????On January 29th, the website of Canadian Aspects magazine published an article entitled "The Fallen Ukrainian War" by Chris hedges. The full text is as follows:

????An empire in ultimate decline will quickly enter the next military fiasco from one military fiasco. The Ukrainian conflict-another failed attempt to re-establish American global hegemony-fits this pattern of imperial decline. The danger is that the more terrible the situation looks, the more the United States will escalate the conflict, which may provoke an open confrontation with Russia. If Russia retaliates against the supply and training bases of NATO countries near Ukraine, or uses tactical nuclear weapons, NATO will almost certainly respond by attacking Russian troops. We will start a third world war, which may lead to a nuclear catastrophe.

????American military support for Ukraine began with basic equipment such as ammunition and offensive weapons. However, the US President Joe Biden’s administration quickly crossed several red lines set by itself and provided Ukraine with a large number of deadly war machines.

????Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on February 24, 2022, the US Congress has approved more than $113 billion in aid to Ukraine and its allies, of which $67 billion has been allocated for military expenditures. At present, 28 countries send weapons to Ukraine. Except Australia, Canada and the United States, the rest are in Europe.

????The rapid escalation of cutting-edge military equipment and assistance to Ukraine does not bode well for the NATO alliance. It will take months, if not years, to train Ukrainian troops to operate and coordinate the use of these weapons systems. Tank warfare is a complex operation that needs careful planning. Armored forces must work closely with air power, warships, infantry and artillery units.

????NATO military commanders understand that putting these weapon systems into war will not change the war situation, which is largely determined by the artillery confrontation on hundreds of miles of fronts. At best, it is a deadlock. Purchasing these weapon systems (including training and maintenance costs, a M1 abrams main battle tank costs 10 million US dollars) only increases the profits of weapon manufacturers. The use in Ukraine can make these weapons tested in battlefield conditions, thus making this war a laboratory for weapons manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin. All this is good for NATO and arms companies, but not for Ukraine.

????Officials in Washington demanded support for Ukraine as a bastion of freedom and democracy, and their hysterical cries were a response to the obvious decay and decline of the American Empire. American war crimes, torture, economic decline, social division (including the riots that hit the Congress on January 6, 2021, the poor response to the Covid-19 epidemic, the declining life expectancy of the population and the vicious shooting incidents that caused many casualties) and a series of military failures from Vietnam to Afghanistan are all well known. All this has destroyed America’s global prestige. Since the end of World War II, the coups, political assassinations, election fraud, smear propaganda, extortion, kidnapping, brutal counter-insurgency offensive, American-sanctioned massacres, torture in black jails, proxy war and military intervention all over the world have never led to the establishment of a democratic government. On the contrary, these interventions have killed more than 20 million people and aroused resentment against American imperialism around the world.

????In desperation, the declining empire of the United States injected more and more funds into the war machine.

????The two ruling parties in the United States (the Republican Party and the Democratic Party) rely on campaign funds provided by military enterprises, and also face pressure from weapons manufacturers in local States and regions.

????These military enterprises use the voters in their constituencies to pass a huge military expenditure budget. Politicians are keenly aware that challenging the permanent wartime economy will be attacked as unpatriotic, and it is usually a political suicide.

????French philosopher and social activist Simone Weil wrote in the Iliad, the poem of power: "The soul enslaved by war is in urgent need of liberation, but liberation itself seems to be an extreme and tragic aspect of destruction."

????Facts will prove that the plan to reshape Europe and change the balance of global power by weakening Russia is exactly the same as the failed plan aimed at reshaping the Middle East. The plan is exacerbating the global food crisis and destroying Europe with near double-digit inflation. It once again exposed the incompetence of the United States and the bankruptcy of its ruling oligarchy. As a counterweight to the United States, China, Russian, Indian, Brazilian and Iranian countries are getting rid of the tyranny of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency, which will cause economic and social disasters in the United States.

????Washington is providing more and more sophisticated weapons systems and billions of dollars in aid, trying to save Ukraine, but more importantly, saving the United States itself, but it will all be in vain.

????

