RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 22.12.2023
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
*** UKRAINE LOSING 800 TROOPS PER DAY CAN’T BE SUSTAINED ***
…………
“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
***
VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED ATROCITY IN LUGANSK, 2nd JUNE 2014
A lot has been said about atrocities in the western media claimed to have been perpetrated by the Russians, for example at Bucha and Mariupol among others. These assertions are conveyed on the say so of the Ukrainian authorities. How willing though are western news broadcasters to convey atrocities attributed to the Ukrainians? The following will I think provide the answer.
If anyone wonders if they are receiving accurate coverage of the conflict in Ukraine I would suggest watching the video below of an event which occurred on the 2nd of June 2014 and ask themselves if they recall hearing about it on any mainstream media news channel at the time.
The video is harrowing to watch. The bodies (five women and three men) are real. Yet across western media there was only one single news report that occurred a day later. This was from CNN and occurred only because a CNN team happened to be nearby at the time of the atrocity and so the network could hardly ignore it as all others so obviously did.
The video below shows the unvarnished truth that was not considered newsworthy in western mainstream news.
THE SINGLE WESTERN MSM REPORT ON THE LUGANSK ATROCITY, 3rd JUNE 2014
The video at the CNN link below is the crime scene sanitised by CNN, though played straight with honest reporting on the scene not playing things to Kiev’s tune.
(There was a time early in the war in the Donbass when CNN were not afraid to contradict the Ukrainian regime in Kiev.) Watch, because it's the first and last time you will see this.
5 women and 3 men died, all civilians.
Air attack on pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk kills 8, stuns residents.
…………
Lead feature:
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN
Desperate US/EU To Seize Rus Assets, Send Ukr Refugees Fight; Tighten Oil Cap, Sanction Diamonds.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN
Haley exposes The Putin birthday plot. Borrell, EU garden in danger. Milei, shock therapy protests.
THE DURAN
Dropping Ukraine to focus on Trump w/ Daniel McAdams.
LEVAN GUDADZE
Past week alone Ukraine has lost up to 4,700 military personnel, 4 aircraft and 70 armoured vehicles.
GEOPOLITICAL ECONOMY REPORT w/ BEN NORTON
West's economic war on Russia backfires, destroys EU industrial base, fuels Eurasian integration.
DANNY HAIPHONG
SCOTT RITTER AND LARRY JOHNSON JOIN ON UKRAINE'S WOES, ISRAEL OUT OF CONTROL, PLUS MORE.
NICOLAI N. PETRO
Hopeless Military Situation.
RUSSIAN NEWS
Lavrov's press conference in Tunisia | Russia, Ukraine.
Today the Russian army is the most trained and combat-ready in the world. Shoigu, Russia, Ukraine.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - SCOTT HORTON
2023: Lessons for Biden, Zelenskyy, and Netanyahu.
FIRSTPOST
UK Crisis: Recession Looms as Sunak's Optimism Clashes with Reality.
LEVAN GUDADZE
Forced mobilization of Ukrainians in Europe, Red Sea Crisis, Angola left OPEC, US Civil War...
GEORGE GALLOWAY
INTERVIEW: Who knew the Seychelles had a navy?
EMIL COSMAN
Ukraine running out of crews for German Leopard 2 tanks. The Germans report.
Massive and prolonged Russian drone attack (35) started on Wed and ended on Thurs.
Ukrainians living abroad to be DRAFTED/Mobilized to fight Russia. Defense Minister announced plans.
AXX MILITARY NEWS
Russia Deploys its New Pantsir-SM Air Defense Missile System in Ukrainian war.
HINDUSTAN TIMES - RUSSIA/THE COLLECTIVE WEST
'EU Will Collapse': Putin's Big Warning To Western Bloc Over Potential Ukrainian Entry.
U.S. Mulls Using Russian Assets To Fund Ukraine’s War Effort; Russia Issues Warning | Watch:
Putin’s Minister Attacks Germany Over Bid To Seize Russian Assets; ‘Thieves In The Literal Sense…’
'Absurd, Look At Facts': Putin Rips Zelensky's Ukraine 'Peace Formula' | Watch Kremlin's Response:
Ukrainian Mercenary Fights For Israel In Gaza Amid War With Russia Back Home | Image Goes Viral.
PROFESSOR JEFFREY SACHS
Dismissing Russian Concerns Outright.
