Written by Ted Snider. Originally published on AntiWar
Up until now, the heated question has been about who is responsible for starting the war in Ukraine. Biden and the West call the war “unprovoked” and apportion all the blame to Russia; Putin and his partners say NATO expansion provoked the war and apportion all the blame to the US and NATO.
There is no doubt that the launching of a war without UN approval is illegal and that Russia bears responsibility for launching this war. But, eight months in, perhaps it is time to stop looking only at who started the war and start apportioning some of the blame to parties who are placing road blocks in the path of stopping the war.
Biden has said that he is “trying to figure out what is Putin’s off-ramp.” But we have passed several off-ramps. Though the person who drove the car up the on-ramp to the highway is responsible for driving on the highway, at some point, the person who drove passed multiple off-ramps also bears some responsibility for still being on the highway.
On October 9, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said in an interview that the U.S. needs to “do everything we possibly can to try to get to the table to resolve this thing.” Mullen then said that it “really is up to . . .Tony Blinken and other diplomats to figure out a way to get both Zelensky and Putin to the table.” He then added, “the sooner the better.”
But the Biden administration has declined to push them to the table. Just two days after Mullen’s comments, The Washington Post reported that “US officials . . . have ruled out the idea of pushing or even nudging Ukraine to the negotiating table.” The Post quotes a senior State Department official as saying that “That’s a decision for the Ukrainians to make.”
Turkey has recently suggested the possibility of mediating talks between Russia and the West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded that Russia would be open to that suggestion and “was willing to engage with the United States or with Turkey on ways to end the war.” State Department spokesperson Ned Price dismissed Russia’s comments as “posturing” and said Washington has “very little confidence” that Russia was making a legitimate offer. Perhaps he is right. But that is an off-ramp that, consistent with Mullen’s plea to “do everything we possibly can,” should be explored.
On October 5, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Zelensky on the phone that India was prepared to mediate in peace efforts. That too is an off-ramp that could be explored. But there is no evidence that anyone has explored India’s offer.
These are not the first off-ramps that the West has driven pasts. In the early days of the war, Ned Price responded to suggestions for diplomacy during Russian attacks with the rejection that “those are not the conditions for real diplomacy.” One month later, Price again articulated a US rejection of negotiating an end to the war Russia had launched on Ukraine because “this is a war that is in many ways bigger than Russia, it’s bigger than Ukraine.” The State Department discouraged Kiev from negotiating on the key issues to end the war because there were “principles at stake here.”
In April, when a settlement seemed to be within reach at the Istanbul talks, then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rushed to Kiev to correct Zelensky, telling him that Putin “should be pressured, not negotiated with.” He told Zelensky that, even if Ukraine was ready to sign some agreements with Russia, the West was not.” On August 24, in his dying days as prime minister, he repeated that call, saying that now was not the time to promote a “flimsy plan for negotiation” with Russia.
After a month of the promising talks bearing no fruit, a frustrated Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said in an interview that “There are countries within NATO who want the war to continue.” He said that “following the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, it was the impression that…there are those within the NATO member states that want the war to continue, let the war continue and Russia get weaker.”
On October 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that “Should an offer for a meeting between Putin and Joe Biden no [sic] the sidelines of the G20 summit be filed, Moscow will review it.” On the same day, though, Biden said in a CNN interview that “I don’t see any rationale [sic] to meet with him now” and insisted that “I have no intention of meeting with him.” Biden then expanded the rejection of talks beyond the US, saying, “So I’m not about to, nor is anyone else prepared to, negotiate with Russia about them staying in Ukraine, keeping any part of Ukraine, et cetera.”
Recently, Moscow called on Kiev to return to the negotiating table. As Ned Price has said, this may just be “posturing.” On the other hand, as Admiral Mullen said, the US has to “do everything we possibly can to try to get to the table to resolve this thing.” If the US is “trying to figure out what is Putin’s off-ramp,” then they have to explore every off ramp.
As this horrible war reaches levels of danger unimagined at the start and risks elevating to levels that cannot be permitted, perhaps it is time to begin to apportion responsibility not only to those who started the war – a responsibility that cannot be shed – but also to those who refuse to stop it.
Ted Snider has a graduate degree in philosophy and writes on analyzing patterns in US foreign policy and history.
Joe Biden has decided to replace some weapon suggested by Ukraine with weapons his staff have described as “Best suited weaponry to their style”
as such
14000 suicide vests –
1000 toyota truck bombs –
27000 flick knives and 27000 balaklava facemasks –
have been sent to ukraine for dispersion amongst the terrorists.
Akbar Ukraini!!
1000 Toyota trucks gratefully received by ISIS, courtesy of the US.
indeed they grew an affinity for Toyota Hilux trucks. which then magically appeared by the thousands.
Funny that no one ever questioned how ISIS smuggled those shiny new Toyotas past the NSA’s and CIA’s watchful eyes.
But then, when the US intelligence community misidentifies Russian airstrikes on ISIS trucks stealing Syrian oil, one has to wonder how many more $ billions it would take to get accurate intelligence.
Mr. Trump will end the war on the first day of his administration. Let’s all together support him.
They will not let Trump win this time either. The scam with the murican voting system is well known.
This war stops when Russia has its way, Russia cannot afford the threat of a CIA controlled regime right on it’s borders less the real danger that exists of acts of nuclear sabbotage or nuclear terrorist attack like we’ve seen the Kiev Nazis capable of.
This war stops when Russia has its way, Russia cannot afford the threat of a CIA controlled regime right on it’s borders less the real danger that exists of acts of nuclear sabbotage or nuclear terrorist attack like we’ve seen the Kiev Nazis being capable of.
That’s saying the Russians haven’t already won by then
300k fresh regular troops entering the battlefield in the next few months are a huge development
Like he pulled US troops out of Syria?
Proud of the “peace” he brokered in Afghanistan?
Remind me of what your boy Donnie did about the Ukrainian Nazis during his four years of illegitimate rule – NB being installed by Interstate Crosscheck is not a legitimate election.
Proud of Donnie moving the US embassy to Jerusalem?
Proud of his tough stand on Saudi human rights violations?
The DNC and RNC are partners in crime. Anyone who doesn’t understand that shouldn’t post ignorant comments.
Economics shall end the war… U.S. financial crash, Eu economic crash and Ukrainian collapse.
Lol
the war stops when the victor decides he has enough.
not before, not even by wishing.
Russia can end the war by herself by beginning installation of nuclear warhead missiles in Cuba , Venezuela and other South America countries.
The Daily BeastThe Daily Beast
The Nightmare COVID Variant That Beats Our Immunity Is Finally Here
David Axe
Sun, 16 October 2022 at 10:57 am·7-min read
A highly mutated descendant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that drove a record wave of infections starting around a year ago, XBB is in many ways the worst form of the virus so far. It’s more contagious than any previous variant or subvariant. It also evades the antibodies from monoclonal therapies, potentially rendering a whole category of drugs ineffective as COVID treatments.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that the new “bivalent” vaccine boosters from Pfizer and Moderna seem to work just fine against XBB, even though the original vaccines are less effective against XBB. They won’t prevent all infections and reinfections, but they should significantly reduce the chance of severe infection potentially leading to hospitalization or death.
=================
So how clever the US and allies invented the XBB, and spread it to the world and claim to be a savior by offer “expensive” vaccines,
continue to rake in BIG BUCKS,
this number evil of the world must be eliminated
As long as no global major power besides the murican perpetrators expose the entire kikejoo COVIDidot scam, they will not stop. Talmudians agenda go on to reduce human fertility, increase mortality and poverty.
The author’s opening lines are cucked. This conflict started when Ukraine bombed the population in Donbass over “separatism”, after the CIA + State Department engineered a coup and installed a fanatically anti-Russian government. Both US-NATO and Russia took opposing sides as proxies in what began as a reaction to the US coup, and subsequent civil war.
The US has dumped $66 million in weapons into Ukraine since 2014, NATO has sent “instructors” into country, along with “volunteer” infantry, CIA, and special forces — but this is somehow NOT considered an invasion by NATO-US, while Russia’s support (far less than $66 billion worth) for the separatists in Donbass is considered an invasion.
