Claims by the West that Russia is getting ready to attack Ukraine have reached a fever pitch in recent days, with the White House asking Americans to leave the country ASAP and US media claiming an invasion will start next week. Russian officials say NATO is pumping up tensions to justify putting more troops in Eastern Europe.
The US military-industrial complex needs a war in Ukraine to justify new arms spending and to solidify a new all-out cold war with Russia, former US congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has alleged.
“First of all, President Biden could end this crisis and prevent a war with Russia by doing something very simple: guaranteeing that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO,” Gabbard said, speaking to Fox’s Tucker Carlson.
“Because if Ukraine became a member of NATO that would put US and NATO troops directly on the doorstep of Russia, which as Putin has laid out would undermine their national security interests. The reality is that it is highly, highly unlikely that Ukraine will become a member of NATO anyway, so the question is why doesn’t President Biden and NATO leaders actually just say that, and guarantee it? ” she asked.
“Why are we in this position then, if the answer to this and preventing this war is very clear…? Really it just points to one conclusion that I can see is they actually want Russia to invade Ukraine. Why would they? Because number one it gives the Biden administration a clear excuse to levy draconian sanctions which are a modern day siege against Russia and the Russian people. And number two, it cements this cold war in place. The military-industrial complex is the one that benefits from this. They clearly control the Biden administration. Warmongers on both sides in Washington have been drumming up these tensions,” Gabbard said.
The former active duty National Guardswoman, who has two tours of the Middle East under her belt, including a deployment in Iraq, emphasized that the MIC would make “a tonne more money” than it has in the so-called War on Terror, “fighting al-Qaeda* or making weapons for al-Qaeda.”
“Who pays the price? The American people pay the price, the Ukrainian people pay the price. The Russian people pay the price. It undermines our own national security, but the military-industrial complex that controls so many of our politicians wins and they run to the bank,” Gabbard added.
The politician went on to slam the Biden administration’s go-to justification for pumping up tensions with Russia in Ukraine, arguing that the “we have to defend democracy” talking point rings hollow as “this current president arrests political opposition, throws them in jail, shuts down TV stations that are critical to him.
I have a hard time seeing how President Biden or anyone can say with an honest face ‘we are defending democracy’. And the reason is our own government has publicly supported these authoritarian actions by the Ukrainian president in shutting down their own political opposition,” she said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted Washington on Saturday over what she alleged has been a coordinated US government and media campaign of claims about an “imminent” Russian invasion of Ukraine following press reports suggesting that Russia will attack its neighbour as soon as next week.
