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UKRAINE WAR HEATING UP, WEAPONS & MONEY POURING IN
Western countries have so far resisted squaring off against Russia despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but Europe and other countries have shown a willingness to—in some cases—break from tradition and provide Kyiv with financing and weaponry to take on Russia.
GERMANY: Perhaps most notable was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision to send Kyiv 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles. He also announced that Germany would increase its own military spending due to the threat from Russia. Germany will now spend $112.7 billion—or 2 percent of its GDP on its military each year.
Germany, the E.U.’s largest economy, is a major producer of weapons and Saturday’s decision also allows the exportation of private weapons to conflict areas. Scholtz called Russia’s invasion a “turning point.”
“This might be one of the biggest shifts in German foreign policy since WWII,” Marcel Dirsus, a German political scientist and fellow at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, told The Washington Post. “There has been an awakening, not just by the political class, but also by ordinary voters.”
The pivot from Berlin was extraordinary. Germany was mocked for refusing to allow Britain to use its airspace to deliver anti-tank missiles to Kyiv just weeks ago.
Of course, Schultz received praise in the media for taking a more aggressive stance after the invasion. France 24 ran an article, “BORING TO ‘HISTORIC’: THE AWAKENING OF GERMANY’S OLAF SCHOLZ.” The station—like other corporate media outlets—know peacetime is boring—and can’t wait to report on these new weapons being used.
U.S.: Washington announced the approval of $350 million in weapons and armor for Kyiv after the Russian invasion—which sits on top of the $1 billion in military aid the U.S. has already provided to the country.
President Joe Biden told the U.S. State Department to release the weapons through the Foreign Assistance Act. Reuters reported that Kyiv wants Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stinger missiles. Defense One said the Raytheon-produced missile could disable a tank and is light enough to be carried by one soldier.
Last month, we reported that weapons manufacturers in the U.S. are bullish on war and told investors that the profits will surely follow. (See “WAR MACHINE MAKING BILLIONS.”)
This is the third such authorization and the weapons—which included various munitions and anti-aircraft systems—will be pulled from the U.S.’s stockpile.
“Today, as Ukraine fights with courage and pride against Russia’s brutal and unprovoked assault, I have authorized, pursuant to a delegation by the president, an unprecedented third presidential drawdown of up to 350 million for immediate support to Ukraine’s defense,” Blinken said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he ordered his nuclear forces on high alert due to “aggressive statements” by NATO. Biden said Monday that Americans should not be concerned about a nuclear confrontation with Moscow.
“This is really a pattern that we’ve seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression– and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary said.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Prague announced Saturday that it will send a shipment of weapons to Ukraine worth over $8.5 million. Petr Fiala announced the shipment in a tweet and said the weapons will include machine guns, submachine guns, sniper rifles, and pistols—along with ammunition.
Fiala said that he would welcome Ukraine becoming a member of the European Union.
Radio Free Europe said the weapons will be delivered to a place that is determined by Ukrainian leadership. The report said Prague has already donated about 4,000 pieces of artillery shells to the country, worth about $1.7 million.
NETHERLANDS: Amsterdam announced that it will send 200 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Kyiv in the effort to hold back the Russian invaders. These weapons are capable of countering various warplanes and helicopters.
The Dutch government also said it will send Ukraine 50 Panzerfaust-3 anti-tank weapons and 400 rockets. Reuters reported that Amsterdam and Berlin are considering arming Slovakia with a Patriot air defense system.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the country is not at war with “the Russian people” but said more military movements will likely be made in the Netherlands in the coming weeks, The Netherlands Times reported.
BELGIUM: The government in Brussels announced that it will send Ukrainian fighters 2,000 machine guns and 3,800 tons of fuel, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said, according to Reuters.
“I just spoke to President Zelensky about Belgium’s additional efforts to support Ukraine against Russia’s brutal aggression,” De Croo tweeted on Saturday. “We also discussed extra measures to be taken at the European and international level. We stand with you, people of Ukraine.”
FRANCE: The French government announced that it will provide Ukraine with additional military equipment after the Russian invasion, but has been vague on the amount and the weaponry.
“You can imagine that shipping the equipment is complicated at the moment,” a military spokesman from the country said, Reuters reported.
