An angry old man, a deranged Ukrainian and World War III

Oh yes, you read the title correctly. An angry old man in Washington and a psychologically deranged president in Kyiv have been busy jointly plotting a plan that may potentially push the world into an abyss.

If that sounds very much like the plot of an inferior B movie, you are right again. But that only proves the old saying that reality can quite often imitate fiction. Even the weirdest fiction. And what is actually happening on the world’s diplomatic stage is certainly very weird.

True, the principal characters in this particular horror story are not called Ming the Merciless or Dracula Prince of Darkness, but only Joseph Robinette Biden (though I guess Robinette is a pretty weird thing to call somebody), and Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, which sounds much more like some awful Count, plotting the conquest of the world from a sinister castle in the mountains of Transylvania.

However, at this point, the promising parallels between tedious reality and the wonderful world of the old, much-lamented Hammer horror films begins to fade away. Instead of two larger-than-life horror figures, we find ourselves in the presence of two rather small, ordinary, not very interesting (and even less intelligent) men.

As far as physical size is concerned, the former comedian, who has been President of Ukraine since 2019, is a mere 5ft 5 ¾ (167 cm) in height, although the impressive way in which he strolls into the corridors of power in Washington, Berlin and London, demanding huge quantities of cash with menaces, makes him appear far taller than he actually is.

To make what some people might consider to be a relevant comparison, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is often reported to be 5ft 7, but it is unclear where that information comes from. In any case, what he lacks in inches, he makes up for by the possession of nuclear weapons which, in the field of world relations tends to turn dwarves into giants – and vice versa.

But I have strayed too far from my central story – to which I immediately return. When I say small, that is meant not just in terms of stature. They are even smaller in their intellectual and moral qualities.

The threat to Zelensky is very real / Image: public domain

Regrettably typical of the political leaders of the modern (or rather, postmodern) age, both men are equally devoid of any hint of a broad vision or anything remotely resembling a coherent philosophical worldview. Instead, their actions are entirely dictated by immediate practical considerations and, ultimately, by crude self-interest and political (and in Zelensky’s case, also physical) survival – to which all other things must be sacrificed.

I hasten to add that we are not necessarily referring to the threat posed by his personal nemesis, Vladimir Putin. Although there is no love lost between these two men, there is absolutely no evidence that the Russians have attempted to assassinate the man in Kyiv, although they have had plenty of opportunities to do so.

After all, the removal of one’s enemies by the simple procedure of murder – once regarded as an abhorrent practice used only by the most barbarous states – has now become quite fashionable. It is practised on a regular basis by Bibi Netanyahu, alongside other war crimes too numerous to mention here. Yet, strange to say, the Israeli leader has never suffered any unpleasant consequences for his actions. Quite the opposite, in fact.

If the Russians have not removed Zelensky from the scene by such methods (as yet, anyway) it is not for any ethical reasons, but simply because they see no point in it. If you eliminate one enemy leader, he will merely be replaced by someone else – quite possibly someone even less to your liking.

The Israelis like to crow about the number of such enemies they have sent to the next world. But they forget to mention that such actions did not serve to destroy – or even seriously weaken – either Hamas or Hezbollah. Their boasting therefore has an entirely empty character.

The threat to Zelensky is very real. But it comes far nearer to home than the Kremlin. Although he is theoretically President of Ukraine, he is surrounded by far more dangerous enemies. The neo-Nazi fascist elements (politely referred to in the western media as ‘ultra-nationalists’) are watching his every action like hungry hawks.

These elements have established strong positions in the state and in the armed forces in particular. They provide the most fanatical (and effective) shock troops in the front line. But that front line is rapidly collapsing. The Russian advance, which until recently had a slow and incremental character, has enormously accelerated. And the ‘ultras’ are not happy.

The entire story of the Ukraine War over the past year has been one of disasters for the Kyiv regime. The Russian advance is now irreversible, and the collapse of Ukrainian defence is only a matter of time.

A humiliating defeat for the US and NATO is being prepared. Under these circumstances, talk about negotiations with Russia is becoming ever louder and more persistent. This is quite natural. When your armies are being defeated on all fronts and you are running out of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, the logical thing to do is to open negotiations with the other side.

