Nikolai Patrushev, the long-standing Secretary of Russia's Security Council and the former head of the FSB, the successor to the KGB, in which Patrushev also served, gave an interview to Vitaly Tseplayev, of the newspaper Argumenti i Fakti. Patrushev is reputed to be one of Vladimir Putin's few confidants, and one of the limited number of decision makers, who decided to invade Ukraine.
The interview is dominated by Patrushev's view that Western politics are determined by transnational corporations, who command the politicians. In line with this view, Patrushev believes that "all four assassinations of American presidents have corporate footprints."
According to Patrushev, the Western and particularly Anglo-American strategy is to cut down rivals to bite-size nations, and they are attempting to do to Russia what was done to Yugoslavia – namely to reduce it to the size of the 15th-century mini-state. This is the meaning of the war in Ukraine, where the West, fearing to directly fight Russia, was manipulating the Ukrainians to fight against their Russian brothers. Patrushev also argues that the Americans abandoned Afghanistan to devote more resources to preparing Ukraine to attack Russia.
The full interview with Patrushev follows below:[1]
Nikolai Patrushev (Source: Rbc.ru)
Turbulent Environment
Q: "Nikolai Platonovich, what is your assessment of the world situation at the start of this year?"
A: "The world situation is extremely complex and turbulent in character. Many countries in various regions are undergoing simultaneous military-political, economic, social and spiritual crises. Let's hope that positive changes will take place this year."
Q: "You once stated that the leadership of Western countries does nothing to improve the situation, let alone globally, but even in their own countries. Can you elaborate, what did you mean by that?"
"Western politicians lack the power and capacity to change life in their states for the better, as they have not been independent actors for a long time. Everyone has ties, with big business, lobbyists and foundations behind them. They do not even hide these facts. There are quite recent examples.
"It turns out that dozens of European parliament members were under control of George Soros' agencies, while the European Commission has created a number of corrupt schemes worth tens of billions of euros for vaccine purchases at the behest of one of the world's largest American pharmaceutical companies. It's obvious that the true power in the West is in the hands of resource-controlling clans and multinational corporations."
Q: "Are you seriously talking about Rockefellers and Rothschilds?"
A: "Actually, there are many more corporations and clans of this type. For example, the combined revenues of the world's top 500 companies, according to unofficial data, totaled nearly USD 38 trillion in 2021.
"Corporations headquartered in the U.S. account for the majority of the multinational companies. Their revenues totaled about USD 16 trillion, with net profits of USD 1.8 trillion.
"The capital of a number of transnational companies surpasses the GDP of most of the world's economies, while funds they have established to further enrich themselves claim to be a supranational tool for governing humanity. The very same Soros Foundation has become almost the world's main center for planning and implementing "color revolutions."
Two Actors In One Play
Q: "Are you trying to say that even the U.S. authorities are not pursuing independent policies?"
A: "In essence, the American state acts as just a shell [a cover] for a conglomerate of humongous corporations that rule the country and try to dominate the world. For the transnational corporations [TNCs], even U.S. presidents are mere extras who can be shut up like Trump. All four assassinations of American presidents have corporate footprints. It's no coincidence that a growing number of Americans declare that Republicans and Democrats are just two actors in the same play, which has nothing to do with democracy.
According to Patrushev, transnational corporations were involved in President Lincoln's assassination by John Wilkes Booth in 1865 (Source: Pbs.com)
"The U.S. authorities, conjoined to big business, serve the interests of multinational corporations, including the military-industrial complex. The White House's assertive foreign policy, NATO's unbridled aggressiveness, the emergence of the 'AUKUS' military bloc, and other [institutions] are also a consequence of corporate influence.
"The draft American budget for 2023 serves as the best proof of Washington's plans to wage new wars at the expense of its own citizens' well-being. Half of the total amount of USD1.7 trillion of planned federal government expenses is allocated to defense: more than USD 850 billion. Forty-five billion USD in allocations are being planned for the continuation of hostilities in Ukraine and the prolongation of the conflict.
"Such is the state of affairs, despite the fact that the U.S. itself and its minions are irrevocably falling down into a debt hole. The Americans have a national debt of more than USD 31 trillion. England's debt of 2.4 trillion pounds has become the highest since World War II, and exceeded 101% of [the country's] gross domestic product. Japan, with a public debt of almost USD 10 trillion, set a world record in the debt-to-GDP ratio, which is more than 2.6-fold. The thing is, however, that the countries that consider themselves masters of the world are not going to pay back these debts.
"Earlier, the West attained prosperity and achieved world domination through colonial conquests. This is also how multinational companies act today, preferring to increase their capital by siphoning off resources from other countries. In doing so, they use their own system of brainwashing the masses to impose on the world population the idea of some rules, which they themselves invented and which do not accord with international law.
Global Exploitation
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Q: "Do you really believe that TNCs have a strong influence on local political and socio-economic processes when operating around the world?"
A: "Correct. On the one hand, they introduce new technologies through foreign direct investment and increase productivity. However, the population cannot take advantage of these results, because the companies push out the local producer forever, thus, becoming monopolists. By taking the bulk of their profits abroad, they deprive countries of the opportunity to increase their national wealth.
