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Do As We Say, Not As We Do – Global Issues

United States Congress. Credit: Commons Wikipedia.Org
  • Idea by Norman Solomon (san francisco, usa)
  • Joint press service

In the current crisis, what about the progressives in the US Congress? It’s a dangerous crisis for decades that threatens to plunge the world into nuclear war, with very few people doing anything more than safe-in-the-mouth pleasures.

Supporting and abetting a potentially catastrophic – and I mean catastrophic – confrontation between the world’s two nuclear superpowers are the legislators on Capitol Hill. Like the media they talk about and vice versa, members of Congress, including the much touted progressives, can rarely manage more than vague comments that they want outside. delivery rather than war.

Imagine if a powerful military alliance led by Russia asserted its right to join its ally, Mexico – and meanwhile shipped large shipments of weapons to that country – you could Imagine the reaction from Washington?

We must believe, however, that the US-led NATO alliance insists it has the privilege of conferring membership to Ukraine – and in the meantime, is shipping large number of weapons to that country.

Mainstream US news outlets have no historical value or document that could interfere with the current frenzy of NATO widening its borders with Russia as an unreasonable gain.

Historian David Gibbs: “It should be recalled how the alliance has undermined world security since the end of the Cold War, by inflating relations with Russia. speak last week. “It is often forgotten that the cause of the current conflict stems from the United States’ 1990 promise that NATO would never be expanded into the former communist states of Eastern Europe.

Not ‘an inch to the East’, the Russian leaders were promised by then US Secretary of State, James Baker. Despite this promise, NATO soon expanded into Eastern Europe, ultimately pitting the alliance against Russia’s borders. Today’s US-Russian conflict is a direct result of this expansion”.

Journalists who belittle the nationalists on US television networks and in other media are not conducive to any such understanding. Why consider what everything in the world might look like to Russians?

Why offer anything like a range of perspectives on a conflict that could escalate into the destruction of the world with thermonuclear weapons? Jingoistic fit is a much more conservative career course.

Not fitting that type of fit is Andrei Tsygankov, a professor of international relations at San Francisco State University, whose books include Russia and America: Asymmetrical Adversaries. “Russia considers its actions a purely defensive response to the increasingly offensive military preparations by NATO and Ukraine (according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, half of the Ukrainian army, or about 125,000 troops, stationed near the border),” he Written yesterday.

“Instead of pressuring Ukraine to de-escalate and comply Minsk protocolhowever, Western countries continue to provide the Ukrainian army with lethal weapons and other supplies”.

Tsygankov points out that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has two decades of experience in trying to convince Western leaders to consider Russia’s interests. During these years, Russia unsuccessfully challenged the US decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and building a new missile defense system in Romania, expanding NATO, invading Iraq and Libya, and supporting Kyiv’s anti-Russian policies – all in vain.

The professor pointed out an important fact: “Whatever Russia plans to do with Ukraine and NATO, the resolution of the conflict depends very much on the West. A major war is avoidable if Western leaders gather the confidence and will to abandon the counterproductive language of threats and engage Russia in a sensible dialogue. .

If diplomacy is given a fair chance, continental Europe can achieve a new security system that, among them, reflects Russia’s interests and participation.”

Amidst all this, what about the progressives in the US Congress? As we face the deadliest crisis in decades that threatens to plunge the world into nuclear war, few people are doing more than having fun in their mouths.

Are they bowing to public opinion? Not really. It’s like they’re cowering to avoid being attacked by media hawks and militaristic political forces.

On Friday, US outlookreport: “A new data for progress poll Shared privately with Prospect shows that a majority of Americans support diplomacy with Russia over sanctions or waging war over Ukraine’s sovereignty.

The poll found that most Americans are not particularly enthusiastic about the escalating conflict in Eastern Europe, despite round-the-clock media coverage. When asked, 71% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans said they support the US reaching a diplomatic agreement with Russia. They agreed that in an effort to de-escalate tensions and avoid war, the United States should be prepared to make concessions.”

The magazine’s report provides a portrait of the top progressives in congress who are unable to directly challenge Democrat Joe Biden’s escalation of today’s very dangerous conflict. , when he still sent more large arms shipments to Ukraine with a new $200 million shipment while deploying 8,500 US troops to Eastern Europe.

When asked about Ukraine’s possible future NATO membership, Representative Ro Khanna saw the situation as a test of superpower will or chicken game, saying: “I will not be blackmailed by Putin. in this situation”.

General US outlook fervently fervently rejecting progressive symbols in Congress to avert the unfolding crisis:

  • “The 41 co-sponsors of the sanctions package moving through the Senate include progressive heavyweights like Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. In a press release about the bill, Markey said the law is designed to ‘align with actions the Biden administration has taken to demonstrate that we will continue to support Ukraine and its sovereignty. ‘
  • “Answer. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), president of the radical caucus of Congress, put forward a statement on Wednesday with Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA). ‘Russia’s strategy is to inflame tensions; The representatives said the United States and NATO were not involved in this strategy. The statement raised concerns about ‘sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions.’ But pressed on what exactly the United States should be prepared to offer in diplomatic negotiations, a spokesman for Lee did not respond. “
  • “Reach out to Prospect, spokespeople for leading progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), declined to comment on questions including whether the US should commit to not bringing Ukraine into NATO and whether to provide military aid. directly to Ukraine. Sanders refused to weigh in. In a statement, Warren said, “The United States must use the appropriate economic, diplomatic and political tools to de-escalate this situation.”
  • Spokespersons for Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, who have previously criticized US interventionism in the Middle East, did not respond to questions from the Outlook, including questions about sanctions policy and NATO commitments.”

Progressives in Congress have yet to say that Biden should stop escalating the Ukraine conflict between the two nuclear superpowers. Instead, we hear pleas for ease about diplomacy and it is best to speak softly.”considerable concern“About the president’s new arms shipment and troop deployments to the region.

The evasive rhetoric is like pretending that the president isn’t doing what he’s really doing when he deals with terrible tensions and risks.

All of this can be summed up in five words: Incredibly. Irresponsible. And. Extremely. Danger.

Norman Solomon is the country director of RootsAction.org and author of dozens of books including Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America Warfare State, published in a new edition as Free eBooks in January 2022. His other books include War Made Easy: How Pres President and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He was Bernie Sanders’ delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.


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© Inter Press Service (2022) – All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service

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