Eric Zuesse – How Both Putin and Biden Bungled in Ukraine

Ukraine (gif NRC)

How Both Putin and Biden Bungled in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin S Repeatedly Pre Announced Goals for Ukraine, and for his Invasion of Ukraine, Consistently Contained Two Main Points.

(1) To Permanently Block Ukrainian Membership for Ukraine in the Anti Russian Military Alliance NATO and, (2) to “Denazify” Ukraine.

On 21 March, AP reported that Zelenskyy said that Kyiv will be Ready to Discuss the Status of Crimea and the Eastern Donbas Region held by Russian Backed Separatists after A Cease Fire and Steps toward Providing Security Quarantees. This Milestone was the Very First Time that Ukraine S President Zelensky said that There might be Circumstances under which “The Status of Crimea and the Eastern Donbas Region held by Russian Backed Separatists” could even Possibly be Negotiated by Ukraine S Government. All Ukrainian Government Leaders, after US President Barack Obama Perpetrated in Ukraine A Violent Coup which Overthrew Ukraine S Democratically Elected and Neutralist President, and Installed A US Controlled Rabidly Anti Russian Government in Ukraine, in February 2014, have said that Ukraine will Never Consider the Status of those Two Former Regions of Ukraine to be Negotiable – that They re Both Parts of Ukraine, Regardless of What the Residents There Want (Which, Clearly and Overwhelmingly, after That Coup, has been NOT to be Ruled by that Regime). It Definitely was A CoupNOT an Authentic Revolutionthat Installed It.

So Zelensky was Now Saying that “After A Cease Fire and Steps toward Providing Security Guarantees,” Zelensky would Negotiate “The Status of Crimea and the Eastern Donbas Region held by Russian Backed Separatists.” This was the First Major Change in Position by EITHER Side in the Present Conflict; and the Fact that It was Being Made by Ukraine was Indisputable Proof that Militarily Russia was Winning the War, Up to that Moment in Time. Subsequently, However, the War Situation is Far Less Clear, Ukraine might be Winning It.

The Deeper, and Continuing, Deadlock is.

(2) Denazification of Ukraine. In My News Report on March 21, Why The Question Of Which Side Is ‘Nazi’ Blocks Any Peace Settlement, was Explained WHY that Issue is So Extremely Unlikely to Be Able to Be Agreed Upon between Zelensky and Putin – and, Therefore, Why Russia will Either have to Accept Defeat in This War, or Else Defeat Ukraine 100% Militarily before There will be Any Capitulation by Ukraine in This Conflict,

However, Even if  Russia defeats Ukraine in This War, Russia S Own National Security Situation (Which is the Ultimate Reason that can Justify ANY Nation S Participation in Any War) will be Substantially Reduced by the War, for the Following Reasons.

On March 14th, Chris Hedges Very Realistically Summed Up the War Situation (both Present and Future) as Follows.

The Decision [by Biden] to Destroy the Russian Economy, to Turn the Ukrainian War into A Guagmire for Russia and Topple the Regime of Vladimir Putin will Open A Pandora S Box of Evils. Massive Social Engineering – Look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya or Vietnam – has It S Own Centrifugal Force. It Destroys Those Who Play God.

The Ukrainian War has Silenced the Last Vestiges of the Left. Nearly Everyone has Giddily Signed on for the Great Crusade against the Latest Embodiment of Evil, Vladimir Putin, Who, like All Our Enemies, has become the New Adolf Hitler.

The United States will Give $ 13.6 Billion in Military and Humanitarian Assistance to Ukraine, with the Biden Administration Authorizing an Additional $ 200 Million in Military Assistance. The 5,000 Strong EU Rapid Deployment Force, the Recruitment of All Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, into NATO, the Reconfiguration of Former Soviet Bloc Militaries to NATOWeapons and Technology have All been Fast Tracked.