　　On July 9, Iran test-fired a missile (TV photo). Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards successfully test-fired an improved Meteor-3 medium-range ballistic missile on the same day, which can cover all of Israel and US military bases in the Middle East, Iranian state television reported on the 9th. In addition, the Revolutionary Guard also tested several missiles with different ranges. Xinhua News Agency/Reuters

　　According to the British "Sunday Times" report, a senior Pentagon official said that President Bush had told the Israeli government that if the negotiations with Iran broke down, he might approve Israel’s plan to take military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

　　The American official told The Sunday Times that although American generals opposed the plan of using force and people widely doubted whether the United States was ready to deal with the military, political and economic risks caused by air strikes against Iran, Bush had turned on a "yellow light" for Israel’s plan of air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. He said that the "yellow light" means that Israel can continue its preparations, be ready to launch a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities at any time, and inform the US after the preparations are completed. However, Bush has told the Israelis that the US military will not provide them with help, nor can they use the US military base in Iraq for logistical support.

　　Whether Bush’s "yellow light" can be turned into a "green light" is still uncertain, because Iran has demonstrated undeniable lethal strike capability. Washington believes that Iran’s medium-range ballistic missile test last week was provocative and an unwise decision, but both the Pentagon and the CIA believe that Iran’s missile test does not mean that Israel or American targets are facing Iran.

　　The threat of ciliary. Pentagon officials said: "It really depends on the Israelis. It has been decided that the United States will not attack Iran, but the president is really worried about the nuclear threat against Israel. I know that he believes that only force can deter Iran. So far, Israel has not provided Bush with a convincing military proposal. If there is no convincing military plan, the yellow light will never turn green. "

　　Some Pentagon officials are also resistant to Israel’s military action plan, and they are worried about Iran’s retaliatory measures. The official said: "Pentagon military personnel oppose Israel’s plan to attack Iraq mainly because they think it will endanger our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan." One factor that complicates the consideration of the US and Israeli governments is the possibility of the US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama becoming president. He has made it clear that he prefers negotiation to the use of force. Obama’s opposition to the Iraq war and his doubts about the urgency of Iran’s nuclear threat have further increased the pressure on Israeli hawks to take military action before the US election in November. Pentagon officials said, "If I were Israeli, I wouldn’t wait."

　　All sides believe that attacks by Iran or Israel will trigger a round of disastrous retaliation, which will shake the global oil market greatly, make the oil price soar and undermine the US military efforts in Iraq. Badri, Secretary General of OPEC, said last week that a military conflict involving Iran would lead to a sharp rise in oil prices, because OPEC would not be able to fill Iran’s oil production or overcome the shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is OPEC’s second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. Bush is also worried about the impact of military operations on the US Iraq war and US actions in the wider Middle East. The surge of American troops in the past few months has improved the situation in Iraq. A senior Iranian official said on the 12th that Iran would destroy 32 Israeli and American military bases in the Middle East as a counterattack against military strikes.

　　But American officials also admit that if Israel is threatened, the president of the United States will not be idle. The authenticity of Iran’s threat was the subject of heated debate last week. Some analysts said that Iran may have nuclear weapons before next spring, but others believed that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was playing a dangerous bluff game, with the aim of influencing domestic public opinion. Kynett Katzman, a former CIA analyst, said, "I don’t think Iran is capable of causing catastrophic damage to anyone. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards are not strong militarily, and their equipment is not accurate. The missile test is more like a bluff of’ there are dogs here’. They want everyone to think that if you find trouble with them, you will be bitten by a dog. " A former aide of Rice pointed out that Ahmadinejad’s conflict style has made him face a strong opponent in Iran’s religious leadership. Professor Feldman, head of Middle East studies at brandes University, said that the Iranian government is under pressure due to the global economic slowdown. He said: "Ahmadinejad’s failed policy has made Iran more vulnerable to sanctions, and people close to the clergy have considered him a burden." In Israel, Prime Minister Olmert also faces domestic problems, and he is facing a corruption investigation. It is widely rumored in Israeli media that he may order an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities to distract domestic attention. A close friend of his said that Olmert told him that people would see a completely different Middle East in three months.

　　However, even the toughest officials admit that Israel will face the most challenging military task since its establishment. Pentagon officials said: "Everyone here thinks that Israel’s military action will only delay Iran’s nuclear program. Only when Israel’s military action delays Iran’s nuclear program for five years will Israel’s military action be considered successful." If Israel acts alone, Israel’s strength may not be able to do this. Iran has scattered other equipment of its nuclear program into underground bunkers all over the country, and neither American nor Israeli intelligence is sure whether they have all the information about Iran’s nuclear program. Katzman said: "It may happen that the Israelis will attack first and we will finish it. Or they have always thought that only the United States has the strength to permanently suppress Iran’s nuclear program. " (China Network, July 13 th, Huang Huan)

Editor: Zhang Renhe