BORZZIKMAN
Russia Dealt Another Crushing Blow To NATO Military Facilities In Ukraine┃SEVERNOYE Is Going To FALL.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - ALASTAIR CROOKE
SPECIAL: Alastair Crooke: The US an outcast at the UN.
THE GRAYZONE
Point of no return - The Grayzone live.
MATTHEW HOH
Destroying and Making Unhabitable.
RACHEL BLEVINS
The Decline of the U.S. Empire and the Emerging Multipolar World w/ Prof. Richard Wolff.
GARLAND NIXON
EPISODE 2 - IMPERIALISM: DECADENT, PARASITIC, AND DOOMED (WITH JOTI BRAR).
VANESSA BEELEY
The broader regional conflict with Palestine at the centre. With Misty Winston.
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH
Israeli PM, Army should be brought before ICC on genocide charges: Cornel West.
Netanyahu Believes He Could Crush Palestinians And Get Away With It: Daniel Levy.
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
At least 16 people killed from al-Bursh family in Jabalia: Report.
BAD FAITH
Understanding Jewish Disillusionment with Israel w/ Gabor Maté.
CGTN
UNICEF spokesperson: I'm furious over situation in Gaza.
DANIEL DAVIS / DEEP DIVE
Withdrawing US Troops from Iraq/Syria Makes America Stronger w/ Dan DePetris.
REDACTED
Here we go! MASSIVE Middle East war is EXACTLY the plan.
ANDREI MARTYANOV
Prosperity Guardian?
HINDUSTAN TIMES - ISRAEL/GAZA
'19 Israeli Guards Beat Palestinian To Death': Big Admission By Israel Over Prisoner Abu Assab.
Hamas 'Punishes' IDF After Netanyahu's Ultimatum To Qassam Fighters; Two Israeli Soldiers Slayed.
Al Quds Brigades Capture Israeli 'Sky Racing' Drone; Mujahideen Brigades Rain Rocket On IDF.
CCTV VIDEO NEWS AGENCY
China Opposes Building Settlements on Palestinian Territory by Israel: Spokesman.
MIDDLE EAST EYE
Why the ICC must prosecute war crimes in Gaza.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
BOMBSHELL: Israel Intelligence Chief Says The Quiet Part Out Loud!
DUE DISSIDENCE
US BLOCKING Geneva Convention Meeting, Assange FINAL Appeal Date, Haley UNGLUED, RFK Jr Sweepstakes.
GEOPOLITICAL TRENDS
Germany Debates Return of Military Conscription: Is History Repeating Itself?
ShanghaiEye魔都眼
China rejects US envoy's words, claims US legislation & sanctions as obstacles to space cooperation.
RICHARD MEDHURST
Julian Assange Extradition Case: Court Date Revealed for 2024.
Dr. STEVE TURLEY
It’s Even WORSE Than They Thought.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
DMITRY ORLOV
NATO can't Survive as an Organization.
Articles from RT (Russia Today) & Sputnik International - 22nd December 2023:
Kiev Lost About 160,000 Soldiers in All Directions in 6 Months of Counteroffensive.
Ukraine has lost about 160,000 soldiers and more than 3,000 armored vehicles in all directions over the six months of the counteroffensive, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday.
This year, the Russian armed forces' main goal was to repulse Kiev's counteroffensive that involved brigades trained in the West, the top general said, adding that the Russian forces are constantly expanding the areas of control in all directions.
"Over six months, enemy losses in all directions amounted to about 160,000 people, more than 3,000 armored combat vehicles, including 766 tanks, as well as 121 aircraft, 23 helicopters," Gerasimov said at a briefing for foreign military attaches. The meeting addressed the performance Russian Ministry of Defense in 2023.
The Ukrainian armed forces launched the counteroffensive on June 4 and were unable to overcome even the tactical defense zone, built by Russian troops, which resulted in Ukraine's suffering huge losses in the Zaporozhye direction, he noted.
Kiev Lost About 160,000 Soldiers in All Directions in 6 Months of Counteroffensive.
Macron admits EU’s Russia sanctions have failed.
The French president blamed the West’s inability to collapse the Russian economy on countries helping Moscow circumvent sanctions.
The EU must maintain its support for Ukraine and prevent Russia from winning on the battlefield despite rising doubts about Kiev’s future, insisted French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with the broadcaster France 5 on Wednesday.
