Episode 175

US Strategy, China Containment, and Global Flashpoints w/ KJ Noh - Ep 175

Published on: 31st December, 2025

Jovanni and Keagan sit down with guest KJ Noh, a journalist and political analyst, explore the complex web of US foreign policy and its attempts to contain China, covering the intricate dynamics of localized conflicts such as the Cambodia-Thailand border tension and the role of US proxy states in the Pacific. They delve into China's abstention on the Gaza Trump plan at the UN Security Council, and dissect what the latest US National Security Strategy reveals about Washington's long-term priorities. Also, they break down the interplay between international law, sovereignty, and the strategy of hybrid warfare, ultimately questioning how secure any state can feel outside the sphere of Western control.

K.J. Noh is a peace activist and journalist and scholar specializing in the geopolitics of the Asian continent. He writes for Counterpunch and Dissident Voice. He is special correspondent for KPFA Flashpoints on the Pivot to Asia, the Koreas, and the Pacific.

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Transcript
Don:

this is Fortress On A Hill, with Henri, Danny, Kaygan, Jo

Don:

vonni, Shiloh, Monisha , and Mike

Jovanni:

Welcome everyone to Fortress On A Hill, a podcast about US foreign

Jovanni:

policy, anti-imperialism, skepticism, and the American way of work.

Jovanni:

I'm Fortress On A Hill here.

Jovanni:

With me today is Kagan.

Jovanni:

Thank you for joining us today, Kagan.

Jovanni:

How you doing today?

Keagan:

I'm excellent.

Keagan:

Fortress On A Hill, as excellent as I can be under these circumstances, but

Jovanni:

the weather over there where you're at,

Keagan:

It's in the forties and raining.

Keagan:

Oh wow.

Keagan:

Typical Portland weather.

Keagan:

Okay.

Jovanni:

Alright.

Jovanni:

So we are at San Antonio 70 degrees today.

Jovanni:

All right.

Jovanni:

So let's go the let's dig in what we're talking about this.

Jovanni:

In this episode, we're exploring how seemingly separate global flashpoint

Jovanni:

might actually connect under a broader US strategy to contain China from tensions

Jovanni:

under Cambodia, Thailand border, to Japan's increasingly aggressive rhetoric.

Jovanni:

We'll look at how Washington's network of proxy states in the

Jovanni:

Pacific serve, both la, both land and sea encirclement of China.

Jovanni:

We also discussed China.

Jovanni:

China's puzzling as abstention on the Gaza Trump plan at the UN

Jovanni:

Security Council questioning how its principle of non-intervention

Jovanni:

aligned with international law duty to prevent genocide.

Jovanni:

What does it say about China's global posture?

Jovanni:

What does it mean for countries like Venezuelan and other global south count,

Jovanni:

other global south countries that align with Beijing and Moscow through bricks,

Jovanni:

the built and Rose initiative under the threat of Western retaliation?

Jovanni:

And finally, we'll take a quick look at what the latest US national

Jovanni:

Security Strategy reveals about Washington's long-term priorities.

Jovanni:

All it ties back to one big question.

Jovanni:

How secure can any state feel when stepping outside of the

Jovanni:

shadows of Western's in control?

Jovanni:

Let's discuss this with our returning guests.

Jovanni:

Kj, no.

Jovanni:

Kj no is a journalist, political analyst, writer and educator

Jovanni:

specializing in Asia Pacific Geopolitics.

Jovanni:

His writing appears in outlets including Visiting Voice, black

Jovanni:

Agenda Report, counter Punch, popular Resistance, Asia Times Morning Review.

Jovanni:

Online, he provides regular commentary for programs such as The Critical

Jovanni:

Hour, by Any Means Necessary Fault Lines kf, KPFA, flashpoints, and

Jovanni:

he holds the China Report, a weekly program on breakthrough news.

Jovanni:

Kj, we honored to have you back.

Jovanni:

How are you doing today?

KJ Noh:

I'm doing well.

KJ Noh:

Good to be with you.

KJ Noh:

Thank you for inviting me.

Jovanni:

Thank you for coming.

Jovanni:

Thank you for coming.

Jovanni:

And lots to, we, lots to cover in, so in so little time.

Jovanni:

I know that when we talked, initially online and brought up some of the

Jovanni:

topics that that wanted us to explore.

Jovanni:

You said that it was a lot of topics, but hopefully we can we can skim through a few

Jovanni:

of them and get a little bit of clarity of what's going on and in the world today.

Jovanni:

As as there seems to be conflicts everywhere, it seems to be people

Jovanni:

like, in our posture, seems to be seen just being overwhelmed with so

Jovanni:

much tension compass around the world.

Jovanni:

So let's try to make sense of it with the time that we have here today.

Jovanni:

I wanna talk about one of the recent things that has been happening in

Jovanni:

Southeast Asia, which hasn't made a lot of news here in the west.

Jovanni:

And there's the Cambodia, Thailand border border war that just had, I know

Jovanni:

they've had conflicts since the sixties.

Jovanni:

It's been on and off, but recently the their their tension has escalated.

Jovanni:

And the last few weeks ago, in last few weeks, Thailand and Cambodia did

Jovanni:

a they had a ceasefire and they went back into a shooting border war again.

Jovanni:

This this rooted in decades old disputes, competing claims over

Jovanni:

Cambodia's preview here, temple with Thailand and citizens its own.

Jovanni:

Cambodia has mentioned Cambodia has an ironclad relationship

Jovanni:

with China for decades.

Jovanni:

Thailand has been a long term strategic partner of the United States.

Jovanni:

Does this conflict, does it has anything to do with with

Jovanni:

the the containment of China?

Jovanni:

From the, from Washington's perspective?

KJ Noh:

I think it may have.

KJ Noh:

And I think the person that.

KJ Noh:

I would refer people to as Brian Tic, who lives in Thailand, and he's unpacked

KJ Noh:

it in a pretty detailed fashion.

KJ Noh:

But one of the things to understand is that Thailand actually has

KJ Noh:

good relations with China.

KJ Noh:

On the other hand, Cambodia.

KJ Noh:

May be playing a dual role or vacillating.

KJ Noh:

We know that the new leader, incoming leader, hun Sen,

KJ Noh:

was trained at West Point.

KJ Noh:

He's a West Point graduate.

KJ Noh:

Okay.

KJ Noh:

And so there is a very strong connection with the United States

KJ Noh:

and with the Western elite.

KJ Noh:

He also went to, Bristol University, did a degree in economics.

KJ Noh:

And so there are some complex dynamics happening, but one of the first things

KJ Noh:

that we have to ask ourselves, of course, we are seeing it framed as border

KJ Noh:

disputes, and that is not incorrect.

KJ Noh:

And these are borders that go back to the colonial era.

KJ Noh:

They have to do with the French drawing up some very ambiguous

KJ Noh:

borders and then some un rulings that kind of split the difference.

KJ Noh:

And that is left this lingering, sorry, ICJ rulings that have left

KJ Noh:

some, lingering conflicts and then that suddenly exploded into kinetic combat.

KJ Noh:

The tie have alleged that there have been new minds that have been

KJ Noh:

planted, which is a very hostile act.

KJ Noh:

You might argue that perhaps these are old minds that have drifted,

KJ Noh:

which is not unheard of, especially in hilly terrain after rain.

KJ Noh:

But whatever is happening there is real conflict.

KJ Noh:

There is there are.

KJ Noh:

There are jets that are bombing sites.

KJ Noh:

And so this is this is not a trivial conflict.

KJ Noh:

And the most recent report, which also is very disturbing, is that there

KJ Noh:

are FPV drones that are being used.

KJ Noh:

And these are very advanced drones.

KJ Noh:

These are not drones that Cambodia would make themselves.

KJ Noh:

These are FPV drones that are being used on the battlefield.

KJ Noh:

They are jam proof because they're using fiber optic cables.

KJ Noh:

And according to the Thai military and the Thai press, these are being

KJ Noh:

controlled by English speaking troops or English speaking operators.

