Putin’s State of the Union
Putin’s State of the Union
Paul Craig Roberts
Putin has given a remarkable address to the Federal
Assembly, the Russian People, and the peoples of the world.
In his speech Putin revealed the existence of new
Russian nuclear weapons that make it undisputably clear that Russia has vast
nuclear superiority over the United States and its patethic NATO vassal states.
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 comppel 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 that it implies.”
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 insurmoutable 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment