by Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Craig Roberts:
When Israel committed its forces to Gaza, it was a perfect time for Hezbollah to attack and overrun Israel. But Hezbollah sat on its butt and pissed away its strategic advantage. Now after numerous Israeli strikes and communication device explosions, Hezbollah has lost most of its leadership. In Israel’s latest air strike on Beirut, Lebanon, Ibrahim Aqil, the leader of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit was killed. Competent leaders are very rare, and it seems Israel has defanged Hezbollah by eliminating its competent leaders.
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Iran also sat on its butt and did nothing but display to Israel Iran’s capability of overcoming the Iron Dome air defense system. By doing so without knocking out Israel, Iran warned Israel of Israel’s vulnerability and pissed away its strategic advantage.
Putin by denying Iran the Russian S-400 air defense system, has permitted Israel to continue to assassinate from the air Hezbollah’s leaders in Iran. Putin’s failure to protect an ally has strengthened the US/Israeli position in the Middle East and weakened Russia’s.
Syria also continues to suffer Israeli/US air attacks, which destroy Iranian leaders, because Putin refuses to allow Syria to have Russian air defense systems. In effect, Putin is protecting Israeli and US attacks on Syrian territory instead of protecting Russia’s Syrian ally.
Putin also sat on his butt about Ukraine. He did nothing to stop Washington’s overthrow of the Ukrainian government and installation of a neo-Nazi regime. He permitted a war to continue, now in its third year, with a third world country Russia should have defeated in three weeks, until the West became so involved that now Russia suffers the humiliation of missile and drone attacks deep into Russia. It was some years ago that Putin declared that never again would Russia be at war on its own territory. Well, Russia is now at war on its own territory, so once again we can dismiss whatever Putin says, which Washington and NATO do. Just the other day NATO General Secretary Stoltenberg said: “There have been many red lines declared by Putin before, and he has not escalated.” Russia’s war leader has lost his credibility in the West.
The inability of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah to think and to act strategically explains why they, and not their enemies, are so hard pressed. It is not Germany, France, Poland, UK, US, Israel, and Canada that are being hit by Russian drones and missiles. It is Russia being hit with US/Nato drones and missiles. Thanks to Putin, there is no pressure on the West or Israel, only on Russia.
We can explain this by understanding that Putin is the only statesman on the world scene, the leader whose goal is to avoid major war. This is the most noble of goals for which Putin receives no credit. But Putin has carried this goal to extremes, and it has a downside.
Putin has refused to face the question whether Russia’s reluctance to fight encourages the West’s reliance on force, not diplomacy, as the effective force in history.
China’s reluctance to fight is based on its ancient military doctrine that it is best to let an enemy wear himself out and to defeat himself than to engage him. I cannot say whether this is or is not a correct strategy. I can say that it makes China an unreliable mutual defense partner for Russia, because Russia is under pressure right now. Waiting is not an option. Putin has been resisting war, but now his back is to the wall. There is no space left for him to retreat.
Do note that this, the most important of all issues facing mankind today, was not a part of the American presidential “debate” between two candidates, one of which will be the next president. It is not discussed in the Western print and TV media. It seems that the reality in which we live is not acknowledged by any government or any media.
This is why I concluded in previous articles that Doom awaits us. There is no sigh of intelligence anywhere–not in the US, Europe, Russia, Iran, Israel, China. What we see is the denial of reality.
Ask yourselves how aggressive Western “leaders” managed to create this situation of death for humanity.
Speaker of the Russian Duma Vyacheslav Volodin:
For those who did not understand the first time, today, the European Parliament called on the EU countries to lift restrictions on Kiev’s long-range strikes on our country’s territory, to increase military support for Ukraine, and to announce a collection of funds from the population of Europe for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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