KJ Noh:

That is very ominous.

KJ Noh:

So whatever is going on, I would say that the hand of the empire is.

KJ Noh:

Involved, and we can see this as a kind of large arc of instability,

KJ Noh:

which is happening all around.

KJ Noh:

Southeast Asia, certainly around China's periphery, the largest,

KJ Noh:

most obvious conflict is Myanmar, which also has a strong western

KJ Noh:

influence, a strong western hand.

KJ Noh:

In particular, the attempt to undermine the gas pipelines going through

KJ Noh:

Rahan State and into Karu port.

KJ Noh:

All of that was being sabotaged up until the point of the coup.

KJ Noh:

And now we see this ongoing civil war.

KJ Noh:

It's a legacy of 70 years of civil war, once again, created by colonial

KJ Noh:

rivalries, colonial, divide, and conquer.

KJ Noh:

But it has continued up to this point, and it is creating a massive destabilizing

KJ Noh:

influence in the region and in particular through the use of these online scam

KJ Noh:

centers that are run on slave labor.

KJ Noh:

It's a kind of reversion to this primitive capitalist accumulation.

KJ Noh:

This simply using slavery as a form of accumulation.

KJ Noh:

And we see that in Myanmar, in parts of Myanmar, and we also

KJ Noh:

see the same problem in Cambodia.

KJ Noh:

Whoever is involved in facilitating this probably has connections to

KJ Noh:

the United States because these slam scam slave labor centers could

KJ Noh:

not function without the internet.

KJ Noh:

And the US controls the backbone of the internet if they're using Elon Musk's sky.

KJ Noh:

What is that thing?

KJ Noh:

Starlink.

KJ Noh:

Starlink, exactly.

KJ Noh:

If they're using starlink starlink is implicated in these

KJ Noh:

in these online scam centers.

Jovanni:

It is not too long ago, we also had a the step down of the the

Jovanni:

prime Minister of Nepal prime Minister KP Sharma, Ollie, in a supposed, Gen

Jovanni:

Z revolution when she stepped down.

Jovanni:

What's interesting about it that she also had a an explicit pro-China

Jovanni:

relationship built around strategic economic and diplomatic alignment.

Jovanni:

And this Gen Z protest, which, which is, it seems to be exploding

Jovanni:

in a lot of places nowadays.

Jovanni:

You saw in Mexico not too long ago, there was this other

Jovanni:

Gen Z revolution type thing.

Jovanni:

And, but it caused her to step down.

Jovanni:

It seems like there's this arc of instability, not only happening in,

Jovanni:

inland also you see how their the allies in the Pacific and pretty

Jovanni:

much corralling around China.

Jovanni:

You have South Africa, south South Korea, Taiwan Japan Australia pretty

Jovanni:

much part of this OKAS type thing.

Jovanni:

There's this ring around China.

Jovanni:

Recently the Japanese Prime Minister made some statements, some threats,

Jovanni:

some concerning statements on Japan.

Jovanni:

Japan on about China.

Jovanni:

And China did react to it?

Jovanni:

Can you say a little bit about that?

KJ Noh:

Yes.

KJ Noh:

That's very important and it is very elucidating for what's going

KJ Noh:

on in the general global sphere.

KJ Noh:

But just a few more words about Nepal.

KJ Noh:

I think it's pretty well established at this point that Nepal was

KJ Noh:

a US funded color revolution.

KJ Noh:

There's almost no doubt about it.

KJ Noh:

The NED was crawling all over the place.

KJ Noh:

All the funding seems to have come out of the United States

KJ Noh:

or US affiliated organizations, N-E-D-U-S-A-A-A-I-D type organizations.

KJ Noh:

And the thing to understand is that you do not bring down an established government.

KJ Noh:

After one week of street protests, that just doesn't happen.

KJ Noh:

Those of us who have ever been in the streets who've, spent decades

KJ Noh:

protesting and organizing, you do not bring a, an established government

KJ Noh:

down in one week with a few.

KJ Noh:

A few days of protest, you have to know that there is a stronger,

KJ Noh:

more powerful hand that is acting.

KJ Noh:

And in this case, it seems to be very clear that this was the United States.

KJ Noh:

So Nepal was definitely a color revolution.

KJ Noh:

Many of these Gen Z protests seemed to have very strong

KJ Noh:

connections with the United States.

KJ Noh:

And I would argue that this is empire through other means.

KJ Noh:

This is the empire's dirty hand, working through other means, through hybrid war.

KJ Noh:

And we're seeing it all over the place.

KJ Noh:

Primarily.

KJ Noh:

You see it in countries that are bricks, countries that allied with the

KJ Noh:

rising multipolar world led by China.

KJ Noh:

But coming back to the Japanese Prime Minister, Sanchi she said

KJ Noh:

some pretty astounding things.

KJ Noh:

This was in the Japanese parliament, the diet, and she proclaimed.

KJ Noh:

That if there was a Taiwan contingency, this would be a Japan contingency.

KJ Noh:

She said that if there were, warships deployed around Taiwan Island, which

KJ Noh:

let's be very clear, is part of China's sovereign territory, the UN recognizes it.

KJ Noh:

China recognizes it.

KJ Noh:

The US recognizes it.

KJ Noh:

180 odd countries recognize it as the case.

KJ Noh:

And even Taiwan Island.

KJ Noh:

The Taiwan authorities, the ROC themselves, recognize

KJ Noh:

themselves as part of China.

KJ Noh:

That's why they're officially called the Republic of China.

KJ Noh:

But China, Taiwan Island, or Taiwan province is a part of China.

KJ Noh:

And what San Akai said essentially was that if China exercises its

KJ Noh:

sovereign rights, doing sovereign actions within its sovereign territory,

KJ Noh:

Japan will consider this to be a survival threatening situation.

KJ Noh:

Let me say that again.

KJ Noh:

A survival.

KJ Noh:

Threatening situation.

KJ Noh:

Why did she say that?

KJ Noh:

Japan technically is not supposed to have a military.

KJ Noh:

It was disarmed after World War ii and they were put into the penalty

KJ Noh:

box because they were essentially the psycho killers of of Asia.

KJ Noh:

They were, they committed genocide all over the place.

KJ Noh:

They colonized Korea, they colonized parts of Northern China.

KJ Noh:

In the process they killed off 35 million and then they went off and

KJ Noh:

colonized most of Southeast Asia.

KJ Noh:

And along the way they kidnapped 400,000 women into comfort women into sexual

KJ Noh:

slavery, where 90% of the women would die.

KJ Noh:

During their sexual enslavement, they ran unit 7 3 1, which was a

KJ Noh:

medical experimentation camp, which made the Nazis look like boy scouts.

KJ Noh:

They would impregnate women and then cut their wombs open, and then experiment with

KJ Noh:

the fetuses and freeze people, and then break their limbs just and subject them

KJ Noh:

to all kinds of torture and different ways of murder, stabbing, burning, et cetera.

KJ Noh:

All of this, quote unquote, in the interest of furthering science, it

KJ Noh:

was truly one of the most heinous, psychopathic experiments, psychopathic

KJ Noh:

projects in the history of mankind.

KJ Noh:

But anyway they ran unit 7, 3, 1.

KJ Noh:

They conducted, the Nanjing massacre, which was 300,000

KJ Noh:

people killed in a single city, raped, murdered bludgeon to death.

KJ Noh:

And the atrocities go on and on.

KJ Noh:

And on and after World War ii, they were disarmed and their constitution

KJ Noh:

was written for them by the us which had the article Ninex, which was a clause

KJ Noh:

which say, which says that Japan will never have a military again, it will

KJ Noh:

never have the means to wage war again.

KJ Noh:

And that worked well for most of the Japanese.

KJ Noh:

But there was a group of unrepentant Milita that always

KJ Noh:

wanted to get rid of Article nine.

KJ Noh:

They wanted in their words, to become a normal nation again.

KJ Noh:

That is to have a nation with a military.

