Defunct “Counter-Offensive”, Non-Existent Ukraine Air Force, Who Started the War?

No Hurry. F-16 Training for Ukrainian Pilots Delayed until Next Summer

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky and The Washington Post
Global Research, August 11, 2023
Global Research and Washington Post
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A report entitled F-16 Training for Ukrainian Pilots Faces Delays and Uncertainty (Washington Post) reveals that the training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 jets Made in America will be delayed for almost a year, until next Summer. 

The crucial issue has to do with the timeline of the Ukraine War and the ability of Ukrainian Forces to confront Russia.

At this juncture, the so-called “counter-offensive” is defunct. At present, Ukraine’s Air Force is virtually non-existent. And US-NATO have so to speak been (quite deliberately) “dragging it out”. Ukraine has no modern air power.

What will the Ukraine war theater look like in a year from now?

What US-NATO politicians and military planners are contemplating is a prolonged drawn-out scenario of continued destruction, characterized by mass casualties. No peace or armistice agreement is envisaged. 

According to the WP, Ukraine’s defunct Air Force –which was wiped out by Russian forces in early March 2022– is slated to be “partially restored” at the earliest by Summer 2024. That is the “suicidal solution” proposed by US-NATO to the Kiev regime.

In the meantime, the entire Ukrainian economy is being appropriated by BlackRock J.P. Morgan:

“… BlackRock, JP Morgan and private investors, aim to profit from the country’s reconstruction along with 400 global companies, including Citi, Sanofi and Philips. … JP Morgan’s Stefan Weiler sees a “tremendous opportunity” for private investors. (Colin Todhunter, Global Research June 28, 2023)

The Kiev Neo-Nazi regime is a partner in this endeavor. War is Good for Business. The greater the destruction, the greater the stranglehold on Ukraine by “private investors”. 

In late December 2022, president Zelensky and BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink agreed on an investment strategy.

 

Who started the Ukraine War?

Another important development:

NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently acknowledged that the “war didn’t start in 2022”. In an interview with the Washington Post (May 9, 2023) Stoltenberg candidly confirmed that “the war started in 2014″. 

Jens Stoltenberg’s bold statements have opened up a Pandora’s Box, to the detriment of NATO, which he represents. 

What he intimates (no doubt unwittingly) is that the Ukraine War was a US-NATO Initiative, carried out in the immediate wake of the illegal February 2014 EuroMaidan Coup d’Etat which was then conducive to the installation of a Neo-Nazi regime in Kiev. 

Speaking on behalf of NATO, he tacitly acknowledged that Russia did not declare war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. 

Below are relevant excerpts from Stoltenberg’s Interview with the Washington Post: (emphasis added)

Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Editorial Board: How has the war led NATO to recalibrate its defense posture and doctrine?

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: The war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed NATO, but then you have to remember the war didn’t start in 2022. The war started in 2014. And since then, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War. 
For the first time in our history, we have combat-ready troops in the eastern part of the alliance, the battle groups in Poland, Lithuania, the Baltic countries, actually the whole eight battle groups from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea. Higher readiness of our forces. And increased defense spending. …

To access the full text of the interview, click image below

 

The Washington Post: “F-16 Training for Ukrainian Pilots Faces Delays and Uncertainty”

The article confirms US-NATO’s intent to deliberately deny the rehabilitation of  Ukraine’s Air Force (WP August 11, 2023) (emphasis added). It sounds very fishy: Another “delaying prerequisite” for the training of a limited number of Ukrainian pilots is that they go for a four month English “crash course” in the U.K. where in all likelihood they will seek refugee status: 

“A first group of six Ukrainian pilots is not expected to complete training on the U.S.-made F-16 before next summer, senior Ukrainian government and military officials said, following a series of delays by Western partners in implementing an instruction program for the sophisticated fighter jet.

The timeline reflects the disconnect between Ukraine’s supporters, who envision F-16s as a key tool in the country’s long-term defense, and Kyiv, which has desperately requested that the jets reach the battle space as soon as possible …

President Biden, after denying Ukrainian appeals for the F-16 for more than a year, reversed course in May and said he backed the idea of training Ukrainian pilots on the jets. …. 

But after the start of training was pushed back several times, Ukraine will now probably have to endure another year without the fighters, … which officials in Kyiv have predicted would provide a significant military edge amid a slow-going counteroffensive and help better protect civilians against Russia’s regular missile and drone strikes.

Ukraine’s commander in chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, has criticized Western partners for expecting Ukrainian forces to conduct a large-scale counteroffensive without modern air power. Without fighter jets like the F-16, Ukrainian officials say, they can’t compete in the sky.

Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines have said that low-flying Russian helicopters have been successful in attacking their ground forces in part because Ukraine is unable to threaten them in kind.

Just six pilots, about half a squadron, will go through the first round of training, according to two Ukrainian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive matter. Two other pilots have been identified as reserve candidates.

Though the pilots are already fluent in English, the officials said, they must first attend four months of English lessons in Britain to learn terminology associated with the jets. …

Click here to read the full article on The Washington Post.

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Articles by: Prof Michel Chossudovsky and The Washington Post

About the author:

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research. He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of 13 books. He is a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO's war of aggression against Yugoslavia. He can be reached at [email protected]

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