Towards a large-scale war in Europe?

I have NEVER heard Peter Lavelle from RT's CrossTalk mention the possibility of war before:

Just a quick observation: As I pointed out at the start of last summer, Ukraine’s civil war is morphing into an intra-civil war as well. The loose knit Kiev coalition is collapsing, while eyeing the east with Washington’s support. Thus, the worst of all-possible worlds is now at hand. We are way past the tipping point – Ukraine is destroyed and we face the unthinkable – a large scale war in Europe again. Caveat: Russia will NOT back down…

----Peter Lavelle

NATO Is Marching Towards Russia, and They Have No Idea What Awaits Them

America is fully aware that the way to draw Russia into a conflict is to push forward towards Russia's borders. In time, Russia will be forced to defend its right ot exist, and when this happens, western powers will not know what hit them

Many have tried to fight Russia but few have succeeded

Russia Insider,

23 March, 2015

This article originally appeared at Mat Rodina

American politicians in particular and European politicians in general are some of the most ignorant fools when the issue comes to anything outside their own borders. When it comes to Russia, it is an engima wrapped in a mystery... but only because, dear readers, no one has every bothered to try to understand Russians and the Russian world view.

One important historical fact about Russia is that Russia is a unique civilizational empire built upon defense not offense. What this means is that historically, Russia does not start the wars, or series of wars (though it may strike first in a confrontation that is punctuated by a series of wars). In Russian history, Russian leaders, since Russia's baptism to Orthodoxy, have tried hard to avoid war with our neighbors, though just about every time this has failed. In parallel, as much as we do not like war, and in Orthodoxy killing in combat is still a sin as we do not have the heresy of Just War, we are very very good at killing and destroying. A paradox, but it is the reality.

This was so profound that in the summer of 1914, the Tsar Nicholas II, when war was eminent, even haulted mobilization to try and defuse the situation one more time and talk the Austrians and Germans out of what would become the great tragedy of early 20th century.

The problems with modern, and in truth historical, Western politicos is that these guys are absolute fools with no understanding of the Russian psyche and are sure to be the cause of WW3, be it intentional or accidental. They are projecting their psyche onto Russians.

What this means is that they are projecting a typical negative reinforcement mentality. Europe and the US are societies built on constant aggression towards neighbors. Aggression like that is staved by building up a credible large counter force of allies and blocks, which causes fear of defeat and deescalation...your typical European balance of forces approach.

Russia is a defensive empire, that is, most wars or series of wars were not started by Russians but by enemies attacking or massing on Russia's borders. After 800 years of almost non-stop aggression by Europeans, Russia does not tolerate any enemy massing on her borders in what appears as a preparation for invasion or the creation of large scales basing areas as would be a US neo-con dominated Ukraine.This is also coupled with the Russian approach of not abandoning Russians (ethnic or cultural) and allies, as opposed to Anglo society where back stabbing allies when the opportunity to earn exists, is a prized kill.

As such, this is a spiral approach. Any escalation by the foreigners will lead to a direct escalation by Russia and not deescalation. Balance of power does not work when Russia feels her survival threatened. Enough of an enemy escalation in the hope of forcing Russia to back off will generate an exact opposite effect in generating a first strike and total war, as Russia feels her life and existence is threatened by the enemy.

Nothing like putting Russian society in a threatened siege mentality to force the individual chaotic Russian nature to crystallize into one direction: total destruction of the threat and the states that generate it.

Russia's army may be only 1 million but the ready reserve is over 20 million with a follow capability of total mobilization of over 40 more million, and maybe more if one starts counting female combatants and one should.

Last time the factories were run by children, old people and women. Now with massive automation, even more of society is freed up to fight. Since Russian civilization is not just land but a cultural idea/philosophy it generates an absolute fanatical loyalty. This is a loyalty to a culture that allows the temporary surrender of land for time in the understanding that this will then be used, combined with non-stop partisan warfare, to grind down the invader and  decimate him deep in the Russian interior, before marching on his cities and burning them to the ground in revenge.

Europe needs to find some German or Romanian veterans and ask them how much fun they had. Mamal Kurgan, the highest hill in Volgorad (Stalingrad) a 1,5 km sq area had 35.000 identifiable bodies on it, half of them German, after 4 months of fighting. That is more than both sides lost on the beaches of Normandy. In WW2 the Germans were on average having 1 soldier killed every 30 seconds. Figure 3-4 times as many wounded.