KJ Noh:

Which is really an understatement because what these people really wanted

KJ Noh:

was to reestablish the Japanese empire.

KJ Noh:

These were the unrepentant militarist, the war criminal class,

KJ Noh:

and the United States put this war criminal class back into power.

KJ Noh:

People like Kisuki, who was the minister of munitions of Manko,

KJ Noh:

he was put right back into power.

KJ Noh:

These people, without any exaggeration, were human monsters.

KJ Noh:

They were psychopaths, they were, literally the worst of the worst.

KJ Noh:

But.

KJ Noh:

These people were put into, back, into power by the United States

KJ Noh:

and in particular in the form of this party called the LDP, the

KJ Noh:

Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

KJ Noh:

And this party was agglomeration of the war, criminals and the military

KJ Noh:

industrialists, the tsu, all the companies that had the industrialists

KJ Noh:

that had formed the backbone of the Japanese military industrial complex.

KJ Noh:

And the Yakuza organized crime with a big boost from the Moonies actually.

KJ Noh:

And they were all brought together and funded by the CIA.

KJ Noh:

This is well established history.

KJ Noh:

And this party, the LDP, took power of Japanese politics

KJ Noh:

and it has held continuous.

KJ Noh:

One party rule over Japanese politics since 1955 with the eight

KJ Noh:

month exception, short glitch in the matrix for eight months.

KJ Noh:

But otherwise they have had one party rule over Japan and they run the country as a

KJ Noh:

one party state that is a subcontractor and a vassal of the United States.

KJ Noh:

You have to understand, Japan's constitution was

KJ Noh:

created by the United States.

KJ Noh:

It has US troops on it.

KJ Noh:

Its ruling party was put into place by the United States when they

KJ Noh:

were growing too fast and too big.

KJ Noh:

The US imposed this thing called the Plaza Court, which told the

KJ Noh:

Japanese to essentially revalue their currency and change the

KJ Noh:

economy, and they did all of that.

KJ Noh:

So when the US tells Japan to do something, the Japanese.

KJ Noh:

How high it's that simple.

KJ Noh:

Japan is a US base.

KJ Noh:

It's a US subcontractor, it's a US vasal.

KJ Noh:

Inside this context, sene Takai belongs to the extreme far right of

KJ Noh:

the Japanese Ultra right of the LDP.

KJ Noh:

She is she's currently the president, but she belongs to what is called

KJ Noh:

the SWA Faction, which was the faction that Shinzo Abe belonged to.

KJ Noh:

And these are the people who believe in recreating the Japanese empire.

KJ Noh:

They believe that Japan did nothing wrong during World War ii.

KJ Noh:

There.

KJ Noh:

Unrepentant Milita.

KJ Noh:

They're total historical revisionists.

KJ Noh:

They deny every war crime that Japan has ever committed.

KJ Noh:

And of course, they routinely visit Yasu Kuni Shrine.

KJ Noh:

Where the war criminals spirits are entombed and they worship at yasu

KJ Noh:

Kuni shrine and Zabi for example, he rode a plane where they emblazoned

KJ Noh:

the letters 7 3, 1 on the cockpit.

KJ Noh:

This is how in your face they are, how in your face, unrepentant they are.

KJ Noh:

They flaunt their atrocities.

KJ Noh:

By the way, Japanese airplanes usually have five digit numbers, or four

KJ Noh:

digit numbers, or six digit numbers.

KJ Noh:

There is no Japanese plane that has a three digit numbering scheme.

KJ Noh:

So they actually, scrubbed out whatever original number that had, and they put 7

KJ Noh:

3 1 on that plane just so that shinzo Abe could, give the middle finger to the world

KJ Noh:

and to the Chinese and to the Korean.

KJ Noh:

So anyway, this is the LDP, this is the faction that San Takai belongs to.

KJ Noh:

And she also belongs to Nip Qaim, which also is the monarchist imperial

KJ Noh:

faction of the Japanese ruling elite.

KJ Noh:

And when she used the words, or when she stated that Taiwan would be a

KJ Noh:

Taiwan contingency, would be would be survival threatening situation,

KJ Noh:

what she was saying was that we will go to war over Taiwan Island.

KJ Noh:

And essentially our defense per perimeter extends all the way to Taiwan.

KJ Noh:

That is, Taiwan is ours.

KJ Noh:

It's part of our own defense perimeter that is an extraordinarily

KJ Noh:

escalatory and provocative statement.

KJ Noh:

And the Chinese were rightly incensed by it.

KJ Noh:

It's also the language that is written into the 2015 legislation by Shinzo Abe,

KJ Noh:

where he said that if there is a, if there is a survival threatening situation, Japan

KJ Noh:

can wage aggressive expeditionary war.

KJ Noh:

So this is the case of ballet clause that has been written into the

KJ Noh:

Japanese law, and she invoked it for Taiwan linking the two together.

KJ Noh:

This is the first time anybody has done this, and essentially

KJ Noh:

it amounts to a threat.

KJ Noh:

Or a provocation or one could almost say a declaration of war against China.

KJ Noh:

This term survival threatening situation is also the language Japan has always

KJ Noh:

used when it attacks other countries.

KJ Noh:

It did that in 1894.

KJ Noh:

In 1931, in 1937 and 1941, it always used that word survival threatening situation.

KJ Noh:

In other words, this is the killer cop excuse that Japan has invoked.

KJ Noh:

When the police shoot, they say I felt that my safety was threatened.

KJ Noh:

My survival was, this was a survival threatening situation.

KJ Noh:

She's put that into the public domain and into Japanese legal doctrine and

KJ Noh:

is extraordinarily dangerous escalatory action that she has engaged in publicly.

Keagan:

I was wondering like.

Keagan:

Yeah, I've been talk, I've been looking a lot of stuff about her, just seeing

Keagan:

her history and like what what kind of woman she is, she's got a really

Keagan:

interesting history coming up through the party and everything, but I think

Keagan:

we just like talking about China.

Keagan:

Do you feel like you see these localized conflicts as organic or

Keagan:

as externally encouraged pressure points meant to destabilize China?

KJ Noh:

I think they're externally encouraged because the US has had a grand

KJ Noh:

strategy of containing provoking and rolling back China, taking China down.

KJ Noh:

This goes all the way back to the 1992 Willfuls doctrine.

KJ Noh:

But more recently, the pivot to Asia Air Sea Battle, which was drafted in 2010,

KJ Noh:

this doctrine of War Against China that they've, that they drafted in 2010,

KJ Noh:

and they've revised it nine times.

KJ Noh:

And you can see this constant escalation, the constant information warfare, the

KJ Noh:

constant military exercises, the constant staging, logistical preparation, and

KJ Noh:

staging of the Pacific Theater for War.

KJ Noh:

Now, in this context, did Sakai mention, taiwan as a survival threatening situation

KJ Noh:

because she was prompted to probably not.

KJ Noh:

I think what she did instead was she said the silent part out loud.

KJ Noh:

She was not supposed to say that.

KJ Noh:

Everybody knows that this is the plan.

KJ Noh:

It's actually written into Elbridge Colby's.

KJ Noh:

He has an entire book called Strategy of Denial which is all

KJ Noh:

about waging war against China using Taiwan as a trigger or provocation.

KJ Noh:

It's all out there.

KJ Noh:

So she's simply, recited the Dosa, but she was supposed to keep it silent.

KJ Noh:

She wasn't supposed to say it out loud.

KJ Noh:

And what she did was she said the quiet part out loud, and

KJ Noh:

that is the, the big scandal.

KJ Noh:

And this is why there's such a, big reaction from China.

Jovanni:

Yeah.

Jovanni:

Yeah.

Jovanni:

I'm wondering because, you see the faction, the Japanese faction that

Jovanni:

you just mentioned, and there's the South Korean faction as well.

Jovanni:

They're also very gungho about it, and they're very

Jovanni:

reactionary, very anti-communist.

Jovanni:

But I'm wondering about the the Filipino equation here.

