Even Gorbachov is warning the West that their wild provocations against Russia are leading the world to thermonuclear war. This article is in the current issue of EIR.Mike Billington
Gorbachov's WarningU.S.-Russia Conflict Would Inevitably Turn 'Nuclear'Jan. 11—Mikhail Gorbachov, the last leader of theSoviet Union, warned, in an interview published byGermany’s Der Spiegel, on Jan. 9, that the U.S.-Russiaconfrontation over Ukraine could lead to a major war.“Such a war today would inevitably turn into a nuclearwar. If someone loses their nerve because of the acri-monious atmosphere, we will not survive the comingyear,” he said. “I do not say this lightly. This is of trulythe utmost concern to me.”This is just the latest of Gorbachov’s high-profilewarnings of the potential consequences of British/NATO policy toward Russia—which have been echoedrecently by top members of the political class in Ger-many, France, and Italy. Gorbachov decried the “loss of trust”between Russia and the West as “catastrophic,” and said tiesmust be “defrosted.” Gorbachov accused the West andNATO of destroying the structure of European secu-rity by expanding its alliance. “No head of the Krem-lin can ignore such a thing,” he said, adding that theU.S. was unfortunately starting to establish a “mega-empire.”Gorbachov also blasted the role of Germany in thecurrent crisis and, in doing so, reminded it of its ownhistory. “The new Germany wants its hands in everypie. There seem to be a lot of people who want to beinvolved in a new division of Europe,” he said. “Ger-many has already tried to expand its influence of powertowards the East—in World War II. Does it really needanother lesson?”Gorbachov also denounced the U.S. sanctionsagainst Russia as “damn stupid and highly dangerous.”Gorbachov, who has been viewed inside post-SovietRussia as an asset of European financial factions morethan a Russian patriot, was not alone in his warningsabout a potential global catastrophe if the West does notback off from its blatant regime-change drive againstRussian President Vladimir Putin.A ‘Warning Shot at Hollande’s Head’French President François Hollande delivered sev-eral pointed warnings last week to the effect that thecontinuation of Western sanctions against Russia was agrave error and should be abandoned immediately. OnJan. 4, Hollande gave an interview to a French TV net-work, in which he warned that the Russian crisis is notgood for Europe. “Sanctions must be stopped now,” hetold the nationwide network. Two days later, he re-peated the same call for an end to the anti-Russia anticsand specifically, an end to the economic sanctions thathave are at least as devastating for Europe as they arefor Russia.The fact that terrorists attacked the Paris offices ofCharlie Hebdo just three days later, was a “warningshot at Hollande’s head,” according to one former cab-inet-level official.A week ago Sunday, German SPD national chair-man—who is also deputy chancellor and minister ofeconomics in the Merkel government—gave an inter-view to Bild am Sonntag, demanding an end to the Rus-sian sanctions, declaring that “we should solve theUkraine crisis and not force Russia to its knees.”Even the foreign minister of Latvia, who is now therotating president of the European Union, was adamantagainst further provocations against Moscow. ForeignMinister Edgars Rinkevics reported that Russia wasperfectly willing to hold talks on Ukraine to bring thesanctions to an end. He urged European leaders to cometogether later in the month in Astana with PresidentPutin and Ukrainian President Poroshenko, to finalize aworking agreement.Political directors of the foreign ministries ofRussia, Ukraine, Germany, and France met in Berlin onJan. 5, followed by a phone call reviewing the progressof the talks, between Russia’s Sergei Lavrov and hisGerman counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. A meet-ing of the four ministers is scheduled for Jan. 12 inBerlin, and there are still plans for a summit of the fourheads of state of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukrainein Astana, Kazakhstan sometime in January. On Jan. 9,Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was in Berlin,meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, to work outfinal plans for the summit, among other pressing mat-ters.Even NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbergnoted, following the Jan. 7 terrorist attack in Paris, thatNATO and Russia have a common interest in defeatingthe scourge of global terrorism. Speaking in Bavariajust before meeting with the leadership of the Germancoalition partner Christian Socialist Union (CSU), Stol-tenberg too called for cooperation with Moscow. Thiswas in stark contrast to the bellicose anti-Putin rhetoricof his predecessor as NATO chief, Anders Fogh Ras-mussen.Former Czech President Vaclav Klaus added hisvoice to those pushing back against the war danger bydeclaring that it would be a “major unforgiveable risk”to blame Russia for the Ukraine crisis.War Party Not Backing DownDespite this resistance against the growing dangerof general war, the war party was by no means silent.On Jan. 9, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatse-nyuk (U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europeanand Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland’s “our man Yats”)visited Chancellor Merkel in Berlin. In ajoint press conference with Merkel, Yatse-nyuk delivered a series of personal accusa-tions against Russian President Putin with-out a shred of evidence—including thatPutin had ordered the hacking of Germangovernment computers, and that he wasbehind sending “bandits” into easternUkraine to fight against the Kiev govern-ment forces.During that press conference, Yatse-nyuk appeared to be directly apologizingfor Hitler, by referring to the liberation ofUkraine and Germany at the close of WorldWar II as a Soviet “invasion.” Efforts to“clarify” the remarks (which appeared inthe world media via translation fromUkrainian to German) largely fell on deafears, as genuine statesmen came outstrongly against the Yats comments. CzechPresident Milos Zeman blasted Yatsenyuk as the “primeminister of war,” and delivered a sophisticated distinc-tion between Yatsenyuk and Ukrainian President Poro-shenko, who has called for the convening of the Astanaheads of state meeting to settle the Ukraine crisis.German sources believe that Yats’ deployment was spe-cifically directed at breaking up any progress in the on-going talks between Lavrov and Steinmeier.In a related development, the Pentagon announcedlast week the planned closing of 15 U.S. military basesin Europe—at a time when the actual size of the Ameri-can military force in Europe is on the rise. The target listof closed bases is centered in the United Kingdom andWestern Europe, while the growth factor is all in theEast, including the planned deployment of a tank bri-gade to some as-yet-undisclosed locations further East.The gravest danger is that the widening gap betweenMoscow and Washington’s narrative of the Ukrainecrisis is a driver for war, and that President Obama’scontinuing venom against Putin is a crucial factor push-ing confrontation.Russia has made clear that its own buildup of itsstrategic force is aimed at deterring a Western attack.Pentagon planners now see the Russian buildup in thepast year as creating a dangerous gap at the level of Eu-ropean security and strategic deterrence. Not since theCuban Missile Crisis of 1962 has the world been soclose to global thermonuclear confrontation
Monday, January 19, 2015
U.S.-Russia Conflict Would Inevitably Turn 'Nuclear'
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