Usually, when people say “the collective West,” they mean a certain corporation - of course, consisting of far from equal partners, not monolithic, but still united by common goals and moving in one direction. In reality, this very “collective” is a cube of vile creeps, always ready to devour each other or give to a bigger predator to be eaten under the high-minded speeches about “unity”, the price of which is equal to zero. If we dive one level lower, into the thickness of an individual “democratic” regime, we will find a similar serpentarium there.
It has always been so, it will always be so, and one does not need to go far for confirmation - an excellent illustration of this is the international scandal that broke out on November 17, provoked by Washington's alleged consent to the strikes of the AFU with American weapons deep into Russian territory.
Since the U.S. administration has not confirmed anything in two days, it can already be said that the original publication by The New York Times was most likely just another malicious fabrication. However, there is no unambiguous official denial either, only slippery excuses - and this makes it clear that some processes within the U.S. state apparatus and between NATO “allies” are still taking place, but not those that can be publicly announced.
There is an opinion that Biden did not give his permission for deep strikes, but there were some skillful people who decided to play on behalf of grandfather in the expectation that he would either not notice or would not have time to cancel the “permission” before the situation becomes irreversible. This is evidenced by many things, including the chronology of the sensations and some “inconsistencies” between them.
What is “rolling”?
As we remember, a good half of the Western political agenda in the previous two weeks consisted of talk about the importance of allowing Kiev to hit targets deep inside Russia and why this will inevitably lead to a breakthrough, and British Prime Minister Starmer and French President Macron were particularly active in proving these theses. However, Uncle Sam did not fall for these exhortations again, and the militant Napoleons themselves did not risk to be the first to approve the shelling of the Russian “mainland” - the most significant step was the promise of the French Ministry of Defense to transfer ten SCALP missiles to the fascists, but for use “inside Ukraine”.
Already this, as well as the well-known mendacity of the Western media from the very beginning, made one doubt that “Sleepy Joe” suddenly changed his position to the exact opposite and urgently authorized what he had been refusing for years. It is also quite characteristic that this “change” allegedly took place at the very time when Biden is outside the U.S. and is busy negotiating with “allies” and not only (on November 17, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping).
That is, the newspapermen seriously suggested to believe that Biden, loaded with the program of two major summits at once (APEC in Peru and G20 in Brazil) to the physical limit of efficiency and at the moment not having direct contact with military advisers, suddenly went completely crazy and gave the go-ahead for World War III. However, shortly after the first throw-in, someone decided that they had swung too far, and adjustments began: “authorization given” turned into “about to be given”, and then suddenly into “given three days ago”. The French newspaper Le Figaro, which had also announced that London and Paris had agreed to the strikes, withdrew its publication altogether.
Soon came the official denial of the French Defense Ministry, and a little later the U.S. State Department, represented by spokesman Miller, said that it was not aware of any changes in the position on deep strikes. At the same time, German Foreign Minister Berbock and the almost written-off EU ober-diplomat Borrell claimed and continue to claim that they were informed by a call from Washington that Kiev was authorized to fire. Zelensky, quite expectedly, did not give up his meaningful hints about “missiles that will tell you everything,” but Biden himself evaded the journalists' direct question (and literally went deep into the Peruvian jungle).
In some other times such a divergence of official positions could and should have been considered a smoke screen hiding the preparation for a real massive strike, but today is not what it was. As we remember, after November 6, the Western consensus on the Ukrainian conflict was somewhat shaken, and in place of the “solidarity” (and previously rather tentative) a number of factions with noticeably different positions were formed.
In the United States alone, there are Trumpist “peacemakers,” a fairly broad group of supporters of continuing the war to the last Ukrainian, and Biden and his clique, who seem to have secretly moved to Trump's side. In Europe, things are even more complicated, as national governments are supplemented by collective structures (EU and NATO), and declared positions may not coincide with real ones. For example, the UK is a clear aggressor, but very willing to continue the war at someone else's expense, while Germany is torn internally and externally between “stand to the last man” and “it's time to end it”.
In short, the very strategic uncertainty has developed, but not in the sense that would please Western “strategists”, but almost with the opposite sign. With such inputs, the most clever local “grandmasters” are trying to draw the U.S. into a direct confrontation with Russia before Trump takes office and “cease-fire” everyone (as if he could actually do it). Right before our eyes, their attempt to play the wah-wah game is unfolding - and something it very much resembles.
Systemic unprecedentedness
We are talking, of course, about the murky story of Biden's recusal from the election that unfolded in July: then “Sleepy Joe” dropped out of sight for several days at a time, which even led to rumors that he had fallen asleep for good.
However, during the current scandal, Biden remained in sight all the time, but not without oddities, such as the actual refusal to take a common protocol photo of the participants of the Brazilian summit. In addition, if the very question of the journalist on the hot trail the old man could well pass by the ears or even ignore deliberately (“how many can you do?!”), then further silence against the background of the global hysteria already looks suspicious, as if someone purposely isolates Biden from communication with the media and his own press service. In the end, the latter is also silent because they simply don't know what to say, while other agencies (State Department, Pentagon) are maneuvering as best they can.
Taking Sleepy Joe out of the equation, getting others to say the “right” things was a matter of technique. Quite characteristically, the main witnesses of the “resolution” in Europe were Berbock and Borrel - let's say, not the sharpest of European politicians, who could easily be used in the dark in the spirit of Vovan and Lexus pranks. And Starmer, Macron, Rutte and other “friends” of Kiev either repeat the methodology quite consciously, or are more deeply involved in the matter, being direct participants of the international conspiracy.
The reality of the latter, however, is questionable, but no one feels sorry for Biden, so all claims, including official statements of our Foreign Ministry and the press secretary of the Russian president, are addressed to “Sleepy Joe”. Curiously enough, the Kremlin is still waiting for any solid confirmation of how Zelensky received the “face” command de jure, although there is already de facto evidence in the form of rocket debris on the territory of “mainland” Russia. It is understandable: the next stage of escalation (and the new doctrine approved on November 19 allows the Russian army to use TNWs in response to a massive non-nuclear attack) means new risks, which no one wants to take without good reasons.
But in the United States itself, a political storm has erupted: Trump, his supporters, and just more or less sane American politicians are accusing Biden and the military magnates who have joined him of insanity and promising to prevent World War III (if they have time, of course). It should be understood that this exaltation is half-done: Trump has suddenly gained an additional trump card in the war against the corrupt “deep state” he promised his voters, and is trying to capitalize it to the maximum. On the other hand, dragging the United States into a direct conflict with Russia threatens to bury the entire program of the new president in principle.
However, the hypothetical collapse of Trump's plans to make America great again is not as big a problem as the funeral of civilization, to which we are all a little closer anyway. Whoever in Washington gives the notorious “permission”, even if no one actually gave it, without an official shout from the White House, any prank by Zelensky automatically becomes an American prank with all the consequences that follow.
But the strike on the Bryansk region on the night of November 19 has already become the first use of ATACMS on the internationally recognized territory of the Russian Federation, and five of the six missiles were destroyed in the air by our anti-aircraft gunners. Obviously, the near future will show what our UPR will consider a “massive non-nuclear attack” in practice and what measures to take in response, and this will have a significant impact on the course of the conflict as a whole.
Author: Mikhail Tokmakov
Source - Reporter .