Jovanni:

They seem to be like the weakest link here but also they're being animated

Jovanni:

into this hostility towards China.

Jovanni:

Is it, is that also, is there faction within the Philippine political.

Jovanni:

Political, class that, that has that, or is are they being

Jovanni:

prompted to, to take that position?

KJ Noh:

Well, Marcos, the current Marcos Bongbong, Marcos is the son

KJ Noh:

of Ferdinand Marcos, who was a holy.

KJ Noh:

US controlled dictator and puppet.

KJ Noh:

He was the he was the ultimate US puppet along with PGI and Chen, Kai

KJ Noh:

Shak and a few others in east Asia.

KJ Noh:

This was the axis of anti-communist fascists that was in place.

KJ Noh:

So Marcos the elder Marcos was a US puppet.

KJ Noh:

The sun, the apple did not fall far from the tree, and it's largely suspected that

KJ Noh:

there are hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars that the Marcos

KJ Noh:

family squirreled away in the West that are actually, being held back from them,

KJ Noh:

and in order for them to recuperate this, they have to do what they're told to.

KJ Noh:

I don't know if that's true, but it does seem plausible.

KJ Noh:

What is a fact is that Bong Marcus is a creature of the American imperium.

KJ Noh:

He is a subcontractor to the American Imperium, just as the Philippines

KJ Noh:

itself was a US colony, probably more than any of the other vessels.

KJ Noh:

The Philippines is the most American colony of them all.

KJ Noh:

It, it hosted that base.

KJ Noh:

What's that huge naval base?

KJ Noh:

It's the, it's larger than, it's larger than Singapore, right?

KJ Noh:

It's one of it at its peak, it was the largest military base on

KJ Noh:

the planet, larger than a country.

KJ Noh:

But anyway they've started to see if they can re reestablish that.

KJ Noh:

And of course, in addition to the five traditional bases that the

KJ Noh:

US has, they've added four more.

KJ Noh:

So they have nine bases.

KJ Noh:

The key thing about the Philippines is that it controls the South China Sea.

KJ Noh:

It's the the it is the western tip of the first island chain, and it leads

KJ Noh:

to access and control of the South China Sea, which leads to control over

KJ Noh:

the Malacca Straits just strategically one of the most important places on

KJ Noh:

the planet, and it's one of the places where the United States has said

KJ Noh:

that it is going to choke China out.

KJ Noh:

It's going to choke China out.

KJ Noh:

And because of that, the Philippines has been pulled into this escalation

KJ Noh:

against China, primarily under the pretext of freedom of navigation and

KJ Noh:

exclusive economic zones, and a court case that was actually initiated

KJ Noh:

by csis, the Deep State think tank.

KJ Noh:

They ran, this kind of fraudulent case at a private tribunal and then tried

KJ Noh:

to pretend it was the United Nations.

KJ Noh:

But the Philippines and the South China Sea, which they like to

KJ Noh:

call the West Philippines Sea is critical geo strategically, and

KJ Noh:

they want to use the Philippines as a way again, of provoking China.

KJ Noh:

I want you to think of a face, and I want you to think of the vulnerabilities.

KJ Noh:

If you were doing self-defense or martial arts, what are the

KJ Noh:

vulnerabilities on, on, on the human face?

KJ Noh:

The first one would be the throat or the neck.

KJ Noh:

The South China Sea is the windpipe or the carted artery of China.

KJ Noh:

If you choke that off, China will die.

KJ Noh:

70% of China's oil and $5 trillion worth of China's goods trade

KJ Noh:

travels through the South China Sea.

KJ Noh:

If there is a shooting war in the South China Sea, not even if there is,

KJ Noh:

actually a war, but if there is just enough shooting to disrupt trade Rand

KJ Noh:

Corporation has estimated that it could bring down China's economy by 25 to 35%.

KJ Noh:

Essentially, it could collapse the economy.

KJ Noh:

And Philippines is critical in this strategy.

KJ Noh:

And that's why the US has tight control over it.

KJ Noh:

And that is why it is using the Philippines and the Philippine

KJ Noh:

Navy to provoke China in the South China Sea at every single moment.

KJ Noh:

The other vulnerability is the chin.

KJ Noh:

The chin is actually Taiwan, that's the center of the first island chain.

KJ Noh:

It's the center and a blow to the chin, sends Shock straight into

KJ Noh:

the mada, into, the subcortical regions that will knock you out.

KJ Noh:

The Taiwan is like that.

KJ Noh:

It is China's core interest.

KJ Noh:

And it guards the two deep water channels that allow China to have

KJ Noh:

a viable strategic deterrent.

KJ Noh:

It guards those two channels, the Bai channel and the mi ACO straits.

KJ Noh:

So it's important in that way.

KJ Noh:

And also it is so close to China.

KJ Noh:

You have to understand Taiwan is not simply.

KJ Noh:

A, an island, it is an archeologic arch Archipelago, the 140 islands.

KJ Noh:

And some of these islands are within three miles of the Chinese coastline.

KJ Noh:

In fact, Jinman Island, which is part of Taiwan province, is swimming distance.

KJ Noh:

It's literally three miles away from the Chinese mainland.

KJ Noh:

And currently the United States has several hundred special forces on

KJ Noh:

Jinman Island right now as we speak.

KJ Noh:

So there's constant escalation and constant provocation happening.

KJ Noh:

And of course Japan is the other, dimension.

KJ Noh:

The other vulnerability is the nose or the bridge of the nose.

KJ Noh:

That's South Korea.

KJ Noh:

South Korea has always been the bridgehead onto the Chinese continent.

KJ Noh:

Any naval attack either happens from Taiwan Island.

KJ Noh:

Or from the Korean peninsula, it's literally the on-ramp onto the peninsula.

KJ Noh:

And usually it happens at the same time.

KJ Noh:

Historically, it has always happened.

KJ Noh:

The two have always gone together.

KJ Noh:

But Korea is the other vulnerability for China.

KJ Noh:

And then of course, Japan is this kind of long, alligator

KJ Noh:

shaped island that straddles two thirds of the first island chain.

KJ Noh:

And right now the US is involved in militarizing every possible

KJ Noh:

spot in the Japanese island, most certainly the Okinawa island.

KJ Noh:

But in the Okinawa islands that are the closest to Taiwan Island, there

KJ Noh:

are currently placing tomahawks.

KJ Noh:

They're placing, air to air missiles, air to land missiles, missile defense

KJ Noh:

systems, anything missile deadly and dangerous is being placed all over

KJ Noh:

those small islands close to China.

KJ Noh:

And the idea is to create a wall of missiles that will essentially destroy

KJ Noh:

China when they provoke war, which according to them is going to be 2027.

Jovanni:

Right.

Keagan:

Transitioning over to Gaza at the UN Security Council, Trump presented

Keagan:

his peace plan, which many critics saw less as a peace proposal than a

Keagan:

demand for Palestinian capitulation.

Keagan:

13 countries voted in favor and to abstain China and Russia.

Keagan:

Why did China choose to abstain rather than veto the Trump

Keagan:

plan at the security council?

KJ Noh:

This is something that has been misreported in the Western media, and it's

KJ Noh:

really important for us to understand.

KJ Noh:

The Palestinian authority agreed to it, and they lobbied to it.

KJ Noh:

They actually lobbied the Chinese government for it.

KJ Noh:

Now, some people say the Palestinian authority doesn't represent the

KJ Noh:

Palestinians, and that, that is true.

KJ Noh:

But in the eyes of the un, they're the official representative of

KJ Noh:

the PLO and the UN authority.

KJ Noh:

And the PLO is the UN authority designated to represent the Palestinians at the un.

KJ Noh:

So essentially, the Chinese or the Russians cannot go against the wishes

KJ Noh:

of the representative, or it would be a violation of international

KJ Noh:

protocol, not to mention an inter, a violation of sovereignty.

KJ Noh:

And of course, we don't like it.

KJ Noh:

We may not like it but if the lawyer, for example.

