(OPINION) Most of us just want to live in peace, but leaders all over the world are preparing for more war. In fact, at this point, it appears that the entire globe is being gripped by a really bad case of war fever.
As I write this article, the Economic Community of West African States is warning that it could invade the nation of Niger if coup leaders do not reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum.
Of course, the leaders of the coup do not intend to back down, so there will probably be war. But that will be a relatively small conflict compared to others that are looming on the horizon.
On Monday, we learned that over 3,000 U.S. troops have arrived in the Red Sea… More than 3,000 United States military personnel have arrived in the Red Sea aboard two warships, part of a beefed-up response from Washington after tanker seizures by Iran, the US Navy said Monday.
The deployment adds to a growing US military buildup in tense Gulf waterways vital to the global oil trade and led Tehran on Monday to accuse the US of inflaming regional instability.
This is part of an ongoing effort by the Biden administration to bolster U.S. forces in the region, and it is hoped that a larger U.S. presence will deter Iran from taking control of any more internationally flagged ships…
Their arrival followed a U.S. announcement last month it would deploy a destroyer, F-35, and F-16 warplanes, along with the Amphibious Readiness Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the Middle East to deter Iran from seizing ships in the Gulf.
The U.S. military says Iran has either seized or attempted to take control of nearly 20 internationally flagged ships in the region over the past two years and the Biden White House wants to see more forces in the region to stand ready to engage Iran if required, as Breitbart News reported.
Meanwhile, it is being reported that the city of Damascus was just “rocked by Israeli missile strikes”… After weeks of relative quiet, the Syrian capital of Damascus was rocked by Israeli missile strikes in the early Monday morning hours, resulting in the deaths of four Syrian soldiers and several more wounded, according to state agency SANA.
The attack also caused unspecified “material damage” – while multiple inbound projectiles were reportedly intercepted by Syrian air defense. Videos that emerged in the aftermath appeared to show intercept explosions above the city in the overnight hours.
Tensions in the Middle East haven’t been this high in decades, and a major war could erupt at literally any time. But I don’t think that planners in the West are anticipating a major war in the Middle East in 2023. My personal opinion is that if a big move in the region is planned, it will be in 2024.
Meanwhile, the much-hyped “counter-offensive” in Ukraine is not going very well… On Aug. 3-5, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost 2,040 additional men, bringing Ukrainian casualties to over 45,000 since the beginning of the “Counter-Offensive” June 4. The AFU has approx. 200.000 combat soldiers, 36.000 of which were trained at NATO bases like Grafenwöhr, Germany in the past months.
Writing on Russian Sputnik News, US Maj. Scott Ritter called the Ukrainian attack on heavily defended Russian lines with inexperienced troops and no air support a “massacre”, with Ukrainians suffering losses at the rate of 10 to 1 compared to the Russians. Ritter called the “road to Rabotino” east of Zaporizhzhia “a highway to hell”
Ritter is quite right. Ukrainian forces are just getting slaughtered by well-prepared Russian defenses, but more young Ukrainians are being sent to their deaths with each passing day.
This “counter-offensive” was supposed to be the campaign that turned the tide of the war, but instead, it is the Russians that are currently advancing…
Russia claimed its troops had advanced three kilometers (two miles) along the Kupiansk front in northeastern Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry said that it had “improved” its standing along the front line in the last three days and continued to repel Ukrainian counter-attacks. (READ MORE)
