A Wider War Is In Prospect
Paul Craig Roberts
Update:
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the province of Chechnya commands some of Russia’s most feared combat units. He said Russia’s tactics are not working because they are too sluggish. The West has armed Ukraine with new generation heavy artillery and weapons, while Russia is not using its heavy artillery and weapons such as TOS. It seems that even when he goes to war, Putin really doesn’t want to use much force.
Now Turkey is saying that it will close Russia’s passage into and out of the Black Sea, another stupid NATO decision that escalates the conflict.
A Wider War Is In Prospect
A nano-second to midnight?
Paul Craig Roberts
It looks like what began as a highly successful Russian military action is being turned into a clown act by the Kremlin civilians who are so anxious to show that Russia means well that they risk turning the Ukraine intervention into a farce that might end in a wider European conflict.
The Ukraine doesn’t have much of a military, but it has a powerful word that stops the Russian military in its tracks: negotiation. Zelensky uttered the word, and Putin stopped the invasion. The Kremlin fell for the trick a second time and sent negotiators to Gomel where Zelensky was again a no-show. It is a curious situation when it is the country that is winning the war which is so anxious for negotiations. Indeed, neither Lavrov nor Putin can shut up about how willing they are to negotiate. A person might conclude that Russia is losing the war. Putin even felt obliged to assure Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that Moscow remains open to talks with Kiev. As Israel is supporting the Ukrainian Nazis, you would think it would be Israel giving the reassurance.
Normally, halting an invasion provides the enemy with time to recover from the shock and reform lines. Surely Shoygu knows this. Even worse, by delaying the outcome, it allows the hysterical and completely stupid West to widen the war by getting involved. The US/NATO are beefing up their European deployments of troops and sending weapons to Ukraine. Stoltenberg is issuing threats he cannot back up. A collection of Finnish idiots are trying to get a vote on Finland joining NATO, an act of insanity that Putin has already said would not be permitted. Germany has changed its mind and now says Germany is sending weapons to Ukraine. Will Germany, US, NATO also change their minds about sending troops? Every hour’s delay in Russia finishing the task gives the Western morons more chance to blunder into war.
As Union war criminal William Tecumseh Sherman said, “war is hell.” The Kremlin is trying to conduct war without the hell. Consequently, the Nazi militias have ensconced themselves and their weapons systems amidst civilians. As the Russian military is under orders not to fire into civilian areas, the conquest is stopped in its tracks.
One can understand the Kremlin’s decision to spare civilians as once Ukraine is de-nazified, Russia hopes to have good relations with Ukraine. But the Kremlin is mistaken if it expects kudos for good intentions from the West. Whatever Russia does will be painted in the blackest terms. Already the Ukrainian Nazi militias are being praised as “freedom fighters.” The function of the Western media is to turn fiction into fact and lies into truth. The narrative of Russian war crimes was already established by the second day of the war. Here is, for example, Bloomberg Evening Briefing Feb 25, but all the presstitutes say the same thing: “The Russian invasion has been marked by indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas and strikes on protected facilities such as hospitals, Amnesty International said. . . . Russians shelled a kindergarten and an orphanage.” Despite all the alleged attacks and indiscriminate shellings, Amnesty International can only get the kill list up to 140 people, and Bloomberg doesn’t say whether this is civilians only or includes soldiers and the neo-Nazi militias. So far it seems that the Russian invasion hasn’t killed as many people as one US strike on a children’s soccer game, or a wedding or funeral.
On the military front Russia is predominate, but on the propaganda front she is always outgunned. The reason is that Russia always fails to take the initiative, instead remaining purely reactive. Russia’s response to sanctions has so far been entirely feeble. Russia continues to supply Europe with energy when she can turn off the pipelines and shut down German industry. But she does nothing as Germany announces arms support for Ukraine Nazi militias. Russian assets are seized and Russia is evicted from the SWIFT clearing mechanism on which Russia (and China) still so foolishly rely, and Russia has not nationalized all Western investment in Russia. One gets the feeling that Russia likes to be run over as long as it is not militarily.
But even here Russia’s determination to show herself as so well-intentioned that she risks stalemate and a wider war makes one wonder if she even wants to win the war. It is really quite astonishing how much Russia is hurt by words and how defensive words can make her.
It was Machiavelli who said “it is better to be feared than loved.” If Russia were feared, the Finns would not be pushing to join NATO. The Germans and French would not be sending weapons to the Ukraine Nazis. The US would not dare personally sanction the President of Russia. If Ukraine develops into a wider war, much of the blame will reside in Russia’s reactive character and delay upon delay in using its superior force.
However Brutal Russia has to be, it is much better for Russia to quickly finish its conquest of Ukraine, because the price of delay can be much higher. This is what delay has brought us to:
“Putin Orders Russian Nuclear Forces to Be on Highest Alert”
Putin explains:
“Western countries are not only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic area. I’m speaking about the illegitimate sanctions that everyone is well aware of. However, the top officials of the leading NATO countries also make aggressive statements against our country as well.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/putin-orders-russian-nuclear-forces-to-be-on-highest-alert_4305006.html?utm_source=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2022-02-27-1&utm_medium=email&est=skzctLI4GqRe7NTjyT1qsqsBrwyf8ftnMau%2FLtShiYCwx4%2FUvZlVeg%3D%3D
Again, the moronic and arrogant West did not hear when Putin said:
“I would now like to say something very important for those who may be tempted to interfere in these developments from the outside. No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history. No matter how the events unfold, we are ready. All the necessary decisions in this regard have been taken. I hope that my words will be heard.”
The consequences will indeed “be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”
Wake up you insouciant fools in the Western populations. Your moronic “leaders” are about to lead you into suicide.
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https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/02/27/a-wider-war-is-in-prospect/