The French leader stated that Western countries together with Ukraine had managed to win “strategic victories” such as preventing Russian forces from advancing deeper into Ukrainian territory, including previously neutral Finland into NATO, and launching the accession process for Sweden to also join the US-led military bloc.
However, at the same time, he admitted that the US and the EU were “less successful” in collapsing the Russian economy through sanctions and limiting imports of Russian energy. Macron blamed this failure on countries allegedly helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions.
Moscow itself has repeatedly stated that the West’s sanctions have effectively backfired on those who imposed them. Meanwhile, the restrictions have been “not so painful” for Russia, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also pointed out last month that EU companies had lost at least $260 billion due to the embargoes and that the bloc itself had become dependent on “expensive American energy,” causing an industrial crisis.
Nevertheless, Macron insisted that the West must not weaken its support for Ukraine and stressed that “important decisions will have to be made in the coming months,” without specifying which decisions he was talking about.
“We adhere to the line of supporting Ukraine, protecting its territorial integrity in order to prevent Russia from winning and avoiding geographic and nuclear escalation. We have been able to adhere to this line over the past two years,” Macron said.
At the same time, the French president admitted that there were doubts within some European countries and even in the US about the actual future of Ukraine. He noted that these concerns were being exacerbated by the “uncertainty associated with the political situation in the US,” where former President Donald Trump is leading the polls as he seeks reelection next year.
Leading up to next year’s presidential race, Trump has repeatedly signaled that he would cut off funding to Ukraine if he returns to the White House. US aid to Kiev has also been a sticking point for a large number of congressional Republicans, who are currently blocking President Joe Biden from sending an additional $60 billion to Ukraine, demanding stricter policies along the US-Mexico border and tougher immigration control.
Macron admits EU’s Russia sanctions have failed.
Germans are ‘thieves’ – Lavrov.
Washington is advising the EU on how to find a legal loophole to steal Russian assets, Moscow’s foreign minister has said.
Washington is directing Western efforts to find a legal loophole which can allow them to steal Russian assets worldwide and use them to fund the government in Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Thursday.
German officials in Karlsruhe announced plans this week to seize almost $800 million in assets from a Russian bank's account in Frankfurt, due to alleged violations of EU sanctions. Lavrov reacted to the news by calling the German authorities kleptomaniacs.
“They are thievish, we realized this a long time ago. They have been treacherous all along in political terms, you know: in the sense of reneging on agreements and trying to deceive someone. Now they have turned out to be thieves in the literal sense,” Lavrov told journalists following his visit to Tunisia.
The top Russian diplomat said the West is “laser-focused on the idea of finding some legal way to confiscate Russia’s assets,” starting with redirecting the interest from the currently frozen funds to Ukraine.
“The Europeans still have some rudimentary respect for their own laws, so they are delaying these decisions. But according to our sources, behind the scenes the Americans are advising them on how to change these laws to steal everything,” he explained.
Last year, around €260 billion ($285 billion) of Moscow's central bank assets were immobilized in G7 countries, the EU, and Australia. An estimated €210 billion ($230 billion) of Russia's reserves were held in Europe, with €191 billion in Belgium, €19 billion in France, and €7.8 billion in non-EU member Switzerland.
READ MORE: EU states ‘extremely cautious’ over Russian assets seizure – FT
Germany has blocked some €5.3 billion of Russian assets in its financial institutions, according to official data. Authorities in Berlin are reportedly now targeting the assets of a Moscow Stock Exchange subsidiary at the German branch of JPMorgan. However, a spokeswoman for the Frankfurt-on-the-Main court told TASS that the motion was still under “preliminary consideration.”
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned on Thursday that “an absolutely symmetrical response will follow” if the European Union decides to tap into profits generated from the frozen funds. He noted that there are sufficient foreign assets held in specialized ruble-denominated bank accounts, including dividend reserve liabilities to counterparties from “unfriendly” countries.
Germans are ‘thieves’ – Lavrov.
Western leaders should ‘stop playing the fool’ – Putin.
Russia will not collapse, so it would be better if the US and its allies changed their policy, the president has said.
Western nations that expect Russia to collapse are misguided and should instead let their economies benefit from cooperation, President Vladimir Putin said at a government meeting on Thursday.
The US and its allies have targeted Russia with unprecedented sanctions in a bid to punish Moscow for the Ukraine conflict. The country has largely adapted to the pressure however, according to the Russian government and Western analysis.