Unfortunately, what is natural and rational is not always the course which is pursued. By the end of 1944, it was quite clear that Germany had lost the war. Hitler’s armies had been smashed by the Russians, first in Stalingrad, then in the battle of Kursk. The Red Army was heading straight for Berlin in what was the fastest advance in military history.

Many of Hitler’s generals would have favoured negotiations with the British and Americans to prevent an outright Soviet victory. But Hitler, shut off from the world in his underground concrete bunker, was deaf to all suggestions of peace.

Now utterly remote from reality, he refused to listen to any reports about defeats. Instead, his generals were regularly treated to lectures about the inevitability of a German victory, even when the thunder of Soviet artillery could be heard in the centre of Berlin.

Hitler was constantly moving non-existent divisions to frontlines which had already collapsed. Only when the Russians were literally a few metres away from his bunker did he finally draw the conclusion and committed suicide. The inevitable result was that the entire eastern part of Germany, including Berlin, fell into the hands of the victorious Red Army.

While there are obvious differences with that situation and the one in Ukraine today, there are also powerful similarities. In particular, Zelensky is now displaying exactly the same psychological symptoms that Hitler showed in the last days of the German Reich.

His mood swings are increasingly erratic. The commands that he issues are so bizarre that they bear no relation whatsoever to reality. That is not surprising, because he has long ago closed his eyes and ears to all talk of reality.

A few months ago, the western media reported that the Ukrainian leader had become hysterical and was literally shouting at his generals, accusing them of telling him lies. In reality, it is most likely that they were trying, somehow, to tell the truth about the disastrous situation at the front. But Zelensky refuses to listen to bad news. He only wants to hear the good news. And if there is no good news, then it must be invented.

In the end, having realised the futility of this effort, the generals now tell him what he wants to hear: that the Ukrainians are winning and the Russians are losing. The Ukrainian media is full of absurd stories about fictional offensives by their heroic Armed Forces, at the very time when they are falling back in disorder on all sides.

Demoralisation is spreading rapidly in the ranks. Even the tame Ukrainian press has carried reports about soldiers refusing to fight, a growing number of desertions, and increasing cases of soldiers throwing down their weapons and surrendering to the Russians.

A couple of weeks ago, the case was reported in the press of a Ukrainian officer who refused to order his men to launch an insane attack, which he said amounted to a suicide mission. The officer was instantly dismissed, but there were protests among the soldiers demanding his readmission.

The Kursk affair was a stupid and pointless adventure, a desperate attempt on the part of Zelensky to show the world that Ukraine was still able to conduct a successful offensive against Russia on its own territory. It has ended, inevitably, in a humiliating defeat after the loss of a huge number of lives and precious military hardware.

At the same time, the central front in the war – which remains the Donbas – is being rapidly overrun by superior Russian forces. Yet Zelensky persists in the insane policy of sending ever more men to their deaths in Kursk – purely for the purpose of his personal prestige – while systematically denuding the Donbas front of essential forces, weapons and ammunition.

The horrific scale of Ukrainian losses has been deliberately concealed. But it is at a level that cannot be sustained, while Russia has an overwhelming superiority in both numbers and weaponry, and is constantly renewing its forces with new recruits.

By contrast, Zelensky’s mobilisation plan has failed to raise anything like the anticipated numbers, and the authorities are forced to use brutal methods to round up unwilling recruits outside bars and discotheques, who are immediately sent to the front to be slaughtered.

Zelensky’s desperation

You might ask yourself why it is that Zelensky still refuses to negotiate with the Russians. In fact, some time ago he passed a law that is surely without precedent in legal history, prohibiting Ukraine from negotiating with Moscow as long as Putin is in charge.

The truth is that he is now a desperate man. He knows very well that if he took any step that might be interpreted as attempting to obtain a peace at the cost of sacrificing even a small part of Ukrainian territory, it would provoke a ferocious backlash on the part of the neo-Nazi elements in the army and state apparatus.

His government would almost certainly be overthrown, and even his life would be less than secure. Hardly a very pleasant situation to find oneself in. To make matters worse, we have the election of Donald Trump.

Zelensky understands that the election of Trump represents a fundamental change in the situation.

Zelensky understands that the election of Trump represents a fundamental change in the situation / Image: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons

And desperate men do desperate things.

He is finally, reluctantly coming to terms with the fact that the war has been lost, and irrevocably so. And there is absolutely nothing that the West could do to prevent a Russian victory. Nothing, that is, except maybe a direct military confrontation between the United States and Russia.

