Ukraine Trying To Goad U.S. Into WWIII?

Tracey: Ukraine Is Trying To Goad The US Into World War III

Michael Tracey via mtracey.substack.com

The reason we know Ukrainian officials are trying to goad the US into war is because that’s exactly what they say they’re doing. There is no ambiguity here — at this very moment, a furious multi-front lobbying blitz is underway to solicit full-fledged US military intervention in Ukraine, and therefore open warfare against Russia. To put it bluntly, a foreign country’s representatives are doing all they possibly can to instigate the closest thing anyone on Earth has ever experienced to World War III.

At the forefront of this campaign is the president, Zelensky, who’s been transformed overnight into an international folk hero. His nonstop lobbying offensive included a soaring address Friday to what some media outlets ludicrously described as an “anti-war rally” in Frankfurt, Germany. Such a description is ludicrous because the headline takeaway from the rally was Zelensky passionately condemning the alleged cowardice of NATO countries — for, as yet, refusing to launch a war against Russia. “All the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness,” he inveighed. In his pro-war advocacy, Zelensky uses the same clever euphemism that has now entered heavy circulation: “No Fly Zone.” At this point, everyone with a bare-minimum understanding of what a US-administered “No Fly Zone” would entail has readily acknowledged that it means direct war with Russia — and by extension a radically increased risk of nuclear annihilation.

Still, this is what Zelensky is calling for any chance he gets, in his true-to-form showbiz style. (For those unaware, his professional endeavors prior to assuming the presidency included a stint as “the Ryan Seacrest of Ukraine,” as VICE once put it, not to mention his role playing the character of “President” on a comedy TV show.) 

During an interview with CNN last week, masterfully choreographed from his underground bunker, Zelensky was asked what he would tell Joe Biden ahead of the State of the Union speech. His answer: impose the No Fly Zone immediately. To dispel any concerns about the dangers of his demand, Zelensky added that it “does not mean dragging NATO into this war.” Well, phew! That’s a relief. “Frankly, you know, everyone is drawn into the war now,” he explained.

Unfortunately, if you actually examine the logic that’s operative here, your relief should quickly turn to dread. Zelensky is saying that NATO (or in other words, the US) has already been dragged into the war. World War III has already commenced, is what he’s saying. In which case, a “No Fly Zone” wouldn’t really be an escalation per se — it would just be a retaliatory strike in a war that’s already ongoing, whether we like it or not. That’s the argument.

In an op-ed generously facilitated by the New York Times last week, Zelensky’s chief of staff — also writing from the storied underground bunker, we’re told — laid out the logic even more clearly. He implored:

We are calling on the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. We recognize that this would be a serious escalation in the war and that it could bring NATO into direct conflict with Russia. But we firmly believe that Russia won’t stop at just Ukraine, which would potentially drag NATO into this conflict anyway. A no-fly zone would at least give Mr. Putin some pause.

There you have it: Americans shouldn’t fret about the dire implications of going to war with Russia, because they’ll inevitably be going to war with Russia anyway, so now it’s only a matter of getting one step ahead of Putin in his mad dash to conquer Europe. 

Zelensky performed his well-rehearsed act yet again Saturday with another “emotional plea” for the No Fly Zone — this time delivered directly to 300 members of Congress over Zoom. Just a thought: maybe the guy furiously lobbying for World War III all the time isn’t necessarily a titanic moral hero whom we all must compulsorily venerate? 

While the Biden Administration has ostensibly said a No Fly Zone won’t happen, look at what has happened in just the past week. “NFZ” went from a self-evidently crazy idea to one that’s rapidly building momentum. 

Mega pundits like Bill Browder and Garry Kasparov — two of the absolute most central figures in shaping US policy and media perceptions as related to Russia — have issued NFZ demands, with Kasparov pleasantly expounding that he wants to send Russia “back into the stone age.” 

Add other vaunted experts like Kurt Volker to the pro-NFZ list. 

The former Commander of the Canadian military, himself calling for a NFZ, told the CBC that Putin plans to go as far as the English Channel — thus presumably conquering both France and England in the process. And it’s not just former officials and pundits. The current Prime Minister of Slovenia — a NATO member state as of 2004 thanks to the always-brilliant foreign policy maneuverings of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney — also called for a No Fly Zone on Friday, though he said it would only be “limited” and “humanitarian” in scope. So don’t worry. “Europe is now in the same situation as Europe was in 1939,” the Prime Minister proclaimed, warning that the Baltic countries are next. (The US Ambassador to the United Nations even declared that Putin is threatening to invade Finland and Sweden.)

Polls are being published that show a growing number of Americans support a No Fly Zone, which likely owes in part to persistent confusion about what a No Fly Zone really is — the euphemism was invented for good reason. But it also shouldn’t be any surprise if the propaganda onslaught currently in full-force has had real effects on public opinion, complete with stigmatization of even mild dissent.

Whatever chance they get, Ukrainian journalists — or people who’ve been designated to pantomime as journalists — are imploring major officials in hyper-emotionalist tones to go the No Fly Zone route. A clip of Boris Johnson receiving one such plea went viral a few days ago. It happened again shortly thereafter, with Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO.

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