"National legislation is insufficient to address this problem. The current international legal regulation concerning the economic activities of TNCs has been shaped in the interests of the corporations themselves and with their direct involvement. The current international legal framework for the economic activities of TNCs has been shaped in the interests of the corporations themselves and with their direct involvement. There are no plans for a change in favor of the national interests of the countries being torpedoed.
"In a fundamentally changing world, corporations' aim is to maintain a system of global exploitation. At its head is an elite of businessmen who do not associate themselves with any state. Underneath, it is the so-called 'developed nations of the world,' as well as the 'golden billion.' And then there is the rest of humanity, contemptuously referred to as the 'third world.'"
Q: "By this logic, Russia, apparently, won't have the most enviable place in this hierarchy."
A: "There is no place for our country in the West. A bunch of world powers are annoyed with Russia because it enjoys rich resources, a vast territory, intelligent and self-reliant people, who love their country, its traditions and history.
"The transnational corporations are nervous about the worldview and ideological divergence between Russia and countries, which are under control of the Western capital. The corporations are focused on enriching themselves and on developing a consumer society. Russia, on the other hand, stands for a reasonable balance between spiritual and moral values and socio-economic development.
"In this context, the Westerners seek to weaken our country, to dismember it, to destroy the Russian language and the Russian world. They have long since perfected the technology of undermining their adversaries from within and fragmenting them into small states.
"This was their modus operandi before, when, for instance, London broke up the empires by the end of World War I, and established dozens of countries. This is how it is done today too. A striking example is Yugoslavia. The state, which had an independent voice in the international arena, is divided into six countries."
What Do The Events In Ukraine Signify?
Q: "The end of December marked the 100th anniversary of the formation of the USSR. What impact do you think the collapse of the Union in 1991 had on the policies of the U.S. and its allies?"
"It gave them encouragement. Fifteen new subjects of international law have emerged on the territory of the former Soviet Union. Naturally, none of them can match the USSR in terms of their level of influence, with the exception of the Russian Federation, which, being able to keep its merited centuries-old international standing, is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and plays a crucial role in the world, defending its national interests.
"Therefore, the plans of the Westerners are to continue to tear Russia apart, and eventually to simply erase it from the world political map. Today they are still shouting at the top of their voices that Russia must not remain united, it must be boxed into the borders of the 15th-century Muscovy state. To this end, they won't shy away from anything, including inventing a thoroughly false history of our country, shifting their responsibility for the oppression of other peoples to it (which is something that has never been done by Russia).
"The entire story with Ukraine was started in Washington to work out the technology of dividing and pitting a single people against each other. Millions of people are forbidden to speak their native Russian language and forced to forget their origins.
"The West, to satisfy its ambitions, is practically destroying the Ukrainian people, forcing the active generation to perish on the battlefield and impoverishing the rest of the population.
"The events in Ukraine aren't a clash between Moscow and Kyiv, but a military confrontation between NATO (primarily the U.S. States and Britain) with Russia. Afraid of direct contact, NATO instructors are driving Ukrainian lads to their certain deaths. With a help of the special military operation [SVO], Russia liberates its regions from occupation and must put an end to the West's bloody experiment to exterminate the fraternal Ukrainian people."
Q: "But the world, on the contrary, accuses Russia of seizing Ukraine's territory, attacks on its infrastructure..."
"We are not at war with Ukraine because, by definition, we cannot hate ordinary Ukrainians. Ukrainian traditions are close to the people of Russia, just as the heritage of the Russian people is inseparable from Ukrainian culture.
"Let's note that the Ukrainian language is preserved as one of the state languages in Crimea. Ukrainian cultural centers and Ukrainian song and dance ensembles continue to perform in many cities. In the south of the Russian Far East region, considering the high proportion of re-settlers since the Stolypin era, a significant number of residents perceive the culture of the Ukrainian people to be native.
"And the sooner the citizens of Ukraine will understand that the West is fighting Russia with their [the Ukrainians'] own hands, the more lives will be saved. Many have long realized this but are afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals. It's not in the plans of the West to save someone's life at the expense of their own enrichment and other ambitions. Meanwhile, the Americans, the British and other Europeans often create an illusion that they are protecting civilization from barbarism."
Q: "Are you alluding to the events in Afghanistan, where the U.S. declared the fight against terrorism and then withdrew rather ignominiously?"
"Not only in Afghanistan, but in other regions too. They themselves created terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda, the Taliban Movement or ISIS, in order to reach their goals, and then they themselves fought against them. While staging, on the one hand, a show of eliminating terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden, on the other hand hundred they were training and arming hundred new ones.
"The U.S. presence in Afghanistan didn't turn out to be a fight against terrorism, but, on the contrary, a creation of multi-million-dollar corruption schemes and a multifold increase in drug production. The sudden withdrawal of the Americans from that country, as it turned out, had much to do with them focusing on Ukraine, where, according to their assessments, the preparation of the Kyiv puppet regime for offensive anti-Russian actions was well underway.
