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Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
As I said, A Nano-Second to Midnight
As I said, A Nano-Second to Midnight
Paul Craig Roberts
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova admits, as I predicted would happen, that the Kremlin’s preference for a war of minimum Russian force has resulted in the West raising the stakes and becoming drawn ever deeper into military confrontation. She says, “It is obvious that such a policy, which we see as reckless, is capable of leading to a direct armed clash between nuclear powers.”
So why did the Kremlin pursue a course that leads to “direct armed clash between nuclear powers.”
And why did Washington get ever more deeply involved in a conflict that leads to “direct armed clash between nuclear powers.”
Both governments are guilty, the Russians by refusing to use sufficient force to quickly end the conflict and Washington by starting the conflict and egging it on.
Zakharova says that Russia is fully aware of the seriousness of the situation and “systematically sends sobering signals to the Western countries. The problem, however, is that the West is simply obsessed with anti-Russian hysteria and a total hybrid war against our country. It shows no willingness to adequately perceive our position. The entire responsibility for the further degradation of the situation lies with the Western capitals. For our part we can only firmly reiterate that Russia is determined to defend its security interests, and we would not recommend the West to doubt this.”
It is extraordinary that during the Cold War when Washington and Moscow were cooperating in reducing tensions there were abundant peace demonstrations, while today with the work to restrain use of nuclear weapons in ruins, there are no peace movements. We actually have members of the House and Senate agitating for war with Russia, with China, and with Iran.
We have become disconnected from reality.