KJ Noh:

Give an analogy, if the lawyer submits a guilty plea or an innocent plea or

KJ Noh:

whatever, the third parties, the judge, the witnesses, they have to follow,

KJ Noh:

that they don't get to judge what the representative, the lawyer wants.

KJ Noh:

Whether the lawyer has correctly representative.

KJ Noh:

That is a separate issue, and that is something that can be,

KJ Noh:

challenged in subsequent cases.

KJ Noh:

But for the current moment, the judge and the witnesses have to follow

KJ Noh:

the plea of the representative.

KJ Noh:

And that's essentially the situation that happened.

KJ Noh:

You, you can't you can't violate international law and sub

KJ Noh:

supersede the rights of what the authority themselves wanted.

KJ Noh:

Now the other thing to remember is all other members of the United Nations

KJ Noh:

Security Council, including all the Arab states, all the Islamic states,

KJ Noh:

and even Algeria, which has a history of supporting Israel and is ostensibly

KJ Noh:

anti-imperialist, all of them lo for last time, they all lobbied for it.

KJ Noh:

They all lobbied for this UNSC 28 0 3.

KJ Noh:

So under those circumstances, neither China nor Russia

KJ Noh:

could reasonably oppose it.

KJ Noh:

Russia had tried to float an alternative proposal, but it got no

KJ Noh:

traction by any of the other members.

KJ Noh:

Once again, I emphasizes all the Arab states, all the Islamic

KJ Noh:

states, even Algeria lobbied for it and supported for it.

KJ Noh:

Yeah.

KJ Noh:

And then the third thing to think about is if China or Russia had vetoed it,

KJ Noh:

what do you think would've happened?

Jovanni:

They would ignore it.

Jovanni:

Just Israel been pretty much ignoring every un resolution and

Jovanni:

with the support of the West.

Jovanni:

And that's what's puzzling because I know that China and Russia right, talks

Jovanni:

about, upholding international law, upholding the UN charter, et cetera.

Jovanni:

But they're seeing how the west and Israel just pretty much doing a battery ramp and

Jovanni:

just trampling all over international law.

Jovanni:

And you saw how with the back in the nineties you remember the the British

Jovanni:

and the Americans came up with this concept called the the what is it?

Jovanni:

The RP two, the RP R two P,

KJ Noh:

responsibility to protect responsibility.

Jovanni:

To protect that, yes.

Jovanni:

With the event of atrocity occurring, and they use the, they use Rwanda.

Jovanni:

They use Erika and Bosnia as case studies that if it's,

KJ Noh:

They used it to wage imperial war.

KJ Noh:

Exactly.

KJ Noh:

It was an excuse for

Jovanni:

imperial war.

Jovanni:

And they used it against Libya, the same thing.

Jovanni:

And Libya, the way they used it in Libya is that if they would've not

Jovanni:

acted in Libya, hypothetically, and a genocide would've happened,

Jovanni:

it wasn't happening at the point.

Jovanni:

At the moment.

Jovanni:

Yeah.

Jovanni:

But hypothetically, they wouldn't have intervene would've happened

Jovanni:

in this case with Israel.

Jovanni:

It was happening in the side, in the eyes of the world and and

Jovanni:

international law and, was, was unable to do anything about it.

KJ Noh:

Yeah.

KJ Noh:

So let me get back to, the response to the questions China voted for China.

KJ Noh:

China did not veto UNSC 28 0 3 because the Palestinian authority

KJ Noh:

agreed to it and lobbied for it.

KJ Noh:

All other members of UNSC, including the Arab states, lobbied for it.

KJ Noh:

And if China and Russia had vetoed it, as you point out exactly what you say,

KJ Noh:

Israel would've simply ignored the veto as it has ignored 103 other UN resolutions.

KJ Noh:

They would've simply continued the carnage, although this time they

KJ Noh:

would've blamed China and Russia.

KJ Noh:

In other words, this entire thing was a trap.

KJ Noh:

If they agree to it, they, if they don't veto it they get their way.

KJ Noh:

And if you veto it.

KJ Noh:

We will kill off the Palestinians even faster and blame the

KJ Noh:

parties who oppose genocide.

KJ Noh:

That was the trap that was set up.

KJ Noh:

In fact, the US actually threatened to continue the genocide if the

KJ Noh:

other countries did not fall in line.

KJ Noh:

China and Russia gave the best statement possible.

KJ Noh:

The best response possible under the circumstance is this

KJ Noh:

following international law.

KJ Noh:

No, but we have to understand that international law is simply a rule of the

KJ Noh:

powerful except under unusual conditions.

KJ Noh:

Under conditions of where things come down to brass tacks,

KJ Noh:

international law is simply ignored.

KJ Noh:

And then the last point I will make is that China and Russia, I believe,

KJ Noh:

understood that with or without a veto.

KJ Noh:

The resolution would fail because there are no countries that are willing to offer

KJ Noh:

troops disarm to disarm Hamas, right?

KJ Noh:

Israel couldn't disarm Hamas.

KJ Noh:

You think Turkey's gonna disarm Hamas, Egypt?

KJ Noh:

No.

KJ Noh:

In other words, the veto will happen on the ground, and that's

KJ Noh:

really what's going to happen.

KJ Noh:

And Hamas has come out and formally thanked China for its support.

KJ Noh:

Even after the abstention, they've thanked China.

KJ Noh:

So I think it's important to understand this larger context rather than becoming,

KJ Noh:

trapped in this mainstream media mythology that, there's international law.

KJ Noh:

The Genocide Convention requires states to intervene upon other states first.

KJ Noh:

That's wrong.

KJ Noh:

Okay.

KJ Noh:

Anybody who tells you that is telling you something that is incorrect.

KJ Noh:

The Genocide Convention requires to intervene within their own states to

KJ Noh:

prosecute actors responsible to punish and to prevent within your own state.

KJ Noh:

It does not give you extra judicial powers that allow you

KJ Noh:

to interfere in other states.

KJ Noh:

The only way that you intervene or affect another state is when

KJ Noh:

you go through the United Nations.

KJ Noh:

Unilateral sanctions are a violation of international law because

KJ Noh:

sovereignty is considered inviable.

KJ Noh:

Let me give you a quick analogy.

KJ Noh:

If you're a social worker on a teacher and you discover that one of your

KJ Noh:

children one of your students is being abused, that does not give you the right.

KJ Noh:

To go to the parent's home and directly intervene and punish the parent.

KJ Noh:

You can't do that.

KJ Noh:

You are mandated to report that.

KJ Noh:

And then the state sanctioned authorities take their action, but you are not

KJ Noh:

allowed to take vigilante action.

KJ Noh:

And the UN is structured in that same faction that countries cannot

KJ Noh:

intervene upon other states without the mediation of the United States itself.

KJ Noh:

And so when you have a clause, which you mentioned like R two P, I've

KJ Noh:

discussed this with Marjorie Cohen.

KJ Noh:

She says, R two P is manifestly illegal.

KJ Noh:

We see that in the effects.

KJ Noh:

Essentially it was used as a pretext for aggressive imperial war, but she says.

KJ Noh:

There actually is no R two p. R two P doesn't exist.

KJ Noh:

She says it's a series of discussions that were had at the UNSC and at

KJ Noh:

the un, but it does not constitute a body of law and anybody who

KJ Noh:

says that's the case is misguided.

KJ Noh:

Now, we may feel that it's justified, but international law, as it is

KJ Noh:

written right now does not permit that.

KJ Noh:

People also say, what about United for Peace UN resolution 3 7 7 A?

KJ Noh:

Let me give you first, that is a possibility, but it's a high bar to climb.

KJ Noh:

And let me give you a little bit of history about UN reso resolution 3 7 7.

KJ Noh:

The first thing to understand about the United Nations is that it

KJ Noh:

was created to uphold the powers.

KJ Noh:

Of the powerful nations.

KJ Noh:

Okay.

KJ Noh:

Why?