Putin raised the issue during a meeting of the Council on Strategic Development and National Projects, during which he described Russia’s booming commercial ties with non-Western nations. He noted, however, that Moscow is not closing the door on the West.
“It’s time for them [Western leaders] to stop playing the fool and waiting for us to collapse. Everyone realizes by now that if they want to benefit from cooperation with Russia, they should do so,” the president said.
Western nations have a choice between following “ephemeral considerations” motivating them to seek Russia’s destruction and “the interests of their own nations and peoples,” which require cooperation based on a “new foundation of a multipolar world,” Putin stated.
Moscow has weathered Western economic attacks by reorienting its economy toward trade with countries that declined to join the Washington-led sanctions campaign, including Asian powerhouses China and India.
Russia has also taken measures to decrease reliance on Western-controlled financial institutions, switching to alternative payment methods and national currencies in commerce. During a visit to Beijing on Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the US dollar has almost fully been replaced in trade with China.
Meanwhile, EU nations have seen energy prices surge after rejecting Russian supplies in order to supposedly reduce dependence and cut Moscow’s profits. In particular, Russian pipeline natural gas has been replaced with more expensive liquified natural gas (LNG), sourced primarily from the US and Qatar. Russia is also among Europe’s LNG suppliers and has made record deliveries this year, according to a report by Kommersant earlier this month.
READ MORE: Western firms lost $103 billion from Russia exits – NYT
Some factory owners in Germany, the EU's leading economy, have been forced to shut down due to increased operational costs. The Credit reform credit agency reported this month that it expects 18,100 German companies to file for insolvency this year, marking a 23.5% increase on 2022.
Western leaders should ‘stop playing the fool’ – Putin.
CIA Veteran: Biden's Proxy War in Ukraine Evokes Strong Memories of Vietnam Disaster.
President Joe Biden's "Russia threat" narrative conjures up the now-debunked Cold War "domino theory" spearheaded by Washington during the war in Vietnam, Ray McGovern, a former CIA officer, told Sputnik.
Joe Biden claimed earlier this month that the US can't let Russian President Vladimir Putin win in Ukraine since "he won't stop there."
"[If] Putin attacks a NATO ally — if he keeps going and then he attacks a NATO ally — we're committed as a NATO member to defend every inch of NATO territory, and we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today," the US president stated on December 6.
In response, Russian President Putin called Biden's claim "complete nonsense", adding that he believes that his American counterpart understands that. "Russia has no reason, no interest — no geopolitical interest, neither economic, political nor military — to fight with NATO countries," Putin emphasized on December 17.
"The more I hear Biden and his advisers, the more I think they actually believe that the Russians are out to take over Europe like us," Ray McGovern, a former CIA officer who prepared the president’s daily brief during the Ronald Reagan administration, told Sputnik.
"It reminds me of back in the sixties when I was working on Russian policy toward Vietnam and Southeast Asia. The domino theory or the Russians theory, the Russians were trying to take over the whole world, especially Southeast Asia. Not only that, but Indonesia, the whole world just better go down the drain if the Russians prevail in Vietnam."
The "domino theory" meant that "when one nation falls to communism the impact is such as to weaken the resistance of other countries and facilitate, if not cause, their fall to communism," as per a 1964 memo from the Board of National Estimates to the director of central intelligence. The US used the now-discredited theory to justify its involvement in the Vietnam War years after its unfortunate military campaign in Korea.
Eventually, the US got bogged down in Vietnam, with its leadership continuing to stick to the false narrative. The same is happening now in Ukraine, according to the CIA veteran: the more ludicrous Team Biden's idea about Russia's threat to Europe gets, the more desperately they stick to it.
"I saw this happen before," McGovern said. "There was a false narrative. We were winning in Vietnam and our forces were just about to complete the victory, except General Westmoreland was saying, and this is late 1967, 'We just need 208 more troops because we've got to go into Vietnam, right up to the Chinese border, and then we'll win for sure'. Now, that was delusional. That was crazy. And, you know, those of us who have been around a while knew what happened last time we went up to the Chinese border in Korea. Right?"
"So what happened? Well, during late January, early February, there was a so-called Tet Offensive where the North Vietnamese - and actually there was the Viet Cong in the south - amounted attacks, vicious attacks on every hamlet, town, village, the capital province in in South Vietnam, belying Westmoreland's rosy forecasts that we could prevail."
