The Dallas shooting - a Russian view

Five Minutes of Common Sense: A Russian View on the Dallas Police Shooting

Russ Fort,

July 12, 2016 - 

Ruslan Ostashko, PolitRussia - 

Translated by J. Arnoldski

Interracial contradictions and deep social conflicts which could undermine the foundations of American stability have once again surfaced in the US. Some experts have compared what is happening to a low-intensity civil war. In my opinion, civil war is still far off, but the fact that American society is ill and could explode from the slightest spark can be considered proven.

Let’s recall the plot of events: on Thursday/Friday night in Dallas, police were attacked as a result of which 5 of them were killed and another 7 were wounded. Three of the attackers were detained and the fourth was killed. In addition to the attack in Dallas, police officers have been assassinated in Louisiana and Missouri, and one station was shot at in San Antonio. According to Dallas chief of police David Brown, the attacker stated that his goal was “killing whites, especially police” in retaliation for the African Americans killed at hands of white police officers.

This crisis, and we are indeed dealing with a crisis situation, has revealed the complete inability of the American political system not only to resolve something, but even recognize the existence of the problems which gave rise to these crimes. Discussing racial issues and racial conflicts in the American infosphere is practically taboo, with exceptions made only for those who blame the white police system for excessive brutality. Politicians associated with the Democratic Party have no chance of saying anything that might offend their vigorous black electorate which is very sensitive to any attempts for clarification, especially if such concerns the possibility of the numerous movements supporting racial equality being simply a cover for black racism. An example of such is the Black Lives Matter movement which formally fights against police brutality towards blacks, but whose supporters actively call for the killing of white police officers in their speeches. I’ll repeat again that in the American mainstream media, discussing the growing popularity and activities of such movements, and especially criticizing them, is almost impossible given omnipresent “political correctness.”

There is one more important detail which many overlook: the attack on police in Dallas was very professionally organized and, unsurprisingly, at least one of the attackers is a veteran of the US Army who received appropriate training and has gathered a large arsenal of weapons. He had far reaching plans for waging a small guerrilla war against whites. And now let us remember that for the last 10-15 years, the American army has become the last refuge for a large number of people who have nowhere else to go, as service in the army is one’s last chance to achieve something in life. The result is that there are tens of thousands of veterans of various wars and former military men who have failed to advance in employment, and who have been unable to fit back into the civilian life in the US from which they fled. These are mainly African-Americans, Mexicans, and members of the most vulnerable groups of the white population. The American state has taught hundreds of thousands of its citizens to fight and kill, many of whom now live in poverty and hoard anger at the injustice of American society. This is a whole army of potential murderers - murderers who are capable of holding a weapon in their hands, which is not at all difficult to get in the US. But once again, politicians are not ready to discuss this issue and, moreover, they are not ready to solve it.

Despite GDP growth and experts’ statements that the American economy is no longer in crisis, no one besides the 1% of the most rich Americans feel any betterment of their livelihoods. The existing system is in crisis and and lacks the ability to simply pour money into all social and racial problems and give every veteran a home or every African American an iPhone. This means that any worsening of economic problems could lead to a social explosion that would make Ferguson or the race riots of the 1970’s look like petty hooliganism.

Why is this important for us Russians? Because the last time Washington was in a similar situation at the end of the 1980’s, the collapse of the Soviet Union helped them a lot. By robbing us, America was able to plug all the holes in their system for many years. Today, Washington is once again in a hurry, and anyone who is interested in geopolitics can see this. We need to make sure that they don’t manage to rob us this time, and then Washington will be left with its own problems and for many years to come will be forced to forget about any hopes for world hegemony.