KJ Noh:

Because originally there was a precursor to the United Nations.

KJ Noh:

It was called the League of Nations.

KJ Noh:

What happened to the League of Nations

Keagan:

Not destroyed.

KJ Noh:

Nothing.

KJ Noh:

Nothing happened.

KJ Noh:

It didn't

Keagan:

it at all.

KJ Noh:

It did nothing.

KJ Noh:

It did nothing.

KJ Noh:

It didn't work.

KJ Noh:

Yeah.

KJ Noh:

And the reason why it didn't work is it Couldn couldn't prevent the second World

Jovanni:

War.

KJ Noh:

Okay?

KJ Noh:

The United States did not join the League of Nations, which is essentially Right.

KJ Noh:

They proposed it

Jovanni:

actually, yes.

Jovanni:

In the United States.

Jovanni:

Yes.

Jovanni:

They, it, they proposed it, but they didn't join it.

Jovanni:

And just like the u, just like the u the UN charter, it was signed here in San

Jovanni:

Francisco, but the U but the us push for it, but they validate over and over again.

KJ Noh:

Exactly.

KJ Noh:

Yes.

KJ Noh:

So anyway, the League of Nations was condemned to irrelevancy and the reason

KJ Noh:

was it didn't have enough inducements for the powerful states to join.

KJ Noh:

And so the United Nations, when it was established said we have

KJ Noh:

to give this kind of aristocratic privilege to the powerful nations.

KJ Noh:

So we create the UNSC.

KJ Noh:

It's like the House of Lords in the British parliamentary system.

KJ Noh:

You have these hereditary lords whose only qualification is their rich and

KJ Noh:

powerful and have been since time immemorial, they get to rule the country.

KJ Noh:

Same thing, or if you will, it's like the Supreme Court, right?

KJ Noh:

The Supreme Court has extraordinary power.

KJ Noh:

But these people are appointed.

KJ Noh:

Nobody ever voted for a Supreme Court judge.

KJ Noh:

So the UNSC has this extraordinary power, but they did this in order to

KJ Noh:

cajole and to induce the United States and other powerful countries to join.

KJ Noh:

When they joined, they thought, okay what we're also going to do is

KJ Noh:

we're going to create, checks and balance inside these powerful states.

KJ Noh:

And so we ensure that there is a veto.

KJ Noh:

What happened and it was one of the first key actions of the

KJ Noh:

United Nations, was that the UN was used to facilitate a genocide.

KJ Noh:

What?

KJ Noh:

Genocide?

KJ Noh:

This is the Korean War.

KJ Noh:

Korean War should more accurately refer, be referred to as the Korean genocide.

KJ Noh:

It killed off at least one fifth of the people of North Korea.

KJ Noh:

The entire country was covered with bombs and napalm.

KJ Noh:

If you think of Gaza right now, everything flattened into a

KJ Noh:

parking lot that was North Korea.

KJ Noh:

Northern ga if you think of North Gaza and you expand that territory 1200

KJ Noh:

times, that was what North Korea was plus Nepal, plus biological weapons,

KJ Noh:

plus dams dams destroyed to flood.

KJ Noh:

Anybody who was hiding inside a cave and so on, the entire country was

KJ Noh:

turned pulverized into a moonscape.

KJ Noh:

That is literally the definition of genocide, genocidal intent.

KJ Noh:

And, if you talk to journalists who traveled in North Korea at the time,

KJ Noh:

they'll tell you it was like traveling over the surface of the Moo-hyun

KJ Noh:

because nothing was left standing.

KJ Noh:

It was literally rubble from beginning to end.

KJ Noh:

So as the Korean War was being initiated or facilitated in

KJ Noh:

the United Nations, Russia.

KJ Noh:

First boycotted the UNSC because they were opposed to it.

KJ Noh:

They saw this as the aggressive, invasive war of of aggression.

KJ Noh:

That it was if you if you do nothing, if you only Doo-hwan thing.

KJ Noh:

But look at where the war started.

KJ Noh:

It started on June 25th on the Ogen Peninsula.

KJ Noh:

In in the wee hours of the morning.

KJ Noh:

And that's the only thing that people agree on North and South.

KJ Noh:

If you look at the Ogen Peninsula, you realize from the north, the Ogen

KJ Noh:

Peninsula dead ends into the sea.

KJ Noh:

But from the south, the Ogen Peninsula is a straight path,

KJ Noh:

a highway all the way to Pya.

KJ Noh:

It would be like saying the United States invaded Mexico by

KJ Noh:

starting a war in Baja, California.

KJ Noh:

Where does Baja California go?

KJ Noh:

It goes, no way.

KJ Noh:

It goes into the sea, right?

KJ Noh:

But if you look at it the other way, it goes straight towards San Diego.

KJ Noh:

It's like that.

KJ Noh:

So pretty clear that the South Korea, the Rock Army, which was actually under

KJ Noh:

control of us at the time, and it still is to the current moment was the aggressor.

KJ Noh:

I think there's pretty solid evidence that shows that South Korea was the aggressor.

KJ Noh:

But anyway the United States used this as a case of ballet and they were

KJ Noh:

going to use the UN as the enforcer, and they flew the UN banner and the

KJ Noh:

Korean War, the Korean genocide.

KJ Noh:

Was done under the banner of the United Nations, and there

KJ Noh:

were four resolutions passed.

KJ Noh:

Resolution 82, 83, 84, 85.

KJ Noh:

Soviet Union boycotted all of them.

KJ Noh:

And they realized that they were simply getting RAM rotted

KJ Noh:

through and the, war was ongoing.

KJ Noh:

And so then the Soviet Union came back and said, we're going to veto this.

KJ Noh:

We're actually going to use the veto.

KJ Noh:

It hasn't been used before, but now we're going to use the veto.

KJ Noh:

And so what the US did was say, oh, we can't let them veto anything.

KJ Noh:

Let's create this new resolution.

KJ Noh:

Resolution 3 7, 7 a. Where we take it, if we get vetoed in the UNSC, we take it

KJ Noh:

to the GA and we get all our quiz links and allies to vote for it and pass it.

KJ Noh:

And so people think that UN SC 3 77 A is a means of ending genocide.

KJ Noh:

We'll see if that's the case.

KJ Noh:

The bar is extraordinarily high, but you have to understand that the genesis of

KJ Noh:

Uniting for Peace resolution was actually to continue and enable a genocide.

KJ Noh:

So I think that's important context to understand.

Jovanni:

Yeah.

Jovanni:

Yeah.

Jovanni:

Very heavy.

Jovanni:

And in the case of Israel the argument of Israel's.

Jovanni:

Sovereignty, right?

Jovanni:

Independence and conducting genocide.

Jovanni:

Also questionable because without the support of the West, they

Jovanni:

wouldn't be able to sustain this long, the military support,

Jovanni:

financial support, political support.

Jovanni:

So it is not, it's not a sovereign state doing it on its own.

Jovanni:

It's pretty much a cabal states enabling it.

Jovanni:

The case of Israel.

KJ Noh:

Biden said it himself, right?

KJ Noh:

He said, if Israel didn't exist, we would have to invent it.

KJ Noh:

I think that, we could say that Israel is simply a subcontractor to us.

KJ Noh:

Imperial design, except a subcontractor brings their own tools.

KJ Noh:

Israel doesn't even have their own tools.

KJ Noh:

They get all their tools from the us, right?

KJ Noh:

They get all their weaponry from the us without US weaponry and Canadian

KJ Noh:

weaponry, and UK and Germany and all the other western colonial powers

KJ Noh:

that are supporting it to the max, the genocide would be over in a day.

KJ Noh:

It only exists by virtue of the constant and consistent support,

KJ Noh:

enabling political cover and logistical support and information

KJ Noh:

and intelligence support that is given to it by the western colonial powers,

KJ Noh:

but most notably the United States.

Jovanni:

Absolutely.

Jovanni:

Kj, real quick, let's let's move on to another topic.

