Realizing NATO's war with Russia will likely end unfavorably, the US is test-driving an exit offer. But why should Moscow take indirect proposals seriously, especially on the eve of its new military advance and while it is in the winning seat?
© The CradleDoes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken think a Washington Post op-ed will move Russian Armed Forces Chief Valery Gerasimov to postpone his planned military offensive on Ukraine?
Those behind the Throne are never more dangerous than when they have their backs against the wall. Their power is slipping away, fast: Militarily, via NATO's progressive humiliation in Ukraine; Financially, sooner rather than later,
most of the Global South will want nothing to do with the currency of a bankrupt rogue giant; Politically, the global majority is taking decisive steps to stop obeying a rapacious, discredited, de facto minority.
So now those behind the Throne are plotting to at least try to stall the incoming disaster on the military front.
As confirmed by a high-level US establishment source, a new directive on NATO vs. Russia in Ukraine was relayed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken, in terms of actual power, is nothing but a messenger boy for the Straussian neocons and neoliberals who actually run US foreign policy.
The secretary of state was instructed to relay the new directive - a sort of message to the Kremlin - via mainstream print media, which was promptly published by the
Washington Post.
In the elite US mainstream media division of labor, the
New York Times is very close to the State Department. and the
Washington Post to the CIA. In this case though the directive was too important, and needed to be relayed by the paper of record in the imperial capital. It was published as an
Op-Ed (behind paywall).
The novelty here is that for the first time since the start of Russia's February 2022 Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine, the Americans are actually proposing a variation of the "offer you can't refuse" classic, including some concessions which may satisfy Russia's security imperatives.Crucially, the US offer totally bypasses Kiev, once again certifying that this is a war against Russia conducted by Empire and its NATO minions - with the Ukrainians as mere expandable proxies.
'Please don't go on the offensive'The
Washington Post's old school Moscow-based correspondent John Helmer has provided an important service, offering the
full text of Blinken's offer, of course extensively edited to include fantasist notions such as "US weapons help pulverize Putin's invasion force" and a cringe-worthy explanation: "In other words, Russia should not be ready to rest, regroup and attack."
The message from Washington may, at first glance, give the impression that the US would admit Russian control over Crimea, Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson - "the land bridge that connects Crimea and Russia" - as a fait accompli.
Ukraine would have a demilitarized status, and the deployment of HIMARS missiles and Leopard and Abrams tanks would be confined to western Ukraine, kept as a "deterrent against further Russian attacks."
What may have been offered, in quite hazy terms, is in fact a partition of Ukraine, demilitarized zone included, in exchange for the Russian General Staff cancelling its yet-unknown 2023 offensive, which may be as devastating as cutting off Kiev's access to the Black Sea and/or cutting off the supply of NATO weapons across the Polish border.
The US offer defines itself as the path towards a "just and durable peace that upholds Ukraine's territorial integrity." Well, not really. It just won't be a rump Ukraine, and Kiev might even retain those western lands that Poland is dying to gobble up.
The possibility of a direct Washington-Moscow deal on "an eventual postwar military balance" is also evoked, including no Ukraine membership of NATO. As for Ukraine itself, the Americans seem to believe it will be a "strong, non-corrupt economy with membership in the European Union."
Whatever remains of value in Ukraine has already been swallowed not only by its monumentally corrupt oligarchy, but most of all, investors and speculators of the BlackRock variety. Assorted corporate vultures simply cannot afford to lose Ukraine's grain export ports, as well as the trade deal terms agreed with the EU before the war. And they're terrified that the Russian offensive may capture Odessa, the major seaport and transportation hub on the Black Sea - which would leave Ukraine landlocked.
There's no evidence whatsoever that Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the entire Russian Security Council - including its Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev - have reason to believe anything coming from the US establishment, especially via mere minions such as Blinken and the Washington Post. After all the stavka - a moniker for the high command of the Russian armed forces - regard the Americans as "non-agreement capable," even when an offer is in writing.This walks and talks like a desperate US gambit to stall and present some carrots to Moscow in the hope of delaying or even cancelling the planned offensive of the next few months.
Even old school, dissident Washington operatives - not beholden to the Straussian neocon galaxy - bet that the gambit will be a nothing burger: in classic "strategic ambiguity" mode, the Russians will continue on their stated drive of demilitarization, denazification and de-electrification, and will "stop" anytime and anywhere they see fit east of the Dnieper. Or beyond.
What the Deep State really wantsWashington's ambitions in this essentially NATO vs. Russia war go well beyond Ukraine. And we're not even talking about preventing a Russia-China-Germany Eurasian union or a peer competitor nightmare; let's stick with prosaic issues on the Ukrainian battleground.
The key "recommendations" - military, economic, political, diplomatic - were detailed in an
Atlantic Council strategy paper late last year.
And in another one, under "War scenario 1: The war continues in its current tempo," we find the Straussian neocon policy fully spelled out.
It's all here: from "marshaling support and military-assistance transfers to Kyiv sufficient to enable it to win" to "increase the lethality of military assistance transferred to include fighter aircraft that would enable Ukraine to control its airspace and attack Russian forces therein; and missile technology with range sufficient to reach into Russian territory."
From training the Ukrainian military "to use Western weapons, electronic warfare, and offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, and to seamlessly integrate new recruits in the service" to buttressing "defenses on the front lines, near the Donbass region," including "combat training focusing on irregular warfare."
Added to "imposing secondary sanctions on all entities doing business with the Kremlin," we reach of course the Mother of All Plunders: "Confiscate the $300 billion that the Russian state holds in overseas accounts in the United States and EU and use seized monies to fund reconstruction."