The Tet Offensive – which lasted until April 1968 – went down badly among the US public. Later, 53% of American respondents said that sending US troops to fight in Vietnam was a mistake. The Vietnam War polarized US society, triggering a series of nationwide protests. The October 15, 1969, peace protests brought together millions of people across the United States.
"So what's my point here? It took a major defeat of US forces and South Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam to put some sense, and then it took some wise men (...) And there ain't no sane wise man around in Washington anymore. And even if they were, Biden wouldn't know where to look for them. So the situation is even more delicate right now, the more so because we're talking about two powers, each of which have nuclear weapons, Russia and the United States," McGovern said.
One should also bear in mind that Team Biden's proxy war in Ukraine benefits defense contractors and various industries related to defense production. Similarly, the US military-industrial complex capitalized immensely on the Vietnam War.
If one wants to justify feeding the US defense contractors even more, one needs to continue creating a fuss over the alleged "Russian threat", according to the CIA veteran.
"You have to raise the threat. And the threat is, of course, the big picture, of course, is Russia, because that always works. And the people are pretty much denied the real story because of the mainstream media, they don't listen to Sputnik. They don't listen to other things that I'm on, they don't listen at all.
"They're really brainwashed and I use that term advisedly. And that's a very sorrowful situation because they could be led into a wider war, thinking that they're doing the right thing against their real threat when the threat is synthetic."
CIA Veteran: Biden's Proxy War in Ukraine Evokes Strong Memories of Vietnam Disaster.
Russia to build crypto mining hub in Africa.
The new facility could reportedly turn Ethiopia into a global mining center.
Russian supplier of Bitcoin mining solutions BitСluster is building a 120-megawatt (MW) data center in Ethiopia, the company has announced on its website.
According to a press release issued on Thursday, the facility will be located in the capital city of Addis Ababa, on the territory of the Kilinto high-voltage substation, and will comprise 30,000 square meters.
The commissioning of the new data center will take place in January 2024, BitСluster said, noting that transformers are currently being connected.
The report highlighted that the engineering and technical conditions of the data center meet the requirements of the most modern mining devices.
“100% of the data center’s electricity comes from renewable energy sources, specifically from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the largest hydropower project in Africa, with a capacity of 5.15 GW,” the press release reads.
The new energy infrastructure of the Kilinto high-voltage substation will reportedly ensure “uninterrupted power supply to the facility with the expected uptime 99%.”
BitCluster pointed out that the scale of the project allows it to be a full-cycle service center, thereby saving time and money on fixing faulty devices in-house, which makes mining more efficient.
READ MORE: Remote mountain kingdom secretly mining bitcoin – Forbes
“Ethiopia, with its hydropower potential, will undoubtedly become a new place of attraction for global mining,” co-founder of BitCluster Sergey Arestov projected.
Russia to build crypto mining hub in Africa.
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
MILITARY SUMMARY CHANNEL UPDATE
SnowStorm | Patriot Ambushed Su34 | Ukrainians Are Leaving Avdiivka. Military Summary For 2023.12.22
During The Assaults The Russians Managed To Take New Positions. Military Summary For 2023.12.22
DEFENSE POLITICS ASIA UPDATE
No update posted so far today
WAR ROOM MAPPING UPDATE
Russian Forces Enter Krynki, Rybar Map, December 21th, 2023 Ukraine War.
THETI MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS NETWORK
No update posted so far today
PROJECT GREAT MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
M MAPPING UPDATE
Russia Assault North Of Stepove l Ukrainian Defense Line Breached.
NEW WORLD GEOPOLITICS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
HS MAPPING UPDATE
Russia Storms Ukrainian Defense Line North Of Stepove l Russian Advance In Novomykhailivka.
FREE RUSSIA MAPPING CHANNEL
No update posted so far today
WEEB UNION MAPPING UPDATE
Battle of Faith | Positional Fighting Novomykhailivka | Terny | "Aerial Ambush".
VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: WHY THE WEST WILL NEVER TOLERATE PEACE
Many people are asking why the world is constantly at war these days and why the art of diplomacy is no longer applied to any meaningful effect. War after war is erupting across the planet and while the United Nations is ostensibly the forum to resolve such occurrences it is now more akin to a gladiatorial arena for a war of words. Something has changed since the days when attempts were made to resolve differences for the sake of saving lives. No more are issues thrashed out at the UN, now each side expresses the desire to thrash each other in a geopolitical spectacle that invites ever more death and destruction.
