Billions in weapons, zero negotiations, reveal real U.S. agenda in Ukraine

Monday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "One of the US’s goals in Ukraine is to see a weakened Russia." He also said, "The U.S. is ready to move heaven and earth to help Ukraine win the war against Russia."

The first statement contains no goal of saving Ukrainian lives. That is because saving Ukrainians is not a major focus of U.S. war aims in Ukraine. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called out America’s disregard of the staggering death and destruction there saying "There are countries within NATO who want the war to continue. They want Russia to become weaker.”

Apparently ‘heaven and earth’ in the second statement includes billions in weaponry, but not a single pair of U.S. boots on the ground. Nor does it include American war planes; even a no-fly zone to counter Russian air superiority. That telegraphs America does not consider the Ukraine war critical to America's national self-interests worthy of a single American life. U.S. policy boils down to: Ukraine does the dying; America does the supplying.

The U.S. has never once offered negotiations as a path toward peace. For the U.S. to enter negotiations, they would have to cease denying the provocative history of the U.S., NATO, and ultra nationalist Ukrainians' actions toward Russia’s borders, including the killing of 14,000 Russian speaking Ukrainians in the Donbas. Refusing to address that long, tortured history makes a negotiated settlement virtually impossible. That leaves endless weaponry provoking even stronger Russian warfare, guaranteeing the killing goes on thruout 2022, per Secretary of State Antony Blinken, or even several years according to Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley.

But endless war and deaths is just one of several calamities facing the world by using weapons, and its less violent policy mate, sanctions, instead of negotiations. Worldwide recession may be now more likely than not. Flowing from worldwide recession, and sanctions crippling supply chains, millions in poor countries may be doomed to starvation and death from policies proclaimed as life savers.

But the worst possible consequence of proxy war by the U.S. and NATO against Russia is all out nuclear war between the 2 major nuclear powers possessing over 13,000 nuclear weapons. Sixty-four days into war, every day brings new potential for miscalculation, blunder, simple misunderstanding, to trigger warfare not seen since World War II, 77 years ago. If that happens, the catastrophe will not be limited to two Japanese cities.

It is counterproductive for the U.S. to substitute weapons and sanctions for diplomacy if it is truly interested in peace. Last week Blinken counselor Derek Cholollet advised that Blinken’s negotiating team refused to even consider Russia’s security concerns regarding NATO’s membership for Ukraine, a red line to Russia they’ve been warning us about for 2 decades. Chollollet spilled the beans on Blinken saying “We made clear to the Russians that we were willing to talk to them on issues that we thought were genuine concerns to them in some way. But the future of Ukraine was a non-issue.”

As a result, Secretary of State Blinken hasn’t spoken to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov since February 15, nine days before war began. That abrogation of simple diplomacy that could have avoided war was inexcusable and unacceptable.

America and its fervent media supporters should be supporting, demanding even, that our government use negotiations, the only means of bringing this horrific war to a prompt conclusion. Endless demonizing of Russian President Putin also makes even starting such necessary negotiations difficult, if not impossible.

That leads to a fair question many in the peace movement and others are asking: Is the U.S. supplying endless weapons but no negotiations simply to wage proxy war fought by Ukrainians, primarily to isolate, weaken, even effect regime change in Russia, rather than to save Ukrainian lives?

An off ramp from war and its potential calamities is needed. Alas, America is throttle down to endless war.

Email to Congressman Casten on Yemen War Powers Resolution

  

Dear Congressman Casten: 

Please cosponsor the New Yemen War Powers Resolution, which has been introduced by Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Peter DeFazio to end U.S. unconstitutional, illegal and criminal war in Yemen.  

This war has killed over 400,000 Yemenis since Saudi Arabia started it March 26, 2015. While officially a war by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf partners to return pro Saudi rule to Yemen, it is primarily a proxy war of the U.S. against Iran, aligned with the Houthi rebels in Yemen. This war could not have been waged without U.S. planes, drones, bombs, midair refueling of Saudi jets, intelligence, logistics and moral encouragement. 

It disgraces everything America should stand for and do on the world stage to promote peace and understanding instead of war.    

Congress passed a War Powers Resolution to end the Yemen war 3 years ago. It was vetoed by President Trump who did not want to upset our corrupt, murderous Saudi ally. President Biden came into office pledging to end the war. But he backed down on his pledge for purely political self-interest. That is a disgrace as tens, maybe hundreds of thousands more Yemenites face starvation and death from a senseless war America enables.  

The war is in clear violation of Article 1 of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which grants Congress alone the power to declare war and to authorize US military involvement. 

Since the president will not follow the Constitution and end our criminal involvement in the destruction of Yemen, Congress must force him to do so. 

Please confirm your willingness to co-sponsor the current Yemen War Powers Resolution and vote for it when brought before the House. It was introduced a year ago. Many thousands have died waiting for Congressional action to end this criminal war. More die every day Congress fails to act. Do your duty to end American made carnage in Yemen.  

Walt Zlotow 

President, West Suburban Peace Coalition                                                                                                         

Glen Ellyn IL