The stake in the war against Russia is the preservation of the US occupation of Germany and the empire in Europe and the UK, together with the credibility of US weapons which must be sold worldwide at prices to match their reputations in combat. Losing the war on the Ukrainian battlefield and in the sanctions war against Russia means a worldwide defeat for the US, its military power, its commercial and financial dominance, along with its command-and-control systems, subsidiaries, and retainers.
The substitute for an anti-war movement in Washington is faction-fighting over what means, what terms can be devised to get the US out of the Ukraine before the Ukrainian army capitulates, Vladimir Zelensky flees for his life and fortune, and with them the collapse of the US alliance called NATO.
The Ukraine conflict has shown US/NATO to be a paper tiger. Since WWII, the conflicts the US has been involved in were against 2nd and 3rd world opponents … and they still lost (e.g. Vietnam, Afganistan).
Now, against a 1st world opponent with real weapons and a real army, US/NATO is impotent. Worse, it has demonstrated the western coalition is unable to actually conduct a war.
And worse still for the MIC, the vaunted and expensive western weapons have been shown to be ineffective and vulnerable. The Leopard tank and Bradley armored vehicles have proven themselves to be death traps for their crews. Similarly, the HIMARS and Patriot missile systems, once they turn their radar on to track targets, they give their position away and are soon after destroyed.
Do you think the US is seriously wanting to send Abrahms tanks and F-16s to Ukraine only for the world to see their burning carcasses on the battlefield? Umm, no. Better to sustain the illusion.
So, you are a country that wants to buy military hardware. You have been watching intently the performance of US/NATO weaponry, support, training, et al unfolding in Ukraine. All this very expensive hardware is getting obliterated as soon as it rolls out on the battlefield. What good is it? Bad times for western MIC.
The US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine is a war crime. More than 100 countries ban their use. The US, itself, has condemned use of cluster bombs a war crime. So, now they are okay, not least, per Biden, because US munitions inventories have diminished precipitously and they have nothing else to send. Itself an indictment of US/NATO readiness and capability.
The underlying theme here is “war is a racket”. Clearly, the US/NATO war machine is, in reality, a black hole money pit. The voracious MIC is fed by the neocons and warmongers. Lindsey Graham has replaced John Cain as warmonger-in-chief, but the list goes on and on.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is another rabid warmonger, but is really just a US lackey. His retirement has been put on hold until another US lackey can be installed, Ursula von der Leyen. But they have to wait until her term as EU President is up next year, so Stoltenberg’s term has been extended.
NATO has shown itself to be an extension of US foreign policy. Its primary purpose is, in fact, to control and subjugate Europe. The US blows up the Nordstream pipeline, critical infrastructure for Europe and especially Germany, and the Europeans just sit back and take it. Pathetic. They are in an abusive relationship and don’t have the spine to call the US on it and declare their independence. But, then again, individual European countries are prostrate to unelected bureaucrats in the EU. They really are pathetic.
Not that it matters. The world is watching. Next up, the rise of the BRICS and a multilateral order.