What changed you may ask. Didn’t the two sides during the Cold War find ways to resolve their most fundamental differences so as to obviate the possibility that lives might be lost if things got out of hand? Why are we now in such a frightful situation where one side at least appears to actively wish to see ever more war and does not lift a finger to reduce them quite apart from eliminating them altogether. What possible sequence of events could have supercharged lust for war at all costs and at the same time minimised to near zero the desire to mitigate them by seeking diplomatic solutions through negotiated settlements?
If we look back over the last several decades one event leaps out at us as the primary candidate that could explain the impulse in certain elite strata for the constant state of war we see now and the failure of anything approaching intent to stop the wars that result. That event delivered a group of people to the most prominent positions in the nation now adding to its track record of wars initiated by them and to the seemingly never-ending list of potential target nations they want never-ending conflict with. That event resulted in all the bridge-builders, peacebrokers and long-serving diplomats being cast out as no longer required. Put quickly in their place were warriors, men and women who saw what they perceived as the need for a forever war.
For the people mentioned above the war that they seek, this forever war, will be waged across more than one generation. It is a war that they have decided MUST be won because for them everything they hold near and dear collapses and dies if they do not win this war. For them there will be no further decent world if war is not won. What will result will be hell on earth, they believe, a world that can only descend to unfathomable depths where no return to the ideals they proclaim of ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ will be possible.
The event stimulating all these fevered thoughts and the rabid determination to wage continual and unabated war against their enemies was of course 9/11 and the men and women who seek to initiate wars worldwide to “save” their “ideal world” of the West are of course the Neocons. Post 9/11 the entire political superstructure of the western world turned Neocon and the notions talked of above became the standard mindset and lens through which the world was seen from that time forward. For these people there are no two sides to any question. There is only one way, one right mode of thought and one solution, beside which all else is false and quite possibly traitorous. No other views are taken into account. For them all is settled and they will brook no resistance to their decided solutions.
The changes mentioned above are currently turning the USA into a totalitarian state where it is only acceptable to express yourself in accordance with selected state narratives on geopolitical or foreign policy issues. Just as there are now no true diplomats as there is only one acceptable outcome to any conflict, that being total western success, no westerner can have any view which varies with their state’s view or be considered to be in league with ‘the enemy’. Branded a ‘Putin Puppet’ or ‘supporter of terrorism’ your chances of success in whatever field of employment you have entered will be minimal if you do not maintain your silence on such issues.
The collective west sees no need to advocate for negotiations regarding the targets for continual war because the outcomes required MUST conform to the final goal which was decided upon in the days immediately after 9/11. Those goals require that no opposition of any kind be left standing that pose even the slightest threat to western hegemony. No barrier or potential threat to absolute western power, security, domination and control can be allowed to exist. All such barriers and opposition MUST be completely eliminated no matter what it takes to do so, no matter how many die or how much chaos, misery, disruption, fragmentation is caused in the process. Diplomacy would only delay this outcome, bringing about frustrating periods where opposition forces could be increased making the job of destroying them all the harder.
Continual war until total victory is the only path the neoconservative warriors conceive as the single and stand-alone solution to the state the USA found itself in on 9/11. The entirety of opposition against the USA and western world, every last opponent uttering negative statements or desiring their own way rather than the way of western national interests, must be destroyed, undermined, weakened, subverted and replaced. To the last possible opposing element. And then a universal security structure would be constructed to ensure no such oppositional elements ever arose in future and if any, even minuscule nascent threat arose, it would be nipped immediately in the bud. The surveillance, control and punishment mechanisms installed after the goals of the forever war were attained would make of our world something between a global slave colony and prison planet.
Look in the hope of an end to the wars raging around us now unless those waging them are reduced to impotence due to the rise of nations powerful enough to quarantine them. If those nations, nations such as China and Russia fail to make those of the West think again we will certainly see these wars continue unabated and the prospect of that slave colony/prison planet grow ever more certain. As the western totalitarian region expands we will see all our freedoms snuffed out, fear will rule our every day, fear that our thoughts, associations and actions will be found unacceptable and punished to the point where the slavery intended find its way into the deepest recesses of our minds. On the day this becomes our daily reality we will fully understand that our arrival in this state of slavery was due to the Neocons determining that security for them and the power of their region was of overriding importance, of such importance that absolutely nothing else mattered to them. All else was merely collateral damage in pursuit of this one vital goal. And this is why the western elites could never tolerate true freedom nor the prospect of peace.
