US / NATO preparations for war against Russia and the Risk of a Cold War Getting Very Hot
“A full scale war with Russia, a modern day Operation Barbarossa is a dangerous undertaking. Russia has the capacity to obliterate the US and its NATO allies with N-bombs to spare. A large scale nuclear war will be a catastrophe of planetary dimensions. . .”
Before they drop the bombs, they drop the propaganda
The foreign policy establishment in the US wants Ukraine to join the NATO alliance. Ukraine is already a NATO ally and hosts some NATO troops in its territory. This is not to the liking of Russia.
In 2014 the US State Department and CIA played a big role in setting the stage for and executing a fascist coup d’etat and regime change in Ukraine, which in turn led to a civil war. This regime change operation and the genesis of a civil war in Ukraine is the subject of Oliver Stone’s film, “Ukraine on Fire.” The new regime made ethnic Russians a target for oppressive measures which triggered the formation of essentially independent states in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The Soviet Union had roughly doubled the size of Ukraine by ceding Russian territories mostly inhabited by ethnic Russians to the Soviet Republic of Ukraine in the 1950s.
Russia emerged as the main adversary of the US during the first decade of the 21st century. The break up of the Soviet Union and transition of the Russian Federation to a capitalist market system in the 1990s brought enormous hardships to the population. State assets were privatized by the government, creating billionaires overnight while plunging a majority of the population into deep poverty. There were more deaths attributed to the economic crisis of the 1990s in the Russian Federation than World War 2. Then Vladimir Putin took the reins of power with support of United Russia, which was formed in 2001 and gained control of Russia’s legislative branch of government. Under Putin, the economy was partly re-nationalized, a centralized economic plan established, the socialized medicine and old age pension systems were restored, unemployment rates and living standard returned to first world standards.
The political situation in Russia was stabilized under the terms of a social contract not to the liking of the US and NATO, which lost Russia as a dependent semi-colony that could be ruthlessly exploited. Russia pursues an independent foreign policy based on respect for international law and support for the sovereign rights of other countries, which put it at odds with the US and NATO. Russia has also formed an alliance with China and other countries to counteract the economic and diplomatic influence of US.
The US policy toward Ukraine is part of a broader strategic design to maintain and expand its spheres of influence and safeguard investment assets in other countries. Russia has a large conventional military force, but more important is its nuclear arsenal. Russia’s military is supported by an industrial base comparable to that of South Korea, which has population about one-third that of Russia. Moreover, the function of Russia’s military is primarily defensive. The US and its allies have a network of military bases near the frontiers of the Russian Federation. Russia is in a far better position to defend its territory than to launch an invasion of Western Europe.
A full scale war with Russia, a modern day Operation Barbarossa is a dangerous undertaking. Russia has the capacity to obliterate the US and its NATO allies with N-bombs to spare. A large scale nuclear war will be a catastrophe of planetary dimensions. In a more limited, conventional military conflict on the frontiers of Ukraine, there will be causalities for the US and / or its proxies.
The alleged attempt by Russia to rig the US elections, Russian’s annexation of Crimea and the Civil War in Ukraine are more than sufficient reasons for the Foreign Policy establishment in the US to agitate for a hot war against Russia. This pro-war agitation was integral to the campaign to impeach Donald Trump for alleged “collusion” with Vladamir Putin to rig the 2020 presidential election. The Russia gate narrative eventually fell apart for lack of evidence to support it. The transcript of a telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian president Voladamir Zelinski as revised by Gary Schiff, head of the US House of representative’s intelligence committee, laid the table for the actual impeachment of Trump. Trump was accused of pressuring Ukraine’s president to get some dirt on Joe Biden’s son which might be used as ammunition in the 2020 election campaign.
The Russia-gate-focused impeachment campaign followed by Ukraine-gate was not intended to accomplished the task of removing Trump from office. It was designed to block Trump from carrying out his 2016 campaign promise to pursue a policy of detente with Russia, to end the endless wars launched by GW Bush and Barack Obama, reduce the military budget and end the role of the US as World Cop. Trump’s foreign policy prescriptions were aligned with those of conservative “realists” and resonated with much of the Republican Party base.
The US foreign policy establishment is dominated by Neocons and liberal interventionists. Their mouthpieces at the state department and in Congress spoke in the impeachment hearings about America’s exceptional benevolence. America, the shining city on a hill. America the beacon of light that illuminates the path toward freedom, human rights and democracy for the world’s downtrodden masses.
The Biden administration’s sabre rattling toward Russia is being applauded by most members of the US Congress. Senator Rand Paul and Representative Thomas Massey are among the few voices of dissent in Congress. Tucker Carlson, the host of a popular Fox News program, Tucker Carlson Tonight is the most high profile foe of the Neocons and liberal interventionists. Carlson is predictably taking a stand against military intervention against Russia, as are a smattering of others with smaller platforms, including Glenn Greenwald, Max Blumenthal, Aaron Matte and comedian Jimmy Dore, to name a few anti-war voices from the left of the political spectrum.
Conflict with Russia Benefits China Tucker Carlson Tonight
https://www.facebook.com/TuckerCarlsonTonight/videos/969384143706128
See https://Greenwald.substack.com postings of January 25 and 28, 2022.
What a war with Russia would look like by Scott Ritter / Consortium New
Below are 2 video taped lectures and two articles by Micheal Parenti relating to modern imperialism and the cold war against the Soviet Union, which has some parellels with today’s cold war with Russia.
“1918” by Michael Parenti Consortium News https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/28/1918/
Michael Parenti, The Darker Myths of Empire: Heart of Darkness Series (Can’t watch here, can watch on YouTube)
Left anticommunism, the unkindest Cut, by Michael Parenti https://cym.ie/2020/04/01/left-anti-communism-the-unkindest-cut-by-michael-parenti/