Top Russian security official Alexander Malevany says his government faces growing threats from the United States and its allies in NATO, stemming from US “hysteria” about the annexation of Crimea.
Malevany warned he is seeing a growing number of US efforts to “weaken Russian influence in a region that is of vital importance,” referring to Eastern Europe.
Earlier this week President Obama began talking up a significant increase in US and NATO deployments into Eastern Europe, supposedly to reassure Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania that NATO would defend them from Russian invasion.
Instead of being a stabilizing influence, such deployments have fueled concern in Russia, and have Russia’s regional allies, notably Belarus, pushing for bigger Russian deployments in the area to reassure them against NATO expansion.
Nothing like starting the cold war all over again; maybe even world war III. I thought we were done with the crap when the wall came down. Then came Bush, and now Obama. When are these warmongering U.S.A. politicians going to stop and give us common folk a break?
Perhaps because they don't care a wit about the "common folk" – maybe they never have. This is how they start wars – by being a bully and constantly pushing until someone strikes back – providing them the "justification" to do what they wanted to do in the first place.
There is a strategic purpose in the US/NATO pressurizing measures in Poland and the Baltic states. The presstitutes of the establishmentarian media and the provocateurs that show up at alternative news sites to carry out disruption operations have signaled that there is going to be a crisis in Russia's northwestern border region. Only the presstitutes and the provocateurs are talking about a "Russian threat" there. However, a casual look at a map of Eastern Europe shows clearly what the "pivot" to the Baltic is all about: Kaliningrad. This Russian enclave effectively outflanks the US missile shield, as the Baltic Sea itself offers a lane for firing that is difficult to close, even with a permanent stationing off the Polish coast of a NATO standing naval force with Aegis-class destroyers. From a Zio-FedGov standpoint, it truly is a thorn in their side, and it has to go. Therefore, Poland and the Baltic states will soon be forced to repay all the "aid" NATO has given them by ginning up a new crisis – or more likely, set of crises – designed to neutralize Kaliningrad. In the meantime, I strongly urge Jason Ditz and other Antiwar.com editors to pay very close attention to pressure being applied elsewhere against Russian ethnic groups – such as Transnistria and Moldova – with the purpose of wearing down Russian patience and provoking the Russians into hasty overreaction. Reporting on the Zio-FedGov activities in those regions will be very helpful in keeping folks aware that all that is transpiring in the US/NATO standoff against Russia is occurring as part of a coherent strategic plan. It is most assuredly not half-baked floundering about by ignoramuses.
Regarding Kaliningrad, there was a story that came out on October, 2, 2013, under the title "Lithuania Warns Russia It Might Block Access to Kaliningrad" (http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/lithuania-warns-russia-it-might-block-access-to-kaliningrad). According to the article:
"Linkevicius’s statement on Wednesday is not Lithuania’s first attempt to pressure Russia using the so-called Kaliningrad Transit as leverage. In 2008 Washington was planning to place some elements of the US global missile defense in Poland. Russia said that such move would seriously shift the balance of power and threatened to deploy medium-range ballistic missiles in Kaliningrad – an exclave deeply embedded into East European territory between Poland and Lithuania.
"Lithuania immediately opposed the move, and said that beefing up of Russian military might in Kaliningrad would be disproportionate. It also threatened to raise the price for railroad transit to the region as well as to complicate visa procedures for Russians who had to cross EU territory when they were moving to Kaliningrad by train or by car. "
Our western leaders are spear heads for the large defense industries and big multi national corps that see dollars to be made in Eastern Europe and those states once in former old Soviet Union. That’s what it is all about. Liberty and freedom is a cover for the true purpose. Until the American people start demanding and questioning our leaders about foreign entanglements and policies instead of just jumping up waving the flag with an America right or wrong attitude. We will be getting into more wars and lead down dangerous roads until we are all blown to smitherens.
I couldn't agree more but sadly most Americans get their news from the state controlled media.Those of us who do care and think outside the box and question our leadership are flat out ignored.Apathy is the norm now amongst many Americans and the corrupt politicians just run rampant and do what they please.Those corporations are multinational ,have their own paramilitary forces and hold no allegiance to any flag and dont give a rip about freedom -just their stocks going up or down.When you do speak up about the corruption your viewed as anti-American or a possible terrorist and get put on a watch list or just disappear.Unfortunately its going to take something major to make the American masses rise up and take their nation back.We lost our republic years ago after WW2.Past leaders have warned us of what was to come but it fell on def ears because we were brainwashed into trusting our government and to be patriotic.I'm a patriot but I do not follow blindly or believe might is right or that we have this mission to shove our so called democracy down everyone elses throat.The bottom line is greed and the lure of big corporate kick backs in D.C. is too alluring for any politician to fight.The Constitution is just a damn piece of paper as George W. Bush put it and that sentiment is felt amongst many in D.C. who wish it never existed.In order for this nation to survive it has to fall apart completely and be rebuilt and restored to what the founding fathers intended.I really wish I didn't have such a pessimistic outlook but given the apathy and outright lies we are told daily it will take something worse than 911 to wake the people from their slumber.Our press was supposed to be the 4th branch of our system of checks and balances to keep the leadership from getting cocky or corrupt.They have failed us miserably and are at the core of this disaster in the making.
"Stabilising the situation"? That's not the point. The idea is to try to provoke Putin into committing the error of attacking NATO members, at which point his ramshcakle armed forces can be clobbered in a terrain much more favourable that Ukraine or of making a humiliating climb down. Either way, he will thereby discredit himself in the eyes of his supporters, essentially his own 60+ age group. That will probably destabilise him and may even lead to his leaving office, voluntarily or otherwise. It's a brilliant strategy both politically and militarily. Putin cannot grab Ukraine but leave the Baltic republics independent. If he doesn't grab Ukraine, he loses Moldova and will probably have to sacrifice Belarus. And he can't just sit there and leave Estonia sticking its tongue out at his home town of St Petersburg, only 150 kilometres away, to say nothing of the Kaliningrad enclave. And, of course, the US has no real choice but to fight for NATO. Not for Europe's sake. For Israel's. An America that will not fight for Europe will not fight for Israel. An America that runs away as soon as it is confronted by a nuclear power, however primitive sends a message disastrous for Israel. And in an election year, no American politician would dare do anything that appears to damage Israel. Such are the ever-expanding ripples of Victoria Nuland's monumental screw-up!
Wait 2-3 decades and the Baltic countries will be empty of people. More than half the population is over 40 – past the prime child bearing years, and soon everyone in the labor force will have support more than one pensioner. That means their labor force will emigrate and the countries will be unable to reverse this death spiral.
Germans make the best weapons, but they produce the worst quality soldier, and part of that is due to their own country's ageing. The quality of Baltic recruits is going to plummet as well, which means the US will have to step up commitments to places it is already overstretched in. Do you think the Baltics are going to cut hospitals, pensions, and education and generally pummel their population again to meet their 2% of GDP quota?
We might well cause the Russian to invade, to keep us out. That might well be what the neocons really want, the fight itself.