Stephen Bryen: The War in Europe is Spreading

War and death for an institution.

Published: 2024-05-06

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In "NATO Starts Deploying Troops as Russia Races to Win" Stephen Bryen begins by clarifying the first part of his title: NATO nations are sending large numbers of uniformed soldiers into Ukraine:

NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine. Soldiers from Poland, France, the UK, Finland and other NATO members are arriving in larger numbers.

Although Russia says there are over 3,100 mercenaries in Ukraine, these newly arriving troops are not mercenaries. They are in uniform, home country proclaimed via insignia. They mostly are concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east.

NATO is putting out the word these are not combat soldiers but are in Ukraine to operate sophisticated western hardware. But if they are firing at the Russians the only proper way to interpret their presence is that they are playing an active part in the shooting war.

He continues, stating that Biden's position of “no US engagement” is just public. This is reminiscent of the public/private disparity exposed in the 2016 US election campaing by Hillary Clinton.

The US "national security establishment" (US-NSE) is fearful of a Russian victory for that means, exactly as many informed commentators have been declaring for over a year now, the end of NATO. Thus, these troops are fighting and will be dying to preserve the institution of NATO. It has nothing to do with Ukraine. It is merely the dirt. If NATO's leadership, the US, cared about Ukraine then they wouldn't have triggered the war by undermining the Minsk II Accords, or undermined every single opportunity at resolving the conflict.

The US-NSE either didn't care about the outcome ("fight to the last Ukrainian") or horribly miscalculated when provoking the war, or both. They now have a NATO existential crisis on their hands, and NATO's political leadership are following the US- NSE lemmings off the cliff.

Early in April the foreign ministers of France and Britain declared an entente in The Telegraph, of all places. The audience was the British populace. These nations via their president and foreign minister have since kept alive the flame of overt NATO engagement in the war on the ground of Ukraine. Macron has repeatedly been "not denying" NATO flagged troops being involved. Cameron has just given Ukraine official permission to attack Russia with the weaponry it has provided Ukraine. These are both just the public statements of a truth which has been evident since at least the completely failed "counter offensive" in the northern summer of 2023; NATO personnel have been running their complex military systems (air defense, long range missiles) and attacking Russia within its pre-war borders for a year.

Bryen continues by re-stating the known advantage Russia has in military production and that multiple, senior brigades in the Ukraine army have recently refused orders. He augments this with what this newsletter has labeled the "Extradition Draft", the extradition or deportation of Ukrainians back to Ukraine of those who fled Ukraine at the beginning of the conflict to avoid fighting in it. Once back in Ukraine, these people will be conscripted by force and sent to fight and die on the lines of contact. NATO nations will be doing the deportation on behalf of a non-NATO nation to kill these expendable human resources to save the institution of NATO.

Bryen contends that if "Genocide Joe" Biden is victorious in the US presidential election then the US-NSE will have the freedom to deploy US flagged troops to Ukraine, and that NATO's current actions are the stop gap measures, like the $61 billion USD recently approved by the US Congress. He further contends that:

The Russians know this and are in a race to try and collapse Ukraine’s army before Biden returns to office, if in fact he does.

Whatever the motivation, Russia has just deployed another 100 000 troops, and is taking village after village predominantly in Western Donetsk. The rate of advance after the rout of Avdiivka has been beyond anything since the earliest phase of the conflict.

Bryen concludes:

If the Russians are successful, a bigger war in Europe will be avoided. If not, with the introduction of US forces, Europe will be plunged into World War III.

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Sources

NATO starts deploying troops as Russia races to win, Stephen Bryen, Natylie's Place: Understanding Russia (via Asia Times), 2024-05-05 (2024-04-26)

UK's Cameron Says Ukraine Has the 'Right' To Use British-Provided Missiles To Hit Russian Territory, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-05-05

Macron Reaffirms That Sending NATO Troops To Fight Russia in Ukraine Shouldn't Be Ruled Out, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-05-02

The world is safer for a renewed Entente, David Cameron (British Foreign Secretary) & Stephane Sejourne (French Foreign Minister), The Telegraph (also published at the British FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office]), 2024-04-07

Rank Hypocrisy, Clubbing Students and the Extradition Draft, YesXorNo, 2024-04-27

The Rout of Avdiivka, YesXorNo, 2024-02-23

[US] NATO v Russia: 2014 - 2024, YesXorNo, 2024-03-09

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