Caught in the trap

Submitted by Lindsay
Melbourne Australia!

From my experience of life. I believe my motto should be
 ‘beware of men bearing flowers’ - Muriel Spark 1992

(4/2022) Vladimir Putin has shown that democracy can be beaten. The war in Ukraine has done this, and the west can do little to stop him, as any overt action within the Ukraine runs the risk of starting a nuclear war.

The idea that this existential threat would ever rear its terrible head again was thought to be so unlikely that it could be ignored, but Vlad the Impaler has undone just that. Leaving aside for the moment his state on mind, it is apparent that he has been planning the annexation of the Ukraine is for many years if the west went ahead with its desire for the Ukraine to be part on NATO.

Ukraine has been an independent country for over 30 years, has been a powerhouse of learning, culture and the arts. It has thought of itself as both eastern and western, with ties to both, trading with both but not trusting its eastern neighbour because of its invasion in 2014.

NATO was formed after WW2, and its charter begins: "The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments. They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area.

They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security."

It was born on April four, 1949, in Washington DC, with the US, Canada, Britain, France and other European nations.

The Baltic States, and those to the south except Ukraine, became part of both NATO and the EU soon after the collapse of the Society Union. In 2008 the Ukraine applied to be part of NATO, but in 2010 the new president Yanukovych decided he wanted Ukraine to remain unaligned, and about 80% of the population agreed – until in 2014, when Russia invaded the Crimea, which saw the president flee, popular support soar. In 2018 the new president reapplied to join NATO. In February 2019, this was agreed to, with membership on the EU included.

Enter Vladimir.

Ex-KGB, super intelligent, he, (and his oligarch friends), had built the Russian economy to unprecedented heights thanks to the country’s gas and mineral resources. Agriculture had also grown, and by 2010 the combination of Russia’s and Ukraine’s wheat output was about two thirds of the world total.

His planning now started to have substance. First to Ms. Merkel, right wing German chancellor. He told her that he could supply all her country’s energy needs at about half the price of the nuclear power they were then using, that atomics were inherently dangerous, and so on, and she agreed. Nuclear out, gas in.

Pipeline built, German economy booms, and all is well. 16% of their economy depends on it, and Russia’s economy gets about the same return. Now Germany finds itself dependent on Russian gas.

Mr. Putin has accepted the status quo that the Ukraine would not join NATO or the EU, and he has boasted that they would not. But Ukraine still wanted to get into the alliance, and was encouraged by America to keep applying. That was too much for the Impaler. It was more than a matter of pride, he had promised to return Russia to its former glory, and this would make him look stupid. So, the trap was sprung.

Invasion, decimation, threats.

The west can do nothing except supply armaments to the Ukraine. Its president, Zelensky, elected on May five, 2019, pleads with the west to stop the Russian planes, to do something that will help the country.

Then the dreaded word. Nuclear.

Russia’s nuclear stockpile is huge, its capabilities unknown. Putin is so unstable that he might just use them. The west sanctions, cuts off money flow, but to no avail.

The tragedy makes the holocaust look tame. It shows a megalomaniac, someone who cares for nothing but his own prestige; whose people suffer unbelievably, whose army had no food, no fuel, and who begin to desert.

It seems that as of today, March 28, some kind of pull-back may happen, but the damage is severe, the world is plunged into skyrocketing price increases in oil and food, all on top of the supply chain problems caused by COVID.

So, we have one clinically insane person in Russia, and now another in North Korea.

And one far from insane, the master spider at the centre, who is playing one against the other. Xi has been supporting Vladimir, no question about that, and sees his plans for world domination mature a little more, as illustrated by his plans to establish a naval base in the Solomon Islands, just a few hundred kilometers off the east coast of Australia.

Before I turn to happier news, is it not ironic that Putin helped get Trump into the White house, and both are now revealed for what they are. One a narcissist, the other a psychopath.

Back here in Australia, earlier this week, I had the opportunity of visiting our second largest city, Geelong. It had been the place where Ford had its biggest manufacturing plant, where Shell and Alcoa had enormous refineries, but which all closed some years ago.

But – only Ford’s manufacturing stopped. Their R&D department went on, and is currently working on new developments – unnamed due to confidentially - and some of its talented engineers went on to develop standards of precision in parts manufacture that they are exporting it to America.

As well, the city is booming. My business is with school science. New schools everywhere, the expansion of the satellite towns now approaching he southern coast, and everyone is happy, positive and thriving.