When someone, especially the government, tells me not to worry, or something is not as bad as all that, then I know that I should start worrying. And to give it the added spin, especially when it is coming from the mouth of a spokesperson, e.g., spin doctor, such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Now it is high time to duck and cover, like before— going back to a time when we knew what a “real threat” was, the period of the Cold War, and we should still know now.
The Daisy Commercial is still vivid in my mind, at least in my wild childhood imagination which was tame by today’s standards. Formally titled “Peace, Little Girl,” but more commonly known as the “Daisy” ad, this famous political commercial was produced primarily by Tony Schwartz for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 campaign against Barry Goldwater.
It falls on the same level as when a parent beats a child with a leather belt, “This hurts me more than it is hurting you”, and still to this day, I could never follow the logic. However, the imagination is getting all the closer to a doomsday clock that shows the stark reality.
The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been
The stakes are still too high, and perhaps something like this game-changing political campaign ad will be remade for the likely Trump-Biden showdown, so to avert nuclear destruction, if Trump is not locked up and they have thrown away the key.
I cannot also follow the logic of the words of Blinken when he answered the following question:
Risk Management or Going for Bust?
In a recent interview between Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Amelia Adams of 60 Minutes Australia, one of the questions asked has opened up a proverbial can of worms.
“Your job is all about managing risk. Vladimir Putin is threatening nuclear war, and this month we’ve seen the hottest temperatures on this planet on record. What is the greater threat to humanity in your mind, war or climate change?”
[Yes] … there’s no doubt that the climate represents an existential challenge to all of us. It’s one of the reasons we’re so gratified at Australia’s leadership when it comes to combating climate change; that Australia is stepping up in the way that it sends a very powerful message. It’s both practical in what Australia is doing, but it also is the symbolism of an important country taking a clear stand and also taking action against climate.
It is good to know that Blinken agrees that for us this is the existential challenge of our times, but that doesn’t mean that in the meantime there are not severe challenges to the international community and how “We have to multitask. Basically, we’re, for better or worse, in a growth industry right now. We’ve got a multiplicity of challenges, and we have to be able to engage them simultaneously. It’s again one of the reasons why having such a strong partnership and alliance with Australia matters more than ever.”
But what the US Secretary of State is actually saying remains an open question, as there is no end in sight for either a scaled up war or mitigating the impact of climate change, as both are being held in abeyance, like the movie “Don’t Look Up” when those in charge did not want to face the destruction of humanity seriously, and what you don’t know, or don’t want to believe, can’t destroy you.
Neither side of this proxy war is prepared for quickly striking final blows—it becomes a matter of who can stand and bear the slug fest the longest. Those under the gun in Ukraine from US and Western supplied weapons would beg to differ as to the meaning of an existential threat, especially those who have lived under the constant shelling and random killing in Donetsk and Lughansk since 2014.
It is becoming obvious that there is no end in sight, as the Biden’s administration continues its policy of open-ended support for Kiev’s military by supplying, or threatening to supply, new weapons, even deadlier ones, as one weapon system after another is being neutralized. What will Kiev be asking for next, as open-ended becomes never-ending?
The US and its NATO allies have armed Ukraine with long-range missiles and are currently discussing the supply of American-made F-16 fighter jets to Kiev; however, now even the arms manufacturers are having second thoughts, as too much in-tack technology is falling in the hands of the Russians. It should be clear from repeated warnings from Moscow, that such weapons dramatically raise the chances of an all-out war between Russia and the West.
Let us see just how good the Russians are at gleaning what advantages such technology has, or finding more and more flaws and vulnerabilities, and if they can ever catch up with the Americans in reverse engineering of alien technology, tongue in cheek.
However, how much bang for the buck that the US or others who are profiting from the never-ending supply of arms get is really an open question. It is already apparent that many of the arms supplied to date are substandard and not suited to actual battlefield conditions—often outdated and a mixed bag.
Never-Ending War
The US needs and wants a war, a never-ending war. Either a War on Climate, or against terrorism, and I have to smile to remember the words of Gore Vidal — Little Bush says we are at war, but we are not at war because to beat war … It’s like having a war on dandruff, it’s endless and pointless.
But actually, it is a War on Human Intelligence, Common Sense, poking the US’s nose into a region of the world that is a tinderbox. It is beyond my grasp to understand in this day and age how society continues to tolerate war. It is an understatement, as the title implies, “The War in Ukraine is about ready to get worse!”
It is as if Blinken has blinders, and by comparing the risk level threat to nuclear war on the level of climate change. Does he actually believe even the most naïve of people can buy such a line? I guess he does, as how else can you explain it?
Not only is the rank of file starting to regret having voted for Biden and his team. Even controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone regrets it; he says that he fears the US leader may take America into WW3.’
I respectfully beg to differ because I believe we are already facing more dangerous threats than the consequences of climate change, and there are various factors contributing to it. The Ukrainians are well aware of this reality, and which way the wind is blowing, as indicated by the threats they are making over the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. The potential of some deranged president to take drastic actions out of sheer desperation could have severe implications. The contamination resulting from such actions, like a dirty bomb, would likely spread far beyond their borders and have long-term effects.
At least, most definitely, many signs are pointing in that direction, something beyond the pale, and not only in terms of the possibility of crossing a line to nuclear confrontation. The title for Stone’s documentary on Ukraine, Ukraine on Fire, may become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Biden would be advised to consider not just nuclear fallout, perhaps from giant size nuclear fallout, i.e., dirty bomb, but the political fallout, mostly as a result of higher energy prices in Europe.
Any threat to go nuclear by either side, if push came to shove, should be taken seriously. It may be for now only the childhood game of chicken, so to see who will be the first to blink. But for now, the risks are reduced in the short term, as Kyiv’s efforts to regain any momentum, to push back, however, on the other hand, with US elections coming, the lack of success is a political time bomb—and time is running out for Biden, Blinken, and Sullivan.
Their claim to fame, political fate is being foiled by shifting public opinion and all the revelations that are surfacing, as to what really is transpiring in Ukraine, not to mention the corruption house of cards back in the US.
They would be well advised to take the advice of such pundits, living and dead, such as Steven Cohen, Jeffrey Sacks and John Mearsheimer, as they knew not only the potential for problems long before most people had even heard of Ukraine, and how “the Ukrainian military conflict is a long-term threat?!”
John Mearsheimer, as a prophet back in 2015, pretty much laid out what the West was doing to Ukraine, which goes back to even before 2008 with promises of NATO expansion, when he told “that the West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked – and I believe that the policy that I am advocating which is neutralizing Ukraine and then building it up economically and getting it out of the competition between Russia on one side and NATO on the other side is the best thing that could happen to the Ukrainians.”
February 2014, set in motion a wrecking ball for Ukraine which impacted in 2022 – and the aftershocks are being felt. Meanwhile, the US and NATO will continue with its promises, at least enough to claim that it is not reneging on claims of support to the end, and until the US elections are over. The bottom line is it is over, and all was predicted, even as far back as 2008, when William J. Burns, who now heads up the CIA, warned that expanding NATO to Ukraine would leave the Russians no choice but to intervene.
It is ironic now to go ahead with the plan of work that is intended to weaken or to destroy Russia, and to dismiss the confidential Embassy Cable “Nyet Means Nyet: Russia’s NATO Enlargement Redlines,” and Ukraine is merely an instrument of that attempted destruction. It should be remembered that the proverbial wrecking ball may swing back and hit the US and its NATO allies squarely between the eyes.
NATO as Hangman
It is like the saying goes, “Give a person enough rope, and they will hang themselves”, and NATO bears the lion’s share of the responsibility, according to a recent interview with John Mersheimer for putting the rope around the neck of Ukraine.
It will not be the first time that Nazi collaborating war criminals were publically hanged in Kyiv, 12 former members of the German Police force met their maker for war crimes. There was a huge crowd inside the Ukrainian capital to witness the executions, and the men were placed on trucks before the executioners did their work. These men were sentenced to death for their involvement in the Babi Yar Massacre.
John Mearsheimer recently told how the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, made it very clear that Ukraine would not be admitted into NATO until it had prevailed in the conflict. In other words, Ukraine has to win the war, and continue killing and being killed, before it can be brought into the alliance. Well, “Ukraine is not going to win the war, and therefore, Ukraine is not going to be brought into the alliance.”
The situation on the battlefield, daily reports of even greater losses of what was “much-touted” as game-changing weaponry by the Ukrainians is not performing to expectations, and what comes next? Will the West drop the requirement that Ukraine had to win a decisive victory over the Russians within the borders of Ukraine to get into NATO?
That is not going to happen, in Mearsheimer’s opinion, “Ukraine is not going to become part of NATO.” And not only he thinks like this, as more and more people, even voters, are realizing that NATO is the greatest threat and could bring us to total nuclear destruction.
The political and well-heeled class in Western Europe, especially the UK and Germany, are waking up too, as they might also be victims, economic ruin is just a sample of the greater havoc and social upheaval that will result as the needless war goes badly for US/NATO proxy Ukraine and threatens the existence of humanity. This conflict is not isolated and may have far-reaching consequences beyond its immediate geographical area, and Africa is just one region that comes immediately to mind.
As I reference in retrospect, the statement “Now it’s high time to ‘duck and cover’, going back to a time when we knew what a real threat was, and we should still know!” seems to be a call for vigilance and preparedness in the face of perceived or real threats. The phrase “duck and cover” refers to a safety measure taught during the Cold War era, particularly in the United States, to protect oneself during a nuclear attack.
The statement makes this historical reference to suggest that people should be aware of and prepared for current threats, beware of what they might be willing to do to save their own backsides, at the expense of the rest of us. We must be aware that the threat level is real, and in terms of bioweapons as well, as what does the US have left in its arsenal to gift the Ukrainians?
The nature of threats is evolving, and historic memories are too short. That is why there needs to be an open discussion, the need for understanding and addressing them remains crucial to ensure the survival of the species. It is time for people and political leaders to watch Dr. Strangelove, or: “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” the film caused a good deal of controversy, and watching it should be a wake-up call, for the new generation, and for those that survived the Cold War period, the same world-ending scenario is now unfolding before our very eyes—and it is not climate change that is the life-ending threat.
Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.