The Russian defense minister confirmed today that troops deployed to the south and west of the country, Crimea and areas east of Ukraine, have completed what were described as surprise combat readiness checks and would return to barracks starting tomorrow.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is quoted by government news agency TASS as saying: “I believe that the surprise inspection’s goals have been achieved in full. The troops demonstrated ability to reliably defend the country. Therefore, I have made a decision to complete the inspection measures in the Southern and Western Military Districts.”
End of story. But not until after Western officials and news media attempted to terrify the world into believing a Russian invasion of Ukraine by a World War II-size military juggernaut was imminent. Estimates of Russian troop deployments near Ukraine steadily grew from 4,000 (New York Times) to 80,000 (CBS News) to 103,000 (Ukrinform) to 120,000 (Reuters) to 150,000 (the European Union’s Josep Borrell), then down to 100,000 (Borrell again).
One Ukrainian official even said that the above-mentioned exercises represented the largest troop movements in Russia since World War II.
We live in a world in which the U.S. and its NATO allies have over the past twenty or so years waged wars in Southeastern Europe, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa on the slimmest of pretexts, indeed on outright lies. And in which the peace of individual nations as well as that of the world as a whole rests on a hair trigger. In such a world the unconscionable inflation of troop numbers in a volatile situation like that along the Ukraine-Russia border comes precariously close to an incitement to military overreaction. To war.
Rick Rozoff has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of Stop NATO. This originally appeared at Anti-Bellum.
“deployments near Ukraine steadily grew from 4,000 (New York Times) to 80,000 (CBS News) to 103,000 (Ukrinform) to 120,000 (Reuters) to 150,000 (the European Union’s Josep Borrell), then down to 100,000 (Borrell again).”
Jesus, it’s like an auction. “Do I hear 175,000??”
Excellent analysis! I can’t stop laughing………….
What I find terrifying is that if you go to other blogs like ‘The Hill’ is the old men posting there, most on the left, want to go to war with Russia. So, another generation wants to send the generation below them off to war to be used as cannon fodder for the war industry and their lackeys in Wash. What happened to the previously anti-war left today? they are getting war fever and it’s all about the Putin/Russia election thing that’s whipped them into a state where they advocate war. But, this time it won’t be fought ‘over there’. When Americans see their own children lying dead and bloody in the rubble of their homes and cities, then maybe they will get a clue that war isn’t some sort of sporting event where beers are popped and butts plopped down on sofas where these old coots can cheer for ‘our team’. Beyond belief to this woman.
There are anti war on the left and right. There are pro war on the left and right. At least what is considered “left” and “right” today. I don’t think a true liberal or a true conservative is pro war but there are so few of either of them in actuality.
None of the people on “the left” who I know are pro war. Millions of us marched in the streets to try to stop the war in Iraq, and very few looked like they were on “the right”. But of course nobody listened anyway.
This was all about the continued portrayal of Russia as “the enemy”. Otherwise the American people wouldn’t put up with a trilliong dollars being given to the military-industrial complex every year while thousands of Americans go without healthcare and eat from food banks.