Planning for war with China & Russia

I had a dream last night.  I was speaking to a good sized group and asked them if after nearly 20 years of US war and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq (with obviously no clear 'success') do they believe that the Pentagon could win a war with Russia and China?  I asked for a show of hands of those who thought the US could win such a war.  Most of the hands went into the air.  My dream turned into a nightmare.

The window is closing on US global dominance and Washington clearly understands this.  Our 'leaders' know that each passing day (with China and Russia working together to create a military alliance capable of effectively defending against US threats, provocations and attacks) the goal of returning to the role of undisputed king of the hill further slips away.

US is expanding its naval presence in the Asia-Pacific region in an attempt to restore dominance

“[This military shift into the Asia-Pacific] is consistent with the Mattis Nuclear Posture Review and other official statements since, which call for a shift of focus to confronting Russia and China,” Professor Noam Chomsky and public intellectual explained to MintPress.

“It’s also consistent with military policies, such as the NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe and in the Arctic, aimed at Russia, and with US efforts to prevent China’s technological development.” Chomsky added.

“And more generally, the Trump administration commitment to dismantle what remains of the arms control regime. Last August, it withdrew from the INF treaty and immediately tested missiles that violate it. It seems that the Open Skies Treaty and New Start are on the chopping block. These are among the reasons, I presume, why the Doomsday Clock was recently moved to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to termination.”

Independent journalist Sonja van den Ende (Netherlands) writes:

After careful review and planning between the U.S. Army Europe and the Polish Department of Defense, Exercise Allied Spirit, an exercise originally planned for May by DEFENDER-Europe 20, will take place on June 5, 2020, in the Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland training area. Other countries like Lithuania, Romania and North Macedonia will be the scene for the alleged “wargame“ [aimed at Russia], but also non-members like Sweden, Norway and Finland will be part of it too. 

While the US Democratic Party attempts to outdo the Republicans in anti-Russian hysteria, the war drive is nevertheless supported by both parties, which see it as essential to project American power around the world. On May 8, 2020, in a crude display of anti-Russian sentiment, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to laud the United States and Great Britain for their “victory over the Nazis!” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the statement on the 75th anniversary of Hitler’s defeat in Europe for failing to acknowledge the decisive role played in the event by the Soviet Union.

We all know that it's Germany who started by invading Poland in 1939 and conducted the extermination of the Jewish people, political opponents, prisoners of war, Poles, resistance fighters and gypsies once they occupied a country. Do we want another war? No, I hope mankind, especially Europe has learned from the lessons of WWII, but I am doubtful whether they learned anything at all!

The US strategy at this time appears to be one that excites the corporations that make massive profits off the domestic military production system.  The current Pentagon encirclement of Russia, China and Iran appears to be about containment and forcing those nations to spend their national wealth in order to respond to US moves.  Washington hopes for the 'easy way out' - similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

But quite surprisingly the US Congress does not appear to understand that it is in fact the US economy that is likely to collapse first.  With the current $1 trillion a year of Pentagon spending (to get the correct total one must add up all the various military pots of gold hidden away in other agencies budgets, like the Department of Energy which is in charge of all nuclear weapons production) and the growing avalanche of US national debt now at $25 trillion - it seems quite certain that it is the USA that will be the first to hit the skids.

The one question that next comes to mind - in its desperation to regain the illusion of dominance - will the US resort to a first-strike attack using nuclear weapons in a mad attempt to scramble back to the top of the heap?  Given the fact that Washington is the only nation on Earth to have actually used nuclear weapons during war time this concern must be given serious consideration.  The pirate crew now running the ship-of-state in Washington has repeatedly displayed the cold-blooded capability to do such a thing.

And it is a bi-partisan mental illness as well.  We can't forget that it was the Obama administration and his 'faithful party members' that pushed through the nuclear weapons modernization program costing $1 trillion over the next 20 years.

The US normally likes to pick on countries that can't really fight back.  During my lifetime the Pentagon has attacked weak nations like Dominican Republic,  Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Granada, Panama, Yugoslavia, Iraq (repeatedly), Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and more. But the thought of going after China, Russia and Iran boggles the mind.  They could actually hit back and deliver a loaded punch.  But trying to bring logic to the question of US foreign policy will only keep one up at night.  Nothing about Washington's decision making ever makes any sense.

In the end I see it as an addiction - like an alcoholic at the bar unable to stop drinking. Until the American people and their government come to grips with this mental illness I'm sad to say this careening madness will likely continue.  The US needs global intervention - Washington needs to be put in the timeout corner and ordered to enter a 12-step program.

Hello - my name is America and I am addicted to power, military spending and endless war.  I am a bully.

Bruce