Blood
in the Water: the Trump Revolution Ends in a
Whimper
By Mike Whitney
February 17, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- "Counterpunch"
- The
Flynn fiasco is not about national security
advisor Michael Flynn’s conversations with the
Russian ambassador. It’s much deeper than that.
It’s about Russia. It’s about Putin. It’s about
the explosive rise of China and the world’s
biggest free trade zone that will
eventually stretch from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
It’s about the one country in the world that is
obstructing Washington’s plan for global
domination. (Russia) And, it’s about the future;
which country will be the key player in the
world’s most prosperous and populous region,
Asia.
That’s what’s at stake, and that’s what the
Flynn controversy is really all about.
Many
readers are familiar with the expression “pivot
to Asia”, but do they know what it means?
It
means the United States has embarked on
an ambitious plan to extend
its military grip and market power over the
Eurasian landmass thus securing its position as
the world’s only superpower into the next
century. The pivot is Washington’s top strategic
priority. As Hillary Clinton said in 2011:
“Harnessing Asia’s growth and dynamism is
central to American economic and strategic
interests… Open markets in Asia provide the
United States with unprecedented
opportunities for investment, trade, and
access to cutting-edge technology…..American
firms (need) to tap into the vast and
growing consumer base of Asia…
The
region already generates more than half of
global output and nearly half of global
trade…. we are looking for opportunities to
do even more business in Asia…and our
investment opportunities in Asia’s dynamic
markets.”(“America’s Pacific Century”,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton”, Foreign
Policy Magazine, 2011)
In
other words, it’s pivot or bust. Those are the
only two options. Naturally, ruling elites in
the US have chosen the former over the latter,
which means they are committed to a strategy
that will inevitably pit the US against a
nuclear-armed adversary, Russia.
Trump’s
National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, wanted
to normalize relations with Russia. He rejected
the flagrantly hostile approach of the US
foreign policy establishment. That’s why he had
to be removed. And, that’s why he’s been so
viciously attacked in the media and why the
threadbare story about his contacts with the
Russian ambassador were used to force his
resignation.
This
isn’t about the law and it isn’t about the
truth. It’s about bare-knuckle geopolitics and
global hegemony. Flynn got in the way of the
pivot, so Flynn had to be eliminated. End of
story. Here’s a clip from an article by Robert
Parry:
“Flynn’s real “offense” appears to be that
he favors détente with Russia rather than
escalation of a new and dangerous Cold War.
Trump’s idea of a rapprochement with Moscow
– and a search for areas of cooperation and
compromise – has been driving Official
Washington’s foreign policy establishment
crazy for months and the neocons, in
particular, have been determined to block
it.
Though Flynn
has pandered to elements of the neocon
movement with his own hysterical
denunciations of Iran and Islam in general,
he emerged as a key architect for Trump’s
plans to seek a constructive relationship
with Russian President Vladimir Putin,
Meanwhile, the neocons and their
liberal-interventionist sidekicks have
invested heavily in making Putin the
all-purpose bête noire to justify a major
investment in new military hardware and in
pricy propaganda operations.” (“Trump
Caves on Flynn’s resignation“,
Consortium News)
US
foreign policy is not developed willy-nilly. It
emerges as the consensus view of various
competing factions within the permanent national
security state. And, although there are notable
differences between the rival factions (either
hardline or dovish) there appears to be
unanimity on the question of Russia. There is
virtually no constituency within the political
leadership of either of the two major parties
(or their puppetmaster supporters in the deep
state) for improving relations with Russia.
None. Russia is blocking Washington’s eastward
expansion, therefore, Russia must be defeated.
Here’s more from the World Socialist Web Site:
“US
imperialism seeks to counter its declining
world economic position by exploiting its
unchallenged global military dominance. It
sees as the principal roadblocks to its
hegemonic aims the growing economic and
military power of China and the
still-considerable strength of Russia,
possessor of the world’s second-largest
nuclear arsenal, the largest reserves of oil
and gas, and a critical geographical
position at the center of the Eurasian land
mass.
Trump’s opponents within the ruling class
insist that US foreign policy must target
Russia with the aim of weakening the Putin
regime or overthrowing it. This is deemed a
prerequisite for taking on the challenge
posed by China.