President Emmanuel Macron, who faces an election next month, said France will provide Kyiv with 300 million euros as additional budgetary assistance during the conflict.
BRITAIN: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Britain will be providing additional aid to Ukraine after the Russian attack. The aid will include lethal defensive weapons and “major” loan guarantees for the country. The U.K. Defense Journal reported that the United Kingdom has already sent Ukraine anti-tank weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly made Johnson a “shopping list” of weapons he needed to fight the Russians. Johnson assured him that these weapons can be flown to Poland and driven to Kyiv, The Daily Mail reported. The report pointed out that the U.K. has already sent 2,000 Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapons to Ukraine.
FINLAND: Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister, announced that the country will send 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 bullets, 1,500 anti-tank weapons and 70,000 food packages to Kyiv, according to Reuters.
The report pointed out that the move was a shift in policy for a country that—since 1956—has “maintained an image” on non-alignment.
“The material package now being presented takes into account Finland’s own defense needs and what kind of help Ukraine needs,” Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen wrote in a tweet. “Help will be delivered as soon as possible.”
SWEDEN: Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Sunday that Stockholm will send 135,000 field rations, 5,000 helmets, 5,000 body shields, and 5,000 anti-tank weapons, according to The Daily Sabah.
AUSTRALIA: Just a week after Canberra said it would only fund military-technical assistance for Kyiv, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Tuesday that his government has committed $50 million in lethal defensive weapons for Ukraine.
“We’re talking missiles, we’re talking ammunition, we’re talking supporting them in their defense of their own homeland in Ukraine and we will be doing that in partnership with NATO.”
TREND FORECAST: The United States will not enter into a one-on-one military conflict with Russia or China. Indeed, they could not even beat the Taliban or win the “Mission Accomplished” Iraq war.
TRENDPOST: The White House has refused to acknowledge its own failed diplomacy that Ukrainians are now paying for. Russia told the U.S. and NATO clearly that it wants NATO to stop expanding and does not want Ukraine to join.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said no deal on both fronts. Moscow called those two issues its red line and decided to act. The Biden administration now finds itself having to tell Americans that they don’t need to worry about nuclear war.
Of course, you need to worry about nuclear war. Putin has nothing to lose and will never let Ukraine or its comedian president embarrass him on the world’s stage. The U.S. has to figure out how to de-escalate the situation. It was Sun Tzu who wrote, “Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.”
Despite all of America’s tough talk, Gerald Celente has pointed out that the American military has not won a war since WWII and has been stacking up defeats, including the recent retreat from Afghanistan. (See “DUH! PENTAGON SURPRISED BY CHINA’S TEST OF HYPERSONIC MISSILE,” “PENTAGON: TARGET CHINA” and “U.S. ‘ALREADY LOST’ AI WAR WITH CHINA, PENTAGON’S FORMER SOFTWARE CHIEF SAYS.”)
Yet, as they have since the end of World War II, Washington and their Presstitutes will continue their fear and hysteria Cold War rhetoric to frighten its masses while enriching the military manufacturing mob.
Gerald Celente’s forecast that America would lose the war when President George W. Bush launched it in October 2001—with 88 percent of Americans’ support—was prescient.
The vast majority of the nation believed Bush’s bullshit at the time and admonished Celente for his forecast.
Indeed, as noted in the movie What Zizi Gave Honeyboy, after being a major media favorite, Celente was banned from the airwaves for telling the media America would lose the Afghan War.
TRENDPOST: Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev was promised back in 1989 that NATO would not reach farther east than the German border, but that has proven to be a lie and there are now NATO missiles 100 miles from the Russian border in Poland.
Chris Hedges, the independent journalist, wrote that there was a brief time of hope that the world could spend money on social projects instead of the massive military complex, but that proved to be wishful thinking.
The war industry acted fast to urge countries like Poland, Hungary, and Latvia to join the alliance to reap the benefits of having to militarize these countries to meet NATO’s standards. Hedges wrote that many of these smaller countries took out monster loans in their efforts.
He said NATO’s expansion was swift, Russia became the enemy again, and now there is a NATO missile system in a base in Poland 100 miles from the Russian border.
