Listen to a reading of this article:

There is one question today that is more important than any other question that could possibly be asked, and it’s this:

“Is what the US and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for?”

Russian state media have confirmed that Vladimir Putin’s orders to move the nation’s nuclear deterrent forces into “special combat duty mode” have been carried out, citing “aggressive statements from NATO related to the Russian military operation in Ukraine.”

“Russia’s ground, air and submarine-based nuclear deterrent forces have begun standby alert duty with reinforced personnel, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has informed President Putin,” Sputnik reports.

This comes days after Putin issued a thinly veiled threat of an immediate nuclear strike should western powers interfere in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying, “Whoever tries to hinder us, and even more so, to create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate. And it will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history.”

This also comes as the US and EU countries commit to sending fighter jets and stinger missiles to assist Ukraine in fighting an unwinnable war against a longtime target of the US empire, perhaps with the hope of dragging Moscow into a costly military quagmire like it deliberately worked to do in Afghanistan and in Syria.

This also comes as the ruble crashes following crushing sanctions and the banning of Russian banks from the international money transfer system SWIFT by the US and its allies. The economic hardship that follows will hurt ordinary people and may foment unrest, and it is here worth noting that in 2019 then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted that the goal of brutal sanctions on Iran was to push people to rise up and overthrow their government.

We’re also seeing the all-too-familiar phrase “regime change” used in reference to Putin by prominent western narrative managers like Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haas, European Council on Foreign Relations Co-Chair Carl Bildt, Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institute and Hoover Institution, as well as USA Today.

All of this has made nuclear war in the near term a whole lot more likely than it was just a few days ago… which is a really strange thing to type.

As I’m always saying, the primary risk of nuclear war is not that anyone will choose to start one, it’s that one could be triggered by any combination of miscommunication, miscalculation, misunderstanding or technical malfunction amid the chaos and confusion of escalating cold war tensions. This nearly happened, repeatedly, in the last cold war. The more tense things get, the greater the likelihood of an unthinkable chain of events from which there is no coming back.

Cold war brinkmanship has far too many small, unpredictable moving parts for anyone to feel confident that they can ramp up aggressions without triggering a nuclear exchange. Anyone who feels safe with these games of nuclear chicken simply does not understand them.

To get some insight into how easily an unpredictable scenario can lead to nuclear war I recommend watching this hour-long documentary or reading this article about Vasili Arkhipov, the Soviet submariner who single-handedly saved the world from obliteration during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was one of three senior officers aboard a nuclear-armed sub that was cornered near Cuba by US war ships who did not know the sub had a nuclear weapon on board.

The US navy was dropping explosives onto the sub to get it to surface, and the Soviets didn’t know what they were doing as they had cut off all communications. It took all three senior officers to launch the nuke their ship was armed with, and two of them, thinking this was the beginning of World War 3, saw it as their duty to use it. Only Arkhipov, who had witnessed the horrific effects that radiation can have on the human body during a nuclear-powered submarine meltdown years earlier, refused.

You, and everyone you know, exist because Arkhipov made that decision. Had his personal history and conditioning been a little bit different, or had another officer been on board that particular ship on that particular day, nothing around you right now would be there. We got lucky. So lucky it’s uncomfortable to even think about it. But it’s important to.

This again is just one of the many nuclear close calls we’ve experienced since our species began its insane practice of stockpiling armageddon weapons around the world. We survived the last cold war by sheer, dumb luck. We were never in control. Not once. And there’s no reason to believe we’ll get lucky again.

A 2014 study by Earth’s Future found that just a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw 5 Tg of black carbon into the stratosphere, blocking out the sun for decades and potentially starving everything to death. India and Pakistan have 160 and 165 nukes each, respectively. The US and Russia have 5,550 and 6,257.

So I repeat again the world’s most important question: is what the US and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for?

Well? Is it?

It’s not really a question you can just compartmentalize away from if you have integrity. It demands to be answered.

Is it worth it to continue along this trajectory? Is it? Is it really? Perhaps there might be some things that would be worth risking the life of every creature on earth to obtain, but is refusing to concede to Moscow’s demands in Ukraine one of them?

Whatever your values are, whatever your analysis is, whatever beliefs you’ve been holding to justify your support for the west’s side of this conflict, will you still proudly stand by them if you look outside and see a mushroom cloud growing in the distance?

Well? Will you?

Here’s a hint: if your answer to this question is premised on the assumption that nuclear war can’t or will never happen, then you don’t have a position that’s grounded in reality, because you’re not accounting for real possibilities. You’re justifying your position with fantasy.

https://twitter.com/PaulSonne/status/1498075412194332673?s=20&t=JsuGVgx4W-BN3RciVvWkGg

I understand the argument that if we let tyrants do whatever they want just because they have nukes they’ll just do whatever they want. I understand the argument that if we don’t stop Putin now he’s going to take over all of Europe because he’s literally Hitler and blah blah blah. I understand why people ask “Well if we don’t stand up to him now, then when? Where is your line??” I really do.

But the US has been making risk-to-benefit calculations based on the fact that Russia has nuclear weapons every single day since Stalin got the bomb. There are things Russia has been permitted to do that weaker nations would have been forcefully stopped from doing, like annexing Crimea and intervening in Syria, exactly because they have nukes. If those weren’t the line, why specifically does Ukraine have to be? Surely there’s a line somewhere, but it would have to exist at a point where it would be worth risking the life of every living creature for.

