Eric Zuesse
[TGP screengrab]
Apparently, today, 15 February 2022, is the day when U.S. hegemony — the global American empire, which started on 25 July 1945 when the Cold War did — has effectively ended, and when the global balance-of-power worldwide has switched, from being in the United States and its European military alliance NATO (the collective “The West”), against Russia; to its being, instead, in Asia (the collective “The East”), in the not-long-distant future.
The immediate preliminary for this turning-point happening today was, Nick Parker, of Jeff Bezos's Washington Post, and Jerome Starkey, of Rupert Murdoch's The Sun, headlining, in Mr. Murdoch’s Australian News.Com website, “Russia to attack Ukraine at any moment” and announcing that “Vladimir Putin is likely to strike without warning — possibly tomorrow, The US Sun reports.”
The first sign of it actually happening today is that (also on February 15th) Russia’s RT News bannered “‘West has been destroyed without a shot fired' – Russia: The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced February 15 as ‘the day Western propaganda failed’”, and opened:
With Russia announcing that its troops are pulling back following the completion of exercises near the border with Ukraine, Moscow has insisted that predictions it could be just moments away from ordering a full-blown invasion have been proven false.
In a fiery statement on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova poured scorn on weeks of reports and claims from US and European officials that Moscow’s armed forces could be just hours away from launching a strike against its neighbor.
“15 February 2022 will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed,” she wrote. According to her, the West has been “shamed and destroyed without firing a single shot.”
At the same time, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense announced that a number of Russian troops had finished their training exercises in Belarus, close to the Ukrainian border, and will begin the process of withdrawing. ...
The second sign of it happening today is more complicated to explain, and has to do with the geopolitical fact that Turkey is, in any case, a crucial world-power, because of the unchangeable geostrategic fact that Turkey controls all ships’ access into and out of the Black Sea into and out from the Mediterranean, and thus into and out from the Atlantic Ocean, because Turkey includes both of the two narrow channels known as the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and the Dardanelles) that are between Russia’s deepest port, which is on Crimea, on the one hand, and the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, on the other. (Obama’s intention to turn that deepwater port into a new U.S. naval base was one of his main motivations for his 2014 coup to grab Ukraine, of which Crimea had been a part, during 1954-2014, after its having been a part of Russia ever since 1783.)
Furthermore of importance here is that Turkey is and has been since 1952 a member-nation of America’s NATO military alliance against Russia. That has given Turkey crucial power against Russia, because it enables Turkey to allow NATO ships into the Black Sea, and to block Russian ships from leaving the Black Sea where Russia’s Sevastopol naval port on Crimea, which is the only year-round ice-free and deep water port the Russians own in the region that is able to moor large warships. In other words: ONLY with Turkey’s help can Russia’s naval power in the Atlantic region not be significantly impeded.
In addition, on February 15th, Ibrahim Karagül, of Turkey’s Yeni Safak newspaper, who is the clearest and most reliable spokesperson for the actual viewpoints of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, bannered “The crisis in Ukraine will only be exacerbated. The West will settle into the Black Sea. Breaking out a Turkey-Russia war is the West’s primary goal. Erdoğan and Putin must put a stop to this!” and said:
For exactly three decades now, war has been raging on in Turkey’s south. Invasions, civil wars, and ethnic and sectarian conflicts are rife from the Red Sea to Afghanistan. Millions perished, as cities turned into ruins and countries collapsed.
All of these wars were broken out by the U.S. and Europe. All of these massacres were committed to further U.S. and European interests. Countries collapsed because of American and European greed.
The biggest price we paid in the 21st century
Nobody should even deign to suggest that these countries had problems of their own to deal with. This was the biggest lie they fooled us with. These were never the reasons behind the wars in question. But we believed in the majority of the excuses they concocted.
We submitted mentally to the U.S. and Europe’s dirty plans, bloody attacks, and enormities. We convinced ourselves with their justifications.
This was the heaviest price we paid in the 21st century. These wars, invasions, internal conflicts, and terrorist organizations were launched for the U.S. and the West’s plans. …
They committed genocides, destroyed nations, sacrificed countries for the welfare of New York and Paris, for London’s comfort. They fought Islam, against millions of Muslims. The West is continuing to wage wars across the world for its own interests and security.
They are now plotting a new war in our north, in the Black Sea. This time the victim is Ukraine. They are promoting Russian expansionism. They are promoting European security. A massive front is being built from the north to the south, from Poland to Ukraine, from Romania to Bulgaria and Greece.
