weekend
themes
by
Paul Craig Roberts
Washington continues to drive
Europe toward one or the other of the two most likely outcomes of the
orchestrated conflict with Russia. Either Europe or some European
Union member government will break from Washington over the issue of
Russian sanctions, thereby forcing the EU off of the path of conflict
with Russia, or Europe will be pushed into military conflict with
Russia.
In June the Russian sanctions
expire unless each member government of the EU votes to continue the
sanctions. Several governments have spoken against a continuation.
For example, the governments of the Czech Republic and Greece have
expressed dissatisfaction with the sanctions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry
acknowledged growing opposition to the sanctions among some European
governments. Employing the three tools of US foreign policy–threats,
bribery, and coercion–he warned Europe to renew the sanctions or
there would be retribution. We will see in June if Washington’s
threat has quelled the rebellion.
Europe has to consider the
strength of Washington’s threat of retribution against the cost of
a continuing and worsening conflict with Russia. This conflict is not
in Europe’s economic or political interest, and the conflict has
the risk of breaking out into war that would destroy Europe.
Since the end of World War II
Europeans have been accustomed to following Washington’s lead. For
awhile France went her own way, and there were some political parties
in Germany and Italy that considered Washington to be as much of a
threat to European independence as the Soviet Union. Over time, using
money and false flag operations, such as Operation Gladio, Washington
marginalized politicians and political parties that did not follow
Washington’s lead.
The specter of a military conflict
with Russia that Washington is creating could erode Washington’s
hold over Europe. By hyping a “Russian threat,” Washington is
hoping to keep Europe under Washington’s protective wing. However,
the “threat” is being over-hyped to the point that some Europeans
have understood that Europe is being driven down a path toward war.
Belligerent talk from the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from John McCain, from the
neoconservatives, and from NATO commander Philip Breedlove is
unnerving Europeans. In a recent love-fest between Breedlove and the
Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by John McCain, Breedlove
supported arming the Ukrainian military, the backbone of which
appears to be the Nazi militias, with heavy US weapons in order to
change “the decision calculus on the ground” and bring an end to
the break-away republics that oppose Washington’s puppet government
in Kiev.
Breedlove told the Senate
committee that his forces were insufficient to withstand Russian
aggression and that he needed more forces on Russia’s borders in
order to “reassure allies.”
Europeans have to decide whether
the threat is Russia or Washington. The European press, which Udo
Ulfkotte reports in his book, Bought Journalists, consists of CIA
assets, has been working hard to convince Europeans that there is a
“revanchist Russia” on the prowl that seeks to recover the Soviet
Empire. Washington’s coup in Ukraine has disappeared. In its place
Washington has substituted a “Russian invasion,” hyped as Putin’s
first step in restoring the Soviet empire.
Just as there is no evidence of
the Russian military in Ukraine, there is no evidence of Russian
forces threatening Europe or any discussion or advocacy of restoring
the Soviet empire among Russian political and military leaders.
In contrast Washington has the
Wolfowitz Doctrine, which is explicitly directed at Russia, and now
the Council on Foreign Relations has added China as a target of the
Wolfowitz doctrine.
http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Tellis_Blackwill.pdf
The CFR report says that China is
a rising power and thereby a threat to US world hegemony. China’s
rise must be contained so that Washington can remain the boss in the
Asian Pacific. What it comes down to is this: China is a threat
because China will not prevent its own rise. This makes China a
threat to “the International Order.” “The International Order,”
of course, is the order determined by Washington. In other words,
just as there must be no Russian sphere of influence, there must be
no Chinese sphere of influence. The CFR report calls this keeping the
world “free of hegemonic control” except by the US.
Just as General Breedlove demands
more military spending in order to counter “the Russian threat,”
the CFR wants more military spending in order to counter “the
Chinese threat.” The report concludes: “Congress should remove
sequestration caps and substantially increase the U.S. defense
budget.”
Clearly, Washington has no
intention of moderating its position as the sole imperial power. In
defense of this power, Washington will take the world to nuclear war.
Europe can prevent this war by asserting its independence and
departing the empire.
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