won the game 1-0 against Iran. England also clinched a spot in the next round defeating Wales 3-0. Terrific game by England.
Have a good morning everyone. More later this week!
Dana