Weekend Quotables
Drums of war beating again
Bertolt Brecht
When the leaders speak of peace
The common folk know
That war is coming
When the leaders curse war
The mobilization order is already written out.
Cold War News
…and things were going so well for the Democrats until now.
This weekend’s headlines:
Shares shudder at a potential Ukraine conflict, the UAE blocks a missile attack, and another coup may be underway in West Africa, Two U.S. aircraft carrier groups have entered the disputed South China Sea. — Reuters
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as an escalation of tensions over Ukraine.
The New York Times said Biden was considering plans to send 1,000 to 5,000 troops to eastern European countries, with the possibility of sending more should tensions flare further.
Buckle up.
Cold War inevitably turns to hot war.
When big hegemonic powers have no place left to expand their spheres of influence, there’s nothing left for them to do but go at each other’s territory. So Pres. Biden wants to bring Ukraine into NATO and Pres. Putin is committed to keeping NATO away from Russia’s border, bringing the world once again to the brink of nuclear war.
Over the weekend, Pres. Biden, under mounting pressure from the right to “show American strength”, announced that he was committing US (“NATO”) troops to Eastern Europe along with millions of dollars in “lethal aid” to the Ukrainian military. (Oh, the language that they use.)
Biden apparently needs a good war, or at least the threat of one, to pull him and the Democrats out of their domestic political doldrums. He’s also afraid of being labeled as a weak president, or the guy who “lost Ukraine” like he “lost Afghanistan.”
How ironic, since just a couple of years ago, Trump was being scalded by the Dems for being buddy-buddy with Putin, for unilaterally pulling US troops out of Afghanistan, and for trying to dismantle NATO.
It can only leave people here and around the world more cynical and wondering what this Ukraine business is really all about?
QUOTABLES
John Daniszewski
The crisis, Daniszewski writes, carries echoes of the Cold War and resurrects an idea leftover from the 1945 Yalta Conference: that the West should respect a Russian sphere of influence in Central and Eastern Europe. — AP
NATO statement
The NATO statement said Denmark, Spain, France, and the Netherlands were all planning or considering sending troops, planes, or ships to eastern Europe. Ukraine shares borders with four NATO countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
"The United States has also made clear that it is considering increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance," it said. — Statement
Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov
"This is not happening because of what we, Russia, are doing. This is all happening because of what NATO and the U.S. are doing and due to the information they are spreading." —Reuters
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
…said an invasion was not inevitable, but “the intelligence is pretty gloomy.” He added, “I think that sense can still prevail.” — HuffPost
China’s UN envoy
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 22 — Commenting on a "fact sheet" of the U.S. mission to the United Nations (UN), a Chinese envoy said Friday that it is ridiculous for the U.S. mission to claim countering China's influence as its achievement at the world body. — Xinhua