Is Washington Preparing for War Against Russia?

• Is Washington Preparing for War Against Russia? 
  by BRIAN CLOUGHLEY, 29 April 2016, http://www.counterpunch.org/  
  … the United States administration, at the urging of the Pentagon and its sub-office in Brussels, the HQ of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, had already embarked on a policy of confrontation with Russia,  encouraging and subsidizing expansion of that expressly anti-Russia military alliance from 16 to its present 28 countries.
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  There were corporate benefits for the US along the way, of course.  Eight NATO countries bought hundreds of F-16s and all the add-ons, for example, and “NATO Standardization” was military code for “Buy American.”  The State Department is barefaced about this. Its head of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Andrew J Shapiro, proudlydeclared that “We view the American defense industry as an integral part of our efforts to advance US national security and foreign policy.”  You can’t be more open than that.
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  Mr Shapiro made it clear that the policy of the United States of America is:
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  “When a country buys an advanced US defense system through our . . . programs, they aren’t simply buying a product, they are also buying into a relationship. These programs both reinforce our diplomatic relations and establish a long-term security relationship. What is generally underappreciated is that the complex and technical nature of advanced defense systems frequently requires constant collaboration and interaction between countries over the life of that system – decades in many cases.”  [Original emphasis retained.]
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  Two years after President Bush welcomed President Putin to Texas, NATO welcomed eight more nations as members, increasing its military presence ever-closer to Russia’s border.  Moscow was presumably meant to ignore this menacing development, while NATO’s aircraft flew intelligence-gathering missions along its borders, and US combat ships of its massive nuclear-armed Sixth Fleet made coat-trailing forays into the Black Sea.  (One of them ran aground, which might show that Russia doesn’t have too much to worry about ; but it’s the thought that counts.)
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  In 2015, as reported by Britain’s Daily Telegraph, the United States spent 569 billion dollars on its military while Russia’s defense budget was 53 billion.  The Telegraph and most other western media and many allegedly independent think-tanks noted that the US military budget had decreased from the previous year’s 610 billion, and applauded the reduction — without noting that the US-NATO draw-down in Afghanistan had resulted in far less expenditure on that disastrous war, which has cost the US taxpayer a fortune.
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  The mantra of those who advocate and approve massive military spending is that there are threats from Russia and China.  In the case of Russia this assertion is founded on the Ukraine debacle, and it is fitting to briefly examine the allegation in the light of what actually went on.
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  The United States encouraged a coup in Ukraine in 2014, and although the Ukrainian news agency Interfax reported in June 2015 that President Poroshenko stated that the overthrow of his predecessor was “unconstitutional” there was no change to the ceaseless western propaganda line that the coup was entirely democratic.  Similarly the allegations that Crimea was “annexed” by Russia have been successful to the point that very few in the west believe that, as the UK’s Independent newspaper reported, “Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds after residents in Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.”  The referendum was a perfectly fair expression of opinion in Crimea.  Indeed it would have been very surprising if the vote hadn’t gone in favor of rejoining Russia, because it is undeniable that the vast majority of Crimea’s citizens are Russian-cultured and Russian-speaking, and regard western Ukrainians as foreigners.
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  The main point, however, is the allegation that Russia was in some way seeking to invade Ukraine itself.  There is no doubt that Russia was and continues to be supportive of the separatists of eastern Ukraine, but the notion that Russia wanted or wants to attack and occupy Ukraine is ludicrous.
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  Russia doesn’t want to attack Ukraine, or any other country.  What possible benefit would accrue to Russia by going to war?  All that Russia wants to do is to trade with as many countries as possible and ensure that Russian-cultured people on its borders are treated fairly and according to their wishes.
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  President Obama has followed the war-advocates of the Pentagon in what can be described only as a slavish manner. His diatribe on Crimea was directed personally against President Putin and his arrogant boast that “We will not accept Russia’s occupation of Crimea” was an aggressive declaration of indefinite confrontation.
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  Little wonder that General Philip Breedlove, the commander of the US European Command, and NATO’s “Supreme Allied Commander Europe,” declared that “we are prepared to fight and win” against Russia.  He has announced that Russia has “chosen to be an adversary and poses a long-term existential threat” to the United States, and therefore “This year’s budget request reflects our solemn commitment to the security of our allies and partners.”
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