The Future of Freedom Foundation
June 4, 2024
When U.S. officials began using NATO to move eastward toward Russia's borders after the ostensible end of the Cold War, their aim was to provoke Russia into invading Ukraine. Their hope was to embroil Russia in a forever war with Ukraine that would "degrade" Russia by bringing about the deaths of tens of thousands of Russian troops. By funneling U.S. weapons to Ukraine, another aim was to have Ukraine defeat Russia militarily in the hope that the Russian people or the Russian national-security establishment would oust Russian President Putin from power and replace him with a leader who would be subservient to the U.S. government.
Of course, U.S. officials were simply repeating what they had accomplished back in 1979, when they provoked the Soviet Union into invading Afghanistan, with the aim of giving the Soviets their "own Vietnam," meaning that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers would be killed in Afghanistan, just as 58,000 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam.
Once NATO provoked Russia into invading Ukraine, U.S. officials were confident that Russia would not attack any NATO country for furnishing weaponry to Ukraine. That's because the U.S. is supposedly obligated by its NATO agreement to come to the military defense of any NATO country that is attacked by some other nation. Thus, if Russia attacks, say, Poland for furnishing weapons to Ukraine to help Ukraine kill Russians, the U.S. would have to come to Poland's assistance by killing Russian soldiers.
Needless to say, there is large probability that a war between the United States and Russia would quickly escalate into a nuclear war. That's why U.S. officials were confident that they could wage a proxy war with Russia by simply using Ukrainian soldiers and furnishing them U.S. weaponry, without any concern that Russia would retaliate against any NATO country.
Throughout the conflict, U.S. officials made it clear that no NATO weaponry could be used to strike inside Russia. The idea was that while Russia would tolerate the use of NATO weaponry to kill Russian soldiers inside Ukraine, it would never tolerate the U.S. proxy war to extend to inside Russia, where people would be killed and buildings and infrastructure destroyed by U.S. weapons.
Given that they are clearly losing their proxy war, it is increasingly clear that Pentagon officials are now considering changing course, especially after their humiliating defeat in Afghanistan. In the hopes of still prevailing against Russia, U.S. officials are now giving serious thought to permitting Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to wreak death and destruction inside Russia.
A May 28 article in the Washington Post entitled, "NATO Chief and European Allies Urge U.S. to Let Ukraine Strike Inside Russia," states:
Washington is facing mounting pressure from NATO and several key European allies to lift restrictions and allow Ukraine to use the full force of U.S.-provided weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. The demands reflect new alarm in the West over Russian battlefield advances in recent days, including the seizure of several villages in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions and brutal bombings that have killed dozens of civilians.
The United States and other NATO allies, including Germany and Italy, have long refused to let Ukraine use their weapons to strike inside Russia's borders, fearing that such attacks could escalate the conflict. Senior Russian officials repeatedly have brandished Moscow's nuclear arsenal in response to suggestions of greater Western involvement in the war."
NATO's parliamentary assembly, meanwhile, issued a declaration urging that the restrictions be lifted.
Meanwhile, according to an article in the Guardian, Russian forces have started military drills near Ukraine simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to what Moscow deems threats from western officials about increased involvement in the conflict. Vladimir Putin ordered the drills earlier this month in a move Russian officials said was a warning to the west not to escalate tensions further.
I have long stated that the worst mistake America has ever made was to convert the federal government to a national-security state. I hope it's a mistake that Americans will still be alive to correct before it's too late.
(Also see my recent article " Closer to Nuclear War.")
Reprinted with permission from The Future of Freedom Foundation.