Germany, for the First Time since World War II, is Massively Re Arming. It has Lifted It S Ban on Exporting Weapons. It S New Military Budget is Twice the Amount of the Old Budget, with Promises to Raise the Budget to More than 2 Percent of GDP, which would move It S Military from the Seventh Largest in the World to the Third, behind China and the United States.

NATO Battle Groups are Being Doubled in Size in the Baltic States to More than 6,000 Troops. Battle Groups will be Sent to Romania and Slovakia. Washington will Double the Number of US Troops Stationed in Poland to 9,000. Sweden and Finland are Considering Dropping their Neutral Status to Integrate with NATO.
This is A Recipe for Global War.

On April 2nd, Russia S RT bannered “Finland can Join NATO without Referendum Polls”, and reported

The President of Finland, Which Borders Russia, has Claimed that the Wide Wide Spread Support for NATO Membership Expressed in Recent Opinion Polls could pave the Way for Joining the US Led Military Bloc without A Referendum. The Attitude of the Finns towards NATO Membership took A U Turn following Moscow S Attack on Ukraine. ()
Support for NATO Membership reached A Record High 62% in Finland this Month, According to A Poll by Yle. A Poll Commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and Released this Week shows that 61% of Finns want their Country to Join the Bloc.

This indicates A Complete Reversal of Public Opinion after Moscow sent It S Forces into Ukraine – According to Yle, Previous Polls showed that Finns were Against NATO Membership.

Putin S Goal to Block Ukrainian Membership for Ukraine was Part of his Broader Goal to Shrink NATO (its Membership) by Reversing NATO S Incluson of the Half of It S Member Countries that were Added after 1991, Which was When the Cold War ended on the Soviet Union S Side but Secretly Continued on the American Side, and NATO therefore has Expanded Even After the Supposed End of the Cold War onAlso – America S Side) to include in NATO Virtually All European Countries right up to Russia S Western Border. This produces A Cuban Missile Crisis in Reverse Crisis Now, but One which will be Far Longer and More Drawn Out<>

On April 3rd, NATO invited Not Only Finland but also Sweden (Both being Officially Neutral during the Cold War till Now) to become Members.

Consequently Russia S Precipitate Invasion of Ukraine, which was Intended by Putin to Shrink NATO, might instead Lead to Further Expansion of NATO – even if  Russia will Win the War in Ukraine.This is Not, however, to say that Putin made the Wrong Decision to Invade Ukraine, but that he did It at the Wrong Time. Biden had Forced him to Invade in Order for Putin to Prevent American Nuclear Missiles from Ultimately becoming Installed into Ukraine Just A 5 Minute Flight Time Away from Nuking Moscow and thereby (in Post 2006 US Strategic Thinking) able to WinA US Planned World War III by Blitz Invading Russia So Fast as to Disable Russia S Entire Retaliatory Capability.
had therefore expected Putin to Invade Ukraine, but Not before Zelensky would Finally Unleash the 60,000 Ukrainian Troops on the Ukraine Donbass Contact Line (Border) for them to Race into Its Former Donbass Region in Order to Slaughter its People (who had Voted over 90% for the Democratically Elected and Internationally Neutralist Ukrainian President whom Obama had Overthrown) and to Retake its LandRestore it to Ukraine. If Putin had done that (Waited, in Order NOT to have Started this War), then though Many of the Residents in Donbass would have been Killed, and the War there would have been Devastating, Russia would have been Able to Respond Immediately and send its Troops in within No More than A Week to Conquer and Destroy almost All of those 60,000 Invading Ukrainian Troops (plus their Civilian Hostages or “Human Shields” in Donbass), and the InternationalOpticsof the Situation would then have been Vastly Less Bad for Russia (and Vastly More Bad for Ukraine) than has Resulted from Russia S having Invaded First InvadedPreemptively.” Perhaps, in that Situation, NATO S Own Future would be its Shrinkage, instead of (as Now Seems to Be Not Only Possible but Even Likely) its Accelerated Expansion. In Addition, the International Image then of Zelensky would Now be Vastly Worse, because he would have been the First to Invade.Consequently, Putin Invaded at the Wrong Time. Too Early. I am NOT saying that he should have Allowed Ukraine to Conquer Donbass, but that his Plan should have been to Prepare Russia S Forces so that they could Defeat Ukraine S InvasionNOT MERELY so that they could Themselves Successfully Invade Ukraine. Because of What Putin did, Russia S Key Propaganda Losses in this Matter could Actually Accelerate NATO S Enlargement and the US Regime S Success against Russia.He clearly was Scared by what Biden and NATO were doing in this Matter, by their backing Ukraine All the Way, rushing Weapons into Ukraine – continuing the Obama Installed Coup Regime of Ukraine as being an American Vassal Nation. Those Reinforcements by NATO unfortunately gave Putin an Excessive Sense of Urgency. Russia S Enemy (Today S Axis Powers) used even that as Grist for their Propaganda Mills. On December 9th of 2021, Reuters headlined Russia keeps Tensions High over Ukraine and (Styled as A News Report, No Commentary) said “Moscow has an Interest in Keeping Tensions High.” On December 15th they bannered Russia hands Proposals to US on Security Quarantees, which were demands (Putin S Red Lines”), notProposals’. On December 17th IBT bannered EU threatens Russia sanctions as NATO backs Ukraine, and reported that NATO and almost All of the EU Rejected Russia S Entirely Reasonable Demands. NATO S Chief Emphasized Russia would have No Say, Whatsoever, on Whether or Not Ukraine becomes A NATO Member. RT headlined December 20th, Russia promises ‘Military Response’ to any further NATO Expansion.” Then, on the 26th, it was A “‘Life and Deathissue for Russia. It was – and is – an Existential Issue, as Viewed by the Russian People, and has been Referred To As Such by Putin.

