The “deep state” is heavily invested in Russophobia. Establishing good relations with Russia undermines not only its power, but its reason for existence. Russia has been the greatest threat to our security for 70 years, and if that threat is removed, it’ll put a lot of spies out of work. The CIA might have to be downsized! May the saints protect us.
So it is that the most visibly pro-Russian member of the Trump circle, General Flynn, is torpedoed by the intelligence community. If Trump believes that’s what happened, he’ll want vengeance, and he’ll want heads to roll. Rather than deflect his drive for normalization of relations with Russia, he’ll double down. He campaigned, very explicitly, on wanting friendship with Russia — it’s part of his electoral mandate. I remember him asking the audience at one of his rallies, “Wouldn’t it be a good thing to be friends with Russia?” The audience nodded in approval, and Trump felt validated.
The American people have no grudge against the Russians. Those of us with long memories remember the Second World War, and the fact that it was the Russians who beat the Wehrmacht, and it was the Russians who paid the price. Better them than us. They were our allies then, and could be again.
NATO is not a mutual defense treaty. We’re not looking for fellow NATO members to protect us from invasion. As a continental island, we don’t need them. But they need us, or so they think. Geopolitically, they get, we give, and get nothing in return. If you’re a believer in America First, that’s a lousy deal.
Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t think Putin has any intention of starting a European war. He wants NATO out of his immediate neighborhood, and who can blame him? It’s an anti-Russian alliance. Geopolitical guru Peter Zeihan disagrees. He thinks that war is already underway, in Ukraine, and that Russia will need to invade and occupy all or parts of eleven countries in order to achieve the security it craves.
I don’t believe it. Under Merkel, the Germans are no threat to Russia, and the Germans are the only people that Russia needs to be worried about. The Germans are in the process of becoming Swedes. For hundreds of years, the Swedes were one of the bad asses of Europe, and then they gave up on it. There was really no point to it. So they holed up in Sweden, and don’t want to fight anybody.
I don’t think today’s Germans are any more militaristic than the Swedes. If anybody ought to be anti-war, it should be the Germans, and I think they are. And I think Putin understands this, and isn’t really worried about the Germans, especially if we’ve left the scene.
And I think that’s the key to peace in Europe — American withdrawal. Bring the troops home, and let the Europeans figure things out for themselves. The Germans beat the Russians in World War One, and the Russians returned the favor in World War Two. Do they want a rubber match? If they do, they’re crazy, and we want no part of the insanity.
An American withdrawal from Europe will be a boon to Russia. Our presence in Europe was provocative, and entirely unnecessary in a post Cold War world. Everybody should want the Russians to have a sense of security. It lessens the chance of a European war.
And an American withdrawal allows us to pursue our national interest vis a vis China. We want the Russians to back us in any confrontation with the Chinese. If we’re out of Europe, that’s likely to happen.
It seems to me that the Chinese are constructing a stationary aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, and that this aircraft carrier would be a threat to ours. If that’s the case, counter measures will be required. If we have to go nose to nose with the Chinese, we want the Russians at our backs, not theirs.
Once we establish cordial relations with Russia, and come to an understanding with China, we’ll be at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. An astronomical age lasts 2,160 years, so we should be good until the year 4177.
If there is a war between any of the Great Powers in this century, it will be a monument to human stupidity right up there with World War One. Are we really that dumb?
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