Expert: Russia has lot of questions for U.S.
The US State Department spokesman Ned Price demanded an explanation from Russia for the redeployment of Russian troops, regarding the maneuvers near the Ukrainian borders as an aggravation of the situation in Eastern Europe
As you know, the military situation in Eastern Europe changed radically after the end of the Cold War. First, our country withdrew from the GDR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland about half a million military personnel, more than 9 thousand tanks, almost 6 thousand artillery pieces, 12 thousand infantry fighting vehicles, 1,700 military aircraft, 700 helicopters, as well as operational-tactical missile systems. Then Russia unprecedentedly reduced its military presence on its own territory, redeploying about 40% of its arsenals beyond the Urals. And finally, it eliminated bases in Cuba, that is, in the immediate vicinity of the United States, and in Vietnam. At the same time, Russia promptly ratified the adapted Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, but the refusal to ratify by the United States and its NATO allies ruined this treaty.
Let us proceed. Over the three decades of modern history, Russia, as a sovereign state, has used military force in hostilities outside its own territory only twice – forcing Georgia to peace after the treacherous attack in 2008 on Russian peacekeepers with an internationally recognized mandate and helping Syria to fight international terrorism after 2015 in in accordance with the appeal of the legitimate president of this country. That’s all.
During this time, the Americans and their NATO allies have done absolutely nothing constructive in Europe (except for the “constructive” expansion of the alliance both in composition and in territory by a third). The United States is the most frequently belligerent country in the world. Although in its entire history the United States officially declared war only 5 times (Great Britain – 1812, Mexico – 1846, Spain – 1898, during World War I and World War II), more than 200 more times they participated in various armed conflicts “just like that”, without a declaration of war.
The United States currently has over 730 military bases and military installations of all kinds overseas. Among the most numerous are Japan (almost 40 thousand military personnel) and Germany (until recently – 35 thousand). For comparison, the number of Russian military installations abroad by a stretch exceeds the number of fingers on two hands. At the same time, Russia does not have a single military base in Eastern Europe, while the United States has 37, located on the territory of 11 states, and closer and closer to the borders of Russia. There are no reductions, there is only redeployment.
This is all – in fact, to the question of “aggravating the situation in Eastern Europe”. And now in form.
Demanding an explanation from a sovereign country regarding measures to ensure its defense capability and national security within its own territory is, without a doubt, a new word in interstate communication. And given the fact that the United States (see above) is deploying its military contingents outside its own borders without any explanation and in the same way without explanation they are used in hostilities, such demands look particularly arrogant and cynical. By the way, Russian comments on this score (not as a response to the Americans, but in general terms) came from the press secretary of the Russian President on the eve of Mr. Price’s statement, but were ignored by the American side. I think we should also ignore the current “targeted” call.
And if we follow the proposed logic, I would very much like, in the spirit of Mr. Price, to invite the United States to explain itself on the whole range of issues of the constant build-up of the American military presence in the world, especially in Europe, especially near the Russian borders.
In this regard, I will allow myself to seed three specific questions.
First, how did it happen that the second largest American military base in Europe (Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel) appeared on this territory already in December 1999, just six months after the bombing of Yugoslavia, although its independence (still not recognized) the Kosovars proclaimed only in 2008 and, therefore, the Americans deployed their military base on the territory of sovereign Yugoslavia without her consent? Is this not an occupation, in contrast to, let us say, the Crimea?
Second, how did it happen that the “Colin Powell test tube” in the UN Security Council in 2003, which turned out to be a forgery, but opened the way for the destructive war of the United States and its allies against Iraq, got away with the Americans and did not even force them to apologize for an outright lie to the international community and the Iraqi people?
And third, how did it happen that the American troops in Syria, which are there absolutely illegally, without a UN Security Council mandate and without the consent of the legitimate authorities, are now engaged in the illegal export of oil and oil products from the country, and what does this have to do with the declared goals of combating terrorism?
There are, of course, much more questions. And each of them has much more grounds and grounds for concern than the current provocative question of Mr. Price, which pursues only one goal – to divert attention from the real and ever-growing provocations of the Ukrainian military in the South-East. And now this is the most important question for everyone.
I have to live with wolves. We have to defend ourselves against them.
Konstantin Kosachev