So is it? Is keeping the possibility of NATO membership open and retaining control of the Donbas really so important that we should roll the dice on the existence of the entire human species on it? Is maintaining a hostile client state on Russia’s border truly worth gambling the life of every terrestrial organism for? Are the desperate unipolarist grand chessboard maneuverings of a few powerful people in Washington, Langley and Arlington really worth risking the life of everyone you know and love?

If the answer is no, then building some opposition to what we’re seeing here becomes a very urgent matter. Very urgent indeed.

____________________

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57 responses to “The Single Most Important Question In The World Right Now”

  1. David Beckemeier Avatar
    David Beckemeier

    “You, and everyone you know, exist because Arkhipov made that decision” Gosh Caitlin that and the fiery nuclear cloud photo, maybe you’re getting entranced by your own narrative. I mean really, whose to say this whole Arkhipov thing isn’t just some made up internet bullshit, you can’t prove otherwise.

  2. I listened to a lecture on dealing with your own mortality today, and understood why talking to people about a danger of nuclear war is not having an expected effect. They react to the image of violent death and start wishing their enemy violent death, even if you tell them there will be no life left on earth.
    Psychologist said that to get people into reflective state of mind you have to walk them by a peaceful cemetery, or ask them how they want to be remembered after passing.
    That can get them into a cooperative frame of mind and they become more willing to listen to other people.
    Not sure how many will want to be remembered by inciting war.

  3. what if the move by Putin was instigated on purpose by the USA ? They did it to distract from domestic political problems. How evil is that ? Former Russian Ambassador and Current CIA Director, Bill Burns, Knew Exactly What Would Trigger Vladimir Putin to Enter Ukraine. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/02/28/former-russian-ambassador-and-current-cia-director-bill-burns-knew-exactly-what-would-trigger-vladimir-putin-to-enter-ukraine/

  4. Ewiak Ryszard Avatar
    Ewiak Ryszard

    For now, global nuclear war does not threaten us. Since 1945 (Operation Unthinkable) Heaven is holding back the wind of the WW3. And so it will be until the appointed time. In the Book of Daniel, we read, “And both these kings [Great Britain and Russia], their hearts (will be) to do mischief, and at one table (they) will speak a lie; but it will not succeed. Indeed yet (the) completion to (the) appointed time. And [the king of the north] will go back (to) his land with great wealth [1945]; and his heart (will be) against the holy covenant [Soviet Union introduced state atheism and believers were repressed]; and will act [it means a lot of activity in the international arena]; and go back to his own land [1991-1993. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. The troops from the Soviet military bases returned to their country]. At the appointed time [he] will return back [Russian troops will return to where they were previously stationed. It also means the big crisis, plus the break-up of the EU and NATO], and will enter into the south [because of ethnic conflict to the south of Russia’s borders (Matthew 24:7)], but it will not be as the former [Georgia – 2008] or as the latter [Ukraine – now], for the dwellers of coastlands of Kittim [the distant West] will come against him, and (he) will broke down [mentally], and will go back.” (11:27-30a) This time it will be a world war not only by name. “The great power sword” will also be used. (Revelation 6:4) Jesus characterized him in this way: “A frightening things both and extraordinary (related to unusual phenomena) from sky powerful will be.” For that reason there will be significant tremors along the length and breadth of the regions [of strategic importance] and famines, and pestilences. Some ancient manuscripts contain the words “and frosts”. The Aramaic Peshitta: “and will be great frosts”. (Luke 21:11) We call this today “nuclear winter”. In Mark 13:8 there are also words of Jesus: “and disorders” (in the sense of confusion and chaos). The Aramaic Peshitta: “and confusion” (on the state of public order). This extremely detailed sign fits only one war. Jesus stated: “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:8)

  5. Dear Caitlin
    your arguments are human, good, full of sense: but your rulers, the governments of the West have not been human for a long time.

  6. “is what the US and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for?”

    But also, “is what Russia and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for?”

    1. Afterthought: I have no influence over what the U.S., Russia or any of their allies do in Ukraine in the next few days. Perhaps were I to be contacted for a public opinion poll, my uninformed opinion might count for a vanishingly small piece of influence. Doubtful, though.

  7. Here’s a 10 mn vid, very much worth listening to for more behind the curtain looks. Let’s not forget the gasline being built to supply Germany from Russia, that the US means to stop. As always, sociopathic US tycoons pull the strings! Always follow the money…: https://leecamp.com/the-ukraine-crisis-with-ben-norton/

