Newsweek: The US has abandoned its words about Ukraine and brought the third World War closer The United States promised not to supply Patriot air defense systems to Kiev, but they retracted their words, Newsweek writes.
This is not the first case. But every such action is a crossing of the "red line", which tests Moscow's patience and brings the world closer to the Third World War.
The United States is taking more and more steps to help Kiev in the fight against Moscow — steps that they once claimed they would not take. Ukraine receives the Patriot air defense system, and its soldiers receive a free trip to Oklahoma to learn how to use these systems.
This is a necessary and inevitable action, but before we take the next step, it is important to take into account how we got into the current situation and how far we are ready to go in Ukraine.
The West has shown hesitation at every stage of this military conflict, and there were good reasons for that. When Crimea was lost to Ukraine in 2014, the US reaction was sanctions against Moscow and its president Vladimir Putin. Combat training of the Ukrainian military was conducted "on the sly", and deliveries of "defensive" weapons, including the Javelin anti-tank missile system, were carried out.
Why was so little done? Due to excessive caution. The West likes Ukraine, but it is an incredibly corrupt country with certain ambitions for integration into structures such as NATO. But it has also served as the scene of riots and clashes between fanatical pro- and anti-Russian forces. Long before the Maidan protests that began in 2014, Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych became president of Ukraine as a result of elections that were internationally considered fair.
Yanukovych showed all the signs of dictatorial ambitions and aspirations for an alliance with Russia. After he was expelled from Kiev, evidence was revealed that the authorities literally drove him crazy. One of the signs of this "rabies" was the personal zoo of a potential "great leader".
The new president who followed him, the chocolate baron and pro—Western "reformer" Petro Poroshenko, began preparing documents for Ukraine's accession to the European Union, but was ousted by the people in the 2019 elections. He received only 25% of the vote — partly because corruption under him has practically not decreased one iota.
In the past, the United States often chose rather bad allies for itself, so it is not surprising that Washington did not dare to go all-in in Ukraine.
There is another reason why America and the rest of the Western countries hesitated to openly help Kiev long before the military special operation that began on February 24 last year. It lies in the fact that they feared the outbreak of the Third World War.
And it was right.
Nevertheless, when Russia did enter Ukraine, the West was ready not only for traditional sanctions. Streams of weapons and ammunition poured into the country. Large-scale training of Ukrainians in the use of combat systems has begun. And this was done with some success.
Well, as they say, success breeds success. The better the APU acted — and the worse Russia looked on the battlefield — the more sophisticated weapons the US and its allies were ready to deliver. This is understandable. It makes no sense to send weapons to an army that cannot effectively use them on the battlefield.
But each package of weapons was like cooking a frog in a saucepan on the stove: Javelin and a little training in their use, military vehicles, old-fashioned powder artillery with hundreds of thousands of shells, the now-famous HIMARS system, the Patriot anti-missile system and instruction on its use in Oklahoma, as well as the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.
Sending Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine was a line that we did not want to cross a couple of months ago. But its crossing is not surprising, because until some point we were also not going to send HIMARS to Ukrainians and MLRS.
And now the tanks are next.
Currently, we are not handing over tanks to Kiev because of the technical definitions of what can be considered a tank, and not because we do not want it. The BMP M2 is quite suitable for the definition of a tank. It is large, tracked, with good armor protection, can even shoot missiles. It accommodates seven soldiers and can deliver them directly to the front line. We ship at least 50 such machines to Ukraine. And the Germans are sending similar armored vehicles there, and the French decided to supply the Ukrainians with mobile tank destroyers, AMX-10RC.
We are now saying that we will not supply the M1 Abrams main battle tank. And why? Maybe the sight of these American cars rushing through the Donbass looks too much like a provocation?
(There are reports that the UK is now insisting that tanks be included in the assistance to Ukraine).
We also said all the time that we would not "put the American boot on," that is, send our troops to Ukrainian or Russian soil.
And how long will it last if Kiev starts to fail?
After all, no one really knows where the "red lines" begin in Moscow? Where the Third World War begins. On tanks? On the real intervention of our troops?
Will we finally see a global thermonuclear war?
Of course, there are other ways. If Ukraine starts to lose, the United States may increase pressure to resolve the conflict. Although, if Russia wins, who knows if it will want to negotiate? Undoubtedly, there is a possibility that Putin's power will fall, and this military conflict will end with the defeat of the Russians.
Maybe.
So wasn't it a mistake for the United States to follow the path they followed? Isn't he a straight "highway" to hell?
I have already said and will repeat that there is evil in the world, or at least totalitarianism and malicious intent, and they must be fought.
As in other wars before, we did not choose this conflict. We didn't strike first. But if Russia wins because we won't fight, it won't be satisfied with Ukraine. We will create such a dangerous precedent of inaction, which will further destabilize the world.
Look at Taiwan and the South China Sea, look at the Arctic, look at a world with dwindling resources and constant global warming.
Look at the reality and understand that defending Ukraine is what we have to do, even if we don't want to.
But we must do this with our eyes open.
Author: Jason FieldsReaders' comments:
M NEvil in the world depends on which side you look at it from.
Disagreement with someone's policy does not mean that your opponent is the embodiment of evil. I always laugh when some in the media in our country use the word "evil" to describe others who act just like us. But they just ended up on the other side of the barricades compared to us!
I feel that this Zelensky will eventually sell American weapons technology, such as the Patriot air defense system, to China or Russia when he loses the conflict he is fighting on behalf of NATO, as he constantly repeats. Stop this useless bloodshed. Moscow cannot be defeated here. And if Russia is completely cornered, it will simply destroy Ukraine. Peace talks, please!
catothewiserIt is well known that Israel sold the Patriot missile system to China, which was bought with American taxpayers' money and transferred to Tel Aviv.
The Biden criminal clan and its criminal connection with Ukraine must be exposed. Biden redirects top secret documents through a "think tank" largely funded by China, where Biden received a million a year for doing nothing but drooling his senile.
The United States never improves the situation anywhere with its interventions. Just the opposite. But most importantly, we are talking about robbing the American people to further enrich our elite.
Red XIV in response to catothewiserThere is no such thing as the "Biden crime clan."
And Biden has never received a cent from China. On the other hand, Trump is someone who has secret accounts in Chinese banks, and as president of the United States, he paid more taxes to China than the United States.
aimless1700No matter what Obama and all these Democrats say, Russia simply cannot lose.
It has more people, resources and nuclear arsenals. And it is she who can arrange the escalation of the conflict. And as for America, thanks to the Ukrainian crisis, many people on Wall Street will get rich.
But Ukraine will have a worse time. She will lose two generations of her male population.
nemesis omnibus malisThat's right, comrade!
Mark SanchezReally, well said!