Western & NATO Problems for Russia

First, I want to clarify that I don’t support any sovereign state invading another sovereign state, contrary
to international law and norms. But the hypocrisy of the West led by the United States of America is
amazing about the Ukraine crisis and the potential invasion of it by Russia. Further, I hope the two
countries can settle this conflict through diplomatic means.

We all have short memories about world history and so I want to remind myself and others of the
events that transpired almost twenty years ago. We should remember there was an American President
named George W. Bush who raised the war hysteria against Iraq, ruled by dictator Saddam Hussein.
George W. Bush included Iraq as a member of the ‘axis of evil’ that comprised Iran and North Korea.
The U.S. President asserted Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction” and Saddam Hussein had
links to Al-Qaeda.

The U.S., United Kingdom, and its allies without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval
invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, with over 177 thousand troops. After the invasion, we found out that
weapons of mass destruction didn’t exist and that there was no Al-Qaeda presence in Iraq and so, the
U.S. and its allies began an invasion based on lies and fabricated intelligence. Given this reality, did the
international community place sanctions on the U.S. and its allies for waging an illegal war? We all know
that the answer is sadly a big “No.”

Let’s see, the U.S. and its allies without UN approval launched an invasion of Iraq, a sovereign country,
overthrew its government, and continues to occupy it till this day but never punished and/or sanctioned
by the world community. And now, the U.S. and the West are threatening Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Russia with sanctions and armed force if they invade Ukraine? This is the height of hypocrisy.
The 2003 Iraq invasion and the Ukraine conflict are similar, but we don’t see or hear anyone in the
international mainstream media highlighting the U.S. hypocrisy.

Was anyone in the U.S. or its allies ever held accountable for the Iraq invasion based on lies? Also,
during these twenty years of occupation, war crimes were committed, but they will probably go
unpunished.

The recent opinion polls of the American public show that the majority don’t favor sending U.S. troops
to Ukraine, but U.S. President Biden and the national security establishment sure look like they want a
war. Why? Maybe it has something to do with Biden’s sinking popularity among Americans. History
shows that when a U.S. President’s popularity is plunging, waging war boosts American patriotism and
support for the sitting President. The biggest example of this tactic is George W. Bush in 2002-03, when
he targeted Iraq for invasion. His poll numbers surged just like his father George H. W. Bush in the
aftermath of the first Iraq war in 1991.
Another reason for the U.S. wanting war with Russia might be the military-industrial complex. We all
know that the war industry is a major player in the U.S. economy and so they need a war somewhere to
generate profits and economic activity. The U.S. Congress has no problem in hiking defense spending at
the cost of social spending and generating large fiscal deficits.

Let’s hearken back to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and see if it offers some lessons to de-
escalate tensions over Ukraine. During this crisis, the situation was unusually like that in today’s Eastern
Europe, although there was a reversal in the roles of the U.S. and the USSR (predecessor of today’s
Russia).

In 1962, the Soviet Union had infringed on the U.S. government’s self-defined sphere of influence by
installing medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, a nation only 90 miles from U.S. shores. The Cuban
government had requested the missiles as a deterrent to a U.S. invasion, an invasion that looked very
probable given the long history of U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs, in addition to the 1961 U.S.-
sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion.

The Soviet government was open to the request because it wanted to assure its new Cuban ally of its
protection. It also believed that missile deployment would level the nuclear balance, for the U.S.
government had already deployed nuclear missiles in Turkey, on Russia’s border. However, the U.S.
government couldn’t fathom a sovereign nation like Cuba requesting the USSR to place nuclear weapons
on its soil as being no different from the U.S. placing nuclear weapons in Turkey.

Since the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, the U.S. believed the Western Hemisphere to be its sphere of
influence or backyard and warned European powers not to interfere. Likewise, Russia believes that
Eastern Europe, particularly the former Warsaw Pact nations and breakaway republics of the former
USSR, is their sphere of influence and doesn’t want NATO expansion reaching its borders.

Fortunately, the world avoided nuclear annihilation because of secret diplomacy between the U.S. and
USSR that resulted in the de-escalation of the conflict. Maybe, secret diplomacy between the U.S. and
Russia on the Ukraine crisis is the requirement of the day. Also, confidence-building measures from
both sides, along with third-party intervention, could help defuse the tension and lead to a peaceful
solution.