President “Biden” (i.e. the “collective” Biden, not the actual Bradon) penned an interesting article for the NYT entitled “President Biden: What America Will and Will Not Do in Ukraine“. The entire things is behind a paywall, and it is not really worth reposting it here. But I do want to comment on a few of “Biden’s” theses.
First, I will ignore the obnoxious habit of calling the USA “America”, when just Canada and Brazil alone are almost as big as the USA. Furthermore, the USA is only 9,833,520 km2 (3,796,742 sq mi) while the total area of the Americas is 42,549,000 km2 (16,428,000 sq mi). Finally, there are 35 countries in the Americas but, fine, okay, if saying “‘Murica” evokes imagines of Captain America and waving (Chinese made) flags – then fine. Let’s look at a few key sentences:
“America’s goal is straightforward: We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression (…) We do not seek a war between NATO and Russia. As much as I disagree with Mr. Putin, and find his actions an outrage, the United States will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow“
Now that is a HUGE change. In Russian, there is this expression of “changing shoes while in mid jump” (переобуться в прыжке) which refers to a situation when a person suddenly makes a full and instantaneous 180 after pompously insisting on a goal which is now dropped.
The initial plan was simple: to smash the Russian economy, have Putin overthrown in an insurrection of some kind, break apart Russia and then turn towards China and crush it. And, considering the absolutely extreme demonization of Putin, he was clearly designated as the object of total hate by “all of progressive and freedom loving mankind”.
And now “Biden” “generously” will allow Putin to stay in power. Yes, “Biden”, not the fact that the Russian population fully supports Putin, and the SMO. How stupid does “Biden” think that we all are?
Anyway, let’s continue,
“We will also continue reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank with forces and capabilities from the United States and other allies. And just recently, I welcomed Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to join NATO, a move that will strengthen overall U.S. and trans-Atlantic security by adding two democratic and highly capable military partners“
This entire paragraph can be summarized in all sorts of colorful ways, I will just call it counter-factual and delusional nonsense. Where do I even begin here? Let me describe the realty of NATO here, with a few bullet points.
- First, its goal. It’s real goal, of course, not all that propagandistic hogwash about freedom, democracy, etc. The real goal of NATO is simple: keep the “Russians out, Americans in, Germans down”. Mind you, Stalin wanted a united Germany, it is the US which said no. And NATO was created before the Warsaw Treaty Organization which in the West is called the “Warsaw Pact” because “pact” sounds more ominous. So we have a nice, shining and peace loving “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” on one hand, and and evil dark Warsaw Pact. See, from Day 1 that organization was aimed at misleading the popular opinion about its true goals. Even the “North Atlantic” part is a lie, just look at the NATO operations in Afghanistan!
- Second, in military terms, NATO is about 90% USA and the rest 10% riffraff. Oh yes, yes, I know, NATO countries have tanks, aircraft, soldiers, ships, etc. But don’t look at what they have, look at what they do not have. NATO is entirely depended on the USA for C4ISR, for logistics, for the maintenance of its weapons systems, for the training of its personnel, etc. etc. etc. The truth is that the USA is the only NATO power which matters, the rest just serve the PR function of a fig leaf to hide the undeniable fact that NATO is a military occupation force.
- Third, while NATO makes a lot of noises about anything and everything, in reality its military is a hollow, paper tiger. What NATO can do is attack weak, more or less defensive countries. And even then, its end score is pretty bad: they screwed up Libya, failed in Afghanistan and Iraq, failed in Syria and even failed (in military terms) against a single Serbian Army corps in Kosovo. Even its infamous operation Gladio was a total failure. The notion that NATO could take on Russia in a land war is absolutely hilarious and begs the question: with *what*???
- Finally, there are plenty of countries which have been de-facto part of NATO while remaining formally independent on the USA and NATO. It’s not just Finland or Sweden, it is also Switzerland and, of course, the Ukraine. So what matters is not the formal list of countries but the reality on the ground. The “expansion” of NATO to the East (Ukraine), South (Kosovo) or North (Finland, Sweden) changes absolutely nothing. All it does is further reduce the sovereignty and agency of these countries. But militarily, its the same old, same old.
Next,
My principle throughout this crisis has been “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” I will not pressure the Ukrainian government — in private or public — to make any territorial concessions. It would be wrong and contrary to well-settled principles to do so.
Another pearl for sure! So after Nuland’s “fuck the EU” we are now told that “Biden” has the utmost respect for the Ukraine and its brilliant leader Zelensky. But nevermind that, the key word here is “territorial concessions”. Here “Biden” is being very slick on two levels:
- He introduces the notion of “territorial concessions” into the doxa, the publicly accepted discourse.
- He places the entire burden and responsibility for any such concessions on the regime in Kiev. You could say that he washes his hands off this entire topic. Your on your own now, pal “Ze”!
Next comes this pearl of self-gratification:
Standing by Ukraine in its hour of need is not just the right thing to do. It is in our vital national interests to ensure a peaceful and stable Europe and to make it clear that might does not make right.
REALLY? Might does not make right? But then how was the USA itself born if not under that very principle. And then, the HUNDREDS of military operations and attacks the USA waged against almost every country on the planet in total illegality. How about all the so-called “sanctions” which are all illegal under international law, including various blockades and secondary sanctions. And how about Israel, this genocidal entity which every single US politician has piously worshipped, and which has made “might makes right” its highest religious dogma, that is the entity which the USA has called the “only democracy in the Middle-East” and its closest ally! I submit that instead of the (clearly counter-factual) “in God we trust” the USA should adopt a new motto: “quod licet iovi non licet bovi” which can loosely be translated as “its okay when we do it”.
