Part 2 ...(mostly on Russia/Ukraine/USA) Lots of catching up to do reading on the worst of strange times we live in now. The wars, the diseases, the warlords, the thieves, the manipulators of society, etc,etc

 I was too sleepy last night to finish up with the previous posting.  Sooo.... here's part 2 with more reading material for the politically-minded.

 

 

War Clouds Over Russia and Ukraine? Ask Brussels

The U.S. needs to accept NATO membership for Ukraine is not worth war with Russia

 

April 8, 2021 Doug Bandow

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/war-clouds-over-ukraine-ask-brussels/

 

Fighting has surged in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow backs ethnic-Russian separatists. Moreover, Moscow has concentrated an estimated 4,000 soldiers near the border with Ukraine.

Demands are rising in Washington for confrontation. Indeed, the crisis is being framed as a challenge to the young Biden administration. Predictably hawkish analysts, such as those filling the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, advocated that the administration take tougher action, including conditional sanctions.......

 

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What should Russia’s reaction be? OPEN THREAD #3

https://thesaker.is/what-should-russias-reaction-be-open-thread/

Dear friends

Today I am opening yet one more open thread and I am offering this suggestion for a topic (not excluding other *related* topics from the discussion): what should the scope of the Russian reaction to a Ukronazi attack be?

Here, I will offer my own opinion in a short bulletpoint format:

1. Russia should intervene within hours of any Ukrainian attack because leaving the LDNR forces alone will result in needlessly high LDNR casualties.  Yes, they can probably resist very effectively, but the cost might be very high.  Russia can help without any such massive loss of life.
2. Early in the operation Russia needs to “lock” the airspace above the theater of operations (at least in the Ukrainian operational depth) and officially declare a no-fly zone.
3. Russia should strike throughout the operational and even strategic depth of the Ukraine because the Ukronazi armed forces must be disorganized and decapitated.  Key Ukronazi officials must be eliminated just like the Wahabis in Chechnia and Syria have been.
4. Russian forces should stop at or near the current line of contact for a number of reasons including i) the fact that Russia has no moral obligation before the Ukrainian people who have to liberate themselves and not wait for Russia to do so ii) Russia has no need for a long counterinsurgency operation iii) Russia did not break the Ukraine and should not be asked to pay for its reconstruction iv) if Russia inflicts a severe enough defeat on the Ukronazi forces the country will implode anyway.......

 

 

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Why Does Ukraine Want War?

By Andrew Korybko

Global Research, April 08, 2021

https://www.globalresearch.ca/why-does-ukraine-want-war/5742170

The whole world is watching with bated breath to see whether Ukraine and Russia will go to war over Donbass like many fear might be about to happen due to recent events. I asked earlier this week whether “Vaccines Are The Real Driving Force Behind The Latest Donbass Destabilization”, pointing out the grand strategic interest that the US has in provoking a crisis that would put unprecedented political pressure on the EU to not buy Russia’s Sputnik V like the bloc’s top members are reportedly considering at the moment, but there’s more to it than just that at the comparatively lower strategic levels.

Ukraine wants war with Russia due to a combination of domestic and international factors, including its ruling elite’s desire to distract from a slew of domestic crises. These include its efforts to stamp out the increasingly popular opposition through a series of witch hunts, attract emergency Western financial aid to facilitate their struggling economy’s recovery, and perhaps become important enough to the West that they can finally receive much-needed vaccines for their population that they’ve hitherto been denied for inexplicable reasons. Moreover, the powerful influence of ultra-nationalist (fascist) militias can’t be discounted either......................

 

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US-NATO provocation in Ukraine to stop Russian pipeline

Steven Sahiounie, Journalist and political commentator

https://www.mideastdiscourse.com/2021/04/05/us-nato-provocation-in-ukraine-to-stop-russian-pipeline/

US Europe Command has raised its posture to the highest level, “potential imminent threat”, as USAF surveillance flights have tracked Russia’s border over the past 48 hours.

The current flare of tensions sparked on March 26, when four Ukrainian military servicemen were killed by a landmine while inspecting minefields near the village of Shumy. Kiev and their partners the US and NATO used the deaths to blame the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic, who denied any attacks.

Dmitry Peskov, the Russian presidential spokesman, said the Kremlin was worried the Ukrainian side might create the risk for a civil war if they initiated provocation in southeastern Ukraine.  Peskov added that Russia would take “additional measures” if NATO were to use provocation.

The US forces are now on high alert in Europe and blaming “Russian aggression” in the area. An official from NATO said to Reuters that Russia was undermining efforts to reduce tensions in eastern Ukraine.

Rebels seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk region in April 2014, and the Kremlin says Russian “volunteers” have been assisting the rebels.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, said during Friday’s briefing, “I would like to warn the Kiev regime and the hotheads that are serving it or manipulating it against further de-escalation and attempts to implement a forceful scenario in Donbass.”

Zakharova said that Ukrainian officials regularly accuse Russia, while not adhering to, and implementing the agreements reached previously on settlement in eastern Ukraine. ..................

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