The present serving armies of NATO would be used up in 3-4 months. That would amount to almost a million and a half dead and wounded.

NATO would collapse. Greeks would refuse to fight. Serbs would be a war in the middle of all this. Cypriots would refuse to fight. Turkey would likely also refuse to die in a war they could only lose from. Bulgaria would probably have a revolution. Romania and Italy and Spain and Portugal would not long suffer heavy casualties before their unpopular governments were overthrown. France more than likely also. US couldn't fully concentrate their army as they would have to release their grip on all other sectors which in turn would be blowing up.

As for a second front, that is, if America was to invade the Russian far east, well, outside of grabbing Sakhalin and Vladivastok and Khabarovsk, all of which will cost hundreds of thousands of corpses, a US invasion force would be faced with a march of 3000km, or about 1,800 miles to the nearest major oil fields and forced to cover a land area larger then the continental United States, in wilderness terrain, with Russian partisans and the very cold Siberian winter (8 months long) filling the corpse lists on a daily basis. In other words, outside of a temporary land grab, nothing to fear.

Also if things got bad China would step in knowing they are next on the hit list, and thus Siberia would be fairly safe from US forces.

The reality, Americans, Germans, and foolish Poles, is, Russians will fight and 152 million people will fight to the end, not because Putin sits in power, or because we fear the enemy, but because love of Russia, the very idea of Russia, will drive fanatical, well trained and armed with advanced weaponry resistance. Russians will fight regardless of who sits the throne, because we are not fighting for the leader but for Christ and for Russia, the land He gave us as the Third Rome. What exactly will you be fighting for?

I have often denounced EU Times as a source of disinfo. However, I make an exception with this article.

Clearly something is going on.

Check where the links go to. Discrimination and intelligence are the order of the day.

The Guardian is an example of a media source that normally pushes the war line and repeatedly pushes lies - but it also has good journalists who do good stories. Am I to never read anything from the Guardian because of its general line?

The part of the article that I would dismiss as a complete fabricate is about the
"plot to launch a nuclear first-strike against the Russian Federation by Britain

“Prepare For Nuclear War” Russia Warns Citizens As US Tanks Flood Into Europe

EU Times,

23 March, 2015

A new Ministry of Defense (MoD) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that the Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief (MChS) has issued an order for all companies employers to prepare for nuclear war, while at the same time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has slammed the US for flooding Europe with tanks and armored vehicles.

According to this report, the MChS issued their order on 16 March to companies and employers to immediately provide their workers with radiation suits and gas masks as part of the “war orders” issued by President Putin. and which we had previously reported on.

With these “war orders” being necessitated after the uncovering of a United Kingdom plot to launch a nuclear first-strike against the Federation this week, a situation made even graver after the arrest Tuesday (17 March) of US Navy Captain Heather E. Cole for her failing to, likewise, launch American nuclear weapons against Russia on Monday (16 March) this report continues, the Kremlin remains “alarmed” that no one seems to be in charge of the United States anymore.

Raising this “state of alarm” even higher, this report says, was that Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov has still been unable to contact President Barack Obama whom he had just met during a private White House visit a few weeks ago in Washington D.C. wherein the American leader stated he may not be able to stop this war.

With massive combat operations now existing in all of the Federations 9 time zones, the MoD further states in this report, the General Staff has ordered the immediate deployment to combat status of tens-of-thousands more troops bringing the number to over 80,000 now preparing for war.

The MoD further confirms in this report that the Federations strategic nuclear bombers have been mobilized in Crimea and that Iskander nuclear missiles are now being deployed in the Kaliningrad region, which borders Poland and Lithuania, too.

Important to note:

, this MoD report says, are that the Federations military actions are solely in response to the aggressive war moves of the United States against Russia, which includes tomorrows start of the US Army’s 1,100 mile armored column journey along the western border, dubbed “Dragoon Ride”, comprised of American troops from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade (providing air support).

Equally important note, this report continues, is that the threat against the Federations northern border with Norway, where thousands of Norwegian troops continue their “Joint Viking” deployment of armored vehicles and artillery against Russia, continues with no end in иsight.

