The Kremlin Never Learns

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

The Kremlin’s weak responses to provocations continue to encourage the West to bring Russia more, and more dangerous, provocations.  It is irresponsible for Washington and Washington’s NATO puppet states to provoke Russia.  But seeing weakness in the Kremlin, it is hard for the West to restrain itself.  The West now dismisses Russian threats as bluster.  Consequently, the West has moved from provocation to aggression. With arms shipments and diplomatic support, the West has become a de facto combatant allied with Ukraine against Russia.

The Kremlin is now faced with a much enlarged frontier with NATO from the prospect of Finland, with its long border with Russia and nearness to St. Petersburg, joining NATO.  Finland is under no danger of Russian attack as matters stand, but will be if Finland joins NATO.  Joining NATO means Finland will be nuclear-targeted, which currently the country is not.  It is obvious that Finland’s security deteriorates if Finland joins NATO.

So why join?

The most obvious answer is that Washington has paid the Finish leaders to add to the pressure on the Kremlin by joining NATO.  I have good reason to believe this.  Years ago I was in the Pentagon in the office of a very high official being offered an important appointment.  I used the opportunity to ask a question about something that had long puzzled me.  How, I asked, does Washington manage to get foreign governments to support Washington’s interests at the expense of their own countries? “Money,” the high Pentagon official said.  “You mean foreign aid,” I said.  “No,” the official said, “we give the political leaders bags full of money.  We own them. They report to us.”

What else explains Finland’s and Sweden’s interest after so many years of neutrality in joining NATO but bagfuls of money paid to the Finish and Swedish leaders?

Neither country is in danger of attack from Russia.  How many US dollars did it require for the leaders of these countries to decide to sell out their countries for filthy lucre?

The sellout goes further than Finland and Sweden. If these bought-and-paid-for-governments join NATO, they have also sold out the entire Western World.  This would make it clear to even the Russian liberals, who handicap Russia’s existence as a sovereign nation, that the Western World intends to do what the American neoconservatives declared  to be the principle goal of US foreign policy:  to prevent the emergence of a rival that has sufficient power to constrain US hegemony.

Why, after three decades of this doctrine being declared as “the principal goal of US foreign policy,” has the Kremlin failed to understand it?

At this point even the liberals in the Kremlin should comprehend that the Western World is a permanent enemy more dangerous than the Third Reich.  When the Russian liberals are forced to confront this fact, will they still be willing to trade Russian sovereignty for acceptance by the West?

The Russian government is a very strange government. For years the Kremlin tolerated  oligarchs from the Yeltsin era who stole Russian assets. Today the Russian government continues to provide its deadly enemies with energy and strategic minerals so that they can conduct their war against Russia. The director of the Russian Central Bank left the central bank’s reserves on an unguarded shelf where the West could steal them.  Putin still has in office some who set up the oligarch system that tied Russia in a subservient role to Western financial capital.

The Russian government permitted George Soros and his organizations to operate in Russia, funding and brainwashing Russian youth against their own country. The Russian government permitted Western media organizations freedom to propagandize the Russian people against their own government.

The Kremlin cut its own throat in order to prove how democratic it is.

Little wonder that the Russian government failed to convince the West that provoking Russia means death and destruction for those who provoke. This  strategic failure of the Kremlin means that the ever worsening provocations are destined to push Russia’s back to the wall. At that point, the nukes will go off.  

The utter and total stupidity of the human race makes one wonder why God gave dominance over the earth to mankind, the least intelligence of the species.

-----------------------------------------------------
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal

-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
10 Comments
flash
flash
May 16, 2022 7:53 am

comment image

comment image

comment image

Anonymous
Anonymous
May 16, 2022 8:17 am

Mr. Roberts,

The sooner you accept the fact that it’s all choreographed, The more inner peace you will be granted. Solomon asked for wisdom.

poot’n is part-n-parcel, xi is just a front for the new seat of Evil.

Buckle Up.

