The most informative News Org I have to say - and it makes me squirm to say it - is Al Jazeera. and I have also been watching Fox and RT (Russia Today) and the wackos at the BBC - and some of the others that I have on my TV. I have also been interested in History all my life - and I never did get indoctrinated in any 'University' 'political science class' - and this below is what I think about all this.
Get on Google Earth first - and see where the Ukraine actually is in relation to the European Union and Russia. (And TRY to remember - that Russia and China are joined at the hip by tradition - landmass - politics - and the future.)
God forbid I would be on Russia's side in this - but in terms of stupid I find it difficult to be on NATO's side.
Get your head around the fact that NATO is a military alliance including the USA - and not a government. All it concerns itself with is military stuff - and getting more and better guns - and preparing for possible wars - and now they are beside themselves because they have started one - and cannot join in. The thing is - possible peace is not NATO’s thing. BUT! Note well that they are sitting on the fence watching something THEY started by twisting Putin's tail - and that is where they will stay - because if they move it will turn into Nukes - and Europe will be radioactive toast without butter or jam.
Russia is one of the biggest landmasses on the planet - shored up by China - also a huge landmass - with huge wealth and many millions of people - and they can absorb a few Nukes - Europe can't! Again - look at Google Earth and see for yourself. Europe will be the sacrificial lamb in any Nuclear War - and we can kiss goodbye to the actual cradle of modern civilisation - thanks to a lack of wisdom on the part of some NATO Generals.
The real reason for this war is because of NATO moves to bring the Ukraine in to their orbit as a member - thereby putting NATO on the Russian doorstep - bumper to bumper as it were. NATO - All gunned up and up Putin's derriere.
For those who are really listening - Putin keeps telling us - that he wants the demilitarisation - and neutrality of the Ukraine. Remember - that Russia used to own the Ukraine - so Putin will be a bit proprietorial. - The Ukraine and NATO have been saying no to neutrality - and so now they will most likely end up with the former Soviet Union getting back one of its richest satellites - and who wins then? Russia instead - with Putin as the leader - will be on NATO's doorstep bumper to bumper - and he will have the Ukraine as a buffer zone just like before this all began - which is how it's been since the demise of the Soviet Union.
What is it that people don't get about that - and when he wins this - watch China annex Taiwan - because that's the same deal - different language. (Just saying.)
So NATO have been encouraging the Ukraine to follow their path - and Putin has been making annoying noises about that - and they ignored him - even though he recently made a video clip about that - that has been widely circulated all over the world - and they just kept pushing and pushing - and bingo - we have the situation we have today.
I will say again - and I don't care who doesn't like to hear it - if Trump was still president - this would not be happening - because he would have put his red tie on - brushed his hair - checked his smile in the mirror - invited the world media - hopped in Airforce One - and flown to Moscow - and sorted this out - because he was an actual PRESIDENT who could see the bigger picture - whereas Biden is not even sure where the microphone is. Trump would have the smarts to recognise that Putin was in a corner - and given him room to move - let him down easily - with his pride intact - and talked the Ukrainian president down to reality - and explained to the world in words of one syllable why the Ukraine joining NATO was not a good idea.
Instead - we have ballyhoo Biden and a bunch of smartypants generals trying to get on the TV on one side - and very very experienced Putin on the other - and sorry - but in the intellectual stakes - Putin is a country mile ahead of Biden and a bunch of guys who stayed long enough to get promoted to general - and that will cost us all - but Putin will win - and NATO will just stand there like a bunch of stuffed dummies in fancy uniforms with shiny stuff hanging off them - because like you and me - they recognise that the worst case scenario is not a snot nosed war between little generals at stake here - it is the prospect of a Global Nuclear War.
We in the West need to get real with our politicians - and stop electing dimwits who have no idea about anything.
For God sake - look at the shower of garbage we've elected in New Zealand! Good God - - talk about never learn. If you saw any of them on your front lawn - you'd call the police - wouldn't you.
Denis Hall describes himself as an old man and an artist - a thinker - a writer - and a commentator. He does what he does - for the love of it.
Russia is one of the biggest landmasses on the planet - shored up by China - also a huge landmass - with huge wealth and many millions of people - and they can absorb a few Nukes - Europe can't! Again - look at Google Earth and see for yourself. Europe will be the sacrificial lamb in any Nuclear War - and we can kiss goodbye to the actual cradle of modern civilisation - thanks to a lack of wisdom on the part of some NATO Generals.
The real reason for this war is because of NATO moves to bring the Ukraine in to their orbit as a member - thereby putting NATO on the Russian doorstep - bumper to bumper as it were. NATO - All gunned up and up Putin's derriere.
For those who are really listening - Putin keeps telling us - that he wants the demilitarisation - and neutrality of the Ukraine. Remember - that Russia used to own the Ukraine - so Putin will be a bit proprietorial. - The Ukraine and NATO have been saying no to neutrality - and so now they will most likely end up with the former Soviet Union getting back one of its richest satellites - and who wins then? Russia instead - with Putin as the leader - will be on NATO's doorstep bumper to bumper - and he will have the Ukraine as a buffer zone just like before this all began - which is how it's been since the demise of the Soviet Union.