However, Biden Himself has Likewise Vastly Miscalculated in this Matter, because of Reasons that were Well Described by Alasdaire Macleod in his March 31st Article Edging Towards A Gold Standard. The Response by Biden (and by the Leaders of All of America S Vassal Nations) to Impose upon Russia the Sanctions that Now have been Imposed, will Harm the Entire World S EconomyNot ONLY Russia S – and could Very Well Turn Out to Benefit Greatly Russia S Economy; but, Definitely, NOT Benefit the Economies of the Nations that are Cooperating with those Sanctions (All of Whom will be Suffering from This).

On the Other Hand, if the Allegations that were Published in CNN S April 3rd Bodies of ‘Executed People’ Strewn across Street in Bucha as Ukraine Accuses Russia of War Crimes Turn Out to Be True, then Putin S Own Reputation will be So Negatively Affected that he will lose This Global Conflict Personally, even if Russia Itself Turns Out to Have Won It. If that Article is True, then he might Even End Up Being Prosecuted as an International War Criminal. As George W Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden – and Ukraine S Post Coup Leaders Yatsenyuk, Poroshenko, and Zelensky – Definitely ought to be, but Never will Be.

The Comparisons in The West Analogizing Putin to Hitler are Obscene Not Only because this War had been Started by Obama S 2014 Ukrainian Coup and Putin has been Forced Constantly to be Responding to It (and had Very Effectively been Doing So Up Until 24 February 2022), but because Hitler (like the Other Imperialistic Fascists in his Time) was Championing Imperialism, whereas Putin (and Xi, and Iran) Defend their Nation against US Imperialism (Neo Conservatism), Exactly as their People demand them to do. Today S Hitlers are on the American Government S Side; they are called “Neo Cnservatives,” and are Now Demanding that the Entire World Either Follow their Demands or Else will be Punished by their Supposedly All Encompassing Empire for Disobeying the US Government. That S Why Neo Conservatives hate the UN. They want it to be Destroyed so that the US Government will Take Over the Entire World. They are in Hitler S Tradition, Just for A Different Country to become the Ruler of the World. Franklin Delano Rooseveldt (FDR) would have Puked to see Today S Amerika. Most Americans, Prior to 1945, were Anti Fascists, and Anti Imperialists. This is A Fundamentally Different Country than it was Then. Sadly, Most Americans Today Tolerate It S Being So – if They re Not Neo Cons Themselves. Obama should Face A Firing Squad. This War was Started by him. Biden Merely continues It (and should be Punished Severelyalso A War Criminal For Doing So). Even if Putin has Now Responded in A Wrong Way to It (by Failing to be Sure that his Soldiers would Adhere to the Laws that Internationally Pertain to Warfare), A Defender against Imperialism is Not Nearly as Evil as A Perpetrator of Imperialism is and the Perpetrator in This Case (the US Government) Therefore Deserves to be Treated Far More Harshly by the International Legal Bodies. Otherwise, there can be No Justifiable International Law Pertaining to International Wars. To Defend Improperly against an Aggressor is Never as Bad as to be an Aggressor – Not Even when A Stage of that Defense (such as is the Case of Russia S Invasion of Ukraine) is A Part of that Defense against Imperialism. Today S Rulers of Ukraine want Their Country to Remain an American Vassal Nation. They need to be Dealt with as Such. But Never do the Mere Residents of Any Land deserve to be Treated that Way. This Is – and Should BeBasic in International Law Pertaining to Warfare.