Jovanni:

Recently in the you wrote an article on counter Punch about the the new national

Jovanni:

security strategy of of the United States under, the Trump that I think it was

Jovanni:

published in December this month, 2025.

Keagan:

Yes.

Jovanni:

I read your article first because I had the it was sent to

Jovanni:

me when it was first published, but I didn't had a chance to read it.

Jovanni:

And I read your article and they asked Kim through it, but I hadn't

Jovanni:

really, I had to go back and read.

Jovanni:

I gotta go back and read it again.

Jovanni:

And it sounds very, this conjunct, conjoined, it sounds

Jovanni:

like it's all over the place.

Jovanni:

And it, it doesn't sound coherent.

Jovanni:

It says many things at the same time.

Jovanni:

It doesn't say much.

Jovanni:

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Jovanni:

I know that you, you said that's a, that is a public one, but there's

Jovanni:

also the the Secker one as well.

Jovanni:

Can you talk a little bit about that?

KJ Noh:

Yeah.

KJ Noh:

This is very important to understand.

KJ Noh:

The National security Strategy was mandated by the Goldwater Nichols

KJ Noh:

Defense Reorganization Act of 1986.

KJ Noh:

And it is essentially the business plan of the empire.

KJ Noh:

It is the strategic business plan of the empire, but the thing to

KJ Noh:

understand is that it is a Secker plan.

KJ Noh:

Okay.

KJ Noh:

Nobody who is comment, commenting.

KJ Noh:

In the mainstream media has ever seen what the actual plan is.

KJ Noh:

It is a classified plan, and the only thing that we see is the PR pamphlet.

KJ Noh:

So we're not actually seeing the business plan, we're seeing the PR pamphlet.

KJ Noh:

If you were, let's say you're, you belong to the investor class and you're going

KJ Noh:

to decide whether to invest in a company or not, do you go by the PR pamphlet

KJ Noh:

or do you do your own due diligence?

KJ Noh:

Yeah.

KJ Noh:

You have to do your own diligence.

KJ Noh:

So yeah, so if you read it on the surface, it gives you.

KJ Noh:

Unicorns and, butterflies and horses and ponies and bread and roses and everything.

KJ Noh:

There's something for everybody and you can interpret it any way

KJ Noh:

you want to, which is why you get such divergent interpretations.

KJ Noh:

Some people say it's a complete retrenchment.

KJ Noh:

Other people say it's, complete, expansionist, et cetera.

KJ Noh:

But the key thing to read it for is you read it for the contradictions.

KJ Noh:

Because the contradictions are where you are going to start

KJ Noh:

seeing where the truth is.

KJ Noh:

You have to parse out the contradictions and then start to think about how to

KJ Noh:

explain them and how to understand it.

KJ Noh:

And that work is an interpretive task.

KJ Noh:

It's like reading an ancient text and trying to figure out what it really means.

KJ Noh:

But it is a bit of work.

KJ Noh:

But you have to ignore all the red meat that's thrown out for every,

KJ Noh:

everybody that is a distraction.

KJ Noh:

In fact, the people who draft the national security strategy have a term for it.

KJ Noh:

They call it the Christmas tree effect.

KJ Noh:

Or the Christmas tree version.

KJ Noh:

This is what they call it themselves.

KJ Noh:

They say you put out all these shiny dangling objects on the tree

KJ Noh:

and you have gifts for everybody.

KJ Noh:

And that's the version that we are exposed to the Christmas tree version, but.

KJ Noh:

What you have to really understand is, you have to look for the contradictions.

KJ Noh:

And then, I don't know if either of you guys do any programming, but when you

KJ Noh:

program, there's this thing called code.

KJ Noh:

Which is what tells the machine to do things.

KJ Noh:

And then there's this thing called remarks or comments, which you can

KJ Noh:

write in between the code, which explains what the code is supposed

KJ Noh:

to doing, is supposed to be doing.

KJ Noh:

The remarks don't do anything.

KJ Noh:

You can put anything you want to into the remarks.

KJ Noh:

You can write a love letter to your grandmother into the

KJ Noh:

remarks, but it won't do anything.

KJ Noh:

The only thing that matters in the code are the actual lines of code.

KJ Noh:

So distinguish between the code and the remarks.

KJ Noh:

If you think of it that way, look at the national security strategy

KJ Noh:

and you start to look for the code.

KJ Noh:

And not the remarks, then it starts to make sense.

KJ Noh:

And so then people who say that, oh, this is the greatest thing since

KJ Noh:

sliced bread the US has changed.

KJ Noh:

It's, it's doing this, Monroe doctrine, Don Row Doctrine, it's

KJ Noh:

retreating to the Western hemisphere.

KJ Noh:

Look carefully at the text.

KJ Noh:

The United States says that it's retreating to the Western hemisphere.

KJ Noh:

But its security perimeter extends all the way out to the first island

KJ Noh:

chain of Taiwan and the entire Pacific.

KJ Noh:

And it specifically has all kinds of, content around the South China Sea.

KJ Noh:

And particularly it says it's preventing any obstruction of access

KJ Noh:

through the South China Sea nonsense.

KJ Noh:

All of that trade goes to and from China.

KJ Noh:

The Chinese have no reason to obstruct that trade.

KJ Noh:

So for the US to say that it needs to ensure the freedom of that trade,

KJ Noh:

of that navigation through the South China Sea is absurd on its face, but.

KJ Noh:

Just notice that contradiction that you say that you're focusing

KJ Noh:

on the Western hemisphere.

KJ Noh:

And by the way, the US is always focused on the western hemisphere.

KJ Noh:

It has always had a mono doctrine.

KJ Noh:

This is nothing new.

KJ Noh:

So anybody who says this is new, doesn't know anything about history, it has

KJ Noh:

always interfered in Latin America.

Jovanni:

The Trump co corollary.

KJ Noh:

Yes.

KJ Noh:

The Trump corollary

Jovanni:

coronary to the Monroe Doctrine.

Jovanni:

And you just mentioned the Pacific in China, right?

Jovanni:

In China at the time.

Jovanni:

This is China.

Jovanni:

For the first time.

Jovanni:

I don't ages in first time ever.

Jovanni:

I think a lot of Latin American countries have China as their first business

Jovanni:

partner, which is which is also concerning to to Washington that that a lot of

Jovanni:

Latin American countries have China as their number one trading partner.

Jovanni:

Yes.

Jovanni:

It also has a lot to do with this as well.

KJ Noh:

Yes, exactly.

KJ Noh:

And that's a good big part of the Don Row doctrine is to make sure that countries

KJ Noh:

cut China out of their supply chains and that China should not be allowed

KJ Noh:

to have economic interest or economic relations in the Western Hemisphere.

KJ Noh:

That's a key part of it.

KJ Noh:

It's also a key part of competing, quote unquote competing with China.

KJ Noh:

But essentially, once again, look at the code look at the contradictions,

KJ Noh:

and if you do that, you'll notice that the core code, the kernel code is that

KJ Noh:

the US is an empire and it insists and intends to continue to be an empire.

KJ Noh:

And everything else is just comments, remarks, bright, shiny, dangling

KJ Noh:

things on the Christmas tree.

KJ Noh:

It's essentially the carnivore.

KJ Noh:

Does not become a vegetarian.

KJ Noh:

The McDonald Douglas is not going to become a nonprofit charity.

KJ Noh:

It's just not in its DNA.

KJ Noh:

And you see exactly the same thing here.

KJ Noh:

National Security Strategy is the business plan of empire.

KJ Noh:

The empire is not going to become vegetarian.

KJ Noh:

It is still a carnivore.

KJ Noh:

And anything, anybody who thinks otherwise is simply getting distracted by the

KJ Noh:

shiny ornaments, they're reading the remarks and not the code, they're not

KJ Noh:

interpreting the to understand the code.

KJ Noh:

Look at the continuity agenda.

KJ Noh:

You can see it all the way through the success of national security strategies.

