Between 2007, and February 24, 2022, former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden floated NATO membership to Ukraine. This was in violation of George H.W. Bush’s 1991 promise not to expand NATO eastward toward Russia.
Sensible diplomats and historians scolded the US that such a move east was a red line of provocation that would inevitably result in military Russian pushback. They compared it with JFK’s willingness to start nuclear war with Russia to prevent installation of Russian missiles just 90 miles from the US in Cuba.
But the reckless presidents occupying the While House pushed on with their lust to expand NATO till Russia was completely surrounded to the west by US allies, possibly nuclear armed, to both isolate and degrade Russia as a political rival to US European hegemony.
But it was President Biden, after 15 long years of Russian pleading with America to cease NATO expansion, to trigger a violent Russian response. While touting NATO membership for Ukraine, he poured hundreds of millions in weaponry for Ukraine to finish off the Russian leaning Ukrainian dissidents in the Donbas seeking independence from Kyiv. He rebuffed every Russian entreaty to consider Russia’s security concerns. He even told Russia thru his spokesperson that ‘Russia’s security concerns were not up for discussion.’ A first year political science student wouldn’t have made that mistake.
So, after 15 years of pleading, Russia’s military response began 2 years ago today. What has it achieved for Ukraine who lobbied the US hard for NATO membership? Over 400,000 dead soldiers and 10,000 dead civilians. Over 14 million Ukrainians displaced from their homes, with 6 million fleeing as refugees in 11 European countries. Over a third of the prewar Ukraine economy is gone, putting Ukraine on US/NATO life support just to function. The Ukrainian military is near collapse. That is quite a needless decline for the US and Ukraine to provoke a senseless war.
Tho certainly not bloody nor broken economically as Ukraine, the US is also in decline from the war it provoked 2 years ago. Our sanctions against Russia have failed spectacularly. Our call for worldwide support to defeat Russia have been, outside of NATO and a few others, ignored. Dozens of countries, large and small, have abandoned US hegemony to join BRICS AND SCO, two political economic organizations dedicated to a multi polar world of nations not dominated by America. The US has boxed itself into a decline in world influence from which it will likely never recover. That is both good and long overdue.
But rather than face reality and direct Kyiv to negotiate the best resolution possible in a hopeless war, the US slogs on, pledging Ukraine $60 billion more in weapons for which there a few soldiers left to fire.
America’s decline which began 2 years ago today is political, diplomatic and moral, a trifecta of stupidity of which the Big Fools in the Biden administration are too blind or simply unwilling to see.
The US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, a downward spiral for both the US and Ukraine… with no end in sight.
Walt Zlotow became involved in antiwar activities upon entering University of Chicago in 1963. He is current president of the West Suburban Peace Coalition based in the Chicago western suburbs. He blogs daily on antiwar and other issues at www.heartlandprogressive.blogspot.com.
George HW Bush said he would not expand NATO one inch eastward, he should have gone further by dissolving it. His successors expanded it despite the USSR being dissolved and Germany unified under the Federal Republic of Germany’s government.
BRICS is being expanded and it will need to come up with another name.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, NATO changed from a defensive force into an offensive one. It was not going to be disbanded for that reason, and because it makes a lot of money for the military/industrial complex, namely the arms manufacturers.
“This was in violation of George H.W. Bush’s 1991 promise not to expand NATO eastward toward Russia.”
We are often told this was never put in writing. It was as this short video shows. It also shows that Russian intervention was not unprovoked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djPV8jELW-Y
Natives in the U.S. say that white people have to put agreements in writing because they can’t be trusted. This situation proves that fact. The U.S. even violated every written treaty it made with the Natives, so even getting agreements in writing with these people doesn’t help.
I see no reason to be concerned about the decline of the evil empire U.S. But that said, the U.S. decline began over 40 years ago with the election of Ronald Reagan as president, the worst one in my lifetime. The decline definitely did not begin 2 years ago, not even close. There was a lot going on well before the Ukraine war.
The republican’s poster boy. Like Clinton being the democrat’s poster boy. Or Obama. Sickening.
The only even marginally decent presidents in my lifetime were JFK (whose decency didn’t become known until after research showing that he wanted peace with the U.S.S.R., to withdraw from Vietnam, and to either dismantle or greatly reduce the power of the CIA) and Jimmy Carter. And even they had some big issues, but nothing like the rest of them.
I can’t argue with that. Kennedy got killed when I was 8. I didn’t like Carter, but I had no one to compare him to. He keeps getting better. Plus, he is by literally leaps and bounds the best ex-president in my lifetime.
Feb 23, 2024 Putin’s Big Statement After Biden’s ‘Nuclear War Fear’ Alert; ‘Nearly All Russian Nuke Forces Now…’
Russian President Vladimir announced on February 23 that nearly all of Russian nuclear forces have modernised amid fears of nuclear conflict propagated by the west. “Today, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the strategic nuclear forces has already reached 95 percent, while the naval component of the ‘nuclear triad’ is at almost 100 percent,” Putin said on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin’s remarks came after Biden raised fears of a nuclear conflict, while abusing the Russian President.
https://youtu.be/JZA9EHCOMyE?si=wScX-Bh1m2eOWmTD
Psychopaths all, but Biden and the U.S. started this and are the worst ones. Russia has been rather restrained considering the extreme provocations of the U.S. in the past 30 or so years, but I don’t like anyone threatening with nuclear weapons.
All of this is the Bankster’s and NATO as these two links will reveal Jeff. Thanks for your time!
Nov 29, 2016 The Map That Shows Why Russia Fears War With US
https://youtu.be/L6hIlfHWaGU
DECEMBER 25, 2015 NATO: Seeking Russia’s Destruction Since 1949
Baker told Gorbachev: “Look, if you remove your [300,000] troops [from east Germany] and allow unification of Germany in NATO, NATO will not expand one inch to the east.”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/25/nato-seeking-russias-destruction-since-1949/
Yes, the rich & powerful actually run things, we learned that in Political Science 101. But the leader of a country with nuclear weapons shouldn’t be threatening their use. Having them is bad enough.
America is the only country to actually use them. Just saying!
Putin has threatened their use also. As usual, the U.S. and Biden are the big problem here, but Putin isn’t exactly innocent either, even though he’s been nowhere near as bad.