Caitlin Johnstone on Ukraine-Russia

.

From Caitin Johnstone

.

They’re Just Outright Telling Us That Peace In Ukraine Is Not An Option

US Senator Joe Manchin said at the World Economic Forum on Monday that he opposes any kind of peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

Manchin, who at the moment is one of the most powerful elected officials in Washington, added that only the complete forcible ejection of Russia from all of Ukraine is acceptable, that the war should ideally be used to remove Putin from power, and that he and the strategists he talks to see this war as an "opportunity".

"I am totally committed, as one person, to seeing Ukraine to the end with a win, not basically with some kind of a treaty; I don't think that is where we are and where we should be," Manchin said.

"I mean basically moving Putin back to Russia and hopefully getting rid of Putin," Manchin added when asked what he meant by a win for Ukraine.

Joe Manchin, speaking today at the World Economic Forum, rejects the idea that the Ukraine war should ever be resolved with "some type of a treaty." Instead demands fighting "to the end," until total victory -- which includes "getting rid of Putin" pic.twitter.com/wPj8qfsF1P

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 24, 2022

Manchin clarified that he did not mean pushing Putin back to "pre-February", ostensibly meaning with Russia still controlling the largely Moscow-loyal Crimea and supporting separatist territories in the Donbass, but with Kyiv fully reclaiming all parts of the nation.

"Oh no, I think Ukraine is determined to take their country back," Manchin said when asked to clarify, further clarifying that he wants his call for regime change in Russia to be carried out by "the Russian people."

"I believe strongly that I have never seen, and the people I talk strategically have never seen, an opportunity more than this, to do what needs to be done," Manchin later added. "And Ukraine has the determination to do it. We should have the commitment to support it."
.
.

Manchin's comments fit in perfectly with what we know about the US-centralized empire's real agendas in Ukraine.

Earlier this month Ukrainian media reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the nation's president Volodymyr Zelensky on behalf of NATO powers that “even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not.”

Last month US Secretary of "Defense" Lloyd Austin acknowledged that the goal in this war is not peace in Ukraine or the mere military defeat of Russia but to actually weaken Russia as a nation, saying "We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine."

Last week The New York Times reported that the Biden administration is developing plans to "further choke Russia’s oil revenues with the long-term goal of destroying the country’s central role in the global energy economy."

Just the other day Ukraine’s military intelligence chief announced that the mission has already creeped forward from the goal of defeating the Russian invaders to reclaiming the Crimean territory which was annexed by the Russian Federation in 2014.

Two months ago Biden himself acknowledged what the real game is here with an open call for regime change, saying of Putin, "For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power."

Statements from the Biden administration in fact indicate that they expect this war to drag on for a long time, making it abundantly clear that a swift end to minimize the death and destruction is not just uninteresting but undesirable for the US empire.

This is not a proxy war with peace as an option anywhere within sight. It's not about saving Ukrainian lives. It's not even about beating Russia in Ukraine. It's about achieving regime change in Moscow, no matter how many lives need to be destroyed in the process.

Peace is not on the menu.

All forward motion in this war has nothing but violence as far as the eye can see on its trajectory into the future. No matter how much wealth and war machinery you pour into this conflict, that trajectory of death and destruction will just keep stretching out to the horizon. As Chris Hedges recently explained, war is the only path the empire has left open to itself.

I've seen some cute kids in my time, but nobody's as adorable as people who think the US pours weapons into foreign nations in order to achieve peace.

[edited for length]

.

I'm not so sure as Caitlin about the motivation for all this idiotic bellicosity coming from the Empire. But I do agree with her that this is bat shit crazy -- crazier than anything that has ever come before now.
.
.

Since Russia and China are nuclear powers, we can't just have a war with either of these brutal, fascist, anti-democratic, utterly evil, psychotic and hopelessly inept Sworn Enemies of Each and Every American Citizen and Ally.

Nope, we are not evil and we do not start wars ever. We punish warmongers with sanctions and with support for their enemies. See how smart we are?

So, in order to weaken Russia, we need to keep them bogged down in Ukraine and we cannot let Russian sympathizers within Ukraine divert us from the task of making Putin look bad to his own people.

Once sufficiently weakened and with Boris Yeltsin II in charge, we will finally ACHIEVE . . . . uh what?

.

I keep saying that nobody is THAT kind of stupid.
.

In either case -- lip farting dumbbells or functionaries following a larger "plan" -- this crap will not fly with anybody for any length of time. I just saw gasoline selling for $7.29 a gallon in Los Angeles, across the street from the Beverly Center. I also just this morning had occasion to visit the three story shopping center at Sunset Blvd and Laurel Canyon. Two thirds of the shopping units were vacant. All along the iconic streets of Hollywood -- Beverly, Melrose, Santa Monica -- there are dozens and dozens of empty store fronts.

Stagflation is already the New Normal.

Whereas I still see lots of people wearing masks, including me, I have seen exactly one example of "Support for Ukraine" here in WeHo -- a single poster, lost in a bevy of other unrelated posters, on the side wall of carpet store. You really could not make out the text without standing right in front of it.

Whereas I have friends and relatives who are still very concerned about Covid and related issues, I do not know anybody in real life who gives a fuck about this situation. I'm pretty sure the knee-jerk Democrats would parrot the party line if asked about Ukraine -- but the issue could not be more abstract or more distant from daily life.

The idea that Biden can blame the rising prices and collapsing economy on Putin is beyond preposterous.

Yet the lunacy marches forward as if it made any sense at all . . . .

Tags: 
Share
up
24 users have voted.

