Since the U.S./German decisions to send main battle tanks to Ukraine, experts are warning that the tank rush is just another step in the escalation to a U.S.-NATO/Russia all-out war. Four commentaries from the last two days:
Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), in an article published in The American Conservative, goes through some history involving Russia that he says American policymakers are ignoring. “In the Second World War, Washington was lucky with timing and allies. This time it’s different. Washington and its NATO allies are advocating a full-blown war against Russia, the devastation and breakup of the Russian Federation, as well as the destruction of millions of lives in Russia and Ukraine,” he concludes. “Washington emotes. Washington does not think, and it is also overtly hostile to empiricism and truth. Neither we nor our allies are prepared to fight all-out war with Russia, regionally or globally. The point is, if war breaks out between Russia and the United States, Americans should not be surprised. The Biden administration and its bipartisan supporters in Washington are doing all they possibly can to make it happen.” (https://www.theamericanconservative.com/this-time-its-different/ )
Patrick Cockburn, for decades the Middle East correspondent for British daily the Independent, in an opinion column in inews (a London morning daily published by the Daily Mail) in which he otherwise mischaracterizes the Russian military campaign, argues that the tank decision is more political than military in that it now symbolizes that NATO’s aim has gone from merely preventing the defeat of the Kiev regime to regime change in Moscow. “A good thing too, many in the West will respond as they contemplate the end of Putin’s rule, but they may not fully understand that long before that happens the war will have entered a far riskier phase than we have seen hitherto,” he writes. “The use of nuclear weapons becomes more likely. And there is no certainty in betting on a Ukrainian victory, since some factors that have worked in Ukraine’s favor, such as the vast scale of the war zone, may in future work for Russia.” (https://inews.co.uk/opinion/nato-tanks-being-sent-to-ukraine-mean-the-war-aim-is-now-the-end-of-putins-regime-2112893?ITO=newsnow )
Caitlin Johnstone, in a commentary published by Consortium News Jan.27, notes that contrary to the assertions of the war party, Moscow has been responding to the escalations against it by NATO. “So, Russia has in fact been escalating its aggressions in response to attacks on Crimea; it just hasn’t been escalating them against NATO powers. As long as Russia is only escalating in ways that hurt Ukrainians, the U.S.-centralized power structure does not regard them as real escalations,” Johnstone writes. “The take-home message to Moscow being that they’re going to get squeezed harder and harder until they attack NATO itself.” The implications of that are clear. https://consortiumnews.com/2023/01/27/caitlin-johnstone-incentivizing-russia-to-hit-nato/
Michael Brenner, Professor of International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, also writing yesterday in Consortium News, provides a useful summary of the public record of how the U.S. decision to confront Russia, going back to the 1990s, has escalated to where it is now. “The people driving policy in Washington cannot stomach the prospect of a defeat,” Brenner writes. “That is to say, a Russian crushing of the Ukrainian army, its incorporation of the claimed four provinces and the fatuous Western narrative shown to be little more than a string of lies. Too much in the way of prestige, money and political capital has been invested for that outcome to be tolerated. Moreover, just as Ukraine has been used cynically as an instrument for bringing Russia to its knees, so is the denaturing of Russia as a power seen as integral to the global confrontation with China that dominates all strategic thinking.”
Brenner attributes this situation to the neocons who"have instigated a crusade aimed at securing America’s global dominance.” At the end he warns where this will take us: “Before the end of the year, we all are likely to face the moment of truth. Russian forces will be on the Dnieper and, in some places, beyond it. Ukraine’s army will be on its last legs—Abrams, Leopard 2s, Challengers, Bradleys etc. notwithstanding,” Brenner concludes. “What does the outwitted and feckless Biden bunch do then? Anything is possible.” (https://consortiumnews.com/2023/01/27/tanks-and-tragedy/ )