I could go on parsing this boring text, but here is the conclusion:
The “Biden” administration is now changing its official narrative.
It used to be about ousting Putin crushing Russia, now its about pretending to be strong while preparing the public opinion for the inevitable defeat of not so much the Ukraine proper (that war was lost in the first week of the SMO!), but the defeat of the USA and NATO in this conflict.
Oh sure, depending on the audience, “Biden” will say this, or that, or its opposite or both. That is how Western politicians operate. But an opinion piece in the NYT is one of the main ways to send a signal to the ruling elites and the propaganda machine of the AngloZionist Empire. There is no more talk about defeating Russia, only that the Ukronazi regime in Kiev will have to figure out on its own how and when to sue for peace.
Andrei
@ Anton Gorbatow on August 02, 2022 · at 3:51 am EST/EDT
Lone Wolf, I also think a large swath of US/NATO elites want Ukraine to be a “Failed State”. Not just because they think that a failed state on Russia’s border would be disadvantageous to Russia but also because they think that Ukraine being a failed state would be economically advantageous to to USA.
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Ukraine has been a failed state ever since the break up of the Soviet Union.
Every fourth prostitute in Europe is Ukrainian, and Ukraine became a drug haven for drug cartels of all nationalities. A country where women need to prostitute to eat, is a failed state. Recently I read a headline they will follow the UK incorporating prostitution into their GDP. Great way to lift their tanking economy.
A failed state is not only a country where the economy is in shambles, it is also a country that has no moral bearings, lost in the depravity savage capitalism brought to them with “freedom & democracy.” Who knows what Ukraine would be in a few years, hopefully Russia will take the leftovers and turn it into a healthy society, as it happened in Chechnya.
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By the way, I really like your statement “They are militants of permanent counter-revolution, a twisted inversion of Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution. ( I happen to be well versed in Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution, as well as Trotskyism in general.)
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You may or may not know this, but US neo-cons are a witches brew of “Israel firsters” Jews linked to the different branches of US “Trotskyism” after their multiple splits into nothingness. Or so the rumor goes. Their origins, however, can be traced to the US anti-Stalinist leftist intelligentsia, mostly Jewish.
Trotsky, a controversial historical figure, a saint for some, an enemy of the Soviet Union and everything else for others, was a force to reckon with, however perspective we take. During my university years, while debating in Marxist circles, Trotsky came out as an abomination. I took it as a project to read as much as I could about Trotsky, beginning with Deutscher’s monumental biography in three volumes, The Prophet Armed, The Prophet Unarmed, and The Prophet Outcast.
I realized that to see the real Trotsky, we had to get his profile from “under a mountain of dead dogs,” as Deutscher himself described the task of digging under Stalin’s and otherwise demonization and character assassination that piled up on Trotsky. I was able to get a balanced view for myself about this historical giant, without becoming a Trotskyite. I realized Trotsky was very much different than his followers, who came across more like a cult than a “proletarian vanguard,” and whose close-minded views, belied their source.
Trotsky’s role in the Red Army while at war with the Empire of Lies’ “White Armies” has been totally obscured, condemned to the dark rooms of history. His role at negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, at 1905 “dress rehearsal” for 1917, etc., which Deutscher exhaustively documents, have been blacked out from Trotsky’s historical role in the Russian revolution, and from the history of the Soviet Union.
Even his pictures were doctored and falsified under Stalin’s orders.
That’s the history of the winner.
Cheers.
Lone Wolf
PS: Deutscher also was a biographer for Stalin, a balanced biography, mind you, which I also read in my school years. It was unfortunate for the Soviet Union that these two figures couldn’t work for the common good. Together, they could have been what Mao and Chou En-lai were for China, what Hồ Chí Minh and Giap were for Viet Nam, or what Castro and “Che” were for Cuba. Great men need other great men to balance out their worst traits, or enhance their best qualities.
Lone Wolf, I only have good things to say about Trotsky. Stalin, as Trotsky said, was the gravedigger of the revolution. I particularly dislike his betrayal of the Spanish Loyalists during the Spanish civil war.
I used to see every political event through a “Class Struggle” lens. But since the introduction of the Great Reset medical tyranny 2 and a half years ago, I have become APOLITICAL. I now see that the outer chaos of the world is a manifestation of the INNER chaos of mankind.
Andrei how can you live in a country that supplies so much of the Ukronazi gear, vehicles, weapons, do you not feel terrible that your tax money goes to US and not Russia? I could go on about how “its your right” but that’s not saying anything because essentially you’re talking about being against Nazis, but you support them with money.
Andrei, your interpretation is 100% accurate.
The USA is flailing around, desperately seeking and claiming some semblance of victory somewhere, but no victories are coming it’s way. The world is turning away from the colonialist, imperialist bullies of the old order, with the hope of a better, fairer way.
I’m not so sure that the toned-down rhetoric reflects lowered expectations. Maybe that’s in there, but for sure giving rise to the change is someone figuring out that honestly blurting out their actual ambitions was making things too clear to Russians, Chinese, Iranians, and the rest of the world.