How to Start a War With the Russians

In one of the most dumbfounding displays of militaristic insanity and sophistic stupidity we have ever read, a former NATO general and a Polish arms consultant have co-authored a highly subjective July 2016 foreign policy “analysis,” which, if it is implemented, will make a world war with Russia a near certainty.

By Ronald L. Ray

Far from being a sober policy review, “Arming for Deterrence: How Poland and NATO Should Counter a Resurgent Russia,” published by the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Atlantic Council, is a dangerous recipe for confrontation. The 25-page document lacks any bibliography and contains only 14 footnotes, of which only a few list information sources. Two of those, Bloomberg and The New York Times, are hardly scholarly.

The authors of “Arming for Deterrence” (AD) are Gen. Sir Richard Shirreff and Maciej Olex-Szczytowski. Shirreff’s official biography notes he was “NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander Europe from 2011 to 2014. He is a partner at Strategia World-wide Ltd.” Ominously, “He recently published ‘2017: War with Russia.’ ”

Olex-Szczytowski was formerly an economic advisor in the Polish Foreign Ministry and is now an “independent” advisor “specializing in defense.”

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The policy paper is founded upon base—and baseless—propaganda, calling Russia “a kleptocratic, authoritarian regime” that seeks “to deflect attention from [the country’s] ongoing economic meltdown and the regime’s growing repressiveness.” Since when did bald-faced lying become a firm footing for foreign policy?

AFP long has documented the opposing reality of modern, nationalist, religious Russia, which acts as a responsible great power in world affairs, amid the adolescent bullying and destructive warfare perpetrated by the U.S. and its allies.

But the real danger is the authors’ effort to make Poland the “point of the spear” in the ceaseless U.S. and Zionist effort to subjugate Russia. By repeating the false narrative of Russian regional “aggression,” AD seeks to provide cover for a highly belligerent and dangerous policy of NATO “defense,” designed to preserve the illusion of the U.S. as “lone superpower” and restore the genuinely “kleptocratic, authoritarian regime” of the Jewish oligarchs and mafiosi that Russian President Vladimir Putin imprisoned and expelled.

More than just typical military build-up, AD calls for Poland to act more independently and aggressively toward Russia, playing on traditional Polish antipathies. The parallels to the West’s 1939 provocation of Poland to instigate World War II against Germany are obvious—and extremely disturbing.

Disingenuously glossing over the blatant violation of the NATO/Russia Founding Act by NATO’s increasingly aggressive encirclement of Russia, AD demands that “Poland should publish a potential list of [attack] targets, for example in the Kaliningrad Oblast.” It pushes Poland to violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by requesting U.S. nuclear missiles on its soil.

In one of the worst recommendations, “Poland should announce that it reserves the right to deploy offensive cyber operations (and not necessarily in response just to cyberattacks). The authorities could also suggest potential targets, which could include the Moscow metro, the St. Petersburg power network, and Russian state-run media outlets such as RT.” Aside from the policy’s outright lunacy, the only reason to announce such things is to provoke a response, because announcing military plans in advance is bad strategy.

The call for “offensive cyber operations” raises the question of the technology source. Very few can successfully attack the computer infrastructures of a government or major industrial plant.

It seems likely that Poland’s source would be the U.S., making the former a mere pawn concealing the real aggressor. It is a treacherous way for the West to deal with its Slavic ally.

And in reality, the cyber war is already well under way. It is not yet overly aggressive, but the AD recommendations, if followed, could change all that. In America, the hack of Democratic National Committee emails was blamed disingenuously on Russia. Immediately after, on July 31, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that about 20 organizations in that country suffered highly sophisticated cyberattacks on “information resources of the state authorities, scientific and defense companies . . . and other objects of the country’s critically important infrastructures,” according to the TASS news service.

Based on certain “signatures” in file names, style of programming, etc., the FSB concluded the targeted virus attack had originated from the same source as a previous event, giving the impression that state players were involved, such as the United States or Israel.

But since when is covert total warfare—which is what such cyberattacks are—even moral, especially given the wide-ranging effects on civilians of such activities? Where is the regard for international law and Catholic moral teachings on just warfare in “Catholic” Poland?

Far from being able to seriously challenge Russia militarily, Poland could not even, as AD calls for, defend the Baltic nations or Romania. In reality, AD would turn Polish citizens into human shields protecting U.S. and Zionist interests, not their own. The Atlantic Council report’s only purpose can be to provoke war with Russia and the ensuing ruin of the Polish people.

Tell Congress, the U.S. president and the Polish Embassy (tel.: 202-499-1700) to reject the Atlantic Council’s deadly deceptions.

Ronald L. Ray is a freelance author and an assistant editor of THE BARNES REVIEW. He is a descendant of several patriots of the American War for Independence. Contact Ron by email at [email protected].