All of these countries are being driven to the front, against Russia, to ensure Europe’s security. They do not take this risk themselves; they are using front countries and weaponizing nations.
Provoking Russia
The West, the driving force behind all this, never stands against Russia directly. It is instead trying to provoke Russia to attack these countries. Its plan is to occupy Russia with endless wars and collapse it at the cost of the destruction of the countries on its borders. This is a game, and every one of these countries is a victim sacrificed for the West. …
This is the West’s unwavering tactic. They attempted this in every country. They have been doing the same against Turkey for the last half-century. This is a complete scam.
There can not be a war on the Black Sea!
A Black Sea war specific to Ukraine is unacceptable from Turkey’s perspective. We cannot agree to this, whether it be for the U.S. and Europe, or Russia. This will destabilize Turkey’s north for decades, and turn it into pandemonium.
Yes, Turkey is a NATO country. Yes, Turkey is a U.S. and European ally. Yes, it is a very important state for the Atlantic alliance.
But do not forget that those very same allies are the source of the terror threat in northern Iraq, northern Syria, the East Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the internal attacks such as the 2016 coup [referring to this].
The source of all threats presently identified by Turkey is the U.S. and Europe. Every event should be specifically identified. The U.S. and Europe are behind them all. But must we play the fool as Turkey?
The Western plan to settle in the Black Sea
The Russia-Ukraine crisis must be prevented. Both Russia and Ukraine need to remain tranquil. They should not fall for the West’s “Grand Game.” All they want to do is provoke Russia, encourage Ukraine, and settle in the Black Sea.
This is the final plan. The U.S. and Europe’s Ukraine plan is to settle in the Black Sea!
Turkey is a close ally and friend of Kyiv. The two have extraordinary partnerships in military technology, as well as numerous other fields. Crimea is a national issue for Turkey, and is a sensitive matter. Our partnership with Ukraine must be preserved and strengthened.
They’re setting a game for war between Turkey, Russia
Turkey and Russia are allies. This alliance is in the interest of both Turkey and Russia. Both countries need this. This friendship thrived despite all of the West’s provocations aimed at breaking out war between the two countries. …
Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey must stand adamantly against the U.S. and Europe’s takeover of the Black Sea, and block all paths that lead to this end.
If we fail to do this, the second leg of the crisis will be to pit Turkey and Russia against each other. This is the West’s end-goal. After Ukraine, they will strive to drive Turkey against Russia.
Turkey is aware of the threat. President Erdoğan is striving to prevent this.
If the U.S. and Europe settle in the Black Sea, a war between Turkey and Russia will be inevitable. If this transpires, both Russia and Turkey will be unable to prevent conflict.
The West now identifies Turkey as a threat like it does Russia. They are planning to exhaust the two countries with a single plot, using one against the other, to eliminate both.
Turkey is aware of this. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Kyiv signified great support for Ukraine. He may have also warned Ukraine regarding certain matters.
His statement upon returning from this visit, “Unfortunately the West had no contribution to solve this issue. They are virtually creating obstacles,” reveals the naked truth. …
This is the world’s only chance. We have to save the Black Sea. We have to prevent a U.S. and European takeover. If this initiative provides even the slightest success, Turkey will become a diplomatic giant.
States putting their trust in the West are doomed to lose
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, the support he received, Moscow and Beijing presenting a joint front against the West, are all indicators that the global scale of the crisis transcends Ukraine.
This is a war between the East and the West, and it should not be taken lightly.
After U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, after people crashed to the ground from aircraft wings, this reality is now global:
No country or nation can remain standing by putting its faith in the U.S. and Europe. The more countries move away from the U.S., the stronger they become.
The West is not the world’s center
A new future is being built outside the U.S. and the West. The West is no longer the world’s center, and it will never be again. The West is simply a bloc among other blocs on the new global power map. The regression period is about to begin as the stagnation period comes to a close.
All nations need to make their plans accordingly.
That is clearly a semi-official Turkish announcement that Turkey is now allied with “the East” against “the West.” America’s NATO military alliance against Russia is clearly now in severe jeopardy, on the very precipice of collapsing — the end of that (by now) 70-year Turkish membership in NATO is already in the cards. And the centrality of Turkey to the present conflict between U.S. and Russia over Ukraine is undeniable.
With those facts being established as the foundation, it’s difficult if not impossible to see NATO — the biggest sales/marketing organization for U.S. weapons-makers who have become the chief engine of the U.S. Government’s control over the world — not breaking up. It’s only a matter of time now: “when,” no longer “if,” that will happen.
Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.
The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of The Greanville Post. However, we do think they are important enough to be transmitted to a wider audience.
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