"Incidentally, this was confirmed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who stated that if the U.S. military had not left Afghanistan, Washington wouldn't have been able to allocate so much money to Ukraine. What's more, some of the equipment withdrawn from Afghan territory was transported to Europe, mainly to Poland, allowing the Europeans to militarize the Kyiv regime."
Patrushev: The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was timed to clear the decks for assisting Kyiv in its offensive anti-Russian actions
Q: On February 24 last year, Russia designated precisely "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine as the goals of the SVO. Are you still confident that these goals will be reached?
"The neo-Nazi criminals, who in recent years have been running rampant in Ukraine will inevitably face punishment. However, it is possible that the most odious ones will be rescued by their masters in order to be deployed in other countries, including orchestrating coups and fulfilling subversive tasks.
"Such a scheme was perfected during the defeat of Nazi Germany. After 1945, the Americans, the British and the West German authorities under their control reported on the de-Nazification of German occupation zone under their responsibility. Meanwhile, Nazis saved from punishment were utilized to create the FRG armed forces as well as the American and British intelligence network, including for covert operations against socialist camp member-states.
"The CIA, which until 1948 was called the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, actively used former employees of Abwehr and Hitler's Reich Imperial Security Directorate to create new German secret services.
"During the post-war years, the Americans actively involved Nazi criminals in the development of new arms, including weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. The same is true for the Americans' use of Japanese war criminals, who engaged in development and usage of chemical and bacteriological weapons."
"Humanity's Potential Is Far From Exhausted"
Q: "Let's return to the subject of the influence of TNC on the politics of different countries. You argue that it is almost limitless. And what methods, in your opinion, are in the TNCs' arsenal?"
"These are the most cynical methods. Some of them include experimenting with dangerous pathogens and viruses in military-biological laboratories overseen by the Pentagon; they are unapologetically engaged in the moral and ethical corruption of society.
"The West has mastered a 'zombification' of people through means of mass propaganda and now seeks to use cognitive weapons, influencing everyone on a targeted basis through information technology and neuro-psychology techniques.
"[The West] implants neoliberal and other values, some of which are inherently opposed to human nature. They act consciously and make no secret among the members of their circle that the LGBT agenda is a tool to gradually reduce the number of 'superfluous people,' who don't fit into the notorious 'golden billion.'
"Only yesterday, GMOs were being promoted with no concern for the consequences that such products have on human health, and today women are being urged not to have children to fight climate change. 'Overseas science' suggests that people should be measured by the amount of carbon they leave behind. They measure and count humanity in the same way that Nazi scientists back in the day were measuring skulls in search of criteria for dividing 'superior' and 'inferior races.'
Q: "The picture you're painting is pretty bleak picture, isn't it? It's as if the end of mankind is just around the corner..."
"Humanity's potential is far from exhausted. There are institutions in place designed to positively influence this situation. These are: the UN and the UN Security Council. The likes of the SCO, BRICS, ASEAN and other similar bodies are gaining popularity. However, the West is not interested in their effectiveness.
"Anglo-Saxons are obsessively trying to nudge the world community to believe that these institutions have outlived their usefulness, and that it is necessary to live by their invented rules invented.
"Those who disagree with their hegemony are labelled as 'pariah-states,' 'terrorist states,' or states that pose a threat to national security. Meanwhile the Western countries don't notice that they themselves are gradually being outnumbered, because the world is getting tired of their strategy of force and threats."
The Power Is In The People
Q: "How does Russia's leadership intend to design its strategy in the light of the abovementioned challenges?"
"Our country follows a path towards building a strong, modern, independent economy, to achieve economic sovereignty. Russia has all the resources necessary for this. What is needed is a culture for exploiting them, a careful and masterful attitude to our treasures (not only natural ones, but also intangible ones). Russian business must be nationally oriented. Private capital, just like the authorities, should think about the long-term development of the country.
"Russia's financial independence is important, as well as is technological sovereignty. We have enough [inventors like Mikhail] Lomonosov and "[Ivan] Kulibin of our own. The problem is to find them in time. We should not just develop science and education, but revive a real cult of the scientist, the engineer, of the hard worker. The younger generation should be inspired by the ideas of creative work for the benefit of Fatherland, rather than sitting back in the offices of Western corporations.
"Russia's indestructible strength lies in our hard-working people, whose advantage lies, among other things, in their diverse sentiments on life, in their multi-ethnicity and multi-confessionalism. It is important to understand that we have a unique and distinctive culture, that Russia is not Europe or Asia, and certainly not 'anti-West.'
"This, by the way, is our fundamental difference [from the West]. For a Russian person, hatred, by definition, cannot be a unifying force. Only Westerners, who openly call the U.S. the enemy, are full of hatred. But they should be reminded of their unsuccessful military operations in Vietnam, Afghanistan, other countries ...
"It's important for us, given the emergence of new military threats, to have such armed forces and security services that Russia's adversaries would not even dare to think that they can fight with us."
[1] Aif.ru, January 10, 2023.
