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To view Part I click below:
Count-Down to Apocalypse: Are the US and Russia Finally on Course toward World War III?
By , January 15, 2022
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“If any – any – assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,…Let there be no doubt at all that, if Putin makes this choice, Russia will pay a heavy price.” U.S. President Joe Biden, (Jan.20, 2022) [1]
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In recent days, the Western media have been dominated with a frantic tone of headlines warning that “White House warns Russian invasion of Ukraine may be imminent.”
The plot of this build-up of interest in demonizing the foreign foe-of-the-moment bears a familiar resemblance to past wars, in particular, the War on Iraq. Then, the enemy, the nefarious Saddam Hussein was stocking “weapons of mass destruction” in spite of thorough weapons inspectors during the 1990s. As the climax was starting to approach, as 2003 U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice even warned of “the smoking gun ending up being a mushroom cloud!” [2]
Today, President Biden insisted that if the invasion happens, “Russia will pay a heavy price.” Of course, the U.S. insists that the mighty payback will take the form of sanctions, and Ukrainians armed to the teeth with powerful weapons. [3]
The previous week, a massive cyber-attack was launched against Ukraine with the sites of several government departments wiped out. The country’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko suggested that “hacker groups associated with the Russian secret services” were responsible.[4]
Similarly, the spokesperson for the White House Jen Psaki suggested that the U.S. had “already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine” against Russian forces, justifying an invasion.[5]
Russian representatives deny all of these threats of course, and seek a response to their demands, including NATO rejection of Ukraine membership and not moving any closer to the border.[6]
How does Ukraine feel about being at the centre of the action? Are they truly eager to defend their nation against the “21st century’s Hitler” that is Putin? What kind of impact is the devastated economy and the revitalization of Neo-Nazi forces having on the population and its prospects, war or no war?
This week on the Global Research News Hour we continue in our examination of the great confrontation between the two great powers. We also note the irony that the true violation of the sovereignty of the country of Ukraine at the heart of the NATO countries was the work, not of Putin, but of the United States itself.
Our first guest, Scott Ritter uses his background as a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer to point out some of the stakes for all sides in this growing conflict. Then our next guest Paul Craig Roberts reminds listeners of the U.S. planned coup during the Euromaidan and the replacement of President Yanukovych. Finally, a Ukrainian resident Dmitriy Kovalevich spends the remainder of the hour explaining the impact of the 2014 Euromaidan and the rise of Ultra-nationalists on their lives and on every aspect of society.
Scott Ritter is a U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence officer, former UN Chief Weapons Inspector from 1991 -1998, and is currently engaged as a commentator and columnist on Huffington Post, RT OP-ED, consortiumnews and the American Conservative.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury in the Reagan administration, a member of the US Congressional staff, associate editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal. He is chairman of the Institute for Political Economy and author or co-author of ten books and numerous articles in scholarly journals. He was also outspoken on the situation in Ukraine and was one of the writers profiled in the Stephen Lendman edited 2014 book entitled Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III.
Dmitriy Kovalevich is a Ukrainian-based journalist and Left activist. He the editor of Liva.com.ua and the go-to person on Facebook for information on Ukraine. He is also a monthly contributor on Ukraine goings-on at the site NEWCOLDWAR.org. He is based in Kiev.
(Global Research News Hour Episode 340)
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Notes:
- Maanvi Singh and Joan E Greve (Jan 21, 2022), ‘Biden warns Russia will ‘pay a heavy price’ if Putin launches Ukraine invasion – as it happened’, The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2022/jan/20/biden-presidency-democrats-senate-voting-rights-trump-live-latest
- https://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/10/wbr.smoking.gun/
- Dave Goldliner (Jan 20, 2022), ‘U.S. warns Russia of ‘swift, severe’ retaliation for any invasion of Ukraine’, New York Daily News; https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/us-elections-government/ny-us-secretary-state-blinken-warns-russia-ukraine-invasion-20220120-y6hmboewxjgfdplnr3l3id7yaq-story.html
- Julian Borger and Luke Harding (Jan 14, 2022),’US claims Russia planning ‘false-flag’ operation to justify Ukraine invasion’, The Guardian;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/14/us-russia-false-flag-ukraine-attack-claim
- ibid
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/14/us-russia-false-flag-ukraine-attack-claim