  8. Biden keeps saying that we’ve recruited the world to destroy Russia as a functioning state because of “freedom and democracy.” They allegedly do not have it. We do and wish only to confer its blessings on Ukraine (and its Nazi practitioners) that they might help us defend against Russia and its many malefactions.
    !
    Some senators announce a bill that will seize all of President Putin’s personal assets and the Russian state’s cash reserves. Is freezing accounts, seizing assets and shutting down banks an expression of freedom or democracy?
    !
    The White House announces that most of the Russian staff in the United Nations delegation are being expelled, contrary to the organisation’s founding charter, and this after already expelling most of the embassy staff in Washington. Are these acts of freedom or democracy? Terminating joint NASA programs, such as the ISS: freedom, democracy or juvenile petulance?
    !
    Pretty much all Russian media transmissions are being banned and blocked by the entirety of the EU and NATO. Freedom or democracy in action? Seems more like freedom FROM speech rather than OF speech. Is it part of freedom or democracy to deny the citizenry of all available news and information, including the opposition’s view of reality which might be useful to know? Seems like some very critical input will be missing in contexts such as elections and whether or not to go to war.
    !
    Denying availability of transportation by closing airspace and quarantining borders seems de rigor in the Western practice of freedom and democracy, at least right now. Exactly how are those blessings of the “free world” enhanced by such strictures? And why do they seem to change so capriciously depending upon their targeted state. If such applications are so reasonable and proper now against Russia, why not confer the same blessings upon the United States when it much more routinely goes rouge?
    !
    Recognition of rights of ownership, free trade and commerce are onerously curtailed with capricious sanctions and similar euphemisms for blatant theft and piracy. Is theft and piracy more conducive to enjoying one’s freedom or his democracy? Mind you, none of these things should ever be considered acts of “war” because no body is being shot even if many are still dying, starving and made homeless in consequence to these noble acts of American largess.
    !
    Although we may not use American soldiers to personally shoot and kill you, part of our lesson in freedom and democracy may well include arming your purported enemies to the hilt with exquisite new instruments of death manufactured by America’s finest artisans in weaponry expressing their love for freedom and democracy. Can you not feel the American love? That’s freedom, baby… and democracy!
    !
    Moreover, our other loyal allies, who also love freedom and democracy above all else, have volunteered to host bases for aircraft so generously gifted to friends such as you as tokens of freedom and democracy, as well as sites for missile launchers from which to smit our common enemies who hate freedom and democracy. Gotta hate those haters, right? So, not American soil, not an American act of war, just the bountiful fruits of freedom and democracy… if you recognise our exceptional beneficence and agree to follow our orders.
    !
    Why just look at NATO, 30 countries all in an hypnotic lockstep doing absolutely everything we tell them whether it sabotages their own welfare or not. That is the order, efficiency and coordinated hive mind results that American freedom and democracy will bring to any new recruit to our big club (Russia and China excepted) including fine young Nazis such as you Ukrainians. If most of America’s interventions to ensure the blessings and efficacy of freedom and democracy seem more like mob driven beat downs of some targeted nation from which American interests intend to extract some major concessions, well, that’s just a mental malfunction on your part which can be corrected as soon as Washington finishes its attitude adjustment of the guy in line ahead of you. I’m sure all that is so self-evident that no right thinking person should have any questions. Do I make myself clear?
    !
    Besides the magic words of “freedom and democracy” which supposedly confer omnipotence upon the American state, Lord Biden also manages to occasionally pull other hilarious expressions out of his rectum, or should I say out of the mouth of his ventriloquist Tony Blinken. One of these is “rule based order,” which deceitfully implies that there are some “rules” that America and the “good nations of the world” all obey for the purpose of keeping good order in the world. Now clearly the three chosen words may well be appropriate but they definitely have them in the wrong sequence to be considered accurate. To more closely approximate the reality that Lord Biden and the shadow figures controlling his words and actions truly intend, the proper phrase should really be: order based rule, meaning the “rules” are strictly based on “orders” from on high, orders given solely by Lord Biden after being formulated by his anonymous string pullers in places higher than the US presidency.

    1. It sounded like all the princes of the world that still count prepared us to step out of the Covid shut down right into their Great Reset, but Russia is being in their way.
      Also they are making sure nobody dares to say anything in support of Russia or gets boycotted.

      1. It is certainly true that any country that tries to detach from US banking/monetary control get attacked. Iraq was also about Hussein trying to detach. Cuba has always been a threat due to its socialist focus and willingness to work independently with other countries. China is a threat because of its size and economic development. And the combo of China with Russia developing their own power base economically is part of the current goal in Ukraine.

        Economic terrorism is the term to use here. The practice is ‘cleaner’ to the public while the colonization process develops and people are impoverished and lose any civil liberties that might have existed. It is why fascism is always preferable to capitalism over real democracy which can be messy

    2. Lord Biden said Americans dont’ have to worry about nuclear war. He recommends to try if dementia helps with that.

    3. I’m not sure if Joe Biden will make happy allies seeing the world smaller and they having to pay the price for a historical political miscalculation thinking that Russian would just sit tight watching NATO becoming a Russian neighbor sharing the same border. In the geopolitical game even those leaders who are not experts predicting what it really means to stand by America today which is not the same America who pledged to Gorbachev to not do all what Joe Biden did reinventing a new Cold War through Build Back Better. Germany, France, Spain, India, Turkey have a lot to loose with American policies just as it is right now. I’ll not be surprised to see the world become overnight smaller than it never was before for America and UK. Perhaps this is will be for the best. USA and UK finally alone as the opposite to what the rest of the world really want after witnessing the total unreliability from America and UK. Investors will not fall for America with such unpredictable “leader” making fortunes exchange without consulting those who own it. Biden did not think it through enough. I’m certain of it.

