Excellent article! One of the few times I’ve had cause to say that about The American Conservative since 2015. Until its conclusion.I more than “quibble” with this statement: “It prevented Trump from advancing any kind of a détente with Russia.”Well, maybe Trump might have advanced "détente with Russia,” but only “out of the barrel of a gun,” as Mao would say. Certainly Russian Intelligence and Putin would have questioned his intent to “advance détente,” with his massive US military build-up, in Trump’s own words. To include in Eastern Europe with what was even contemplated to be named “Fort Trump” in Poland, and US troops redeployed from Germany, to the “front-line” Eastern European states, like Poland, where US Ukrainian operations were launched from throughout the Trump administration, as his officials boast, and continued by "Trump Lite” Biden, until the Russians attempted to put a stop to them when they continued under Biden. But here is some “context” to understand about "Trumpite Aggressive War,” which only the most ignorant will see as a "defense” of “Bidenite Aggressive War:"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53792019.amp
BLUF: "US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has signed a new defence agreement with Poland that will see American troops redeployed there from Germany.
"The deal will see the number of US troops in Poland rise to about 5,500.
"Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said the number could quickly be increased to 20,000 if a threat justified it.”
and:
"This is going to be an extended guarantee - a guarantee that in case of a threat our soldiers are going to stand arm-in-arm," Poland's President Andrzej Duda said at the signing ceremony.”
A “NATO” commitment by Trump/Pompeo, in other words, without involving Congress (though they would have been for it), and outside the “constraints” of NATO, to put pressure on Germany et al., to boost military spending, and to put more US forces on the ‘frontline” with Russia. Just as Brexit got the “British Right,” outside the constraints of the EU, and the EU’s too “generous" support of the Palestinians, as the Israeli Right always complained of.
The BBC article provides some “context” to the false claims made that Trump intended “advancing any kind of a détente” with Russia, when simultaneously with his "strategic repositioning” of US forces to the China perimeter, and “clandestine war” with Israel in Iran and Syria, and massive global US military buildup, and withdrawal from any remaining “arms control agreements” that the previous Republican administration had failed to withdraw from with Russia, with New SALT being allowed to expire in 2021 with his refusal to extend it had he not lost the election,
Trump was engaged in a “strategic repositioning away from détente” with Russia, not advancing it. Notithstanding ignorant and/or duplicitous claims to the contrary, by his domestic friends and foes both.
On Jan 23, 2023, at 6:00 AM, Kelley Vlahos via Salon <salon@listserve.com> wrote:Good morning!--The damning twitter files released this month by Matt Taibbi showhow aggressive Democratic leadership and federal agency officials pushed a cynical narrative that brought the social media giant to heel while setting up the Russian boogeyman that haunts U.S. foreign policy and posturing in the Ukraine war today.My latest -- and first on American Conservative since 2020 -- explores how the Russian “malign influence” story helped get the public’s buy-in for a new Cold War by normalizing the idea that Russians not only helped elect Trump, but were trying to "destroy democracy" & are still doing so today.That ‘buy in’ helped to marshal American support for every single aid package, every step towards proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, without question.Please read and share if you are so inclined!best,Kelley--
Salon mailing list
Salon@listserve.com
https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon
