by Alex Lantier at World Socialists, shared with thanks
On Wednesday night, in a prime time address to the nation coming shortly before he is due to announce his bid for re-election in next month’s presidential elections, Manu spoke on the rapidly escalating war between Russia and the pro-NATO regime in Ukraine.
Examining Macron’s speech also reveals the explosive internal class conflicts the NATO powers are seeking to suppress with the war drive against Russia.
Already before the war, strikes and protests were mounting against rising inflation and the policies of mass infection with COVID-19 pursued by the NATO powers.
Handouts of trillions of dollars and euros to the investing classes in bank bailouts massively fueled inflation, even as over 2 million people died of COVID-19 inside NATO.
He spoke shortly after a poll emerged showing that 70 percent of the French public oppose joining the conflict.
Defying public opinion, Macron is, however, sending French troops to neighboring Romania and warships and fighter planes to the region.
His speech therefore sought to lull workers to sleep about the mounting danger of a Russia-NATO war, while demanding that the French people support NATO war policies and accept massive bloodshed and vast economic sacrifices.
Denouncing “the brutal attack launched by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin against Ukraine on February 24,” Macron warned: “The coming days will likely be increasingly difficult. … The balance of our continent and many aspects of our daily lives are already transformed by this war and will undergo profound change in the coming months.”
Macron appealed for popular support for NATO’s policy on a fraudulent basis, blaming war entirely on the Russian regime. However, while the Kremlin is responsible for launching the invasion, the NATO powers have systematically worked to threaten Russia and cut off negotiations with it, goading Putin to take military action.
As a result, Macron’s appeal to the French people to support NATO against Russia collapsed into a series of lies, distortions and half-truths.
“Neither France, nor Europe, nor Ukraine nor the NATO alliance wanted this war. On the contrary, we did everything we could to avoid it,” Macron said. Pointing to his own talks with Putin, he added: “The US president made clear his availability to negotiate after physically meeting President Putin in June 2021 in Geneva. It is thus indeed alone and deliberately violating one by one all his promises to the community of nations, that President Putin chose war.”
Leaving aside his own attempts to negotiate with Putin, which clearly have failed, Macron’s claim that US President Joe Biden was “available to negotiate” with Putin is a fraud. Biden said he did not respect Putin’s “red lines,” that is, that Washington would take whatever action it pleased, even if Putin warned that this crossed a “red line” that could lead to war.
Continue reading “French President Macron backs NATO war drive against Russia, defying 70% public opinion, inflation and mandate protests”
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