Anti-war activists accused the Biden administration late Friday into Saturday of continuing warmongering after President Joe Biden confirmed that he plans on sending U.S. soldiers to Eastern Europe.
“I’ll be moving troops to Eastern Europe in the NATO countries in the near term,” Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews late Friday. “Not too many.”
Earlier this week, the president announced that 8,500 troops were standing ready for a potential deployment to confront what the White House says is an imminent attack by Russian forces in Ukraine—despite pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop creating “panic.”
Zelensky called Thursday night to discuss the matter. reportedly questioned the Biden administration’s belief — promoted by the corporate media — that a Russian invasion is “imminent.”
“I’m the president of Ukraine, I’m based here and I think I know the details deeper than any other president,” Zelensky told the press after the call. “The image that mass media creates is that we have troops on the roads, we have mobilization, people are leaving for places. That’s not the case. We don’t need this panic.”
Veteran journalist John Pilger tweeted that Zelensky’s comments exposed “the warmongering of Biden… as a crime.”
The president of Ukraine, Zelensky, has denied that Russia is threatening his country. He told the UK and US that he didn’t want to create panic. The war mongering of Biden, and his UK echoes, is exposed as a crime, with Ukraine not on-script.https://t.co/UNFQ5ZxaoG
— John Pilger (@johnpilger) January 29, 2022
As Common Dreams reportedFriday’s U.S. Defense secretary Lloyd Austin expressed hope for a diplomatic approach to avoid conflict with Russia. Russia has demanded that Ukraine be excluded from NATO along with other security measures.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley also spoke Friday and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to pursue diplomacy — after Putin reportedlyEmanuel Macron, the French President, spoke to me about implementing a diplomatic accord that was forged in 2014.
Milley warned that there will be “horrific” consequences if Russia invades Ukraine.
“Given the type of forces that are arrayed, the ground maneuver forces, the artillery, the ballistic missiles, the air forces, all of it packaged together — if that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant amount of casualties,” he told reporters.
Peace group CodePink accused the Biden administration of reaching “putting the entire world at risk” while the U.S. publicInternational leaders are clear in their anti-war stance.
The US has reached an alarming level of war-mongering that puts the whole world at risk. Russia doesn’t want war. The Ukraine doesn’t want to war. The American people don’t want war. The Biden administration needs to get with the program & STOP endangering us all.https://t.co/9q4CF9KTyK
— CODEPINK (@codepink) January 29, 2022
“Russia doesn’t want war. Ukraine doesn’t want war. The American people don’t want war,” tweeted the group. “The Biden administration needs to get with the program and STOP endangering us all.”