That is to say – let us call things by their right name – World War Three.

That is why Zelensky demands to be given a free hand to fire long-range missiles against targets deep inside the Russian Federation.

Putin immediately replied in no uncertain terms that this would constitute an act of war on the part of the United States, since the American missiles needed for such an operation could only be operated with the direct participation of American military personnel.

This would mean that Russia and America would find themselves in a state of war. This does not necessarily mean an immediate shooting war with missiles flying in all directions. There are many other ways in which hostilities can manifest themselves.

It must be pointed out that Russia is not merely a country with a large, well trained and equipped army that has proven its value on the Ukrainian battlefield. The Russian army is actually more than a match for all the armies of NATO in Europe put together.

Moreover, Russia is the world’s most powerful nuclear state, with a huge arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of hitting any target in the world.

One would have thought that this fact might have opened up serious public debate concerning the wisdom of prolonging what is clearly a lost battle in Ukraine, and of risking the possibility of a confrontation between the world’s two main nuclear powers.

Yet incredibly, no such debate has ever taken place. Instead, the public on both sides of the Atlantic are being fed on a diet of lies and misinformation, which renders them incapable of understanding what is really going on.

Crisis of Project Ukraine

In every war there is always a balance of propaganda that is designed to deceive the public and draw attention away from the realities of a dangerous and threatening situation. This is truer of the war in Ukraine than any other war I can remember.

Not long ago, the public was being fed a constant stream of reassuring propaganda that created the impression that a Ukrainian victory over Russia was practically guaranteed.

But now they are singing a different song. Everyone – or nearly everyone – has come to understand that Ukraine has lost the war, and what is now guaranteed is a Russian victory.

There is growing realisation even in the ruling circles in America – and increasingly in at least some governments in Europe – that the war in Ukraine has been irrevocably lost.

The victory of Trump has placed the European bourgeoisie in a dilemma. Trump has made no secret of his desire to put an end to the war in Ukraine – or at least, to America’s involvement in it. It is not likely that Zelensky’s pleading will make him change his mind.

Once America withdraws – or substantially reduces – its financial and military aid, the Kyiv government will find itself in an impossible position. So too will every other government in Europe that supports so-called Project Ukraine.

The European leaders recently gathered in the Hungarian capital Budapest to discuss the Ukraine question in the light of the electoral victory of Donald Trump. They were running around like a flock of turkeys standing before a butcher’s shop on Christmas Eve, complaining loudly about their fate.

Despite all their promises, there is no way that the Europeans will be able to make up for the gaping hole left by the American withdrawal. Public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic is becoming increasingly impatient with the whole affair.

This was shown very clearly by the result of the presidential elections of 5 November. Yet opposition to Trump’s policy has been maintained and has taken an ominous turn in the past few days.

Biden’s about-face

Suddenly, the man still stubbornly clinging to his seat in the White House announced his decision to change America’s declared stance of opposition to granting the Ukrainians permission to use American long-range missiles for the purpose of deep strikes within Russia.

Suddenly, the man still stubbornly clinging to his seat in the White House announced his decision to change America’s declared stance / Image: public domain

This was, to put it mildly, a shock. Only a few days earlier, President-elect Donald Trump spent an hour and a half in what was described as a ‘friendly’ conversation with Joe Biden in the White House. The conversation covered many different subjects. But Ukraine apparently only occupied a grand total of five minutes.

In all this time, it appears that Biden made no mention of his plans to change America’s position and grant Zelensky permission to use American long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russian territory.

This behaviour was absolutely without precedent. The transition period between a presidential election and the actual assumption of office by the new president was supposed to be a period of calm, during which the outgoing president would help to smooth the path of his successor.

Instead of this, Biden has in effect thrown a hand grenade in the path of Donald Trump, who has obviously been kept in the dark about the whole affair in a blatant violation of all existing protocol.

The official explanation for the sudden change in policy was that the longer-range missiles were needed in response to the alleged decision of North Korea to send troops to support the Russian forces in Kursk. But up until now, there’s not been a single shred of evidence produced to justify these claims.

It is clear that the whole story of the North Korean troops came from Ukrainian sources, and is part of a systematic campaign of misinformation, precisely designed to pressure the USA into granting Zelensky’s demands.

