Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
The Saker reports that Russia is preparing for World War III, not because Russia intends to initiate aggression but because Russia is alarmed by the hubris and arrogance of the West, by the demonization of Russia, by provocative military actions by the West, by American interference in the Russian province of Chechnya and in former Russian provinces of Ukraine and Georgia, and by the absence of any restraint from Western Europe on Washington’s ability to foment war. http://thesaker.is/how-russia-is-preparing-for-wwiii/
Like Steven Starr, Stephen Cohen, myself, and a small number of others, the Saker understands the reckless irresponsibility of convincing Russia that the United States intends to attack her.
It is extraordinary to see the confidence that many Americans place in their military’s ability. After 15 years the US has been unable to defeat a few lightly armed Taliban, and after 13 years the situation in Iraq remains out of control. This is not very reassuring for the prospect of taking on Russia, much less the strategic alliance between Russia and China. The US could not even defeat China, a Third World country at the time, in Korea 60 years ago.
Americans need to pay attention to the fact that “their” government is a collection of crazed stupid fools likely to bring vaporization to the United States and all of Europe.
Russian weapons systems are far superior to American ones. American weapons are produced by private companies for the purpose of making vast profits. The capability of the weapons is not the main concern. There are endless cost overruns that raise the price of US weapons into outer space. The F-35 fighter, which is less capable than the F-15 it is supposed to replace, costs between $148 million and $337 million per fighter, depending on whether it is an Air Force, Marine Corps, or Navy model. http://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/31/how-dods-15-trillion-f-35-broke-the-air-force.html
A helmet for a F-35 pilot costs $400,000, more than a high end Ferrari. http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/10/26/f-35-helmet-costs-400000-4-times-predecessor/73826180/
(Washington forces or bribes hapless Denmark into purchasing useless and costly F-35: http://sputniknews.com/news/20160528/1040395012/denmark-f-35-military-nato-lockheed.html)
It is entirely possible that the world is being led to destruction by nothing more than the greed of the US military-security complex. Delighted that the reckless and stupid Obama regime has resurrected the Cold War, thus providing a more convincing “enemy” than the hoax terrorist one, the “Russian threat” has been restored to its 20th century role of providing a justification for bleeding the American taxpayer, social services, and the US economy dry in behalf of profits for armament manufacturers.
However, this time Washington’s rhetoric accompanying the revived Cold War is far more reckless and dangerous, as are Washington’s actions, than during the real Cold War. Previous US presidents worked to defuse tensions. The Obama regime has inflated tensions with lies and reckless provocations, which makes it far more likely that the new Cold War will turn hot. If Killary gains the White House, the world is unlikely to survive her first term.
All of America’s wars except the first—the war for independence—were wars for Empire. Keep that fact in mind as you hear the Memorial Day bloviations about the brave men and women who served our country in its times of peril. The United States has never been in peril, but Washington has delivered peril to numerous other countries in its pursuit of hegemony over others.
Today for the first time in its history the US faces peril as a result of Washington’s attempts to assert hegemony over Russia and China.
Russia and China are not impressed by Washington’s arrogance, hubris, and stupidity. Moreover, these two countries are not the native American Plains Indians, who were starved into submission by the Union Army’s slaughter of the buffalo.
They are not the tired Spain of 1898 from whom Washington stole Cuba and the Philippines and called the theft a “liberation.”
They are not small Japan whose limited resources were spread over the vastness of the Pacific and Asia.
They are not Germany already defeated by the Red Army before Washington came to the war.
They are not Granada, Panama, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, or the various Latin American countries that General Smedley Butler said the US Marines made safe for “the United Fruit Company” and “some lousy bank investment.”
An insouciant American population preoccupied with selfies and delusions of military prowess, while its crazed government picks a fight with Russia and China, has no future.
Why would Obama want to start a war with Russia or China?
Well, let’s see …………….
I don’t understand why we’d fight or even agitate either one. The REAL was is against the damn Muslims and the we should be working together towards their demise.
How do we really know whose weapons are superior?