All talk of international law at this point is so far beyond hypocritical farce, it’s like hearing nails on a chalkboard when cucks bend the knee to that pretense. US-NATO isn’t bound by international law, and their own domestic laws are violated or discarded when convenient. International law hasn’t had credibility since 9/11/2001
“Stopped”? You mean the funs over already how? Jeez shows over we don’t get to see if nukes really exist
Fox News Poll: Only 33% would re-elect Biden, as his approval rating ticks up. This is what you get for being an old school war monger. https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-only-33-would-re-elect-biden-approval-rating-ticks-up
CORRECTION the WAR in Ukraine did not start 8 months ago but 8 YEARS AGO by NAZI UKRAINE and NAZI NATO bombing the DONBASS for the last 8 years Russia DID NOT START THIS WAR it was the NAZI USA, NAZI NATO who instigated a coup against the ELECTED LEADER of Ukraine back in 2014 and then started to BOMB the Donbass for daring to stand up to the NAZI COUP leaders. GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT, Russia ENTERED the war after 8 years of trying to stop NAZI WEST and NAZI UKRAINE from BOMBING THE DONBASS.
it started when the ratline shuttlt muricuh’s integral nationalists aka nazi banderites to the u.s. and south/central america,all the while supporting their endevers to gain political economic power through illegal drugs trade and general lawless behavior,now its not uncommon to see nazis in all parts of the americas hell even in the u.s. the banderites have kiddie kkklan kkkamps in the mountains or otherwise out of view area,but they dont exactly try to hide who they are or the nazism for which they stand
Many honest and independent observes know that NATO started the war since 2014, and continued for 8 years despite the Minsk Accord Russia brokered. Russia went in to defend the civilians who were being slaughtered for 8 years in the Donets and Lusank Republics. Yet, the writer says, Russia started the war. That blatant lie made the article uninteresting and diluted any objective truth the writer seeks to present.
Please be accurate and honest in your writing and stopping deceiving people through half-truth and twisted accounts of events. Some of us have turned to alternative media like Southfront for this reason. Don’t chase us away elsewhere to seek the truth.
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Zelensky on the phone that India was prepared to mediate in peace efforts. ”
This illiterate clown know no boundary to show off his stupidity everywhere. Poor Endia is not even in the League of superpower game.
Only powerful China can be the broker and guarantor of Ukraine’s peace bargain.
“On October 9, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said in an interview that the U.S. needs to “do everything we possibly can to try to get to the table to resolve this thing.” Mullen then said that it “really is up to . . .Tony Blinken”
Mullen knew the proxy war has escalated to dangerous nuke level. But he has no say as the Jews will decide how they want the WW3 to be play out.
1. Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is legal under the Geneva Convention (Article 51) to protect citizens from genocide. Look it up.
2. Putin’s “off-ramp” was stated at the beginning: Demilitarization and deNazification of Ukraine, liberation of Ethnic Russian regions (south-east) from Neo-Nazi control.
The West must be deaf and blind, or illiterate.
John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction tendered his Report for 2021 to Congress, showing that about a third of the $63 billion dollars allocated to Ukraine that year were misappropriated or lost. Biden had mechanisms to facilitate embezzling US funds provided to Ukraine as aid, but there wasn’t enough money going to Ukraine. So, the Biden administration provoked Russia to invade Ukraine. It worked. The Democrats were able to get Congress to appropriate about $65 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2022. And, this time, the Democrats wouldn’t make the same mistake they had made in Afghanistan when they included legislation to appoint the SIGAR. That threw a wrench in their style.
Because they know russia is going to consolidate their gains with international recognition and probably demand a new Ukrainian government with assurances of no further NATO expansion onto Russian borders.
There has been a negotiated peace – the Minsk accords.
Zelensky, his Nazi puppet masters, and their US/NATO puppet masters shat on them.
They have indicted by word and deed that they have no interest in peace and are determined to “fight to the last Ukrainian”.
It is disingenuous to pretend there is any question as to who the aggressor here is.
The zionists who orchestrated the “war” will never let it end and there investment go up in smooke. They will push the clown zelensky to fight to the last ukrainian and the last standing building. But some day Russia will have enough from those parasites and start eliminating them (zionists) for the safety off humanity.