Most ominously, however, MoD experts in this report say, was President Obama’s order this week to immediately deploy to Germany 800 tracked and wheeled vehicles, which when combined with the 220 Abrams main battle tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles the US has sent to Eastern Europe, the 120 Abrams battle tanks and armored vehicles sent to Latvia, and the hundreds of other tanks and armored vehicles stuffed into Norwegian caves for a US Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB)…all within the past 8 months…the addition of these estimated 1,400 “vehicles of war” to Europe by the Americans clearly show the deadly intentions of the West against Russia.

And to anyone doubting the intentions of the US in wanting to wage war against Russia, this report grimly reminds everyone, it was just 11 months ago that the Obama regime was trumpeting its removal from Europe of America’s last remaining battle tank on the continent, and as we can, in part, read as reported by the Stars and Stripes News Service on 19 April 2014:

“Amidst the still-ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the Obama administration is moving the last U.S. battle tanks from Germany and, thus, from Europe.

At the same time, the Pentagon also is disbanding two of the U.S. Army’s heavy brigades in Germany. Last year, the 170th Infantry out of Baumholder disbanded, while the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade at Grafenwöhr is in the process of doing the same.

John Vandiver reports for Stars and Stripes, April 4, 2014, that the U.S. Army’s 69-year history of basing main battle tanks on German soil quietly ended last month when 22 Abrams tanks, a main feature of armored combat units throughout the Cold War, embarked for the U.S.

On March 18, the remaining tanks were loaded up at the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s (TSC) railhead in Kaiserslautern where they then made the journey to the shipping port in Bremerhaven, Germany. There they boarded a ship bound for South Carolina.

“There is no [U.S.] tank on German soil. It’s a historic moment,” said 21st TSC spokesman Lt. Col. Wayne Marotto.”

As to why and how our world went from last April when no US battle tanks remained in Europe, to 11 months later when they continue to flood onto the continent in the hundreds and thousands, and in the face of a massive Russian military response, should be plain to see for anyone caring to.

Now all that remains to happen is the “planned” false flag incident forcing us all into a war very few will ever know the true reasons for, but which the majority of whom, sadly, will also become its casualties.


Here are some of the main headines from the last day (plus a few from earlier in the month)

Arctic snap check involves 80,000 servicemen — Russia's General Staff

The number of Russian servicemen taking part in the snap checks of the combat readiness in the Arctic has reached 80,000, the chief of the Russian General Staff said on Thursday.

Valery Gerasimov also said 220 aircraft are taking part in the drills..

This next story is of course, misrepresentation. The Russians would have said that Denmarks actions would make it a target in the event of a nuclear war. Just like Putin did NOT say he considered using nukes last year, but had them prepared in case of attack

Russia Threatens Denmark With Nuclear Attack

Tough talk from Russia as it threatens to use nuclear weapons against Denmark. Moscow has warned that if Denmark joins NATO's missile defence shield, the Danish navy will be a fair target for a nuclear attack.

In comments to the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper, Russia's ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin said: "I don't think that Danes fully understand the consequence if Denmark joins the American-led missile defence shield...Denmark would be part of the threat against Russia. It would be less peaceful and relations with Russia will suffer... It is, of course, your own decision - I just want to remind you that your finances and security will suffer."

Comments from Eric Draitser

The Geopolitics of NATO Missiles

Eric Draitser of StopImperialism.org provides his analysis of NATO's missile systems in Eastern Europe. He explains that while the US maintains the missiles are "defensive," they should be understood as part of an aggressive policy aimed at Russia. Draitser notes that Ukraine is only one front in the broader conflict in which NATO expansion plays a key role.

Russian Sub "Caught" By UK Fisherman After Moscow Threatens To Nuke Denmark

As US allies rapidly demonstrate their willingness to abandon Washington on key issues like China’s attempt to move the world away from US-dominated multinational institutions that have held sway for decades, and with NATO simultaneously building a “line of troops” along the Russian border, Moscow seems keen on proving yet again that Russia’s belligerence knob “goes to 11.” As we noted over the weekend, Moscow took the rhetoric up a notch recently when the Kremlin threatened (literally) to blow Danish ships out the water with nuclear missiles, prompting a NATO spokeswoman to dryly note that “such statements do not inspire confidence or contribute to predictability, peace or stability.” 

