EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022

Donbas Mass Evacuation Latest Outcome of Anglo-American/NATO Onslaught; Acting on Reason Would Resolve It!

Feb. 18, 2022 (EIRNS)—Today leaders of the two eastern border provinces of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, each gave orders for many of their residents to evacuate to nearby Russia, to be out of harm’s way from the mounting fire from Ukraine forces, which had intensified over Thursday night. Long lines of cars formed in the dark, en route to Rostov, where, under directives of President Vladimir Putin, temporary arrangements have been made for their accommodation. There is no basis for quick conjecture what this will eventually mean, given the many narratives issuing forth from NATO networks that Putin is bound to be staging a false-flag incident for an excuse to invade.

Russian President Putin reiterated at a press briefing today at the Kremlin that there is no alternative to Kyiv working things out with the Donetsk and Luhansk peoples, as spelled out in the Minsk agreement, but Kyiv has refused to speak with them at all. Putin said, “All Kyiv has to do is sit down at the negotiating table with representatives of Donbas and agree on political, military, economic and humanitarian measures to end this conflict. Regrettably, right now we are watching, on the contrary, an escalation in Donbas.”

The recourse for Donbas residents to have to leave home to seek safety is the latest dramatic consequence of the armed confrontationism perpetrated in the name of “rules-based order” and “democracy” by the U.S./U.K./NATO bloc, now in full-sail, endangering all-out war.

In our fight for forces of reason to intervene against this, the Schiller Institute’s international conference Feb. 19 is a major rallying point. It is titled, “100 Seconds to Midnight on the Doomsday Clock: We Need a New Security Architecture.” Enlist everyone, everywhere, to step up and join the mobilization.

U.S. government and institutional figures are deployed in force, in person, throughout Europe right now, to scream the select narrative that Russia is chronically aggressive, Putin lies and operates from a “playbook,” and his forces on Russia’s western border aren’t there for military drills, but for invasion of Ukraine.

This morning, Secretary of State Tony Blinken said this, alongside German Defense Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Munich Security Conference opening. Kamala Harris, also attending the conference, said this in a special meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and leaders of the Baltic nations. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this in Poland today, and in Brussels the last two days, at the sessions of NATO defense ministers. Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is also in Brussels repeating the refrain. In addition, U.S. Congressmen are in Munich on the same Russia-the-enemy line, including Sen. Rob Portman, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Biden’s environment envoy John Kerry is part of the pack. And the U.K. is right in there, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss being in Ukraine yesterday, pushing the new U.K.-Poland-Ukraine defense alliance.

However, the more they doth assert their narratives, the less believable they are. The City of London’s weekly The Economist today takes the cake, declaring that Putin has deployed 190,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, in readiness for Russia’s invasion. A growing number throughout Europe, and the world over are distancing from this mad rush.

So not surprisingly, U.S./U.K./NATO “unity” was a principal theme this afternoon in a special, short “status” briefing by President Biden, during which he said that he has evidence that Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine. He said he had briefed a bipartisan group of Congress on this today, a group of NATO heads of state, and is acting “to ensure we continue to remain in lockstep,” despite Russia’s attempts to divide us. He twice spoke of “unity, determination and resolve,” and being “united and resolved.” He closed on how “the free world is united.”

Biden added during the question period, that there is still the “choice of diplomacy” that Putin can make, to stop the invasion. He reported that Blinken and Lavrov will meet Feb. 24 in Europe, unless there is an invasion. He said that the G7 will meet next week. Biden cited recent instances in eastern Ukraine—shelling of a pre-school, and the question of a mass grave—as false flags by Russia. Blinken this morning also stressed how we’re “unified in collective security” against Russia.

The one American national who stood out for sanity and morality today at the Munich Security Conference was David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Program. At a session titled, “Seed Change Needed: Ensuring Food Security,” he spoke out for ending world hunger, in glaring distinction from the otherwise very green, cartel panelists. What kind of world is it, when out of 7.8 billion people today, 810 million don’t have enough food, and millions more are at the point of death by starvation? Will we go to 10 billion in 2050, and there will be mass hunger in Chicago and Paris? We need to save lives; we need a new system.