      1. They should have invited Russia to join NATO when they had a chance at the breakup of the USSR. But that ship sailed long ago.

  9. ……thanx caitlin for that one….you have an ability to connect your many important statements, opinions, and facts in just a paragraph, phrase/ sentence, or a word to me….great essay……..this time the last sentence was it!……….

  10. Two points:

    1. Listen to this interview with Scot Ritter who has a good overarching understanding of the situation–something the Western narrative completely avoids, ignores, denies.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexFtDCJNsM&t=15s

    2. it is very disappointing to see this pro-western understanding. One of the most important points not discussed is the impact on inflation in the Western countries. it is not just Russia that the US is trying to harm–it is its own people and economy. The Great Reset is well underway and destroying the economies of the democratic countries is critical to force thru the changes the WEF proposes. Loss of civil liberties is also part of this and we see that many of them will never come back the way they were before the Covid debacle. Big picture analysis is critical if people are ever to see how the smaller details all fit together.

    1. Scott Ritter is a must to understand a lot of modern warfare and all history behind America black ops in the Balkans. I was there in the Balkans wars. It pisses me off to see the MSM shameless lying. Lies, lies, lies and more lies about what is really happening in Ukraine. I must recognize they can only do this to not put the light right in their faces to show to the whole world who is the mastermind misleading and bringing havoc to many many many countries. But I do must recognize there is no hope for people. History is in any library. Go there buy some books about this area and you will find plenty of answers. Why? Laziness, perhaps? I don’t care anymore, to be honest. I know for experience it must be very hard for Russians to shoot in Ukrainians. Not because they are like Zelensky “the fearless”. But because they are brothers sharing the same culture, religion, history. Not by this particular fact the Russians would not be so careful if the threat was Poland, Lithuania for example. They can do worst than the “good guys” if they wanted to. The good guys would not think twice razoring to the ground Kyiv in the first day of war and move to the next slaughter drinking bourbon, listening to music, taking selfies and bragging about how they put down hospitals, schools, civilians. I know who is the devil in this equation and the Russians are not the threat for freedom and democracy but the Fourth Reich leaded by America and UK. As a matter of fact it was good to see the Russian tactics “testing the waters” in the international community, financial-industrial-sports-banks-coutries to see who is who and in what they are about to.

  11. When we were 10-12 years old, I and my brother went to Japanese Consulate to watch a cartoon.
    We got to see the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in hand drawn detail. I had no idea and was not prepared to watch this.
    Wonder if all American kids should watch this same cartoon, instead of the Marvel’s fantasies.

  12. I find it a bit ironic that the West goes bonkers when Russia invades a country the size of Yemen despite the nukes, which should engender a modicum of caution. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has been attacking a country the size of Yemen (with US help) for 7 years and there is hardly a peep about it in the western media.

  13. I learned from 2 comments here that Ukraine is “real estate”, I thought it was a sovereign nation!
    Not sure if it matters anymore, but since Zelensky was elected in 2019, Ukraine introduced new legislation to gradually privatize housing, infrastructure, and agricultural lands. This is how you do it! Bill Gates would be proud of Zelensky. Below is literally first link I read thru, and it tells enough.
    As to adoption of the US religion by Russia in one of the comments, well real estate is the US religion.
    https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/real-estate-2021/ukraine/trends-and-developments

  14. Not looking good – there will be NO war but there WILL be total MISERY !

    Dmitry Orlov’s new post !

    https://www.subscribestar.com/posts/547379

    1. How you know Putin farts? Dmitriy Orlov’s mouth is open!! Old Soviet joke.

  15. Isn’t it funny how the Western Empire and their media become anti war when a hated country launches it!

    It’s even funnier when they gloat that Russia is bogged down and losing after 5 days in Ukraine but 10 years in Iraq and 20 years in Afghanistan – no problem.

    Ironically, Russia may become stronger because of these sanctions. The bank that handles payment for Russia’s resources is not disconnected from Swift because Europe needs the gas and oil too much so they can’t do it. This crisis will see energy costs rise, maybe substantially which means Russia will get more money not less. Russia’s ally China literally makes everything anyone needs so Russia won’t be denied anything. And China knows the Swift weapon will be rolled out against them so in conjunction with Russia they will roll out an alternative payment system which will end US control of their economies and plenty of other countries will join it. The sanctions are now maxed out against Russia, they have no more weapons so once this settles down Russia will be free of Western meddling and they’ve prepared for this situation for years now.

    The people in charge of the EU and the US are not the brightest spark’s. They’ve just condemned themselves to perpetual decline. This Western manufactured war was never only about NATO expansion. That was only the key to unlock the door leading to the true agenda of a full on coordinated economic Western assault on Russia designed to decapitate and regime change them followed by the Balkanising of the country. Destroy them, sweep them aside and move on to the primary target, China. It will fail like all neocon grand plans.

    And finally, if 27 million deaths were projected in a limited nuclear exchange a sane person would recoil in horror. Well, Russia knows what that feels like having lost 27 million people in less than 4 years of war against Hitler. They’ll never forget that and they’ll never let it happen again.
    Welcome to the new world order!