Poland Calls Military Reservists as US Armored Columns Roll Through Country

The Polish army has summoned its reserve forces for military exercises “immediately,” the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday – the same day a high-profile United States military convoy arrived in the country.

In an interview with a Polish TV station, General Bogusław Pacek, adviser to Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, said such an operation, where reservists are obligated to reach a given military unit within hours, is “the perfect test” of their readiness to perform.

According to a statement issued by the Defense Ministry on Monday, the exercise is “conducted in line with plans to check the operational and mobilization readiness in the Armed Forces in 2015, and stems from the [army’s] need to accumulate well-trained reserve troops.”

General Pacek said military leaders would not be informed about the whereabouts of the unit beforehand so as to ensure reliable results of the test.

Polish military officials told Radio Poland that several reservists have been called to take part in the military exercises. Some 12,000 are to be called for throughout the year.

The US "Dragoon Ride" convoy started last week and traveled from Estonia through Latvia and Lithuania before entering Poland on Monday. Flying US flags, dozens of Stryker and other armored vehicles from the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment are driving down the roads on their way back to their base in Germany.

In an apparent reference to Russia, General Pacek said that the convoy is a sign to "those in the East" that NATO is strong and united.

Operation "Atlantic Resolve," of which the convoy is a part, was launched by the United States following Crimea's reunification with Russia, and has seen the staging of military exercises in states which border Russia, as well as in the Black Sea.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed its concerns over the increasing military presence of NATO forces near Russia's territory and has stressed that Crimea's referendum, in which over 96 percent of Crimean voters backed a move to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia, was held in full compliance with democratic procedures and international rule of law.

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov criticized the “Dragoon Ride,” slamming “some countries, which cockily demonstrate their strength at Russia’s borders.”

US air defense troops are training rapid deployment of advanced missile launchers in Poland

REUTERS/Franciszek Mazur/Agencja GazetaPolish and U.S soldiers look at a Patriot missile defense battery during join exercises at the military grounds in Sochaczew, near Warsaw, March 21, 2015. The U.S. Army Europe has deployed a Patriot missile defence battery as part of joint exercises with Poland aimed at reassuring the NATO member in light of the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.

U.S. air defense troops are training rapid deployment of Patriot missile launchers in Poland amid concerns that the conflict between Russia-backed rebels and government forces in Ukraine is threatening the security in the region.

On Saturday, at a test range in Sochaczew near Warsaw, two U.S. soldiers demonstrated for reporters the procedure of emplacement of a Patriot launching station of 16 missiles, as part of their week-long exercise.

Some 100 U.S. troops and 30 vehicles from the 5th Battalion of the 7th Air Defense Regiment arrived in Sochaczew this week from Germany, where they are stationed, to train with Polish troops. The exercise is aimed at showing the U.S. Army's capacity to deploy Patriot air and missile defense systems rapidly within NATO territory......

Rising China arms exports threaten US influence worldwide – report

Chinese-made advanced weapons systems flooding the international market over the next 10 years will cause instability, and make it a lot harder for the US to intervene in other countries, Foreign Policy magazine warned.

FP analyzed the impact of Beijing’s rapidly increasing role in the global arms market in an article titled: ‘China’s Weapons of Mass Consumption.’

China’s shift from small arms to advanced weapons systems is proven by the sale of drones to Africa and the Middle East in 2011, a contract to supply three frigates to Algeria in 2012 and Turkey’s surprise choice of a Chinese air and missile defense system over US, Russian, and EU offerings a year later.....

.

US Convoy March is 'Shocking Spectacle Fitting Imperialistic Ambitions'

The US military convoy marching through Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic, to its base in Germany is a "shocking spectacle in keeping with the US’ imperialistic ambitions," Petr Hájek, editor-in-chief of the Protiproud website, told Sputnik.

Hájek described the US initiative, nicknamed the Dragoon Ride, as "a show of force … aimed at the Czech society," not at someone on the outside, for instance, like Russia, adding that the United States treats the Czech Republic like a protectorate.

Czechs will surely stage protests against the convoy, said the former advisor to Václav Klaus, who served as the president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. But the media, he added, will likely keep silent on any form of discontent.

The initiative has already sparked public outrage in the country prompting the Czech military to announce that it will protect the US military convoy.

The Czech government decided to support the initiative, because "it is not a government of a sovereign nation," Hájek said.