What is it that people don't get about that - and when he wins this - watch China annex Taiwan - because that's the same deal - different language. (Just saying.)
So NATO have been encouraging the Ukraine to follow their path - and Putin has been making annoying noises about that - and they ignored him - even though he recently made a video clip about that - that has been widely circulated all over the world - and they just kept pushing and pushing - and bingo - we have the situation we have today.
I will say again - and I don't care who doesn't like to hear it - if Trump was still president - this would not be happening - because he would have put his red tie on - brushed his hair - checked his smile in the mirror - invited the world media - hopped in Airforce One - and flown to Moscow - and sorted this out - because he was an actual PRESIDENT who could see the bigger picture - whereas Biden is not even sure where the microphone is. Trump would have the smarts to recognise that Putin was in a corner - and given him room to move - let him down easily - with his pride intact - and talked the Ukrainian president down to reality - and explained to the world in words of one syllable why the Ukraine joining NATO was not a good idea.
Instead - we have ballyhoo Biden and a bunch of smartypants generals trying to get on the TV on one side - and very very experienced Putin on the other - and sorry - but in the intellectual stakes - Putin is a country mile ahead of Biden and a bunch of guys who stayed long enough to get promoted to general - and that will cost us all - but Putin will win - and NATO will just stand there like a bunch of stuffed dummies in fancy uniforms with shiny stuff hanging off them - because like you and me - they recognise that the worst case scenario is not a snot nosed war between little generals at stake here - it is the prospect of a Global Nuclear War.
We in the West need to get real with our politicians - and stop electing dimwits who have no idea about anything.
For God sake - look at the shower of garbage we've elected in New Zealand! Good God - - talk about never learn. If you saw any of them on your front lawn - you'd call the police - wouldn't you.
Denis Hall describes himself as an old man and an artist - a thinker - a writer - and a commentator. He does what he does - for the love of it.
18 comments:
Good one
Much of this is correct except the bit about the smarty pants generals. Ukraine joining NATO is not supported by the military. Ukraine is impossible to defend - it’s the largest wheat farm in the world and wheat grows on the flat. No soldier would want that task.
Great article Denis. I fully support Russia in this. They have tried for years to reach reasonable agreements with the USA and their vassals in Europe but their leadership cannot countenance anything but one glorious American empire dominating the world Well they are going to be disappointed. As you suggest the current crop of leaders in the USA,UK, Europe Canada Australia and New Zealand are imbeciles.
I have just read the conditions of your site so I will just say in my opinion a reliable news source is The Duran
Lest my comment about this article be misconstrued I do NOT support Russia. The invasion is an appalling act of brutality. The Ukraine is absolutely entitled to seek membership of both NATO and the EU. While NATO should not provoke Russia- and it hasn’t agreed to Ukraine joining - Russia has no reason to invade apart from paranoia. NATO is not going to invade Russia - ever.
I am the Author of this above - and I can't argue with any of that Max Ritchie. Russia has no god given right to invade another country - but it the case of nations - one nation or group of nations should consider the paranoia of another and how it might manifest itself - because paranoid often becomes a war. I just question why the people in the west - in their growing accumulation of power - cannot be more prudent.
What is the position of what used to be called the industrial-military complex in all this? Tens of thousands of jobs and unimaginable masses of capital are tied up in producing military hardware. To make room for new stock old stock must be used and frequent wars are necessary to do that. Warehouses must be bulging since the rate of consumption is far lower than the rate of usage. Those crafty entrepeneurs who manipulate all this must have seen the need for a large scale conflict to absorb their surpluses. Solution? Devise a war that threatens to become a world conflict and offer the latest technology in killing machines with victory likely to the side that has the latest and largest inventory of weapons. It's not hard to create a scenario for this to delude the participants.
Whoopee! Here we go again!
Putin’s invasion is not just an indictment of Putin, but also of the the White House foreign policy establishment who think the Russian bear can be provoked without response. Some of them are the same people who thought a decade ago that leading from behind to overthrow Gaddafi, a former Soviet client, without noticing what was happening in Afghanistan and Iraq after US military victories there, without a credible plan for what would follow in Libya or in the Russian response, was a good idea.
I suspect ( though of course don’t know with certainty) that a neutral Ukraine, sitting between NATO/the EU and Russia, friendly to both sides and quietly exploiting their rivalry, would have been a sufficient victory for the West without provoking Putin’s paranoia and dreams of a Greater Russia. Instead, the West’s impotence has been exposed and the Ukrainian people will suffer.
The only good point likely to emerge is that those anti-nuclear power, anti-fracking green organisations in receipt of Russian money will be exposed and Germany etc might switch to more rational policies of energy independence.
I have no idea who is right or wrong but caution please for what you may wish for. What part does the World Economic Forum play in this debacle?