    1. Excellent commentary. The West has only one option left – war, and far too many irresponsible high profile people are talking about it – as if it were perfectly reasonable. The hysteria is still increasing. But brinkmanship coupled with the desperation of an empire in decline is a very dangerous thing, and as Caitlin points out there are a lot of small things that could go wrong and trigger a nuclear exchange.
      All the signs are that Putin has planned this carefully, and is prepared to weather the global blowback and sanctions, but will not start a nuclear war that would guarantee destructions for Russia, Europe, the USA and millions of people.
      If a nuclear war starts, it will the the US that starts it, believing it can make limited tactical strikes without escalation to full destruction. This is a relatively new strategy that the US has adopted, foolishly abandoning the mutually assured destruction (MAD) deterrent of the Cold War.
      If the West tries to prolong the military conflict by supplying weapons to Ukraine then the risk of nuclear exchange will increase drastically.

      1. All the talk coming from NATO countries about supplying arms to keep the war going is nonsense because for starters access to the country is difficult. The most important thing to understand is the Western media narrative about Russia failing so far in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance and maybe even losing this war and it turning into a quagmire for Russia is grade school propaganda. They are successfully achieving their stated objective of disarming the Ukrainian Army with minimal fighting required. They are doing that by encircling the main concentration of the Ukrainian Army which is dug in facing the Donbas republics. And now the Ukrainians are boxed in with no ability to escape, the Russians don’t need to do anything other than sit and wait for them to surrender and as they’re just a short distance over their border not far from home they can wait as long as it takes, no need to hurry. Russia has gone about this operation as good as you could expect, quite impressive really. They’ve offered to allow the Ukrainian Army members who lay down their weapons and surrender peacefully to go home to their families. No POW camps. In contrast to the Americans who kill and destroy everything, Russia has gone in with a soft invasion. No massive artillery barrage with hundreds of airstrikes to decimate troop concentrations at the start and no wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure and heavy fighting in civilian areas. All they are trying to do presently is to separate the Ukrainian Army from their weapons. Do that and there is no shooting war that can happen. So just take away the ability of the Ukrainian army to wage war and it’s over. The other aim Putin stated is also progressing well and that’s the denazification of Ukraine. The neonazi Azov Battalion is trapped at its home in Mariupnol and they will not be shown any mercy. The walls are closing in on them and they’ll soon be gone.

    2. What the US, and the world, needs is for Nato to be what it was originally supposed to be, – a mutual defence mechanism, that defends all it’s members with all it’s members and members who attack other members are booted out.
      Peace for all, but of course the USA twisted it to suit themselves, like with the United Nations, but now the USA is withdrawing from Europe, Nato will have to strengthen it’s own armies, so every country in Europe will be safe and able to live in freedom.
      Poland is sponsoring a rapid acceptance of Ukraine to Nato, the Ukrainians are giving the Russians a bloody nose and as Russia’s economy collapses it will have to withdraw, – probably Sweden and Finland will join Nato, and others as well, and it will become as it was designed to be, – Effective Mutual Defence, and very difficult to turn to Offence.
      The US will do what it has to to balance China – probably deserve each other, and maybe Nato will stimulate the changing of the UN to be a real community of nations as it was designed to be after the failure of the League of Nations up to the second World War.
      It would certainly be very difficult for any Nuclear armed nation to defeat all the other Nuclear armed nations on the planet working in concert.
      Maybe we will all have to build bunkers like the Chinese, – to survive Global Warming we may have to anyway.
      What we all need and want is to work and communicate harmoniously, Bullies will always prevent that, maybe we should have an annual Fix your local Bully day?
      Fix, and Thoroughly, but with care and respect, and love if we can manage it.

      1. If you think Ukraine will ever join NATO, l have a bridge to sell you. Ukraine in its present form is finished and no Western Power will ever intervene in Ukraine ever again. What prompted Russia to act now is because although NATO membership was off the table, in reality, the US was making Ukraine a defacto member of NATO, loading up the place with ever increasing numbers of up to date modern weapons. This was intolerable to Russia and if it wasn’t stopped now then down the track Russia may have found itself unable to wind it back.

        1. What is not mentioned is that Zelinsky (Ukraine) actually asked for nuclear weaponry amongst all the other war “gifts” being given to him. He also has totaly embraced the Nazis and Social Democrats with their left over from Hitler’s Germany ideology. That ideology focuses on hating, not only Jews and Catholics, but all the Russians which are heavily located in the Donbass. Putin in 2014 refused to absorb the Donbass stating that he would respect Ukrainian borders but would do what was possible to protect the Russians. It is only the current upcycling of the violence, which never ceased after the 2014 US supported Nazi coup, and the increasing threat from NATO in the Ukraine that Putin finally said enough is enough.

          Remember Syria with all the US pretense of stopping ISIS? Putin finally said enough is enough and attacked the stream of ISIS militia by bombing them. No matter what negative things people say about him, he has to be respected for his patience and fortitude and, most, his ability to draw a line in the sand and stick to it. He really does show a quality of independence that American media will never acknowledge or respect.

  16. ZIO/US/NATO militaries are completely useless against Russia !

    That was proven in Syria when Russia ‘whacked’ 400 THOUSAND ZIO/US/NATO ‘proxy’ ISIS terrorists !

