US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison is a highly placed diplomat. Her words, whatever they may be, are official, which includes the ultimatums and threats that have become the language increasingly used by US diplomats to implement the policy of forceful persuasion or coercive diplomacy. Bellicose declarations are being used this way as a tool.
On Oct. 2, the ambassador proved it again. According to her statement, Washington is ready to use force against Russia. Actually, she presented an ultimatum — Moscow must stop the development of a missile that the US believes to be in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty). If not, the American military will destroy it before the weapon becomes operational.
“At that point, we would be looking at the capability to take out a (Russian) missile that could hit any of our countries,” Hutchison stated at a news conference. "Counter measures (by the United States) would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty," she added. "They are on notice." This is nothing other than a direct warning of a preemptive strike.
It is true that compliance with the INF Treaty is a controversial issue. Moscow has many times claimed that Washington was in violation, and that position has been substantiated. For instance, the Aegis Ashore system, which has been installed in Romania and is to be deployed in Poland, uses the Mk-41 launcher that is capable of firing intermediate-range Tomahawk missiles. This is a flagrant breach of the INF Treaty. The fact is undeniable.
This is momentous, because the ambassador’s words were not a botched statement or an offhand comment, but in fact followed another “warning” made by a US official recently.
Speaking on Sept. 28 at an industry event in Pennsylvania hosted by the Consumer Energy Alliance, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke suggested that the US Navy could be used to impose a blockade to restrict Russia’s energy trade. "The United States has that ability, with our Navy, to make sure the sea lanes are open, and, if necessary, to blockade... to make sure that their energy does not go to market," he said, revealing that this was an option. The Interior Department has nothing to do with foreign policy, but Mr. Zinke is a high-ranking member of the administration.
Two bellicose statements made one after another and both are just short of a declaration of war! A blockade is a hostile act that would be countered with force, and the US is well aware of this. It is also well aware that Russia will defend itself.
This brings to mind the fact that the Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act has passed the House of Representatives. The legislation includes the authority to inspect Chinese, Iranian, Syrian, and Russian ports. Among the latter are the ports of Nakhodka, Vanino, and Vladivostok. This is an openly hostile act and a blatant violation of international law. If the bill becomes law, it will likely start a war with the US acting as the aggressor.
Trident Juncture, the largest training event held by NATO since 2002, kicks off on October 25 and will last until November 7, 2018. It will take place in close proximity to Russia’s borders. Russia’s Vostok-2018 exercise in September was the biggest seen there since the Cold War, but it was held in the Far East, far from NATO’s area of responsibility. It’s NATO, not Russia, who is escalating the already tense situation in Europe by holding such a large-scale exercise adjacent to Russia’s borders.
Russia is not the only country to be threatened with war. Attempts are being made to intimidate China as well. Tensions are running high in the South China Sea, where US and Chinese ships had an "unsafe" interaction with each other on Sept. 30. A collision was barely avoided. As a result, US Defense Secretary James Mattis had to suspend his visit to China when it was called off by Beijing. The security dialog between the two nations has stalled.
Perhaps the only thing left to do is to give up on having a normal relationship with the United States. Ambassador Hutchison’s statement is sending a clear message of: “forget about diplomacy, we’re back to the Stone Age,” with Washington leading the way. This is the new reality, so get used to it. Just shrug it off and try to live without the US, but be vigilant and ready to repel an attack that is very likely on the way.
Russia announced that the US forces at the US base in the Tanf area of Syria, must leave the area immediately and close their camp Rikban . . . fast!
Al-Tanf, sometimes referred to as "At Tanf" is a military base of the US-led international coalition with a declared purpose of countering the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
It is located 24 km to the west from the al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq in Homs Governorate.
The military outpost was established by the United States Armed Forces in early 2016 to train anti–ISIs fighters of the New Syrian Army, which changed its name to the Revolutionary Commando Army in December 2016.
The US refers to the group as part of the "Vetted Syrian Opposition". According to the US, these fighters are only permitted launch offensives against ISIL and not the Syrian Armed Forces by the US, though clashes did occur.
In May 2015, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants captured the border checkpoint at al-Tanf, thus obtaining control over the full length of the Iraq–Syria border.
The US-backed New Syrian Army captured the al-Tanf post on the Syrian side of the border in early March 2016, and in early August, the al-Waleed checkpoint on the Iraqi side of the border was recaptured by pro-government Iraqi tribal militias backed by US-led forces.
In August 2016, the BBC published photographs taken in June that year, which it said showed British special forces soldiers apparently guarding the perimeter of the New Syrian Army's base, at al-Tanf in Syria's Homs Governorate.
On 18 May 2017, US fighter jets struck a convoy of pro-Syrian government forces advancing towards the Tanf base. Shortly thereafter, Syrian government forces were reported to continue their advance in a direction that suggested their intent might be to outflank and isolate the US and Revolutionary Commando Army base at al-Tanf; the government forces appeared to use advanced Russia-made weapons and were supported by Russian helicopters, a report acknowledged on May 26 by the Russian Defense Ministry′s media outlet.
On 17 June 2017, the Iraqi Armed Forces announced that the Iraqi army and Sunni tribal fighters, supported by US-led coalition aircraft, had dislodged ISIS from the al-Waleed border crossing.
In September 2017, Russian government-owned media outlet RIA Novosti reported, with a reference to unnamed military and diplomatic sources, that the US had voiced readiness to leave al-Tanf but did not say when.
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