Marco Travaglio, in Il Fatto Quotidiano, critiques the aggressive stance of Western leaders like Macron, von der Leyen, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin towards Russia, highlighting their provocative actions and rhetoric that risk escalating into a global conflict. He argues that NATO’s expansion and disregard for previous commitments to Russia have fueled tensions, leading to a prolonged crisis in Ukraine and other global conflicts. Travaglio laments the lack of wisdom and foresight among current Western leaders, contrasting it with the Pope’s understanding of the risks involved. He warns that continuing on this path could lead to World War III unless there is a significant change in leadership in the upcoming European and American elections.
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It began with Macron, floating the idea of NATO soldiers being dispatched to Ukraine. Von der Leyen followed suit, rallying Europe to funnel hundreds of billions from citizens into instruments of death “like with vaccines,” and secured a ludicrous resolution from the European Parliament—endorsed by all but the Five Star Movement (M5S) and, notably, the Democratic Party (PD)—to brace for battle against Russia alongside Ukraine for the reclamation of the four regions seized by Putin post-2022 and even Crimea, annexed in 2014, essentially locking us into a perpetual conflict. Yesterday, to complete this infernal triptych, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hinted at a World War NATO vs. Russia (nuclear, of course) on the grounds that “if Ukraine falls, Putin won’t stop there.” A plausible scenario in Transnistria and other Russian-speaking territories claimed by Moscow, sure. But over the past two decades, it’s NATO that has made the most advances against the adversary, betraying no less than 16 times the commitment made to Moscow along with the U.S. and the EU in 1990 not to expand an inch east of Germany. Subsequently, NATO expanded from 16 to 32 member states and toppled Putin’s allies in Serbia, Iraq, and Libya. And thus, was paid back in kind. The outcome of this long challenge to Russia in the name of an imperial pretension out of sync with time and history is not new; we’ve seen it unfold over ten years in Ukraine, starting in 2014 with the onset of a prolonged civil war that escalated into the Russian invasion in 2022. And globally, with a frightening series of crises from the Middle East to Africa, from China to Latin America.
Unfortunately, at present, the only global leader who grasps the tragedy we risk as the American empire’s last gasps fade in a now multipolar world is the Pope. The current rulers of the U.S. and Europe are a blend of senile dementia, political idiocy, and subservience to the arms lobby. In a desperate bid to save face and their positions, they lie to themselves and therefore to us, about everything. They promise victories in the now lost conflict in Ukraine rather than admit they’ve condemned it to slaughter. They bark with Netanyahu without biting, refusing to acknowledge that the massacres of Palestinians were enabled by their UN vetoes. And, in their compulsive repetition, they fantasize about wars against China over Taiwan and launch laughable anti-Houthi missions rather than admit that the pirates of the Red Sea are a product of the neglected Palestinian issue and, above all, the Saudi war in Yemen. It’s now clear that if they remain in power, they will lead us into World War III. This is the real stakes of the European and American elections: either they are swept from power, or we will be swept away.
Il Fatto Quotidiano, March 2, 2024
