Biden Administration Throws Cold Water on Ukraine Joining NATO

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan says Ukrainian efforts to join NATO should be taken up “at a different time,” throwing cold water on the country’s desire to join the international alliance and potentially easing Russian tensions as President Vladimir Putin has begun accelerating rhetoric of potential nuclear war.

Biden Administration Throws Cold Water on Ukraine Joining NATO

Only Adult Children Still Believe U.S. Propaganda

by Edward Curtin

It should now be quite clear to any reasonable person that the Biden administration is hell-bent on destroying Russia and will risk nuclear war in doing so. It has already started World War III with its use of Ukraine to light the final match. The problem is that reasonable people are in very short supply, and, as Ray McGovern recently wrote in “Brainwashed for War with Russia, the Biden administration and their media lackeys

Only Adult Children Still Believe U.S. Propaganda

Ukraine applies for NATO membership as Biden warns Putin US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO land

Ukraine applies for NATO membership, rules out Putin talks

“We understand that this requires the consensus of all the alliance’s members… and therefore, while this is happening, we propose the realization of our proposals regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and all of Europe according to the Kyiv Security Compact,” he said.

Related:

Biden warns Putin US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO land after Ukraine annexation

Volodymyr Zelensky Has the Worst Idea—Ever

But the latest aid package includes $1 billion in immediate military assistance to Ukraine itself—ammunition, vehicles, etc.—and another $2 billion to be split among 18 NATO members whose lawns face out onto Putin’s disputed property.

These are not things you do unless you’re expecting trouble—a lot of trouble. It’s more than a reassurance that the United States is however far behind you, that’s real money to those countries—even if it’s far less than one hundredth of an Elon Musk to us.

At the highest levels, the U.S. thinks there’s a good chance there’s going to be a fight, as Thomas Hobbes said, of “all against all.”

Roger Waters’ open letter to Vladimir Putin + Roger Waters’ gigs in Poland canceled as he’s urged to visit Ukraine

Sep 26, 2022 Roger Waters

Recently I have been reading comments on social media, asking why I’ve written to Mrs. Olena Zelenska but not Mr. Vladimir Putin? Very good question, I’m glad you asked, here it is.

Roger Waters’ open letter to Vladimir Putin.

Dear President Putin, since The Russian Federation invaded Ukraine on February 24th this year I have tried to use my small influence to encourage a ceasefire and a diplomatic settlement that addresses the security needs of both Ukraine and The Russian Federation. In that endeavor I have written two open letters to Mrs. Olena Zelenska the wife of the Ukrainian President. These letters are readily available on the internet. I am increasingly asked to write to you too, so here goes. Firstly, would you like to see an end to this war? If you were to reply and say, “Yes please.” That would immediately make things a lot easier. If you were to come out and say, “Also the Russian Federation has no further territorial interest beyond the security of the Russian speaking populations of The Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk.” That would help too. I say this because, I know some people who think you want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states. If you do, fuck you, and we might as well all stop playing the desperately dangerous game of nuclear chicken that the hawks on both sides of the Atlantic seem so comfortable with, and have at it. Yup, just blow each other and the world to smithereens. The problem is, I have kids and grandkids, and so do most of my brothers and sisters all over the world and none of us would relish that outcome. So, please Mr Putin indulge me, and make us that assurance.

Alright back to the table, if I’ve read your previous speeches correctly, you would like to negotiate a state of neutrality for a sovereign neighboring Ukraine? Is that correct? Assuming such a peace could be negotiated it would have to include an absolutely binding agreement not to invade anyone ever again. I know, I know, the USA and NATO invade other sovereign countries at the drop of a hat, or for a few barrels of oil, but that doesn’t mean you should, your invasion of Ukraine took me completely by surprise, it was a heinous war of aggression, provoked or not.

When Mrs. Zelenska replied to me via Twitter, I was very surprised and mightily moved, if you were to reply to me, I would mightily respect you for it, and take it as an honorable move in the right direction towards a sustainable peace.

Yours sincerely

Roger Waters

Related:

Roger Waters’ gigs in Poland canceled as he’s urged to visit Ukraine

Peace in Ukraine or U.S. Hegemony? America Must Decide

Peace in Ukraine or U.S. Hegemony? America Must Decide

But looking at it from another angle, Putin’s speech also presents a golden opportunity for the United States to checkmate Russia, end the war in Ukraine, avoid a nuclear catastrophe, and shape a new world order. It might sound strange, but this is a “now or never” moment to steer the world out of the immediate mess created by Russia, as well as decades of bad statecraft by the United States and Europe.

It will come at a price. These three countries will resist being enrolled in an initiative that has a hidden agenda of helping the United States maintain global supremacy. They more or less acquiesced to Russia in the first place precisely given their resentment of U.S. supremacy. This allowed them to overlook their adversarial interests with Russia in Central Asia, for example. To help end the war, they will ask that the United States soften the pursuit of its values abroad as a policy benchmark. Even more so, they will ask for the United States to amend and reform the international system so that it no longer serves American interests exclusively and is used by the United States to underwrite its global policies.

The United States might get away with going solo thanks to its military power. It might be possible to push Russia back and uphold America’s right to be the global leader. Recalling prognoses for global economic growth putting Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDE) in the forefront, such a policy might postpone the reckoning by a decade. Yet, the risks of doing so are higher compared to the benefits of moving now when the United States is still strong and can play a major role in designing a new global system that does not exclusively reflect American and European interests.

H/T: MoonOfAlabama

Not sure what he’s trying to get at, as it seems contradictory. It sounds like he’s saying that the US should accept a multipolar world, yet he also states that there would be a “hidden agenda of helping the United States maintain global supremacy”. Doesn’t sound multipolar to me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Book Review: How the West Brought War to Ukraine

by David Gordon – September 07, 2022

Review of How the West Brought War to Ukraine: Understanding How US and NATO Policies Led to Crisis, War, and the Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe, by Benjamin Abelow, Siland Press

The Ukraine war has generated great controversy, but of one point there can be no doubt, and Benjamin Abelow, a physician with a longstanding interest in public affairs, has properly emphasized this in his brief and excellent book. The policy of the United States toward the war, and more generally toward the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin, has been one of direct confrontation rather than peaceful accommodation. It is hardly a surprise that supporters of a noninterventionist policy have criticized the United Sates for this, but a number of those in the foreign policy “establishment” have done so as well, and Abelow has been able to secure the endorsement of some of these for his book. Jack Matlock Jr., for example, the last American ambassador to the Soviet Union, writes that the book is a “brilliant, remarkably concise explanation of the danger that U.S. and NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] military involvement in Ukraine has created.”

How the West Brought War to Ukraine

Former Western prime ministers propose military alliance with Ukraine

Former Western prime ministers propose military alliance with Ukraine

On Tuesday, a group of former prime ministers, foreign ministers and other high-level officials from NATO countries published a document effectively proposing a formal alliance between Ukraine and NATO countries that, if adopted, threatens to transform the proxy war in Ukraine into a full-scale conflict between NATO and Russia.

The document hints at the creation of a “no-fly zone” in Ukraine, pointing to a “set of agreements, between Ukraine and countries producing anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense equipment to provide Ukraine with modern and effective air defense and anti-missile defense systems in sufficient quantity to ensure a ‘closed sky’ from air attacks.”