Numerous
Washington think tanks have developed
scenarios for military conflicts with
Russian forces in the Middle East, in
Ukraine, in the Baltic States and in
cyberspace. The national security elite is
not prepared to accept a shift in
orientation away from the policy of direct
confrontation with Russia along the lines
proposed by Trump, who would like for the
present to lower tensions with Russia in
order to focus first on China.” (“Behind
the Flynn resignation and Trump crisis: A
bitter conflict over imperialist policy“,
WSWS)
Foreign
policy elites believe the US and its NATO allies
can engage Russia in a shooting war without it
expanding into a regional conflict and without
an escalation into a nuclear conflagration. It’s
a risky calculation but, nevertheless, it is the
rationale behind the persistent build up of
troops and weaponry on Russia’s western
perimeter. Take a look at this from the
Independent:
“Thousands of Nato troops have amassed close
to the border with Russia as part of the
largest build-up of Western troops
neighbouring Moscow’s sphere of influence
since the Cold War…Tanks and heavy armoured
vehicles, plus Bradley fighting vehicles and
Paladin howitzers, are also in situ and
British Typhoon jets from RAF Conningsby
will be deployed to Romania this summer to
contribute to Nato’s Southern Air Policing
mission…
Kremlin
officials claim the build-up is the largest
since the Second World War.” (“The
map that shows how many Nato troops are
deployed along Russia’s border“,
The Independent)
Saber-rattling and belligerence have cleared the
way for another world war. Washington thinks the
conflict can be contained, but we’re nor so
sure.
The
inexperienced Trump– who naively believed that
the president sets his own foreign policy–has
now learned that that’s not the case. The Flynn
slap-down, followed by blistering attacks in
the media and threats of impeachment, have left
Trump shaken to the core. As a result, he
has done a speedy about-face and swung into
damage control-mode. On Tuesday, he tried
to extend the olive branch by tweeting that
“Crimea was taken by Russia” and by offering to
replace Flynn with a trusted insider who will
not veer from the script prepared by the
foreign policy establishment. Check out this
blurb on the Foreign Policy magazine website on
Wednesday:
“President Donald Trump offered the job of
national security advisor to retired Vice
Adm. Robert Harward on Monday night…If, as
expected, Harward accepts the job today, he
is likely to bring in his own team, from
deputy on down, with a focus on national
security types with some experience under
their belts…
Harward also would work well with Defense
Secretary James Mattis. When Mattis was
chief of Central Command, Harward was his
deputy. Mattis trusted him enough to put him
in charge of planning for war with Iran.
Mattis has urged Harward to take the NSA
job.
If Harward
becomes NSA, Mattis would emerge from the
Flynn mess in a uniquely powerful position:
He would have two of his former deputies at
the table in some meetings. The other one is
John Kelly, now secretary for Homeland
Security, who was his number two when Mattis
commanded a Marine division early in the
invasion of Iraq in 2003.” (“A
Mattis protégé poised to take the helm of
Trump’s NSC,”
Foreign Policy)
In
other words, Trump is
relinquishing control over foreign policy and
returning it to trusted insiders who will comply
with pre-set elitist guidelines. Trump’s sudden
metamorphosis was apparent in another story that
appeared in Wednesday’s news, this time related
to Rex Tillerson and General Joseph Dunford.
Here’s a clip from CNN:
“Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.
Joseph Dunford meet face to face with their
Russian counterparts Thursday, as the Trump
administration evaluates the future
direction of US-Russian relations….But even
as Tillerson’s plane was taking off in
Washington, the Pentagon announced the
meeting between Dunford and his Russian
counterpart Valeriy Gerasimov, which will
take place Thursday in Baku, Azerbaijan….
“The military leaders will discuss a variety
of issues including the current state of
U.S.-Russian military relations …Trump’s
envoys have been expressing positions more
keeping with previous US policies. …
Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki
Haley, indicated the US would maintain
sanctions on Russia for annexing Crimea in
2014. She condemned what she called the
“Russian occupation” of the Ukrainian
territory…
The
US has deployed thousands of troops and
tanks to Poland and Romania in recent weeks,
while other NATO allies have sent troops to
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
“There is a common message from the
President, from his security team, the
secretary of state, the secretary of
defense, that they stay strongly committed
to NATO,” he added.
Let’s
summarize: The sanctions will remain, the tanks
are on the border, the commitment to NATO has
been reinforced, and Dunford is going to explain
Washington’s strategic objectives to his Russian
counterpart in clear, unambiguous language.
There will be no room for Tillerson, who is
on friendly terms with Putin, to change the
existing policy or to normalize relations;
Dunford, Haley, and Defense Secretary James
Mattis will make sure of that.
As for
Trump, it’s clear by the Crimea tweet, the
sacking of Flynn and the (prospective)
appointment of Harward, that he’s running scared
and is doing everything in his power to get out
of the hole he’s dug for himself. There’s no
way of knowing whether he’ll be allowed to carry
on as before or if he’ll be forced to throw
other allies, like Bannon or Conway, under the
bus. I would expect the purge to continue and to
eventually include Trump himself. But that’s
just a guess.
The
hope that Trump would bring an element of sanity
to US foreign policy has now been extinguished.
The so called “Trump Revolution” has fizzled out
before it ever began.
In
contrast, the military buildup along Russia’s
western flank continues apace.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a
contributor to Hopeless:
Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK
Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle
edition. He can
be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.