“How do we really know whose weapons are superior?” ——— wip
Consider this article —–> “EPIC FAIL: Here’s Why Most US Weapons Systems are Worse than Russia’s”
here—-> http://russia-insider.com/en/military/epic-fail-heres-why-most-us-weapons-systems-are-worse-russias/ri11097
Wip, it isn’t the weapons that win or loose a war, it’s the people behind them.
Our weapons were far superior to the VC and NVA weapons in Vietnam, we lost.
Thanks for the link. I just want to learn more about this.
NATO Missile Shield Is Practically Guaranteeing a Russian Preemptive Strike
The US activated its first 24 missile defense stations on May 12th at the Romanian air base of Deveselu as part of its missile defense shield in Europe, and began the construction of the second element on May 13th at the Polish air base of Redzikowo.
Later, President Vladimir Putin stated at a meeting on mobilization readiness that the US would not be able to deceive Russia by claiming its weapons system is purely defensive, and that in fact this was about relocating part of the US nuclear capacity to the countries Eastern Europe. The President promised that Russia would respond adequately to new threats to its security.
Right after Vladimir Putin’s statement, the US and NATO went into hysterics over the so-called inappropriate response of Russia to their ‘harmless’ actions.
Are the new American bases so harmful?
Adequate and non-adequate response
Many years’ practice shows that the President of Russia takes his time when it comes to making tough statements, and this one was unprecedentedly tough. Speaking of the necessity to ‘reduce threats to the security of the Russian Federation’, Putin dropped the strongest possible hint that the governments of Eastern European states have turned their countries into potential targets for Russian strikes by allowing their territories to harbor the American Missile Defense Shield.
We should note that on May 11th, the day before the opening of the Romanian base, the MFA of Russia also made a statement. The director of the Board for the Nonproliferation and Control of Arms, Mikhail Ulyanov characterized the US actions as violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) of 1987.
Fact-checking
What is Russia worried about, and why did Moscow’s reference to ‘reducing threats’ provoke NATO hysterics?
The ground-based complexes of the Aegis Combat System, which are the basis of the American National Missile Defense in Europe, are a double threat to Russia. After concluding the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, the US and Russia reduced their nuclear weapons from several dozen thousands on both sides to 6,000-7,000 for each country. Officially, Russia today has 7,300 nuclear warheads. However, each weapon must be transported to the target. At the moment, the Russian Armed Forces possess 526 deployed nuclear delivery vehicles equipped with 1,735 weapons. Taking into consideration the reserve units, the total number of vehicles could be 877, with up to 3,200 weapons.
Other vehicles carrying half the deployed nuclear weapons are strategic aircraft and nuclear submarines. However, if a surprise strike is attempted, not every plane would have time to take off, not all those would manage to reach the missile launching area, and not every submarine would be able to reach the area of combat. And the US Navy would try hard to destroy those already there, long before the beginning of combat.
Today Russia has only ten submarine ballistic missile carriers, and it wouldn’t be difficult for the US to neutralize them.
What the American Missile Defense System is aiming at
Only ground launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles ensure the destruction of US territory, and it is these that the American Missile Defense System is aimed at. Its positioning at the Russian borders should allow interception of intercontinental carriers at the moment when they are most vulnerable – in the boost phase of flight.
So far, Russia has about 300 intercontinental nuclear weapon-launching vehicles. Surely, these 24 antiballistic missiles in Romania are not enough to save the US from a revenge strike. But the US isn’t going to limit itself to only one interceptor missiles base. Besides, after the system is ramped up, it’s easy to increase the number of missile launchers.
We paid attention to the Russian MFA’s statement on the violation of the INF. The point is that the Aegis Combat System is universal and capable of controlling the launch both of antiballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Tomahawks (together with the Pershings which have been removed from the inventory) were deployed in the 1980’s in Western Europe, their flying time to targets in the then European part of the USSR (Ukraine, Belorussia, the Baltic States and Russia up to the Urals) was 5-8 minutes. It’s easy to calculate that the flying time would be reduced with Tomahawks in Romania and Poland (1,000-1,500 km closer).
