By Paul Craig Roberts - March 7, 2022

A few remarks before I take the day off. Nonsensical news reports continue to appear in the media. The New York Times reports: “In less than a week, the United States and NATO have pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, over the borders of Poland and Romania,”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/us/politics/us-ukraine-weapons.html

Blinken gives Poland “green light” to send fighter jets to Ukraine reports the Epock Times:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-gives-poland-green-light-to-send-fighter-jets-to-ukraine-secretary-of-state_4320874.html

The number 17,000 seems fantastic. It is substantially larger than the entirety of the Russian tank force, reportedly 12,400, few of which are in Ukraine. Whereas weapons could enter Ukraine from Poland and Romania which border the western part of Ukraine, how would they get to the surrounded Ukrainian forces? Moreover, as Poland and Romania are already on Russia’s potential target list because the countries host US missile bases, why would Poland and Romania want to cross a red line by getting involved in the conflict?

Blinken’s “gift” to Poland of a green light to send jet fighters to Ukraine makes no sense when the Polish president has already said Poland will do no such thing. It is not a NATO conflict, Poland’s president said, and Poland is not getting involved.

The US government is trying to bribe the Polish president, telling him that if he will send the old Soviet MiG jet fighters that Poland is retiring to Ukraine, Washington will send Poland F-16s as replacements. There are no airfields to which the retired Polish MiGs can be sent, and the aircraft would not be effective against new Russian aircraft. If the Ukrainians were to operate out of Polish airfields, the Kremlin has made it clear that those airfields would be destroyed. As a demonstration, high precision weapons were used to destroy the airport in Vinnytsia, a possible staging site, in Western Ukraine where Russian forces are not operating.

Notice, also, that Blinken, while shedding crocodile tears over Ukraine, is doing his best to widen the conflict.

The effort of Washington to widen the conflict illustrates the danger in the Kremlin’s effort to conduct a war while minimizing civilian casualties. Delay gives Washington more time to organize mischief. As the neo-Nazi Ukrainian militias have taken advantage of the Kremlin’s noble goal by ensconcing themselves among civilian populations, the Kremlin’s noble goal results in delay in obtaining the objective and is maximizing the loss of Russian lives, as Chechnya’s leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov has emphasized.

Having got into the predicament where saving Ukrainian civilian lives means maximizing the lost of lives of Russian soldiers, the Kremlin has been forced into the position of supplicant, promising to end the offensive “in a moment if Kiev meets conditions.” Zelensky is Washington’s puppet and Washington intends to prolong the conflict in which the Kremlin’s noble policy has Russia trapped. Once again, the Kremlin is wasting time in negotiations.

It is a shame. A quick, decisive, even brutal victory after which the Kremlin dictates, not negotiates, the conditions for Ukrainian independence would have convinced Eastern Europe, and most likely Western Europe as well, that it is a disastrous policy to enable Washington’s provocations of Russia. It is even possible that NATO would have broken up as members realized that NATO membership brought danger, not security. As Washington’s continuing provocations will eventually cross a red line and result in nuclear war, it is most unfortunate that the Kremlin chose such limited goals.

Permission to reprint Dr. Roberts’ columns does not imply that Dr. Roberts endorses the websites or media organizations that republish his columns or that he approves of the content of the websites, media outlets or books that republish his columns.