"We, as an independent nation, have largely lost our sovereign rights after joining the European Union and NATO. Our hands are tied," Hájek told Sputnik Czech edition. "The Czech Republic … has become a target of someone's military ambitions. It is losing its freedom," he added.

The Czech Republic should not take part in the NATO military exercises since drills could lead to the escalation of tensions in the region and provoke a serious military conflict, Hájek said.

The Protiproud website has started a petition asking Czech authorities to leave NATO, which has become an offensive alliance preparing to launch a war against Russia, Hájek added. Thousands have signed the petition. "Honest people should not accept this," he said.

Moscow slams US plans for armor deployment in eastern Europe

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Plans for deploying US armor on NATO’s eastern flank cast doubt on NATO’s compliance with its liabilities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday following a statement by the chief of NATO’s Allied Land Command in Europe Ben Hodges.

Previously this month

Norway holds massive drills near Russia border

Norway has started massive military exercises, involving 5,000 servicemen, in the northern parts of the country near the border with Russia, the largest such drills in nearly 50 years.

The country’s military launched drills dubbed “Joint Viking” on Monday in the northern regions of Lakselv and Alta in the Finnmark County, which border Russia’s Murmansk region.

US Sends 800 New Tanks to Germany

Poroshenko might be eager to get some of these US/German Abrams tanks

The United States has decided to deploy 800 new battle tanks in Europe. Some of them will probably be stationed in the Bavarian town of Grafenwoehr. This was reported in the Friday edition of the "Münchner Merkur" which cites a letter from German Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) to the Vice-President of the Bundestag Johannes Singhammer (CSU).

Latvia receives over 120 tanks, armored vehicles from US

9 March, 2015

A shipment of over 120 units of military hardware, including tanks and armored vehicles, has arrived in Latvia from the US, the press service of the Latvian Defense Ministry reported Monday. The hardware is aimed at strengthening defense capabilities of Baltic countries.

The new shipment was sent as part of the Atlantic Resolve mission. It includes M1A2 Abrams tanks and M2A3 Bradley armored vehicles.

Breedlove: Even Destabilizing Options Should Be Considered in Ukraine

As the US continues to mull the possibility of sending lethal aid to Ukraine, NATO’s top commander has publicly endorsed the idea, insisting "all tools" should be considered, even if that decision would prove detrimental to Ukrainian stability.

On Sunday, OSCE observers reported new rounds of artillery fire outside Donetsk, despite the ceasefire signed last month. Speaking before the annual Brussels Forum that same day, General Philip Breedlove of NATO took the opportunity to voice his support for sending lethal aid to Ukraine.

"I’d not think that any tool of the US, or any other nation’s power should necessarily be off the table," he said.

Even more surprising was his insistence that doing so would, ultimately, have a negative impact on the crisis.

Resurgence of Violence in Ukraine to Change Obama Calculus on Arming Kiev - Nuland

"And so we, I think in the West should consider all of our tools in reply," Breedlove said. "Could it be destabilizing? The answer is yes. Also, inaction could be destabilizing."

This comes only two days after statements made by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland.

"We’re hoping for and working for the best outcome, which would be the full implementation of Minsk, which would make the whole question moot," she said during Friday’s forum. "But if that does not happen, if, in fact, we see a resurgence of aggression and violence, that will change the calculation."

Breedlove also called on the West to counter what he called "false narratives" spread by Moscow.

US To China: 'Infrastructure Bank' This! - Test-Fires ICBM As A "Visual To The World"

With allies migrating en masse to China's new infrastructure bank (and even the US having to admit it will 'cooperate'), it appears America has fallen back on what has worked for it in the past to ensure the world's largest creditor remains the world's reserve currency ad inifinitum - rattle its nuclear missile sabre... As the following clip shows, The US Air Force just test-fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from California, providing a "visual to the world."

US House urges Obama to send arms to Ukraine

The US House has passed a resolution calling on President Barack Obama to send lethal weapons to Ukraine, despite the fragile truce in the eastern part of the country.

The non-binding resolution was approved by an overwhelming majority of 348-48.

Sending weapons to the Kiev government would not mean involvement in a new war for America, claimed US Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), a Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who sponsored the document. “The people of Ukraine are not looking for American troops," Engel said. "They are just looking for the weapons.”