UPDATE

On April 4th, Russia’s RT headlined “Russia and Ukraine Trade Accusations over Bucha Civilian Deaths (TIMELINE) After Footage of Dead Civilians in the Ukrainian City of Bucha Emerged, the West Immediately pointed the Finger at Moscow”, and included such Items as, on April 2nd,
One Clip Published and Later Deleted by Ukrainian Military Commander Sergey Korotkih showed Ukrainian Troops in Bucha discussing Engagement Rules. Korotkih, Formerly A Citizen of Belarus, is an Open Neo Nazi who went to Ukraine Back in 2014 to Fight in the Ranks of the Notorious Azov Battalion. In Russia, Korotkih is Wanted on Multiple Murder Charges. One of the Fighters can be heard Asking if it was OK to Shoot at “Guys Not Wearing Blue ArmbandsIdentifying Ukrainian Soldiers. The Response was an Affirmative You Bet”, which links through to  This Uploaded Cell Phone Video Evidence Recording that Conversation, Physically On Site at Bucha, as Ukraine S Forces were Coming into the Area to Inspect and Evaluate the Situation and to Record and Display the Extent of their Victory There.

If Russia S Allegations in that Bucha Matter are True, then, Of Oourse, the Propaganda Value of the ‘NewsReports by CNN and Others regarding it will Reduce with Time, and Perhaps Even become the Enduring Scandal HereYet Another Scandal of US and AlliedNewsMedia being Actually instead Propaganda Media. Trusting Western Reports regarding Russia might then Turn Out to be Even Stupider than It was Before. Putin S Reputation in the US and Allied Countries might then Not suffer Long Term Harm from the Bucha Matter. Putin S Approval Rating within Russia, Itself, has Risen from his Low of around 60% in August 2021 to Above 80% Now, Mainly as A Result of Soaring from 71% Just Before the February 24th Invasion. However, what S Far More Important Going Forward will be the Public Opinion of him Outside Russia, in the Countries that Never Really Stopped their Cold War against Russia After the Soviet Union S 1991 End. America S Regime Change in Russia Campaign will Almost Certainly Not Succeed by Driving Putin S Approval Rating inside Russia Down to Where, say, Joe Biden S in America is. But if America takes an Alternative Approach, such as A Military Coup, or A Blitz Invasion of Russia, perhaps the People who Rule in America might Ultimately Succeed. In Which Case What Happened to Ukraine after Obama Conquered It in 2014 might happen, Some Day, to Russia Itself.

Then, Later on April 4th, the Best News Site on the War, South Front, Bannered NEW EVIDENCES SHED LIGHT ON ALLEGED MASSACRE IN BUCHA, KIEV REGION (VIDEO, PHOTO), and reported that, Today, there are More Interesting Videos from Bucha shared by the Ukrainian Military which may Help to Shed Light on what did Really happen in the Town Left by the Russian Troops on March 30.