    Also Afghanistan where the Taliban retook Kabul in ONE week – bloodlessly and unopposed !

    How could that happen to the self acclaimed ‘Greatest Military on Earth ‘ ???

    After 20 years – Taliban booted the ZIO/US/NATO in ONE week !!!!

    What about Venezuela when the the ZIO/US/NATO couldn’t even overthrow Maduro ??

    Do you think these things were ORGANIC and the ZIO/US just decided not to go ahead with it ???

    Russia doesn’t brag – they can disable ANYTHING the ZIO/US/NATO has and you won’t even realize that it HAPPENED !!!

    There won’t be a WAR because the ZIO/US/NATO are incapable of stopping Russia and they KNOW it !

    1. That was incredible. Hope Fox News viewers had their ears open.

  17. From what can be seen through the propaganda fog, it seems Putin has a conception of warfare different from the US. It’s like Sun Tzu versus Mammon. When the Americans invade a country, they take down all infrastructures (military and civilian) and declare victory on the heap of smoldering ashes. It’s been good business because of all the ammo spent and now let’s pass the ball to the reconstruction boys. They’ll build back better thanks to a World Bank loan to the losers stipulating they’ll have to privatize national resources that some rich capitalists will buy and make profitable by screwing average Ahmed.
    The puppet in charge sees to that and soon becomes unpopular, so the USAF goes on bombing the dissidents. All this is music to Mammon’s ears and he’s even got a name for it: war on terror.
    Sun Tzu has a different strategic approach. The ideal victory for him is the one you obtain without fighting. Or as little as possible. First you have to scout extensively the area you plan to attack. Second, you kill as little civilians as possible because you don’t want to antagonize people that will become your subjects. Third, you provide your troops with quick victory thanks to your military intelligence, get them out of the area as soon as possible to prevent black markets and in-fighting and leave a governor behind with a small guard.
    On the tactical side, when the enemy advances, retreat, when the enemy retreats, advance, when the enemy doesn’t move, stay still.
    Putin apparently, in four days, has bombed back to the Stone Age the whole Ukrainian military-industrial complex (about 1,000 sites) but no civilian infrastructures.
    When he was approaching a town and enemy soldiers advanced to defend it, he retreated to simply surround it and lay siege. Apparently, he’s now directing his three-pronged attack on Mariupol, the headquarters of the Ukronazis trained, armed and financed by the West, that he wants to get rid of.
    Of course, the Western propaganda is full of the usual pissing contest arrogance. They’ll deliver more weapons and the Ruskies will see! But how will they get them into the country with all airports and ports under Russian control? And how will they operate them without the help of their Ukronazi friends, likely to disappear from history after Mariupol falls, like the Isis guys after Idlib)?
    Icing on the cake, the Russian hypersonic missiles Kinzhal travel at Mach 10. Nothing can stop them but they can stop everything. Yikes…
    Of course there’s the sanctions but when the largest country in geographical terms and the largest in habitable areas and population are neighbors, close allies and one has resources and the other industries, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to live in autarky until at least even the European “global leaders” and the US and EU customers say to Schwab and Gates: “And what’s in it for us exactly in this shit?”
    Cuz even Sleeping Beauty woke up one day! :o)

  18. It’s all coming down to the operation, Ms. Johnstone. Many of this who follow this stuff are impressed. The air at the ceiling is clear. This was critical. Bases of operations have been established in country by lesser formations. The best the Russians have has not been committed -storied tank guard units, with the most most up to date equipment, the ones who know best the value of speed at the operational level.
    The air at the deck, on the other hand, appears murderous. I have not seen an extended vid of a Russian helicopter gunship formation where one of them is not dropping chaff, which is a clear indicator they’re going to take brutal losses, and possibly suicidal losses, the longer this goes.
    That’s why the West wants to get as much hand-held surface to air in there as quickly as they can. There are seeing the same. The most vulnerable aspect. It’s a race.
    And hopefully Vlad the Cornered knows this better than anyone. I thought he had a month. I was wrong. This operation needs to be concluded, whatever that means, by the end of this week. Something happend I believe, some protocal was broken. And it has nothing to with the ultimate sanction being levied, “the West’s” announcement that it is going to freeze aka steal Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Something else. An American boomer has made it’s way into the Black Sea perhaps. Some unthinkable violation of the silent agreement.
    The Russian Federation has made it known we are all at Defcon Zero, and whether they’re bluffing or not, is irrelevant. .

  19. I give you a scenario. Australia and New Zealand decide they don’t like each other and become enemies. Meanwhile, Australia breaks up, and Victoria and Tasmania secede from the Commonwealth.
    Seeing their opportunity, New Zealand decides to invade. Australia, who still has naval ships in the Bass Strait that use a base in Victoria, immediately moves to annexe Victoria, whose citizens didn’t like being a separate entity anyway and warmly welcome the move.
    Would you say that Australia invaded and annexed Victoria illegally? Or would you consider it the right move?
    I know it’s not exactly parallel, but it’s close enough.
    The Crimeans and the eastern part of Ukraine are all ethnic Russians who speak Russian, and whose language has been banned. The Donbass has been bombarded for a decade by the Ukrainian army with tens of thousands killed. On February 17, armed with new Western supplied weapons, this carnage stepped up to a new level. Ukraine refused to implement the terms of the Minsk Agreement they signed with the EU 8 years ago.
    Of course Russia had to act to protect these people. 8 years of diplomacy went nowhere, and the arrogance of the EU and NATO was breathtaking.
    I was appalled to see that Australia has joined the scramble to penalise Russia. My disgust for the PM of this country knows no depths. He is clearly a simpleton. So, a dementia patient in the US, a juvenile with an immense ego in the UK, a simpleton in Australia, a boy in Canada, a power freak in New Zealand, and unelected idealogues in the EU hierarchy. Maybe a few well directed accurate nukes donated by Putin would free humanity from these folk who have clearly escaped from an asylum.
    I for one would be relieved if they were to disappear.