“War, after all, it’s a business, a very lucrative one. It is why we spent two decades in Afghanistan although there was universal consensus after a few years of fruitless fighting that we had waded into the quagmire we could never win,” he wrote.
He also pointed to the Clinton administration’s promise in 1997 to Moscow that no combat troops would be stationed in Eastern Europe, but he wrote that the promise turned out to be a lie.
TRENDPOST: Long forgotten was the U.S. and NATO’S pledge not to expand into Eastern Europe following the deal made during the 1990 negotiations between the West and the Soviet Union over German unification.
Therefore, in the view of Russia, it is taking self-defense actions to protect itself from NATO’s eastward march.
As detailed in The Los Angeles Times back in May of 2016, while the U.S. and NATO deny that no such agreement was struck, “…hundreds of memos, meeting minutes and transcripts from U.S. archives indicate otherwise.” The article states:
“According to transcripts of meetings in Moscow on Feb. 9, then-Secretary of State James Baker suggested that in exchange for cooperation with Germany, the U.S. could make ‘iron-clad guarantees’ that NATO would not expand ‘one inch eastward.’ Less than a week later, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to begin reunification talks.
No formal deal was struck, but from all the evidence, the quid pro quo was clear: Gorbachev acceded to Germany’s western alignment and the U.S. would limit NATO’s expansion.”
PRESSTITUTES WHO SOLD COVID WAR, WANT TO RAMP UP UKRAINE WAR
Richard Engel, the chief foreign correspondent for NBC News, faced backlash on social media on Monday when he wondered aloud just how long Western countries could just stand around and watch Russia invade Ukraine.
“Perhaps the biggest risk-calculation/moral dilemma of the war so far,” he tweeted. “A massive Russian convoy is abot 30 miles from Kyiv. The US/NATO could likely destroy it. But that would be direct involvement against Russia and risk everything. Does the West watch in silence as it rolls?”
Engel was likely referring to the 40-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles taking shape outside of Kyiv for an apparent future assault. Russia has reportedly made a few missteps in the early stages of the war, and some analysts see this convoy as its fatal blow on the capital.
Engel’s suggestion that there was a “moral dilemma” over a move that could spark a nuclear war was met with sharp criticism.
“You view starting world war III, involving the use of nuclear weapons and the end of human civilization, as a “moral dilemma”? In fact, you don’t. You know that the (U.S.) decision to wage war against Russia is already taken, and it’s your job to sell it to the public,” Andre Damon, a writer for WSWS.org tweeted.
Tommy Vietor, a former spokesman for President Barack Obama, also responded to Engel’s post, “The way you tweet about whether the US and NATO should engage in a full-on war against a nuclear-armed super power is shockingly glib. It’s not as simple as “watch in silence as it rolls” or not. The stakes are risking nuclear annihilation.”
NATO and its allies have been clear that they will not intervene due to the risk of sparking a third world war.
But media outlets in the U.S. see that the COVID-19 War is winding down (at least for now) and they have months before the midterm elections.
What would get more clicks on a news website for longer: Putin issuing a public apology and leaving his troops in Ukraine—to help clean up the mess, or 24-hour news cycles focused on cellphone video of the latest Russian tank explosion and debate about a new, threatening message from the Kremlin?
Andrea Chalupa, a journalist, told MSNBC on Monday that the world has not seen Russia’s true power up to this point in its conflict with Ukraine, and said the West needs to begin the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Ukraine—which means a U.S. war with Russia.
“This is war-mongering idiocy with no sense of the stakes, definitions, and actual significance of these words,” Eric Reinhart, a Harvard anthropologist, responded.
TRENDPOST: Journalism is dead. Little boys and girls working for the mainstream media have degraded into Presstitutes. Rather than reporting facts and data they skew the “news” with their opinions to inflate their egos. We’ve reported in the Trends Journal the effort that news outlets make to sell fear, and there is no better example than the COVID-19 outbreak. (See “PRESSTITUTES KEEP SELLING COVID FEAR,” “LOCKDOWN LIES IGNORED BY PRESSTITUTES. DISMISSED BY D.C.” and “CORPORATE MEDIA LIES ABOUT TRUCKER PROTEST BY CALLING THEM ‘FAR-RIGHT.”