On April 2, A Day before Ukrainian “Journalists” came to Bucha to Stage the Horrific Scenes on the Streets, the National Police of Ukraine published A Video of the Mop Up Operation in Bucha.

Video Player
00:00
07:48

The Footage Confirmed that
 • There were No Corpses laying on the Streets. Not A Single Civilian Confirmed that Any Mass Shootings [had Occurred] in the City.
  Ukrainian Demining Teams who Entered the Town Right after the Russian Withdrawal had No Work to do. They are Seen Walking on the Streets along with Civilians. Not A Single Mine Left by the Russians was Shown on the Video.
•  Service Men of the National Guard asked Some Civilians if they needed Help, None of Them replied Asking for Any Immediate Assistance, Confirming That They Are Fine.
Only one Man is seen Killed in his Car. It is Not Clear how did his Death happen. Another Victim was Obviously A Service Men of One of the Warring Sides Killed in Clashes, whose Corps[e] is laying [Lying] near A Destroyed Military Equipment.
One of [the] Ukrainian “Patriots” made AComment on Behaviour of the “Russian Invaders”. After his Own Compatriots told Russian Service Men about his Acute Social Awareness, Russian Military checked his Apartment but found Only Flags and A Bunch of Ukrainian Symbols. To add some Drama to his Case, the Man claimed that [A] Russian soldier took him out “to kill him”, but suddenly changed his Mind and brought the Man to the Military Commander. The Brave Patriot only had A Short Peaceful Conversation with Russian Service Men, with No Tortures. ()

This Video of the National Police of Ukraine, Shot Presumably on April 1 or Earlier, does Not Really Correspond to What the Ukrainian Media published on April 3, Trumpeting to the Whole World that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Allegedly Carried out AMass Massacre” of Civilians.

As More Photo S are shared from the Spot, more Proves [Proofs], that the Scene was Staged, appear.

As the Main Video Proof from Bucha raised A Lot of Suspicions and was Quickly Disclaimed, it was Accompanied by More Fake Photo S Allegedly made in the Town.

Unfortunately, these Atempts are even Less Effective and are Evident Lies. For Example, Notorious Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Arestovich published the Photo of AWoman Tortured in Mariupol Last Week by Ukrainian Azov Militants, Claiming that she was A Victim Tortured by the Russians. The Photo was Later Deleted but was Widely Spread by the Ukrainian MSM, Who Even Did Not Come Together if Iu was in Gostomel or in Bucha. The Ukrainian Media are trying their Best to Gain as Much Hype as Possible, Lying on Any Matter ()

However, at around the Same Time, Al Jazeera, from the Thani Family who own US Allied Qatar, headlined Bucha Killings ‘The World Can Not be Tricked Anymore’,” and Showed Ukraine Government Supporting AllegedWitnesses” who Alleged that Russian Soldiers had Perpetrated AMassacre” there, and Urged International War Crimes Trials Against Russia S Leaders (and Nothing Against America S Leaders).No One has – at Least in Any ProminentNews’- MediumUrged any War Crimes Trial against Any American Leader, Not Against George W Bush, Nor Against Obama, Nor Against Biden, No American Leader at All.

Yet Later in the Day, America S AP bannered BIDEN Putin should Face War Crimes Trial for Bucha Killings, and an Editorial in Jeff Bezos S Washington Post headlined The Bucha Massacre should Prompt A Forceful Response and said that “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the Civilian ExecutionsGenocide,’ and President Biden Declared that Mr Putin isA War Criminal.’ Those Words will Find Meaning Only with A Determined Prosecution.”>

