US MILITARY

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE—So let’s get real clear about this here and now: if there is a hot war between the US and a major power, it will not be because that war was “stumbled into”. It will not be like an earthquake or other natural disaster. It will not be something that happens to or is inflicted upon the US empire while it just passively stands there in Bambi-eyed innocence.

It will be the result of specific choices made by the managers of the empire. It will be the result of the US choosing escalation over de-escalation, brinkmanship over detente — not just once but over and over again, while declining off-ramp after off-ramp.

Our next goal will be Nikolaev/Odessa. Ukraine must be cut off from the Black Sea at all costs, because our Black Sea fleet is not safe, as long as Ukraine has access to the Black Sea. And we’ll have access to Transnistria. Transnistria will also be in the safety zone, we’ll protect our people there. And then, more likely than not, it wouldn’t be bad if we could perform a powerful unified advance together with Belarus from two sides, with Belarus from the North and us from the South, from Transnistria to cut Ukraine off its Western border, from Poland and Romania. In other words, to fully block Ukraine from all Western deliveries.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges discuss the war in Ukraine, the rising tide of global fascism, the climate catastrophe, and the role left to public intellectuals in an increasingly restrictive and censored media environment. Noam Chomsky is the author of more than 150 books on topics that include linguistics, the press, the inner workings of empire, and the war industry.