The United States, EU and NATO are in disarray. Outmaneuvered by Putin, they are perplexed about how to deal with the new reality of a Ukraine war smack in the middle of Europe. Unless the conflict is handled prudently, it has the components of getting out of hand and possibly starting WWIII.
While the propaganda machine is in full gear, the killing fields of Ukraine are now soaked in the blood of the young, old, women and children. Accusations and counter accusations complete with bravado rhetoric between the power elite attempting to justify the unjustifiable, displaying not a sliver of consideration for the tragedy and suffering of innocent victims of their viciousness. The American uses of the term collateral damage during the Iraqi and Libyan wars were aimed to justify the deaths of thousands of civilians. Today, it’s an accepted term applied as a price worth paying for freedom and democracy through war brutalities.
Not too long ago, relations between the NATO military alliance and the Russian Federation established in 1991 were friendly and on good terms. Within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, Russia was an active council member free of animosity between them.
In 1994 Russia joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program and signed several agreements of cooperation. In June 2011, NATO and Russia participated in their first ever joint fighter jet exercise Vigilant Skies 2011 and then the second being a joint submarine NATO-led exercise Bold Monarch 2011.
The US, Canada and several Western European countries established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 as a defensive military arrangement to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
Tied to deep-rooted ideologies, NATO’s duplicitous expansion by the incorporation of the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union countries has been the main cause of increased tension between NATO and Russia. NATO has broken its commitments not to expand in the Eastern Bloc and by doing so tension between the two super-powers have triggered the present Russian retaliation.
On April 1, 2014, NATO unanimously decided to suspend all practical co-operations with the Russian Federation in response to the annexation of Crimea, and Russia is now treated as the evil enemy of freedom and democracy.
Referring to the current chaos in Ukraine, NATO has miscalculated assessing Russia’s military exercises. Putin’s maneuver has in fact outwitted the Western alliance. During military exercises, Russian troops successfully blockaded all possible openings for retaliation attacks by Ukraine nationalists into Russia. Putin then announced a bombshell: Russia officially recognized the two breakaway states of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent sovereign states.
Was this a calculated pretext by Putin to offer military assistance to both of those Russian-speaking states at war with the Ukrainian nationalists for the past eight years with the death of 14,000 Russian Ukrainians or an excuse to attack the ethnically divided Ukraine? The Western regions predominately share Polish and Germanic roots, and the eastern regions are predominantly Russian.
As the war continues, nobody can truly read Putin’s mind. But the decision to place Russian nuclear missiles in readiness as a threat and a deterrent offers grave concerns for mankind. Insanity comes to mind.
Ukraine has been encouraged to join the NATO alliance for years – a move that Putin emphatically opposes, not prepared to allow NATO to threaten Russian sovereignty. In fact, Russia has accused NATO of trying to use the Ukrainian army as its proxy to enlarge NATO’s military domination in the region to include Finland and Sweden.
NATO’s unwavering support for Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime – which Putin calls a neo-Nazi regime – by offering billions of loans, stockpiling of NATO weaponry, missiles, tanks, armaments, army advisers to train the Ukrainian army and mercenaries has now come to fruition. Ironically, none have objected to Ukraine’s plans on restarting its nuclear missiles program. NATO’s support for Ukraine has now come at a high price: It has triggered the wrath of the White Bear.
Putin’s written demands for a free demilitarized Ukraine without NATO forces and nuclear weapons fell on deaf ears. NATO and the West ridiculed Russia’s proposal for a demilitarized Ukraine on the pretext that an independent sovereign state has the right to decide its own future.” No country can ignore such valued principles provided the right to decide does not pose a threat to others.
The conduct of the West not to recognize Russia’s security concerns has ultimately triggered the current war madness in the heart of Europe. It was foolish to assume that Russia would not retaliate and allow Ukraine to become NATO’s springboard to nuclear missiles and armed troops facing Russia’s borders. Consequently, the brutalities of war ruled over common sense and world-order now faces a maze of quagmires.
Meanwhile, innocent people and thousands of civilians face an uncertain future as homeless refugees because of war games played by the power elite – the dark forces hidden within. The tragedy of political manipulation in Ukraine for power and control by civilized nations has now sunk to rock bottom. The threat of a nuclear incident has become real in a mad world controlled by mad people.
The war in Ukraine should have never been allowed to start in the first place; but where there is no justice there is no wrong.
Meanwhile, with each passing day, citizens have difficulties trusting what they read, and what they hear coming from the warring factions and the mass media, synchronized to spread propaganda and the fake news of convenience. Apart from the death of the innocent, a victim of this deplorable tragedy is truth itself.
The Western powers have now enforced radical sanctions against Russia as a way of punishment. Those sweeping sanctions will certainly cause severe hardship to Russian civilians, civilians that never approved Putin’s war in their name. There is a fear that the indiscriminate measures imposed against Russia could boomerang with devastating results against the West.
Yet, those same Western powers, including the UN, demanding sanctions against Russia refuse to impose similar sanctions against Turkey (a NATO ally) for its 1974 brutal military invasion and occupation of 40% of EU-Cyprus. Using napalm bombs (illegal) the Turkish army killed more than 7,500 Greek civilians and displaced 230,000 Greeks as refugees in their own country. Today’s hypocritical practice of such double standards practiced by the West has no place in a civilized society.
For Ukraine, this is a tragic period in its history, but it is also sad for the EU banking institution which has failed to ensure peace and security in Europe as promised. Under duplicity, EU enlargement was established based on promises for prosperity and creating one happy family. NATO’s current expansion was based on similar promises of security, while the UN’s promises of peace has provided none of the above.
The war in Ukraine and the shedding of blood could have been avoided. Western powers have to accept a share of the responsibility for their failure to stop the current war from starting. Mass consumption, misinformation and faked leaks played a major role in generating a good side and an evil side, the same way the US and Western powers did in Iraq and Libya.
Without a doubt, negotiations for peace are more desirable than the ravages of war, but such noble ideas do not dissuade autocrats, dictators or power-hungry states controlled by the power elite.
The writer is a UK-published author of five books and over 450 press articles, and is a recognized artist. He is not politically affiliated but a strong advocate for democracy, transparency, equality and human rights. His works are globally available and can be viewed at: https://www.amazon.com/Andreas-C.-Chrysafis/e/B00478I90O… www.artpal.com/chrysafis.