It is not as if those in the West who created the ongoing Ukrainian debacle were not informed of the dangers inherent in the exercise of bringing it into NATO. Prominent figures within both academic and governmental positions repeatedly warned against NATO expansion and specifically against the inclusion of Ukraine into NATO.
The architect of the West’s containment policy regarding the Soviet Union during the Cold War, George Kennan, said this of NATO’s expansion eastward:
''I think it is the beginning of a new cold war. I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves.''
The present CIA chief, William J. Burns said this in a cable in 2008 when he was U.S. ambassador to Russia:
“Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin).” “I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests.”
Then we have Angela Merkel, a key figure opposing Ukraine joining NATO:
‘German Chancellor Angela Merkel was one of the key opponents to giving Georgia and Ukraine a Membership Action Plan at the April 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit.’
These are only a few of the many who gave stern warnings concerning the folly of the approach of George W. Bush who pushed through a statement in 2008 against all opposition saying that both Georgia and Ukraine would join NATO at some point.
All expert opinion was ignored in a mix of hubris, unspeakable levels of ignorance and reckless unconcern. Now we see how the avoidance of sound advice regarding NATO expansion and Ukrainian inclusion in NATO is unravelling so many issues intimately connected to the conflict in Ukraine.
The USA and its allies are now on an unstoppable downward trajectory as they continue to lose influence, partly it must be assumed because of the recklessness that has been displayed over the issue of Ukraine and NATO. A figure approaching half a million are dead or injured. The power of the U.S. dollar to control markets and exert pressure via unilateral sanctions is declining by the direct actions of states that were once tightly bound into the U.S. global economic network. The reputation of figures such as Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken and the coterie of yes-men and women around them is at rock bottom and those such as neoconservative, Victoria Nuland have little better reputation than common criminals.
All came from those initial stages of self-deception and pure ignorance demonstrated by George W. Bush exacerbated by year after year of doubling down rather than backtracking through good, pragmatic common sense. Now there is no wriggle room left, by constantly doubling down rather than seeking a diplomatic compromise, the political and military elites of the USA cannot help but face total humiliation at the very least… and nuclear annihilation at worst.
The most devastating factor for the West that surmounts all others in the medium to long term however, is the global effect weakening the western position that has reached its peak during the Ukraine crisis. Multiple nations, previously restrained in their actions, are now quite clearly distancing themselves from the western powers and increasingly looking eastward for allies. The migration to the BRICS group demonstrates this with obvious geopolitical clarity and demonstrates if nothing else does that the mistakes of the western powers culminating in the disastrous Ukraine policy are having a disastrous effect that will endure. A fully-fledged multipolar world where western power is severely curtailed if not fully quarantined is now fast emerging.
None of this was unavoidable and in the case of Ukraine this is especially true. Contrary to the lies underpinning the absolutely flawed policy of doubling down of the western powers, Vladimir Putin sought peace all down the line in respect of Ukraine and right up to the end when it became clear to him that the western powers never did have any intention to agree a peaceful solution to the situation. Even as late as the winter months of 2021 Russia sought an agreement to pursue a new security architecture for the whole of Europe. Putin made his appeal directly to NATO and to the Biden administration. His appeals were rejected. Just as his earlier request that Russia should be allowed to join both the EU and NATO was rejected.
Now we stand at a crossroads for the West. Potentially one last chance to turn things around exists. But will the western powers pursue that last chance and convince the Zelensky regime to seek peace? The chances are slim. The greater likelihood is that the U.S. and its allies will attempt to double down yet again, hoping that their luck will change this time and their reputations, at the very last moment, will be saved.
Meanwhile, somewhere between 400 and 600 men die each day the conflict continues. Isn’t it time therefore for the leaders of the western world to recognise that the lives of these human beings is SO much more important than the dubious reputations they appear so much more concerned with? History cannot but have an extremely harsh judgement on these wilfully reckless and ignorant men and women, those that made these mistakes of such colossal and catastrophic proportions regarding Ukraine.
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