In other words, it is a blatant piece of fake news, like so many other fake stories that have constantly been streaming from this same source since the beginning of the war and repeated uncritically in the western media.

The truth is that Biden’s dramatic about-turn was not directed against an imaginary North Korean army in Kursk. Its primary target was not even Russia. It was directed against his main and most hated enemy – Donald J Trump.

Joe Biden is an old, angry and embittered man who is furious at having been removed as candidate by his own party, which then suffered a shattering defeat at the hands of Donald Trump. He was consumed with a simmering rage and thirsting for revenge for his humiliation.

Now, you might think that such factors as uncontrollable anger and thirst for revenge – though they are well-known features of human behaviour – should really have no place when it comes to important political decisions taken at the highest level of the government of the most powerful nation on Earth.

This assumes that we are dealing with men and women with a certain political stature, ethical standards and acumen. Surely, the President of the United States of America ought to be of such a type? However, such an assumption is not always warranted.

We have already stated that Joe Biden is a small man. This is amply demonstrated by his conduct in the present shabby affair. Such behaviour is not only unworthy of the man who holds the highest office of the United States of America. It is hardly worthy of a tenth-rate provincial politician in a small town in the Midwest.

A more accurate comparison would be the tantrums of a spoilt brat who has been deprived of his favourite toy, and in revenge systematically wrecks his bedroom. Only here, what Biden has done is not to smash up a room, but to place in mortal danger the entire population of the United States, and possibly the entire world.

He is well aware – as are all the other war-mongering Cold War members of his administration – that this action crosses a red line that was clearly laid down by Vladimir Putin several months ago.

The threat to launch ballistic missiles against Moscow and other Russian cities assumes a far more sinister aspect in the light of Zelensky’s recent threats that, if the USA were to cut off aid to Ukraine, the Kyiv regime would immediately proceed to develop its own nuclear weapons.

The news of this alarming development was not made public by the White House. It was first mentioned in an article in the New York Times. Even as I write these lines, Biden himself has not made any statement, although it appears that high officials in his administration have indeed confirmed it.

Needless to say, it has been met with a barrage of criticism in the USA. Trump himself has not commented on it yet, and may not do so. But his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. has denounced it, as have Elon Musk and other prominent Trump supporters who must know his mind very well.

It is not difficult to imagine that Trump has greeted the announcement with understandable fury. The fact that Biden spoke to him for an hour and a half and made no mention of something that he must’ve already decided well in advance could only be interpreted as a calculated insult and a blatant provocation.

Let us not forget that Trump won a resounding electoral victory having campaigned on a promise to end the US involvement in wars and instead use taxpayers’ money to improve Americans’ lives. He has said he will bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end within 24 hours.

So far, as we have said, Trump has not made any comments about the latest developments. This is probably the right thing to do, since his political enemies in the media are circling like vultures, waiting to pounce on any mistake he might make.

If he comes out publicly against Biden’s decision, he will immediately be accused of disloyalty to the USA, supporting Putin, betraying Ukraine, and so on and so forth. Far better then, to let other people speak on his behalf, to bide his time for a few weeks. Then, once he is safely installed in the White House, he can quite easily order his officials to ignore the irresponsible decisions of his predecessor.

By acting as he did, Biden has shown a complete contempt, not only for the President-elect, but for the whole American people whose verdict on the Democrats – including Genocide Joe – could not have been clearer. Yet this man has the brazen insolence to accuse Trump of undermining American democracy!

What now?

Zelensky lost no time in taking full advantage of the green light delivered by the angry old man in the White House. Within hours, an attack on targets inside Russia was carried out with six ATACMS missiles.

The Russians claim that they shot down five of the six and damaged the other. No loss of life was reported.

Zelensky lost no time in taking full advantage of the green light / Image: public domain

As a matter of fact, these missiles have been in the possession of the Ukrainians for over twelve months. The intention was to use them against Crimea, and specifically to destroy the bridge that connects Crimea to the Russian mainland.

Great hopes were expressed in these new weapons – just as great hopes were expressed for all the other so-called ‘wonder weapons’ that were all set to be ‘game changers’. But they all proved to be disappointing.

Up to this day, the Crimea bridge is still standing. The Russians have developed the necessary techniques for combating the ATACMS missiles and have shot down many of them and destroyed the bases from which they were launched.