The reorganization of the SMO, with Putin, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and General Armageddon in their new, enhanced roles is derailing all these elaborate plans.
The Straussians are now in deep panic. Even Blinken's number two, Russophobic warmonger Victoria "F**k the EU" Nuland, has admitted to the US Senate there will be no Abrams tanks on the battlefield before Spring (realistically, only in 2024). She also promised to "ease sanctions" if Moscow "returns to negotiations." Those negotiations were scotched by the Americans themselves in Istanbul in the Spring of 2022.
Nuland also called the Russians to "withdraw their troops." Well, that at least offers some comic relief compared with the panic oozing from Blinken's "offer you can't refuse."
Stay tuned for Russia's non-response response.
Reader Comments
So begs the question, when a bunch of folks from all walks of life, peasants and others, can get together for a good ole fashioned "Diplomacy Showdown" in Chapel Hill, NC - 1990 if memory serves - can do real diplomacy better than the dimwits in the state department per my take on things - then why are they the "State Department" in the first place? and who the hell hired all these dimwits?
they sure as hell are not vested by me...and suspect most citizen think likewise - something is ROTTEN in DC.
That is a fair peasant question or two or three and I suspect the response will be crickets chirping.
BK, Poem of the Day, 13022 1124
I remember though that tournament, which might of been 1991 - that was fun but it was draining and now being I'm older, I have not desire to get back into that intense gaming and whatnot.....but it was fun - I remember.
Me and Lance, me Germany, him Turkey, and this other obstinate fella named Ed I think or some such, was England....and after a seriously long bullshitting game, we decided to agree to a 3-way victory, but I'm pretty sure Lance and I could have taken out England, and then I would have proposed to him a 2-way victory, but if he deferred, then I would have won the game for myself....of course, that is all speculation and who gives a flip I reckon, but it is fun sometimes to remember older memories....
Dimwits abounding spells precarious moments, but this effing month is about to be over and things will only be getting better in 23.
Do you want to bet on it?
BK
do you think I'm bullshitting you!
~
I check and here is a link:
[Link]
~
Some of us play for keeps and now I have a 2nd coat I need to apply, so "talk to you later....
and Place Your Bets"
BK
~
Here is the table I was referring to above, and my apologies to England.....the name of the fella was actually "Bob" and not "Ed". He was a good player and we agreed: 3-way victory because we all had played well and we respected each other.
[Link]
I'll never forget that.
As it turned out, the Russian MIC can easily outperform all the US and EU countries combined. Soon not only the Khazarian proxy will run out of men, but their Western backers run out of weapons and ammunition. With limited production capacity and personnel and even less prospective to expand to match the shortage. The European armies already dump active-duty weapons into the Russian meatgrinder. Which cuts into the reserves intended for the (IMHO) planned Nato attack on Russia.
We will see what happens ...
They've wanted it for so long. Why are they panicking, as it seems to me, now?
While Russia seems to gain, they are losing resources - manpower, industrial capacity, finances, and (last, but not least) support or at least compliance by their populations.
The Russians know that, and keep dragging the war along, draining Western military resources and damaging their domestic coherence. When the Russians are through and the Ukrainian government ceases to exist, the West will need to face the fait accompli.
Which means mostly the Europeans. The US wants to engage China, and they know a confrontation with Russia would reduce their military to the point of insignificance. The only chance they see is to drive a wedge between Russia and China, defeat the latter, and encircle Russia as a result.
Not that I think this idea has any prospect of success.
This means, if this equipment is to be effective, (and not immediately destroyed by Russian forces,) it will have to be manned by Americans, Germans, French, Polish, and other NATO crews. Russia has clearly indicated these will be fair military targets, and Russians will be killing NATO forces engaged in Ukraine. And if these forces attack the territory of Russia, Russia will attack their NATO territory in its turn. Russia is not bluffing.
That is the military aspect of the situation.
The economic aspect is that the Russian economy, far from being harmed by sanctions, is booming. The economies of all of NATO are cratering, and their currencies, including especially the dollar, will soon collapse and be refused by the rest of the world as payment for the world's resources and manufactures. The US Dollar will soon go down the same road as the Zimbabwean Dollar.
I have a friend in the CIA, and I asked him to get me some souvenirs from their gift shop - mouse pads, mugs, key chains, t-shirts, and so on, for Christmas presents. Not too expensive, but much appreciated by friends and family who do not have access to that gift shop. Every last item was made in China. The USA does not make anything anymore, and when the dollar is worthless. everything we import will cost a fortune in worthless dollars. Just like Zimbabwe. THAT is what is facing the USA and its NATO vassals in 2023. The total collapse of their economies. How will they rebuild their stocks of weapons that they have donated to Ukraine, when they have no energy, and no raw materials, and no components, all of which are imported, to rebuild them?
Reality has just bitten the neocons and the Pentagon and the Congress in the ass. That is what is the source of this latest move.
When you went to Zimbabwe, did you get yourself some $100 billion or $500 billion notes as souvenirs? In mint condition, they are becoming collector's items on Ebay.... Save a few paper US Dollars. If you are young enough and live long enough, some day you will be able to frame them and hang them on your wall to remind your friends of the good old days.
We were there for a few days only. Very poor country, but everyone was incredibly kind and generous. A few people begging, but not as many as I'd expected. I miss travelling.
Anything like the money printing going on these days?
I have been a few places around the world. We live on a beautiful planet, and it hurts my heart what is being done here by the greedy.