Under these circumstances, there is no time evaluate the situation and the intention. Anything that can be characterized as a threat of nuclear attack against Russia should cause intercontinental missiles to be launched immediately. Otherwise, there is a high chance that they would be destroyed at their sites.
The limited (after the reduction according to the INF) amount of carriers and warheads leave no hope that there will be enough missiles for an adequate response after any disarming strike.
This increases the risk of nuclear confrontation up to the level of the 1980’s, when it was the highest in the history of USSR – US relations, except for the two critical weeks of the Cuban Missile Crisis, from October 15th to 28th, 1962. (That crisis, by the way, was provoked by the deployment of American medium-range ballistic missiles Jupiter in Turkey.)
Tension is growing
The current international situation is much more explosive. The US still doesn’t want to accept the fact that its hegemony is over, and in order to save it they stake everything on military strength. The conflicts they heat up could result in a direct confrontation with Russia, with both sides using their armed forces to enforce diplomatic efforts. It’s the demonstrated readiness of Russia to cover Syria with a Missile Defense System umbrella that stopped the invasion planned by the West, according to the Libyan scenario. It’s no secret that the military advisors of the US and Russia consult over Kiev and the Donbass in the civil war in the Ukraine. The attacks on Russian strike aircraft in Syria were made by Turkey – a member of NATO, after which Ankara threatened a land invasion into Syria for two months, inevitably resulting in the confrontation between the Russian and Turkish air forces.
Generally speaking, the world is living in what is probably a growing military threat. Meanwhile, when the possibility of creating a launch area for the American Missile Defense System in Europe was still being discussed, the Russian military stated that the only reliable way to prevent the threat was a preventive strike by Iskander systems if political leaders agree that military actions are inevitable.
The destruction of the Missile Defense System by conventionally armed precision weapons is not a mandatory cause for a nuclear war with the US (although it would certainly result in military confrontation from the targeted countries). But the approach of dozens of potential warhead carriers with minimum flying time to the Russian borders can be considered by Moscow as a threat to the existence of the Russian state itself. In this case, Russia’s current military doctrine provides for the first use of nuclear weapons.
It is said that the doctrine applies to aggression against Russia. However, the definition of aggression and existential threat to the state are currently rather elastic. Over the last couple of decades we have seen so many states almost annihilated without declaring war, that it’s practically impossible to identify the fine line separating war from the peace. Even experts are left wondering how to identify the current state of international relations (either it’s a prewar situation, or the Third World War has been going for a long time, or the Fourth one has started).
Under these circumstances, the closer the front lines of opposing strategic forces, the less time is left for political leaders to make a decision, and the danger of an automatic deployment of forces is that much higher than when the military simply carry out pre-established ‘just in case’ instructions. Every General Staff relies on the fact that if the enemy’s intentions are unclear they should be interpreted as aggressive (otherwise, they could be late to respond). That leaves the military alone in a vicious spiral of inevitable decisions.
That’s why the US and NATO went into hysterics in response to Putin’s statement. They thought they would force him to retreat by placing him before an implicit but undeniable military threat.
He accepted their proposal to raise the stakes to the max, and now it’s Washington that has to decide whether it’s worth risking uncontrolled nuclear war or retreating in front of the whole world.
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/us-presses-start-key-third-world-war/ri14413
The weird thing about America’s provocation is that that missile defense system is a notoriously unreliable piece of shit … failing more than half the time in CONTROLLED testing!! Think about that. Even when the defense shield knew the EXACT location and timing of the incoming missile, it STILL failed to intercept it more than half the time!
Nevertheless, the Russkies have been preparing for this.
They have a new ICBM, the YARS. It launches very fast, thereby limiting the vulnerable launch phase. Then it flies on an unpredictable trajectory, to make interception difficult. Then in the terminal phase, it engages in evasive maneuvers. Then it releases multiple re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) which reach hypersonic speeds. Oh, and they are mobile and can be hidden anywhere in the great Russian expanse, which is larger than Pluto.
