by Stephen Lendman

A previous article discussed lunatics running the Washington asylum. Talking peace. Waging one war after another against invented enemies.

Heading dangerously toward crossing a red line of no return - direct confrontation with Russia. Possible nuclear war. Madness if launched.

Today's risk is greater than ever given lunatics in Washington making policy. Likeminded ones influencing it.

So-called think tank "experts" promoting what demands condemnation. More on this below.

Washington is a hotbed of war-mongering extremism. Obama already wages multiple direct and proxy wars.

He wants congressional authorization and funding for more wars at his discretion. His soon-to-be-confirmed new defense secretary is unabashedly hawkish. Ashton Carter supports more war.

Earlier he argued for surgically bombing North Korea's ballistic missile platform. Urges "interven(tion) before mortal threats to US security can develop." In other words, maintain preemption as an option.

In written comments to Senate Armed Services Committee members ahead of his confirmation hearing, he urged reconsideration for withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan by end of 2016. In other words, maintaining permanent occupation.

AP said he "largely toed the administration line" on Russia, China, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, North Korea and Yemen.

He wants more military spending, not less. Ludicrously claimed radicalized Islam threatens America's homeland and Western interests.

Appeared open to conscription saying "a review of the military selective service act would be prudent."

Wants a greater US military presence in Latin America. Carter heading DOD means more war, not less.

The Atlantic Council is a right-wing think tank. Brookings is an establishment organization representing America's dark side. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs supports Washington's imperial agenda.

Ivo Daalder heads the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He's a former Clinton administration National Security Council (NSC) staffer. An Obama 2008 foreign policy advisor.

Michele Flournoy is a former Obama administration Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. A leading candidate for Defense Secretary in a future Hillary Clinton administration if elected president.

John Herbst is a former Bush administration ambassador to Ukraine. Heavily involved in Washington's 2004/05 Orange Revolution ousting Viktor Yanykovych's earlier government.

Jan Lodal is a former Atlantic Council president. Held various Washington defense and national security positions.

Steven Pifer heads Brookings Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative.

Ret. Adm. James Stavridis formerly was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). He's currently US Naval Institute board chairman.

Strobe Talbott serves as Brookings' president. A former Clinton administration Deputy Secretary of State.

Ret. General Charles Wald formerly served as Deputy Commander of US European Command.

Their new report is titled "Preserving Ukraine's Independence, Resisting Russian Aggression: What the United States and NATO Must Do."

It's beginning-to-end managed news misinformation Big Lies, distortions and war-mongering.

An unabashed policy paper for greater US involvement in escalated war in Ukraine. What else to expect from establishment figures.

Hawks masquerading as liberals. Representing America's dark side. Promoting greater war on humanity and then some.

Their report urged "providing direct military assistance - in far larger amounts than provided to date and including lethal defensive arms - so that Ukraine is better able to defend itself."

Ignoring US planned, implemented and directed naked aggression on Donbas.

So-called "defensive arms" include greater amounts of already covertly supplied heavy weapons for offense, not defense."

The report falsely accuses Russia of aggression. Ignores US-installed Kiev policy-making fascist thugs.

Operating under a police state apparatus. Waging war on their own people.

Murdering civilian men, women and children in cold blood. Committing horrendous atrocities.

Blaming Donbas self-defense forces for justifiably rejecting illegitimate fascist rule. Fighting courageously for democratic rights everyone deserves.

Report misinformation, distortions and Big Lies include the following:

Saying " NATO should take to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses and thereby enhance its ability to deter further Russian aggression."

"A stronger Ukrainian military" will increase prospects for peace.

Western nations must "make clear" they "will not accept the use of force to change borders in Europe."

"President Putin may hope to achieve glory through restoring, through intimidation and force, Russian dominion over its neighbors. But a peaceful world requires opposing this through

decisive action."

In other words, full-scale US-led NATO war in Europe's heartland threatening the entire continent and beyond.

"We face a critical juncture in Ukraine," say report contributors.

"Moscow currently seeks to create a frozen conflict in eastern Ukraine as a means to pressure and destabilize the Ukrainian government."

"Russians continue to be present in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in substantial numbers and have introduced significant amounts of heavy weapons."

"This could be preparation for another major Russian/separatist offensive."

Fact check

No Russian aggression exists. No evidence suggests it. Not now, earlier or planned. Claims otherwise are Big Lies.

Throughout months of conflict in Donbas, Russia alone went all-out for peaceful conflict resolution. Continues doing so forthrightly and honorably.

Thwarted by US-dominated NATO's rage for war. Kiev fascists wanting nationwide hardline rule. Police state despotism by any standard.

No evidence suggests Russian troops in Ukraine. Or Moscow supplying rebels with weapons.

Clear evidence shows direct US involvement in fighting. US forces deployed in Ukraine. Plus Western mercenaries.

Washington and EU nations covertly supplying Kiev with heavy weapons throughout months of conflict. Intending much more ahead.

"Russian success would fatally undermine Ukraine's stability and embolden the Kremlin to further challenge the security order in Europe," report contributors claim.

"It might (embolden Putin to seek) territorial changes elsewhere in (Eastern Europe), including in the Baltic states, provoking a direct challenge to NATO."

Fact check

No evidence whatever suggests Putin has revanchist ambitions. Plenty shows his policies are polar opposite.

Supporting European peace and stability. Respect for nation-state sovereignty. Rule of law inviolability.

Report contributors believe more war promotes peace. More heavy weapons. More fighting.

More bloodshed. More mass slaughter and destruction. More mass displacement. More human misery.

Lunatics like report contributors influence US policy. Turning truth on its head saying:

"Russia's actions in and against Ukraine pose the gravest threat to European security in more than 30 years."

"The West has the capacity to stop Russia. The question is whether it has the will."

Fact check

Washington bears full responsibility for Ukrainian crisis conditions. Rogue EU partners share it.

So do US-installed Kiev stooges. Thugs masquerading as politicians. Making Mafia crime families look saintly by comparison.

Report contributors urge Washington supply Kiev with billions of dollars of military aid. Heavy weapons to escalate war. Other NATO countries providing their own military assistance.

On February 2, Strobe Talbott lied commenting separately. Calling Ukraine's conflict "an act of war on the part of the Russian Federation."

Outrageously claimed "a literal invasion, not a proxy war, a literal invasion by the Russian armed forces."

"It's a literal occupation of large parts, well beyond Crimea, of eastern Ukraine."

"And it is a virtual annexation of a lot of territory other than just Crimea."

"And in that respect, this is a major threat to the peace of Europe, to the peace of Eurasia, and therefore a threat to the interests of the United States, and I would say a threat to the chances of a peaceful 21st Century."

Pifer separately accused Russia of "escalat(ing) a lot over the last ten months."

Saying "giv(ing) the Ukrainians military assistance (raises) the cost of escalation, the cost of aggression to Russia."

He urged "pushing back against Russia's (nonexistent) challenge to the broader European security order."

"And If we don't take action now there is a serious risk of further Russian incursions, further Russian attempts to redraw borders, and they may take place in places that we can’t we can't ignore."

"And the costs then to the United States of pushing back would be much more expensive than what we are advocating today."

This type narrative proliferates in Washington. Lunatics influencing policy risk engulfing the whole world in conflict.

Big Lies repeated ad nauseam get most people to believe war is peace. Things head dangerously toward the abyss.

Direct confrontation with Russia. Possible nuclear war. It bears repeating.

Lunatics in Washington make the unthinkable possible. Humanity's fate hangs in the balance.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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