Pentagon ‘Concerned, Very Concerned’ about Russian Military Buildup, and Seeks Whole-of-Universe Counter

Dec. 5, 2021 (EIRNS)—Following the Washington Post’s publication on Dec. 3 of intelligence leaks ostensibly concluding that Russia will be ready to invade Ukraine with 175,000 troops, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin got up in front of the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, yesterday, to proclaim that he is “very concerned” about the potential for a Russian incursion into sovereign Ukrainian territory.

“They’ve invaded before, and as we look at the numbers of forces that are in the border region, as we look at some of the things that are occurring in the information space, as we look at what’s going on in the cyber domain, it really raises our concern.... We remain focused on this. We remain committed to helping Ukraine defend its sovereign territory, and in terms of our concern, I think we’re very concerned.”

Austin was preceded by Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville who also is “very, very concerned” about the Russian military buildup around Ukraine. “That gives a lot of options to the Russians,” he said. “I’m not quite sure what they’re going to do, but to me, that is a terrible impact on the ability and security of our European friends.”

Asked about U.S. strategy to deter potential Russian hostilities, McConville said that was a question not just for a military officer, but for senior policymakers across the U.S. government in concert with their counterparts the world over. “The way you deter is you imposed some type of costs to make sure the cost is worth more than the benefit,” McConville said. “That’s a whole-of-government effort, but it’s really a whole-of-Europe effort. It’s really a global effort, making sure people understand you just can’t go into another sovereign country and conducting malign activities without having some type of cost.”

Any sane person should be “concerned, very concerned” about the effort to provoke, stage, or simply claim a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The flurry of media coverage that Russian troops are massing for a 2022 invasion, reports based (as always!) on “unnamed sources,” come just days before Biden and Putin plan to have video call on Dec. 7, and are clearly wartime propaganda.

Will Americans and Europeans—beset by devastating inflation, poor job prospects, inferior infrastructure, and a suicidal “green” policy—allow their focus to be drawn to this obvious stunt, rather than to the necessary revolutionary changes in economic policy and statecraft to ensure a prosperous and peaceful future?