KJ Noh:

You can also see it through in everything else that is being said and

KJ Noh:

done, including the Munich Declaration and everything else that the Trump

KJ Noh:

hsf, everything that they have said.

KJ Noh:

And also the other thing to look for is the NSS.

KJ Noh:

Is only the first of a chain of documents.

KJ Noh:

The NSS is the first one.

KJ Noh:

And then you will get the National Defense Strategy, and then you will

KJ Noh:

get the National Military Strategy and you will get the Nuclear

KJ Noh:

Posture Review and the missile national missile review, et cetera.

KJ Noh:

So there's a spate of documents that will come out and look for

KJ Noh:

them, because those will be more technical and more nuts and bolts.

KJ Noh:

And then you will see this continuous.

KJ Noh:

Continuity of agenda Empire continues.

KJ Noh:

There's minor retrenchment, minor tweaking, minor changing of the rhetoric.

KJ Noh:

They want to slap down the Europeans because the Europeans didn't perform well

KJ Noh:

in the Ukraine war and the US hates it when their vassals don't do well in war.

KJ Noh:

And so they're, slapping them around with the identity politics issues.

KJ Noh:

And the immigration issue, the immigrants are in Europe

KJ Noh:

because of US wars, US wage war.

KJ Noh:

And that's why the immigrants in Europe, and as for the identity politics,

KJ Noh:

that's all of that is projection.

KJ Noh:

The reason why Europeans aren't doing well has to do with the contradictions

KJ Noh:

of their own neoliberal societies as.

KJ Noh:

Vass of the United States and the fact that the US blew up their energy

KJ Noh:

source, the Nord Stream pipeline.

KJ Noh:

And they're being blamed for being, victims and bad vassals.

KJ Noh:

And, to a certain extent, they were asking for it.

KJ Noh:

It is dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, but

KJ Noh:

it is deadly to be an ally.

KJ Noh:

They're seeing, what that Kissinger dictum is really like.

KJ Noh:

But at the heart of it, the national security strategy

KJ Noh:

is a continuity of agenda.

KJ Noh:

It's the empire as usual, but it's also the empire on the cheap.

KJ Noh:

It's the US wants empire with all the fixings on it, but it wants it cheaper

KJ Noh:

because of its own economic struggles.

KJ Noh:

And so essentially the message of the national security strategy,

KJ Noh:

especially to the Europeans and the NATO nations, is that.

KJ Noh:

Essentially we are the slum, Lord.

KJ Noh:

We own your apartment, we own your property, and we're

KJ Noh:

going to raise the rent.

KJ Noh:

Everybody pay 5% into your, into your military budget.

KJ Noh:

And you got to buy more from, you got to buy more weapons from the company's

KJ Noh:

store or else you're in trouble.

KJ Noh:

But essentially it's telling them we own you and we can

KJ Noh:

raise the rent anytime we want.

KJ Noh:

And you have to start tithing to us.

KJ Noh:

This is this is the message.

Jovanni:

That's heavy.

Jovanni:

I think it's a good place to wrap up for the day.

Jovanni:

Kj.

Jovanni:

Yeah, lot to ponder.

Jovanni:

Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your time, your

Jovanni:

thoughts, your experiences with us.

Jovanni:

Any final comments before we go?

KJ Noh:

I think that we have to understand that things, even though they look bleak

KJ Noh:

I think there's that thing about having pessimism of the mind and optimism of

KJ Noh:

the will that we understand that we see reality as it is and that also inspires

KJ Noh:

us to be more active and more engaged and more intentional in our actions.

KJ Noh:

If we can do that, I think we can make a difference and also.

KJ Noh:

Be very careful about the propaganda.

KJ Noh:

The propaganda.

KJ Noh:

The NSS is a propaganda statement.

KJ Noh:

It is a pr con job.

KJ Noh:

Do not be misled by it.

KJ Noh:

The empire continues, and that means we have to step up our game, continue

KJ Noh:

to step up our game, and don't let yourself be distracted and mystified

KJ Noh:

and confused by all the, propaganda that's coming at you, left and center.

KJ Noh:

Connect with people, continue to take action, whatever that means,

KJ Noh:

whether in the streets or on your, keyboard, whatever that is.

KJ Noh:

Continue to fight against this war machine because war is coming and we're

KJ Noh:

not gonna get a second chance to stop it.

KJ Noh:

We're in critical times, but we can make a difference if we all work together.

Jovanni:

Aj, where can we find our work your work where do we go for more

Jovanni:

information and and actions that you consider that was supposed to take

KJ Noh:

Interesting that you should ask that.

KJ Noh:

I my good comrade Phon Cunningham fantastic journalist and editor, and

KJ Noh:

Dan Koval and Jeremy Komaroff and Ron Rideau all amazing journalists.

KJ Noh:

We've written a book together.

KJ Noh:

It's called Killing Democracy.

KJ Noh:

Killing Democracy, Western Imperialism's, legacy of Regime

KJ Noh:

Change and Media Manipulation.

KJ Noh:

It's getting really good reviews, so I invite people who are

KJ Noh:

interested in reading more get the book Killing Democracy.

Keagan:

And then

KJ Noh:

also, if you go online, you'll see there several hundred,

KJ Noh:

several thousand interviews, articles that I've put out there.

Jovanni:

Thank you so much.

Jovanni:

Thank you again.

Jovanni:

Alright.

Jovanni:

Thank you all for joining us today.

Jovanni:

I hope to see you guys soon.

Jovanni:

Take care.

Jovanni:

Look us up on whatever you listen to podcasts, give us like on

Jovanni:

YouTube and share us with a friend.

Jovanni:

And looking forward to our next next show.

Jovanni:

Take care, everybody.

Henri:

Money is tight these days for everyone, penny pinching to

Henri:

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Henri:

contribute to a creator they support.

Henri:

So we consider it the highest honor that folks help us fund the podcast

Henri:

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Henri:

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Henri:

In addition, any support we receive makes sure we can continue to provide

Henri:

our main episodes free for everyone.

Henri:

And for supporters who can donate $10 a month or more, they will be listed

Henri:

right here as an honorary producer.

Henri:

Like these fine folks.

Henri:

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Henri:

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However, if Patreon isn't your style, you can contribute directly through PayPal

Henri:

at PayPal dot me forward slash Fortress on hill, or please check out our store on

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Henri:

We're on Twitter and @facebook.com at Fortress On A Hill.

Henri:

You can find our full collection of episodes at www dot

Henri:

Fortress On A Hill dot com.

Henri:

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Henri:

Never forget it.

Henri:

We'll see you next time.

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About the Podcast

Fortress On A Hill (FOH) Podcast
Clearing away the BS around U.S. foreign policy, anti-imperialism, skepticism, and the American way of war
The United States has become synonymous with empire and endless war, American troops sit in 70% of the world's countries, and yet, most Americans don't know that. The military is joined disproportionately by a 'warrior caste’ whom carry this enormous burden, making a less diverse force and ensuring most of society doesn't see their sacrifice. And American tax dollars, funding hundreds of billions in unnecessary spending on global hegemony, are robbed from the domestic needs of ordinary Americans. We aim to change that. Join Henri, Keagan, Jovanni, Shiloh, and Monisha, six leftist US military veterans, as they discuss how to turn the tide against endless war and repair the damage America has caused abroad.

About your host

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Christopher Henrikson

Chris ‘Henri’ Henrikson is an Iraq war veteran from Portland, OR. He deployed in support of
Operation Noble Eagle at the Pentagon following 9/11 and served two tours in Iraq in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. A former MP team leader, Henri also served two years
as a CID drug investigator. Now a journalist, podcaster, writer, and anti-war activist, Henri
no longer supports the lies of imperialism or the PR spin of the politicians, wherever the
source. He seeks to make common cause with anyone tired of jingoistic-driven death
from the American war machine and a desire to protect the innocents of the earth, no
matter their origin. Except Alex Jones. Fuck that guy. Follow him on Twitter at
@henrihateswar. Email him at henri@fortressonahill.com.