    1. There are no two examples that parallel each other. To use an Americanism, emplacing NATO and its attendant missiles, or planning to, in Ukraine presented a ‘…clear and present danger’ to Russia. When is the best time to attend to that danger? At the ‘slip, slop, slap’, stage? The best time is before it happens. Yes, Putin and his government said over and over, ‘red line’, but this was ignored by a hugely dysfunctional, barely co-ordinated US military, with its Pentagon hierarchy translating the policies of a out of touch Biden government to NATO.
      Russia clearly has a defined ‘threat/reaction’ policy to do with security. Security is defined by an active military command structure. ‘Thus far and no further’ is the catchphrase. Syria was the start of this new policy.
      Ukraine is no pissing contest – it is the continuation of the challenge to US military/economic world domination. I hope I witness it.

    2. “If you want a go in this war, you’ll have a go.” Canberra’s own Churchill. “We shall fight them in the Art Gallery. We shall fight them on the craggy spires of Mount Ainslie, spill their blood on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.”

  20. Europe is trying to have their cake and eat it too. Sanctions on Russia but not those impacting gas deliveries. Using SWIFT as a weapon will cause Russia and China to develop a competing payment system. No payment system, no debt payments by Russia and lost investments in Russia by the west. Other countries will join the alternative payment system starting with BRIC. Eventually the system will be an alternative to the west.

  21. Poke a bear for long enough and hear it roar! The US Empire is on the brink of collapse, which perhaps explains their crazier than usual state of mind. Frankly, it’s complete demise can’t come soon enough! The ‘leader of the free world’ and its minions stand for anything but! Putin is no more a dictator/tyrant than Biden is a fit, sane & competent leader. No, I don’t want a nuclear war. But if the bear is pushed too far by desperate psychopaths of the West expect nukes to fall on US soil only, nowhere else.

    1. Yep, I have already surrounded myself with flowers. Ready for the end of life as we know it.

      1. Told my kids not to worry about school’s homework.

    2. On the contrary. The many HEADS of the HYDRA snake, need to be destroyed wherever they are. In America, Brussels and the U.K. their sycophant followers also need to be taught a serious lesson, and treated the same way. The U.S. military establishments around the World, need to be destroyed totally, wherever they are. That means Australia as well. I’m Australian, live in Australia, in fact not too far from such an establishment, but am willing to put up with the consequences of destroying such bases for the benefit of us all.

  22. Caitlin and Friends, it seems that everyone here is taking this pretty seriously. Reading through the comments so far, I don’t think I have seen anyone trying to be a smart alec. If anyone would like to get Putin’s take on it from the horse’s mouth, always a good idea I think, I found it on a South African mining site: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/mineweb.

  23. “So is it? Is keeping the possibility of NATO membership open and retaining control of the Donbas really so important that we should roll the dice on the existence of the entire human species on it? …”
    imo, for most of the european population and politicians (and the ukrainians) it is. they are too far gone now (imo).
    i’ve heard americans want to establish back channels on the level of the armies’ chief of staff (like in syria). imo, the necessary trust has been squandered. pretty soon the russians will realise their choice is to submit to american dominance (and, alas, culture and religion) or to go out with a bang.

  24. As usual, your point is correct. One minor correction, though, since you bring it up several times: the ruble is not actually in any danger where it counts, which is within Russia and its near neighbors. Whatever value it may show in FOREX is international currency speculators’ worry. Within the internal RF economy, markets are established and will remain stable. The inflation pressures of the USUK/EU economies is now primarily driven by the prices of oil and natural gas. Stifling exports to the ‘West’ is part of that pressure, but it does not apply within resource-rich countries such as Russia. Wheat, potassium, oil, gas, etc. will continue to flow to northern Africa, China, India, Pakistan, and so on. Payment will either be directly from national currencies with some kind of negotiated value or via the China-developed CIPS system.