As of Day S End on the 4th, it seemed that There were Corpses in Bucha, but there was No Public Information Yet on the Identities of the Dead, Nor on How Many were Civilians, How Many were Ukrainian Soldiers, and How many were Russian Soldiers, and the Ways in which Each of those Individuals had become KilledMuch Less on Whether any Legal Grounds Yet Existed for Asserting that AnyWar Crimes” had been Perpetrated by Anyone there. And the Ukrainian Account of the Bucha Matter was Full of FakedInterpretations’ of the ‘Evidencethey were Providing. Nonetheless, on the Morning of April 4th, Washington S The Hillhad bannered Macron, EU official join calls for Further Sanctions over ‘ClearIndications of War Crimes in Bucha. The Neocon Lynch Mob were out for BloodRussian Blood. It was just Another Day in Their Empire, and Russia was One of the Few Countries they hadn T Yet Conquered. So now, Rhey LL Use the Incident to ‘JustifyAdding Sanctions against Russia, Regardless Whether It had Actually Been Fraudulent and the Criminality Perpetrated by Ukraine. It S Just the Same as They had Done with the MH17 Airliner Shoot Down over Ukraine, Blamed on Russia but Perpetrated Actually by Ukraine, in Order to Meet Obama S Demand for AJustificationto Add Yet More Sanctions against Russia.

Since that S their Objective, Russia Requested at the UN Security Council an Independent International Investigation of the Bucha Site, but the UK Voted the Proposal Down There, in Order to Allow Ukraine S Lies and FakedEvidence’ to Control the Public S ‘Understanding’ of the Situation. I agree with Alex Christaforu S View (as is Superbly Explained at the Link there) (Except that I do Not Agree with his Gratuitous Praise There of Trump) that Thisis Aimed, by the UK US Regimes, and by Their Supporters (the “Neo Cons”), Actually against Germany, So as Keep It Inside the US UK Empire, against Russia.

But Not ONLY that. All of This is Actually the US UK Empire S Public Opinion Management in Order to Strong Arm the Leaders of Europe to Destroy their Own NationsEconomies (by Keeping Them US Allied) and to Keep Them as vassal-nations of the US UK Empire – to Keep America as Being the N° 1 World Power. The US Regime is Even Blocking Russia S Foreign Debt Payments So As to Produce A Russian Default, which would be blamed on Russia – NOT on the Imperial Regime Itself, Which Forced It. So would that Neo Con Strategy (To Hold the US UK Empire Together, including Europe against Russia) be More Difficult if Putin had Waited until Zelensky Invaded Donbass? I think it would. That Strategy had worked (via the Pearl Harbor Attack) for FDR, in order to get America United to Join the Allied Powers against Hitler, and Subsequently to help get Global Public Opinion Increasingly United against Hitler (by Exposing that Hitler S Side WAS the Aggressors Side) and in Favor of the Allied Cause and I think that Putin, by What he did on February 24th, has Missed his Chance to Use that Strategy Here.
.Originally Posted at The Duran

Investigative Historian Eric Zuesse S Next Book (soon to be Published) will be AMERICA S EMPIRE OF EVIL Hitler S Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change. It S about How America took over the World after World War II in Order to Enslave It to US and Allied Billionaires. Their Cartels Extract the World S Wealth by Control of Not Only TheirNewsMedia but the SocialSciences’ – Duping the Public.

Meer informatie
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Eric+Zuesse
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Chris+Hedges
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Vladimir+Putin
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Russia
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Joseph+Biden
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Barack+Obama
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Hillary+Clinton
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Victoria+Nuland
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Billionaires
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Nazis
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Obama+Coup
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=US
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=USA
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=America
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Viktor+Janukovych
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Volodymyr+Zelensky
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=National+Police+Ukraine
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Euro+Maidan+Nazis
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Ukraine|
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Romania
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Slowenia
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Poland
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Finland
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Sweden
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Germany
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Adolf+Hitler
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=EU
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=EU+Rapid+Deployment+Force
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=European+Union
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=European+Commission
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=NATO
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=NAVO
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=UN
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=United+Nations
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Cold+War
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Bucha
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Donbass
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Crimea
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Ethnic+Cleansing