How do we know if Putin and Trump are actually working for Klaus Schwab? Obvious that Biden, Trudeau and Zelensky are.
Seems strange that Putin forgot to take out the Ukrainian telecommunications!
Putin is finished. I thought he was sinister but rational. He has lost the plot and will be rolled.
The Ukraine problem was caused by Germany who is currently doing deals with Russia similar to what Nazi Germany did prior to world war two. The Nord stream gas pipe line is one example, it bypasses the Ukraine which has made it of no importance to Europe.
Just pointing out that both Estonia and Latvia directly border Russia, both joined NATO in 2004 and used to be part of the old Soviet empire.
Russia seemed to come to terms with that and managed not to invade them.
Maybe there's a bit more to this than just the NATO angle.
Having seen a couple of docos on Putin he certainly doesn't come across as a great thinker or strategist. Ex-KGB and a gopher for Boris Yeltsin who basically shoulder-tapped him as his successor.
Maybe Putin has just decided it's time to provoke the West because he knows they won't retaliate militarily and it makes him look tough at home. This action also puts pressure on the eastern EU states that now border Ukraine and will probably widen the split between East and West EU with Germany trying miserably to pretend it's the big boss....but only with Russia's natural gas to keep the lights and heating on.
Thank you, I've been wanting to understand the situation a bit better - as like you - I do not trust mainstream media or YANKS or 'the west' ONE LITTLE BIT.
While I agree that if Trump was President of the USA, there would have been no war, your reasoning to get to that point is way off the mark.
There are multiple reasons for the war in Ukraine:
The foremost is that Putin is simply a tyrant who kills his political opponents, poisons critics abroad and imprisons journalists. He has a history of incursions into neighbouring states that have nothing to do with the USA or NATO. These include annexing part of Georgia & Crimea, meddling in Kazakhstan and Belorussia, propping up his fellow tyrant in Syria and sending mercenaries to prop up despots in Africa. In the final analysis you can't deal with thug tyrants and Europe should have figured that out in WW2 and not forgotten it.
Secondly Russia is in terminal decline. Its population is aging rapidly and in decline in absolute numbers; the youth are not reproducing and many are getting out of there as fast as possible. Well, they would because there is still a one year conscription in force. The demographics are so steep for Russia that it will barely be a country in ten years time. It has a GDP less than Texas, no manufacturing industry worth mentioning, no civilian aircraft industry and no IT sector apart from hacking and Russian brides for sale. So for Putin it's a case of 'use it or lose it'.
Lastly the reason we have a war *now* is because deluded western nations have been advancing a crazy Green New Deal that has created a false energy shortage around the world. Under Trump the USA was an oil exporter but now it has to buy about 600,000 barrels a day from Russia. Germany is busy scrapping its remaining nuclear power stations only to become totally dependent on Russian gas and oil. This allowed Putin to build a massive war chest in just one year and thus the window to make war. Merkel, Macron and Biden precipitated this war not because they're bad but because they're fools - elected by a foolish electorate. If they'd listening to Trump they would have increased their NATO contribution as they are supposed to under the terms of the NATO agreement, built nuclear power plants (France at least got that bit right) and constructed LNG port facilities along the west coast to make them independent of Russia if need be.
Andrew
What colour is the Moon on your planet?
The invasion of Ukraine by Russian Federation forces is not down to due to loss of US prestige, or Biden, or 'President' Trump. It is certainly not down to 'NATO aggression'. Citing an example of NATO's alleged aggression in Europe would be useful - as it would be fanciful.
This brutal, unprovoked invasion is due to President Putin's long-simmering resentment of the breakup of the thoroughly corrupt and rotten Soviet Union in 1991 - what he has described on many occasions as 'the greatest calamity of the 20th century'. He has no regard for the Ukrainian people, as evidenced by teh use of aggression and violence - racking up, incidentally, indictments in the ICT for war crimes.
The citizens of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly to be independent of the rest of teh Soviet Union; indeed, twice they have risen to out pro-Kremlin lackeys in Maidan Square, Kyiv. The Ukrainians didn't ask, indeed provoke Russian to invade - to imply otherwise is classic Stalinist Victim-blaming.
As far as I am concerned, this column is nonsense from start to finish, and is not aging well since it was written, to put it mildly. And as for Trump having the “smarts” to have prevented this war! Trump being smart? Give me a break. If he had been president the war would have happened simply because Putin wants the Ukraine in the Russian empire, and the only way to do it is by invasion. This is something he had to do before the Ukraine joined NATO, given that the attack on one member is deemed to be an attack on all of them.
Whilst many comments are thoughtful and possibly correct, if Germany was to approve the new pipeline, thereby bypassing Ukraine I am sure Putin would agree to withdraw. As hew would then control the majority of European energy resource, he would have effectively conquered Europe, including the UK. I am sure that the Green brigade obtain substantial funding from their Russian friends.
The above column starting "As far as I..." was lodged by me, and I wish to be identified. Ewan McGregor
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