KaD says:
I don’t understand why we’d fight or even agitate either one. The REAL was is against the damn Muslims and the we should be working together towards their demise.
“WE”, the people, wouldn’t fight and agitate either one. The REAL war is the central bankers against the citizens of the world. You see, they grow very rich financing both sides of every war. They always win no matter the outcome. Get rid of the central bankers and their “war for profit machine” and most wars can easily be avoided. They program you to hate the “enemies” they declare with propaganda and then use your own patriotism to rally you to fight their ginned up war leaving the winners bankrupt, the losers decimated and themselves rolling in $$$$$.
Why is it so hard for people to understand this?
@Stucky says: “They have a new ICBM, the YARS. It launches very fast, thereby limiting the vulnerable launch phase. Then it flies on an unpredictable trajectory, to make interception difficult.”
Sorry stuck, wrong, wrong, wrong. From ignition to release of the warheads there is nothing unpredictable about an ICBM’s flight path. When the warheads are released, if they use the same steerable warhead schemes that we do, the actual impact point may be varied within narrow limits.
During boost phase and ballistic phase, things are anything other than unpredictable and everything has to be exactly right to deliver the payloads to where they are aimed.
Sorry, physics is against you..
@IS: Right on again, friend..
MA
“Sorry stuck, wrong, wrong, wrong. From ignition to release of the warheads there is nothing unpredictable about an ICBM’s flight path. ” ———— MA
Well, maybe be. But, I’m not a rocket scientist …. meaning, I didn’t just make that shit up.
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“Bits of new information have become available about that highly secretive warhead. Citing unnamed sources in the SRF, several Russian media outlets claimed that the trajectory of Igla is not just difficult but, in fact, impossible to predict because its auxiliary engines switch on and off randomly. The targeting system of the warhead itself is supposed to keep track of changes in the trajectory and eventually guide the warhead toward its target. Also, Igla reportedly utilizes “stealth” technology — a special coating makes it “invisible” to heat or electromagnetic impulses and thus more difficult to detect than ordinary warheads.”
———————— http://www.nonproliferation.org/the-future-of-russias-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-icbm-force-clarified/
.
“At the end of its nominal powered flight, the 3rd stage was programmed to turn around about 180 degrees and fire in opposite direction until full consumption of its propellant. Such maneuver would allow to minimize velocity differences accrued by the end of the flight. The missile was specifically designed to fly a trajectory with shorter and lower boost phase, again aiming to reduce its vulnerability to prospective missile defense systems.”
———————- http://www.russianspaceweb.com/topolm.html
I’m done for the evening. Have a good night.
See y’all tomorrow.
We had plans for a Mobile ICBM but POS Jimmie Cuckhead scrapped it all about 1981. I was at Hqs SAC Offutt Ne and we filled garbage cans fill of the manuals etc. You see some Russian Mobile ICBMs on their carriers because they want you to but you don’t hear anything about the hundreds of reloads they have hidden inside mountains, in farm barns, etc, because neither they nor POS Hussein want you to know about them.
Dramatic stuff, and all those fancy bombs…I am beginning to
think PCR may be in on it. Ever wonder? There is a plan, and
various actors play their roles…this is no fun at all. Anyone
anxious? Get a tent.
Susana, the possibility that PCR is part of the controlled opposition makes a lot of sense. His reliance on nuclear Armageddon fear mongering is in itself suspicious. Particularly in light of the fact that nukes don’t exist. If they did exist, the breakup of the Soviet Union would have resulted in a nuke being sold and used in a terrorist attack or at the very least a CIA false flag nuke attack. This didn’t happen, so this is all the proof one needs. The nuke scam is the greatest profit center created by the MIC. The sheeple love being fleeced if they believe it keeps them safe. IS, spot on. All wars banker’s wars.
“Particularly in light of the fact that nukes don’t exist.”
Interesting, Dan.
“All wars banker’s wars.”
General Smedley Butler, USMC said the same thing. I think that’s true.