  25. To Caitlin Johnstone and the Readers here,
    ~
    Who wrote deeds to the land and who enforces those deeds? In the end, every bit of real property is enforced at the barrel of a gun, everywhere on Earth, today.
    ~
    In a world where backwards thinking Oil Sheiks (mostly in the USA), Drug Cartels, Dictators, Mafiosos, and Robber Barons are all on a game-board playing for keeps, where *all property ownership* comes down to the violence of ‘might makes right,’ do we expect there to never be another nuclear weapon used in war? Do we expect there to never be another land war?
    ~
    Eliminate the US, more are waiting in the wings (as it has been throughout all of the history of empires). And they seem to get more globe-spanning and total every time we get a new one (the US is clearly worse than the British Empire, who at least seemed to have some conscience to be touched by Ghandi).
    ~
    The solution isn’t pointing our hatred at the right bad guys (news flash, they’re all pretty bad, no matter how many mansplains, insults, and double-binds Caitlin Johnstone uses to try to shut down thinking about this). The solution is in solving hard problems, such as economic incentives, mechanisms for governance, distribution, education, and justice.
    ~
    Most of these are non-trivial. Most people don’t even know what the networks look like, or how intertwined it all is (such that subprime mortgages and insuring currencies against each other can create domino effects). But we have to actually have realtime answers, which are improvements.
    ~
    If you’re a leftist, I would suggest advancing your credentials and moving into influential positions to be at the cutting edge of improvements in Quantum computers, Neural Networks, Supply Chains, Systems Engineering, Operations Science, Law, Medicine, Finance, Media, and Governance.
    ~
    Freedom isn’t going to come from pointing your outrage at just the right people. ***That has been done before. It is easy to co-opt. It’s ultimately only more content in a media environment where attention is oil.*** How does it feel getting drilled? Maybe pretty nice, actually, but don’t get fooled.
    ~
    It will be hard. I am sorry, there aren’t easy answers on any of this. Outrage is a low-level thing that gets you so far, then you have to do the boring stuff. We have to change things by changing the fundamentals. Once our minds have changed, then the real work starts.
    ~
    Otherwise you wave a magic wand and, like so many revolutions throughout History, out with the new boss, in with the new boss, same as the old. Wake up to that.
    ~
    If you think what I am saying is false, then so be it, go and be well and do your best. But be objective about this: Am I speaking as your enemy? Have I ever?
    ~
    Jonathan Pratt

  26. One side or the other is not living in reality. Both sides think it’s the other. I can’t imagine how either side can lose.

  27. The big question in my mind concerns the upcoming mid-term election in The Greatest Nation On Planet Earth. What are the “platforms” going to be of the R and D candidates who offer themsleves up for public office — war, war and even more war? nuke Russia into submission? bomb, bomb, bomb Iran into submission? bomb, bomb, bomb Syria into submission? continue with the never-ending regime-change operation in Venezuela? keep the embargo going on the Cuban people? keep demonizing China 24/7, forever?

  28. People are mostly stupid and stubborn, act primarily out if ignorance and unsupportable beliefs and, as controlled by their innate insecurities, will almost never concede that they were wrong.
    This goes for factions, countries and governments as well.

    1. “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” – Mark Twain

  29. IMO the UK, US and NATO are not trying to achieve anything in Ukraine, there are no goals.
    They are trying to cover up what they have done to Ukraine, now literally ruining it with explosions.
    What they have done to Ukraine is exactly what the UK and then the US have done to other peoples and countries around the world, colonizing and robbing them.
    And after many centuries of this practice they do have literally everything at stake.
    The fact that they disconnected Russia from their global banking system should not be viewed as sanctions, but just shows that it is the global bankers who drive the war on Russia to make her pay. They are angry that Russia paid off international loans, because this is what international banking survives off, loaning money to governments in weak countries to weaken them more. After loaning money to dependent countries, they literally encourage government corruption to make a country more dependent and cooperative with multi-national corporations, so stealing of resources can take place without any objections.
    We the people of course have no interest in a nuclear stand off.

  30. You might find this interesting. There are saner voices, but no one is listening!

  31. biden has responded to the world economic forum run fascist international washington dc based swamp that trump had suppressed for 4 years.

    ukraine became a usa colony in the 2014 vicky nuland (mrs kagan of pnac) aka maidan coup.

    the fascists began de-russifying and made a new orthodox church in 2018 to discriminate against 13 million russian residents.

    the colony is being armed, nato membership would give russia sensors 4 minutes to decide on a nuclear strike.

    and the wef/usa is out to do russia like clinto did yugoslavia!

    putin as been restrained so far. because all he wants is neutral ulraine and peace for russian therein.

    i would have used tac nukes on kiev!

    1. If you would use nukes, you are a lunatic.

  32. It’s to bail-out their earth-killing fracked LNG/ oil export pyramid scheme, DUH!

    There were at very least four VERY brave Soviet era commanders, we ALL owe our lives (probably dead, now). I’m wondering how many of those VERY expensive and scary easy to use fully automatic rifles they handed-out (to produce more bullet-riddled corpses littering the streets for CNN) are being used to settle scores, to be traded for dope, sex or dependable Rooski or Czech firearms; to shoot others for THEIR looted Stingers? A partner’s mom was handed a panzerfaust by Bund Deutscher Mädel (to delay Patton’s Shermans as they skedaddled). Guess what a bunch of 13yr old Nazi girls did?

  33. For the rich who rule the U.S. it is most likely ‘worth it’ to them because #1) They don’t care about most of the life on the planet. #2) They are ADDICTS FOR MORE money, power & control and don’t want to let the dollar collapse(probably why Gates bought up tons of farmland and Blackrock or whatever their current name is bought up tons of single family homes in the U.S. during Covid-19 #3) they have bunkers and/or plan to leave the planet and live in space for the duration and come back later. #4) They are clueless to how insane they are.

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