Yeah, Truss & Defense not on same page...how about giving Lavrov a better match? Well, mostly...it just doesn't matter.
See news out of Kiev?
But the all-important and central question that's not being asked is once again: what's the view from Kiev? What is the Ukrainian government's reaction to the latest White House statements on the crisis? How about the President of Ukraine himself?
Kiev is not too happy, and is demanding proof from US intelligence backing the new dire allegations that Russia is poised to go in:
"There has been too much information about a full-scale war with Russia – even specific dates have been announced. We understand there are risks. If you have any additional information regarding the 100 percent guaranteed invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 16 February, please give it to us," Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Saturday.https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/surreal-plot-twist-ukraines-president-demands-proof-us-over-russian-invasion-claimsYeah, well...expect crickets.
Meanwhile the large deployments on land and sea by all sides are still in progress...and all it takes is one dummy not paying attention or given conflicting orders or having a mental breakdown...or an equipment failure or misinterpreted communication...
Fear porn? Sure. But given the state of the world we are in now where all governments drive media narratives...it makes it difficult to tell the wheat from the chaff...understanding how militaries work in the context of what is known and what is not is all we got.
The immediate risk is a mistake by any party.
Plans being acted on is a huge variable. But, look at recent evidence...past episodes of Russian aggression in Georgia and cutting off the flow of gas into Ukraine, incursion and seizures of Eastern Ukraine territory and the invasion and seizure of Crimea...didn't matter who POTUS was...did NATO respond militarily? No. Fundamentally, right/wrong/indifferent (more on this later) Russia sees itself as the preeminent Slavic nation to whom all are to bend the knee to without question, reservation or complaint but with rapturous gratitude and adulation...whereas the West sees bringing in the former oppressed Soviet satellites into Europe as stabilizing act that prevents any further aggression and NATO is the chosen vehicle. There is no argument that can be made that shows the West using a pattern of military force to seize what it wants (beyond the former Yugoslavian implosion which should have been a Euro thing and not a NATO thing) but there is a steady military action pattern on the Russian side that cannot be justified except under the preeminent Slavic ruler point of view. I would not have used NATO as the Euro vehicle for the former satellites, that should have been an all EU affair as well, the US should be out of NATO and out of Europe, period.
On the self-ordination of Russia as the preeminent Slavic ruler, this goes back a long ways...from the earliest days when Muscovites conquered the Kievian Rus down through Imperial times into the Soviet era and to the present day. Basically it is a story of might makes right and to the victors go the writing of history along with all the spoils. I keep coming around to these deep-seated and erroneous interpretations of Russian preeminence because they've been used by Tribal Chieftains, Monarchs, Politburos and Dictators to justify their divine right to rule absolute power over anything they've ever conquered in the past. By such interpretations what isn't right or possible? Absolutely nothing.
And Putin is no different than any of his predecessors. That statement may anger or upset some, well, not my problem...I only care about accuracy in what I say. And I am not a Russia hater any more than I am a hater of Russian people...I think there are things to admire about the nation and its people, I think if given a fairer chance at autonomy and a break from this fantasy of Russian preeminence could free them and usher in a new age for their people and remove some of the gloominess in their character which I contend is a subconscious rebellion against centuries of falsehoods and false promises.
Anyway, you want a glimpse inside the mind of the leading proponent of Russian preeminence then read this. It was difficult for me because I was trying to carefully comprehend and dissect practically word by word, line by line. Make no mistake, Putin is clever, and Putin like his predecessors glommed onto and exploited this mythology as the central driving force of his leadership and goals and instilled it in all of his allies, but he did it with much more skill than any of those predecessors and tapped into that fatal flaw of the long-suffering Russian character - the cult of the Strong Man. The Strong Man and the mythology of Russian preeminence go hand in hand, and sadly, I do not see the Russian people breaking from it, it is fed into them from birth to death for so many generations I fear there is no escape from it for them.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181According to the Russian preeminence mythos...one need not dwell on the "how" the greatest of the Slavic nations became great and dominate, it only matters that it simply "is" dominate. In his rendition of this mythology Putin calls the ancient Rus state the "largest state in Europe", so not only is Russia the preeminent Slavic nation, it is the largest
European nation. Keep that in mind and juxtapose it with the alternating East/West flip-flopping of defining their past character as it suits them politically when examining their relations with Communist China and Mahdi cultists in Iran. Anyway, Rus arose in Kiev, hence the term Kievian Rus. Why doesn't Ukraine have a claim to preeminent Slavic nation? The people of Ukraine have their own Cyrillic language, some regional dialects too...distinct from Russian. Anyway, I will not dissect the whole thing...I would be typing all damn night...and in the end the result is the same. No mention of "how" this preeminence was achieved, no admission of past wrongs, past slaughters...just the noble Knights of Muscovy bringing enlightened rule and prosperity to all their Slavic wards! Just proves what I've known a long time...might makes right, might writes history...might is all that matters.
Since the Norsemen of Sweden spawned with the local Slavs in the Kiev region and began the rise of the Kievian Rus...the Swedes have the most senior land claim to all of the Slavic world.
They should assert their ancestral claim. Free the Slavic lands from the usurping Russian despots and return it to the heirs of the conquering Norsemen!
Anyway, good luck cracking that Russian preeminence mythology! I guess the advocates for Putin's Russia are yelling "Yes, yield to this ethos, or else!". (Snort!)
I like being right, and I hate it. Might makes right verified.