Comments

I played with neighborhood kids from about age 11 through my college years when pot made the game a lot more fun. By the end and two players had zillions of 10-Armies making the battles last dozens of rolls it got pretty boring.

And then creepy old adulthood busted up the party. Which has brought a flashing memory of the odd "countries" of the Risk! world.

The Ukraine is a country, but Russia is not. And can anybody tell me what ever happened to that The?

up
9 users have voted.

I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.

Russia will take a large part of yesterday's Ukraine. The area referred to as Novorossiya, from the Donesk in the East along the coast of the Black Sea to Odessa is historically Russian. It is being liberated from Ukrainians who hate Russians, the Russian language and everything about them. There is a hard promise to these Russians that they will never have to go back to being terrorized by Ukrainians, Azov and other Nazis. This is a promise that can never be broken. That so many American politicians also have the attitude that no compromise is possible makes the solution both obvious and very dangerous. Ukrainians and the West have to realize that only Western Ukraine is the real core Ukraine and realize that they will have to secure peace with Novorossiya and Russia. This will take a very long time. Russia may have to take Western Ukraine to achieve peace. The West Will have a fit and it will become a permanent world partition, 86% of the world with Russia, China, India etc. and 14% with the West. Russia is more than ready for this. The US is not ready for the complete collapse of its imagined empire.

up
17 users have voted.

Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

shaharazade's picture

on the net is absurd. Yet it's all scary as this is the reality being pumped as reality. It's not. Yet it's hard to ignore as there is no media available for people to read or watch. TV? hahahaha. Got no TV got no cable and yet I read and turn on my computer to see what condition my condition is in. It's not good. Neither is the world we are all living in. "Propaganda all is phony'.
Appropriate on Bobs Birthday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJHbfkROow

up
11 users have voted.
The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@shaharazade

up
6 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

Actual Russian trolls pulling a Borat on The Constitution-Killer himself.

How much rope did he give us here?

up
8 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@The Liberal Moonbat
.

Let's imagine along with Dubya that this was a sincere inquiry. What the fuck is this nimrod doing with this chatterbox routine? I'm just imagining what Shrub and the Propaganda Army of the day would have said if Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton had chimed in with this kind of "foreign policy" chatter.

Of course he is trying to support his new Dem friends with this Shrubspeak Session.

Maybe we should drop the term, "post modern" and replace it with "You Gotta Be Shitting Me."

up
7 users have voted.

I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@fire with fire
Zoogz Rift & The Amazing Shitheads were Postmodern.
Weird Al Yankovic is Postmodern.
The Golden Age of Nickelodeon was Postmodern.
The Golden Age of MTV was Postmodern.
The Stinky-Cheese Man (and other Fairly-Stupid Tales) was Postmodern.
A lot of NewGrounds.com is Postmodern.
South Park is Postmodern.
Terry Pratchett was Postmodern.

All the stuff Jordan B. Peterson attacks (and I often agree with him) as "Postmodern"?
Most of that really all ought to be called "Neo-Medieval".

up
7 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

CB's picture

Three of the four hospitals are now in operation while cleanup efforts and electric and water service restoration are well underway. About 25% of the city has been completely destroyed. Avostal iron works to be destroyed and park built in its place. The city is slated to become a resort area. Port area has been de-mined and shipping can now be resumed. Russia is going to use this port to supply construction material for the rebuild as well as supplying war material in the fight in the Donbass. (Very difficult to find good news about the Russians due to massive propaganda push to denigrate Putin.)

The majority of Mariupol's citizens are of Russian ethnicity:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-m1rTJANwM]

The citizens have come out and cleanup is underway. Bus service is resuming.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifOBtSRiM8Q]

Impressive video showing hundreds of military and civilians bringing truckloads of materiel into the city:

Putin Sends Army Of Rebuilders To Restore Mariupol From Ground Up: Watch

A massive infrastructure campaign will begin to rebuild Mariupol in record time: roads, infrastructure, and housing are the priority targets. Mariupol will be a glorious city once again, very soon.

up
10 users have voted.
usefewersyllables's picture

peace isn't an option. Peace isn't profitable.

up
9 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Even the Western European elites have forgotten the destruction of war. After the last Ukrainian is dead, the elites will start using the working classes of Europe.

up
10 users have voted.

and I'm supposed to care? Hell I'll celebrate, expensive gas in CA? Great! Use less, walk or ride a bike.

Yes, western liberal democracies don't allow commy dictators to take over adjoining countries. Duh. And when tyrants like Putin attack their own countrymen for years and then expand their vision to include eastern Europe they are lucky not to be nuked. Don't like the news, stop reading, there are adults considering serious issues. Watch TV or something.

up
0 users have voted.

@ban nock .

.

Yes, western liberal democracies don't allow commy dictators to take over adjoining countries. Duh. And when tyrants like Putin attack their own countrymen for years and then expand their vision to include eastern Europe they are lucky not to be nuked. Don't like the news, stop reading, there are adults considering serious issues. Watch TV or something.

.
I'll let your words speak for themselves. There is a rule here against giving the kind of reply your post deserves.

Meanwhile, while not forgetting that the commys no longer run Russia, I have to disagree with your value judgment about high priced gasoline. Some folks really cannot walk to work, among many other problems with your ideological position. But at least that is debatable.

Thanks for posting. I hope lots of people read your thoughts. Or whatever it was that induced your idea about anybody being "lucky" to avoid being "nuked."

I oppose censorship in all forms. Your post is the perfect example of why.

up
2 users have voted.

I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.

@ban nock are US citizens.
I care.
What's up with you?

up
2 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981