Decorated CIA veteran Douglas London has recently called for enhancing clandestine warfare against Russia and China, insisting that the US has enough tools to trump Moscow and Beijing. However, economist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts and CIA veteran Philip Giraldi have pointed out some apparent flaws in London's doctrine.
At the same time, London "appears to be a spokesman for a certain type of thinking, it is to be assumed that many in the national security community will urge the White House to take steps to interfere covertly in upcoming Russian elections while also stirring up unrest in China," according to Giraldi.
Election interference and regime change ops have been the US' modus operandi for quite a while, notes Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, a former Wall Street Journal editor, ex-Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan, and former member of the Cold War Committee on the Present Danger. It would be frivolous on the part of Moscow and Beijing to host US and EU-backed NGOs, according to the economist.
"It was Washington that overthrew the Ukrainian government and established in its place an anti-Russian government. It was Washington that nearly overthrew the Belarus government. NGOs flush with dollars are agents of overthrow," Dr. Roberts says, adding that the US establishment was even prepared to break its own rules to unseat the undesired government of President Donald Trump.
London's strategy aimed at deterring Russian and Chinese decision-makers "would amount to an all-out semi-covert war against powerful adversaries which could easily escalate into a shooting war," echoes Giraldi.
"Mr. London's recommendations are irresponsible, because they amount to a call for Washington to start a war with Russia and China," Dr. Roberts says, adding that sabotage or cyber-attacks are effectively "acts of war." According to the economist, "neither Russia nor China are likely to pretend that the source of attacks are unknown, especially after a former senior CIA official calls for them."
"What London ignores is the possible consequences of his proposed policy, which include nuclear war with Russia that has the capability to destroy the United States," says the CIA veteran. "Nor is he very good at providing a reason for engaging in the truculence that he embraces. He makes no case that either China or Russia actually threatens the American people apart from stating that they are attempting to encourage internal divisiveness to undermine American 'democracy and freedoms.' One does not need to have the Russians or Chinese involved to accomplish that."
No comments:
Post a Comment