I’m not a Trump fan — and I’m not fond of Biden either. In fact, following the advice of U.S. founding father James Madison – – – “All men having power ought to be mistrusted” – – – I mistrust all of ’em.
So, with that disclaimer in mind, would there be a war in Ukraine if Trump had been sworn in instead of Biden? I know you probably don’t want to, but the first thing is to try to understand the Russian perspective. The question is, when it comes to NATO, is Putin paranoid?
To save you the trouble of reading “Is Putin Paranoid,” yes, he almost certainly is. And while you may not agree with them, the Russians have their reasons.
In a nut shell, in 1990 when U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III and others — with the equivalent of a gentleman’s hand-shake — promised the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachov that “NATO would not take even one step closer to Russia’s western border, NATO was 1,000 miles west of Russia’s largest city, St. Petersburg. NATO is now less than 100 miles from St. Petersburg.
Also keep in mind, NATO is run by the only country in history to use nuclear weapons on population centers, having dropped one on Hiroshima and another, three days later, on Nagasaki.
As U.S. President and five-star general Eisenhower put it, “It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.“ That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence among the Russians.
Further, after a CIA engineered Ukranian coup, spearheaded by U.S. operative Victoria Nuland, ousted Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych, it became clear that the CIA planned to get Ukraine into NATO. That would put NATO missiles directly on Ukraine’s border with Russia and only 5 minutes travel time to Moscow.
That would automatically put Russian nuclear forces in “ launch on warn” mode, meaning no time to straighten out any mistakes or glitches. That means no brakes on Russia’s retaliation nukes and pretty much the end of the world.
I don’t care how evil the MIC ((Military-Industrial Complex) propaganda machine has convinced you Putin is, if only in the interest of self-preservation, that possibility alone has to give him sleepless nights.
And there are the American HIMARS rocket systems recently delivered to Russian neighbor Poland that could reportedly launch nuclear tipped missiles.
So, yes, he’s almost certainly paranoid.
It seems Mr. Biden understands the situation – – –
Biden Says Risk of Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ Is Highest Since 1962 Crisis – The New York Times
The “1962 Crisis” Biden refers to is the Cuban Missile Crisis when “we” came very close to wiping out all life on earth. So, why doesn’t he do something about it?
For example, once you understand, it’s clear this whole mess could have been quite easily avoided in the first place. And, while not nearly as easily, probably still wound-down even now.
Respected Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter put it something like this: “To avoid the whole Ukraine Fiasco, all Ukraine had to do was to agree not to join NATO.”
Other respected folks reached the same logical conclusion. Ron Paul and Prof. John Mearsheimer, Jimmy Dore with Matt Tiabbi for a few examples. Elon Musk recentlly joined the crowd. Others who reached the same conclusion were disappeared, censored and otherwise cancelled.
See, as the folks above explain it, the problem has been caused by “we” in the West – – –
How To Create an Enemy: Think of someone as an enemy and you will treat them as an enemy. Reacting to your treatment, they will treat you likewise. –lrw
Things also work in reverse when you treat someone as a friend.
Have Biden and the West been thinking of Russia as an enemy — and treating them accordingly?
EXHIBIT A:
This was well before Mr. Putin gave up hope of getting help for his “paranoia” from Biden and NATO. That was back when Mr. Putin was still accurately referring to Europe and America as “Our friends and partners in the West” — because Russia had learned that communism doesn’t work and so was shamelessly making money hand over fist by engaging in market capitalism with us as his trading partners.
But what about Mr. Trump?
U.S. President Donald Trump described Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday as a “competitor” rather than an “enemy”… “I think we’ll get along well. But ultimately he’s a competitor. He’s representing Russia. I’m representing the United States. So in a sense we’re competitors, not a question of friend or enemy. He’s not my enemy,” Trump said. “Hopefully some day, maybe he’ll be a friend….” –Trump says Putin ‘competitor’, not enemy – Reuters
Trump reiterated after his 2018 face-to-face meeting with Putin in Helsinki.
And it’s clear they saw eye-to-eye on nuclear weapons – – – in his July 13 media event with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May in London – – – .
Donald Trump: Proliferation, to me, is the biggest problem in the world. I understand nuclear. I used to talk nuclear with my uncle. It is the biggest problem the world has, so if we can do something to reduce them, maybe it’s a dream, but it’s a subject I will bring up with him [Putin in Helsinki]. –Donald Trump-Theresa May press conference, July 13, 2018
And, as good as his word, in Helsinki – – –
Donald Trump: I think that the United States now has stepped forward, along with Russia, and we’re getting together and we have a chance to do some great things, whether it’s nuclear proliferation in terms of stopping, have to do it, ultimately that’s probably the most important thing that we can be working on…. We [Russian and U.S. Governments] have 90 percent of nuclear power between the two countries. It’s ridiculous. …. –Transcript: Trump And Putin’s Joint Press Conference : NPR
He and Mr. Putin were clearly on the same anti-nuke page in their two-hour closed door confab in Helsinki as well.
Naturally, Trump was castigated by the military-industrial war lovers who manufacture the tools of conflict and mass murder, since they count on selling them to make their living.
That may help explain why the Military-Industrial branch of the Administrative State was clearly out to get him. Trump’s anti-nuke position threatened the whole nuclear weapons industry, including the on-going trillion dollar nuclear upgrade.
Further, Mr. Trump was not a fan of NATO, pointing out at the time that it was way too expensive, and like The March of Dimes after polio was conquered, NATO had outlived its purpose once the Soviet Union had dissolved.
Would Trump have avoided the Ukraine fiasco by listening to Putin instead of dissing him? Would he have prevented Ukraine from joining NATO by making it clear the U.S. would vote against it instead of encouraging it to join as the Biden Administration is still doing?
I reiterate, I’m not a fan, but if Trump had been sworn-in instead of Biden, would there be a war in Ukraine? What do you think?
Since he apparently understands the Armageddon possibilities, is it too late for Biden to overcome his Administrative State handlers and stop the situation by cutting off aid to Ukraine and twisting Zelenskyy’s arm hard enough that he’ll pledge not to join NATO?
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