The kind of war the CIA wanted

 

Jeffrey St. Clair: 

+ I don’t know if the CIA trained, armed or even knew about the suicide bomber who blew up the Crimean bridge. But it’s the kind of war I predicted back in the spring the CIA wanted (& expected) to wage–a guerrilla war against occupation aping the tactics the Taliban Al Qaeda & ISIS used against the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, a war of sabotage, IEDs, suicide bombings and assassinations. The Pentagon, of course–which is mainly in the business of a global arms retailer these days–wanted to wage another war, using the latest high-tech weaponry, in part to please its contractors (Raytheon, Lockheed, Grumman, Boeing) and in part to test how US weapons would fare against the Russian military. The problem is, of course, that you can’t control guerrilla wars. The Pentagon can limit the sale of munitions that can strike inside Russian territory. You can’t do the same with a truck filled with fertilizer. The consequences of these kinds of terrorist bombings will only make it more likely–if not inevitable– that Russia escalates its war strategy with air & missile strikes on Kyiv or perhaps even outside Ukraine.

 

+ To the extent that Russia is now reduced to emulating some of the most disgusting tactics of the US wars in Iraq: drone and cruise missile attacks on urban centers and targeting civilian infrastructure like power, sewage and water treatment plants, suppose it increases the likelihood they will use the most abominable US tactic: a nuke on a city like Kherson: “You want it? Well, here it is.” And I’d think this will happen sooner rather than later. It must be humiliating for Putin and the Russian military to rely on Iranian weapons. I don’t think they’ll do so for much longer. Who is seeking a diplomatic solution to avert this looming catastrophe?