Putin has given a remarkable address to the Federal Assembly,
the Russian People, and the peoples of the world. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/56957
In his speech Putin revealed the existence of new Russian
nuclear weapons that make it indisputably clear that Russia has vast nuclear
superiority over the United States and its pathetic NATO vassal states.
In view of the Russian capabilities, it is not clear that the US any longer qualifies as a superpower.
In view of the Russian capabilities, it is not clear that the US any longer qualifies as a superpower.
There is little doubt in my mind that if the crazed
neoconservatives and military/security complex in Washington had these weapons
and Russia did not, Washington would launch an attack on Russia.
Putin, however, declared that Russia has no territorial
ambitions, no hegemonic ambitions, and no intention to attack any other
country. Putin described the weapons as the necessary response to the West’s
firm refusal year after year to accept peace and cooperation with Russia,
instead surrounding Russia with military bases and ABM systems.
Putin said: “We are interested in normal constructive
interaction with the United States and the European Union and are expecting
that common sense will prevail and our partners will choose fair and equal
cooperation. . . . Our policy will never be based on aspirations for
exceptionalism, we are defending our interests and respect the interests of
other countries.”
Putin told Washington that its efforts to isolate Russia with sanctions
and propaganda and to prevent Russian capability to respond to the growing
military encirclement from the West has failed. Russia’s new weapons have made
the entire US/NATO approach “ineffective from a military point of view.” “The
sanctions to constrain Russia’s development, including in the military sphere…
they did not work out.” They have not been been able to contain Russia. They
need to realize this… Stop rocking the boat in which we all sit.”
So, what is to be done? Will the West come to its senses? Or
will the West, drowning in debt and loaded to the gills with bloated and
ineffective military industries, intensify the Cold War that Washington has
resurrected?
I do not think the West has any senses to come to. Washington is
totally absorbed in “American exceptionalism.” The extreme hubris of the
“indispensable country” afflicts all. The Europeans are bought and paid for by
Washington. I am confident that Putin was hopeful that European leaders would
understand the futility of trying to intimidate Russia and cease to endorse
Washington’s Russiaphobia that is leading to nuclear war. No doubt Putin was
disappointed in the idiotic response of the UK defense minister Gavin
Williamson who accused Russia of “choosing a path of escalation and provocation.”
My guess is that the neoconservatives will play down Russia’s
capability, because the neoconservatives do not want to accept that there are
any constraints on Washington’s unilateralism. On the other hand, the
military/security complex will hype the Russian superiority in order to demand
a larger budget to protect us from “the Russian threat.”
The Russian government concluded from years of frustrating
experience with Washington’s refusal to consider Russia’s interests and to work
together in a cooperative manner that the reason was Washington’s belief that
American power could compel Russia to accept American leadership. To shatter
this Washington illusion is the reason for Putin’s forceful announcement of the
new Russian capabilities.
In his address, he says, “no one wanted to speak with us. No one
wanted to listen to us. Listen to us now.” Putin stressed that Russia’s nuclear
weapons are reserved for retaliation, not for offense, but that any attack on
Russia or Russia’s allies will receive an immediate response “with all the
attendant consequences.”
Having made it clear that the Western policy of hegemony and
intimidation is dead in the water, Putin again held out the olive branch: let
us work together to solve the world’s problems.
I hope that Russian diplomacy succeeds in bringing an end to the
rising tensions fomented by Washington. However, Russian diplomacy faces two
perhaps insurmountable obstacles. One is the need for the bloated US
military/security complex to have a major enemy as a justification for its
$1,000 billion annual budget and the power that goes with it. The other
obstacle is the neoconservative ideology of US world hegemony.
The military/security complex is institutionalized in every US
state. It is an employer and a source of major political campaign
contributions, which makes it almost impossible for a senator or representative
to go against its interests. In US foreign policy circles there is yet to
appear countervailing power to the crazed neoconservatives. The Russiaphobia that
the neoconservatives have created now affects ordinary Americans. These two
obstacles have proved sufficiently powerful to prevent President Trump from
normalizing relations with Russia.
Perhaps in his next speech, Putin should address the Europeans directly
and ask them how European interests are served by enabling Washington’s
hostilities toward Russia. If push comes to shove, how can any country hosting
US ABMs, US nuclear weapons, and US military bases expect to escape
destruction?
Without NATO and the forward bases it provides, Washington
cannot drive the world to war. The basic fact of the matter is that NATO is an
obstacle to peace.