It seems that the Ukrainians have now given up on Crimea. Instead, they’re concentrating on Kursk – where, incidentally, they have suffered severe losses and have been pushed onto the defensive.

Now it is hoped that the employment of ATACMS missiles will be – wait for it! – a game changer in Kursk. It is no accident that the recent attack was directed against a large arsenal in the city of Karachev, Bryansk region, which is only 210 kilometres from Kursk.

The argument that Russian successes are due to the intervention of North Korean troops is so absurd that it does not bear the slightest examination. The Russian army now probably possesses over one million troops, which can be deployed in Kursk or in any part of Ukraine, whenever it chooses.

Why they should need help in the form of North Korean soldiers, who would need to be trained up to Russian specification and also taught to speak Russian enough to follow orders, is hard to fathom.

That is not to say that there are no North Korean soldiers present in Russia, since North Korea and Russia now have a very close military alliance. However, absolutely no evidence has so far been produced to prove that North Korean soldiers have been involved in any role on the actual battlefield in Kursk or anywhere else.

I repeat, the only ‘proof’ of this oft repeated assertions come from the Ukrainian side – assertions which in the past have frequently proven to be mere propaganda, designed to confuse and disorient world opinion.

The reason why Ukraine is losing the war has nothing whatsoever to do with the presence or otherwise of a few thousand North Korean troops. It is simply explained by the fact that Russia enjoys a crushing superiority in numbers, weapons, ammunition, missiles, drones, and also morale and superior tactics.

The Pentagon was – and still is – fundamentally opposed to the measure adopted by Biden, not on account of any humanitarian considerations, but purely for practical reasons.

Firstly, they know that the war in Ukraine has been lost, and feel that it is a pointless waste of valuable resources to send more arms and equipment there. The supply of arms possessed by the USA is not inexhaustible and has been considerably depleted by the Ukraine affair.

As to the latest senseless adventure, the Pentagon points out – again, quite correctly – that the sending of long-range missiles to Ukraine for the purpose of attacking targets deep inside Russia will have absolutely no effect on the outcome of the war.

The maximum firing range of ATACMS missiles is 190 miles or 399 kilometres. They are therefore not able to hit targets “deep inside the territory of the Russian Federation”. In fact, they can only be used effectively in border areas, precisely such as Kursk and Bryansk.

This cannot, and will not, reverse the course of the war. What it will do is to infuriate the Russians who will take countermeasures, which will not be to the liking of the United States. And they have no shortage of possibilities to inflict severe damage on US interests all over the world.

We leave out of account the fact that Vladimir Putin has just announced a decision to lower the ceiling for the use of nuclear weapons, if carried out in collaboration with a nuclear power, in order to include attacks on Russian territory by conventional weapons.

Moscow has many other possibilities that they can use before resorting to the ultimate weapon. The Russians will undoubtedly be stepping up their assistance to Iran, Hezbollah, to the Houthi, and to many other groups and individuals who will be only too pleased to participate in actions against the United States.

Just imagine if the Russians were to supply the Houthis with sophisticated missiles that could sink American warships. The huge aircraft carriers that are floating around the Middle East would be sitting targets for what would be a catastrophic attack.

But that is just what the Americans are proposing to do in relation to their Ukrainian proxies. And, logically, what is good for one side must also be good for the other.

All these facts are perfectly clear to the military strategists in Washington – that is to say, to the experienced military veterans who, unlike the amateur generals in the White House whose only battles are fought at the keyboards of their computers, have real experience of real wars.

The Pentagon asks the obvious question: why should we pour money down a black hole in a war that cannot be won? We have already spent a colossal amount of money, why should we spend more for no good reason?

From the standpoint of the real interests of American imperialism, these questions are based on an impeccable logic. But Biden is not interested in logic, only in his obsession to inflict the maximum damage on Donald Trump and Russia in the few weeks remaining to him.

He wishes to keep the Ukraine war going at least until he has safely retired to obscurity. He does not care how many more Ukrainians die in order to satisfy his personal vanity and protect what he regards as his historical image.

As a matter of fact, the image left by the Biden administration will be one of constant failures, defeats, wars, deaths and deficits. It is a failed administration run by a gang of mindless second raters.

And right to the very end, this same clique of failed politicians and criminal adventurers, refusing to admit their mistakes, insist on prolonging the agony for as long as possible. Naturally, the victims of that agony are not themselves, but the unfortunate people of Ukraine.