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,…”

Boogieman
Boogieman
May 16, 2022 10:05 am

Paul, It’s a game of brinksmanship. Russia has to walk a very tight and narrow high wire, we are dealing with mad men here. The power moguls in the west live in an illusionary world, they are trying to create the impression that they are willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather than concede anything. Not one of them are thinking of the repercussions of what happens when the their gamble goes south and spirals out of control. In general they consider themselves a protected class, immune from recourse. That’s mostly the fault of we the people. Its our insufferable tolerance to their shenanigan’s that enables those in power to have such callous behaviors, we witness it everyday. We may all pay an unimaginable price for their insane brinksmanship and our complacency. Critical thinking is so yesterday for the privileged western class. They can’t even imagine that someone would dare punch them in the nose for their obnoxious behaviors. -“The Cure” – A little more punching in the nose and a lot less passive tolerance.

m
m
May 16, 2022 10:27 am

“The Kremlin cut its own throat in order to prove how democratic it is.”

An underhanded way to say “You can’t handle the truth!!”

PCR never learns…

B_MC
B_MC
May 16, 2022 11:01 am

Scott Ritter’s Switcheroo: “Why I Radically Changed My Overall Assessment”

On Sunday, the foreign policy blogs were abuzz with the news that Scott Ritter had done “an about-face in his assessment of the war”. It appears that the ex-Marine had examined recent developments in Ukraine and concluded that it’s going to be much harder for Russia to win than he had originally thought…

So, while Ritter’s sympathies have not changed in the slightest, it’s clear that his analysis has. At first, he didn’t think that the deluge of lethal weaponry would affect the outcome of the war. Now he’s not so sure…

The military aid the west is providing is changing the dynamic and if Russia doesn’t find a way to address this meaningfully, and to eliminate it as a military capability… then the conflict will never end.” (“Saturday Morning Live with Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern, You Tube)

https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/scott-ritters-switcheroo-why-i-radically-changed-my-overall-assessment/

Iska Waran
Iska Waran
  B_MC
May 16, 2022 11:38 am

Russia invaded in part to demilitarize Ukraine. The more the West sends in weaponry, the longer the war will continue.

m
m
  B_MC
May 16, 2022 1:17 pm

I listened to the whole interview yesterday.
Scott only said that (a few) Western howitzers had made it to Kharkow area intact, and were being used against Russian forces.

I usually take Scott Ritter mostly serious, but here his conclusions seem overblown.
1. Russia still has unchallenged air superiority.
2. Therefore that artillery, when being used for more than ‘shoot a few shells and bail’, will not last very long.
3. If they only do ‘shoot and bail’, it will not have much impact on the battlefield.

To me it feels as if Russia is deliberately dragging this out, to a degree that cannot be explained only because ‘they want to reduce own losses.’ (And obviously whoever declares ‘because they can’t go faster’ is a major bullshittr.)

B_MC
B_MC
  m
May 16, 2022 2:51 pm

One of the comments from the Unz article….

Ukies put the Howies in the kindergartens and pre-schools just like the USA/NAZO told them to. Civilian shields work when dealing with countries that actually value human life (unlike the leadership in the USA/UK/NATO/EU).

Assuming Ritter is spot-on with his analysis, Russia needs to decide: protect the civilians of Ukraine or win the war. Tough choice. Incredibly tough choice.

m
m
  B_MC
May 16, 2022 3:31 pm

I’m not an expert in international law, but I’ve read several times over the last few weeks from different, non-big-mouthing sources, that if you put military equipment inside or aside for example a school, then bombing it [the equipment] does not constitute a war crime.

So the unz commenter seemingly hadn’t even heard that one, and is making up his “opinion” on the fly.

Oldtoad of Green Acres
Oldtoad of Green Acres
May 16, 2022 12:03 pm

PCR,
The USA is a failing nuclear power, still very, very dangerous. Lead by a globalist pedophile. A debt based economy. Bought any gas lately? Biden administration thugs burn businesses, public buildings and churches
Russia on the other hand has it’s traitors flowing out of the country, currency is appreciating, a superior military and equipment all led by a Christian nationalist. A resource, production based economy where gas is about half the price of the USA. Putin builds churches
As an American, I feel shame for what our country has become, a land of whores, hustlers and pimps. Pray for justice and mercy world wide.