The truth is sometimes just banal, and may amount to no more than simple greed. Take the Ukraine War for example. While both sides have their noble explanations of fighting, the West promoting "democracy," as usual, and Russia, to defend Russians in the regions, the stark truth is that tens of trillions of dollars of resources are in the Ukraine for the grabbing. Michael Snyder cites a piece from the Washington Post which lays this out clearly:
"Ukraine harbors some of the world's largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, fields of untapped lithium and massive deposits of coal. Collectively, they are worth tens of trillions of dollars.
The lion's share of those coal deposits, which for decades have powered Ukraine's critical steel industry, are concentrated in the east, where Moscow has made the most inroads. That's put them in Russian hands, along with significant amounts of other valuable energy and mineral deposits used for everything from aircraft parts to smartphones, according to an analysis for The Washington Post by the Canadian geopolitical risk firm SecDev."
A similar claim was also made by US Senator Lindsey Graham. This ensures that there will be a battle for resources, right to the bitter end, with the regions becoming radioactive wastelands, perhaps the only thing stopping this war. It would be nice to think, as some other journalists at this blog from the US seem to think, that Trump will change this. But I doubt it.
https://michaeltsnyder.substack.com/p/its-all-about-the-money-there-are
"If you had the opportunity to grab natural resources that are worth tens of trillions of dollars and you believed that you could get away with it, would you do it? A lot of people in western nations are not able to identify Ukraine on a blank map of the world, but the truth is that it isn't just another country. It turns out that Ukraine is sitting on natural resources that are worth tens of trillions of dollars. Most of those natural resources are located in eastern Ukraine, and of course that is where all of the fighting is happening. Whoever is victorious in this conflict is going to get their hands on all of that wealth. I think that this helps to explain why the Russians and the western elite are so obsessed with winning this war.
This week, I came across an extraordinary article that the Washington Post published on August 10th, 2022. In that article, the Post openly admitted that the natural resources that Ukraine is sitting on "are worth tens of trillions of dollars"…
Ukraine harbors some of the world's largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, fields of untapped lithium and massive deposits of coal. Collectively, they are worth tens of trillions of dollars.
The lion's share of those coal deposits, which for decades have powered Ukraine's critical steel industry, are concentrated in the east, where Moscow has made the most inroads. That's put them in Russian hands, along with significant amounts of other valuable energy and mineral deposits used for everything from aircraft parts to smartphones, according to an analysis for The Washington Post by the Canadian geopolitical risk firm SecDev.
During a recent appearance on "Face the Nation", U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham made a similar claim.
He said that this is a war that "we can't afford to lose" because "$10 to $12 trillion of critical mineral assets could be used by Ukraine and the West"…
"If we help Ukraine now, they can become the best business partner we ever dreamed of", Graham continued. "That $10 to $12 trillion of critical mineral assets could be used by Ukraine and the West, not given to Putin and China".
The US senator then argued that the West "can't afford to lose" the war in Ukraine.
"This is a very big deal, how Ukraine ends. Let's help them win a war we can't afford to lose. Let's find a solution to this war. But they're sitting on a gold mine. To give Putin $10 or $12 trillion of critical minerals that he will share with China is ridiculous", he repeated.
Wait a moment.
For years, politicians like Lindsey Graham have been telling us that this war is all about "democracy" and "freedom" and stuff like that.
But now we are learning the truth.
If Ukraine was a worthless hunk of rock, we wouldn't be spending so much money on this war.
So far, the total bill for American taxpayers is up to about 175 billion dollars…
With the recent passage of the national security supplementals, Congress has now approved nearly $175 billion of aid and military assistance to support the Ukrainian government and allied nations two years after Russia launched its invasion. The most recent national security-related supplemental includes $61.7 billion for Ukraine, 64 percent of the total budget authority included within the law, with the remainder dedicated to Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. This is on top of the $113.1 billion of emergency spending previously approved throughout 2022.
We have been pouring gigantic mountains of money into this conflict, but the Russians are still gaining ground.
So what is the solution?
Well, Joe Biden is now considering a plan that would "allow US military contractors to deploy to Ukraine"…
President Joe Biden's administration is moving toward a plan that would allow US military contractors to deploy to Ukraine for the first time in a limited capacity, CNN reported.
Four US officials familiar with the matter told the outlet that a policy is being worked on to allow the Pentagon to issue private contracts to send troops for the maintenance and repair of US-supplied systems in Ukraine.
If you will recall, the U.S. relied very heavily on military contractors in Iraq.
And that didn't exactly work out too well.
But they are telling us that this time will be different.
We shall see.
Of course both sides are escalating matters. This week, we learned that North Korea has decided to send "a unit of military engineers" to help Russian forces in eastern Ukraine…
The Russian leader and his host Kim Jong Un signed a defence pact on June 19 in Pyongyang, promising military assistance to one another.
Within days of signing the agreement, North Korea has announced it will be sending a unit of military engineers to join Russia's army on the ground in the Donetsk region.
The North Korean unit is expected to arrive in Ukraine as soon as next month, raising fears that Pyongyang is becoming an active combatant in the war.
If both sides just keep upping the ante, where will this end?
Will it end in nuclear war?
Right now, the Russians are "updating" their nuclear doctrine to make it even easier for them to use nuclear weapons…
Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, has started updating its nuclear doctrine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, citing an earlier statement by President Vladimir Putin.
"President Putin has said that work is under way to bring the doctrine into line with current realities," Peskov told a briefing, without elaborating.
A senior member of the Russian parliament said on Sunday that Moscow could reduce the decision-making time stipulated in official policy for the use of nuclear weapons if it believes that threats are increasing.
The Russians keep making very serious threats, but our leaders are not taking them seriously.
Following the recent attack on civilians in Crimea, Dmitry Medvedev boldly declared that both the United States and Ukraine "will burn" for what they have done…
"Both will burn in h***. I hope, not only in sacred fire, but even earlier — in earthly fire," Medvedev added. "Everything that happened was not military action, but a vile and vile terrorist attack against our people, committed on an Orthodox holiday."
At this point, leaders on both sides are willing to do just about anything to win.
And as I discussed earlier, natural resources that are worth tens of trillions of dollars are at stake.
But if a full-blown war between the United States and Russia erupts, it could have apocalyptic consequences for the entire globe.
I would highly recommend that leaders on both sides sit down and find a peaceful way out of this mess while they still can.
But that isn't going to happen.
There is way too much money at stake.
Both sides are obsessed with getting their hands on the natural resources in eastern Ukraine, and vast numbers of people could end up dead as a result.