from People’s World shared with thanks

Two Ukrainian soldiers carry a recoilless rifle after conducting an air assault mission training in conjunction with the U.S. Army. | U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Tarr
The war danger in Ukraine is escalating, and once more it is Washington and the NATO military alliance it controls which are raising the stakes in this deadly gamble.
President Joe Biden ratcheted up tensions this weekend with the revelation that he plans to possibly dispatch as many as 50,000 troops—along with tanks, missiles, aircraft, and warships—to NATO military allies in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe.
The U.S. has also issued marching orders to other NATO members. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Biden administration’s top propaganda chief on the Ukraine matter, said Sunday that “NATO will continue to be reinforced…if Russia commits renewed acts of aggression.”

Already, there are F-16 warplanes from Denmark on the way to Lithuania, Spanish fighter jets and naval forces en route to the Black Sea, French troops airlifting to Romania, and Dutch F-35 fighters joining the patrols in the skies over Bulgaria. These military moves were paired with diplomatic theatrics, as the U.S. and Britain began “evacuations” of some embassy staff in Kiev.
But what are the new supposed threats from Russia that merit kicking the U.S.-led war machine into high gear?
Continue reading “Biden and NATO raise the stakes in deadly Ukraine war gamble / by C.J. Atkins”





![snowstorms affecting IDPs in northwestern Syria, in Sheikh Bilal Camp in Afrin. [Courtesy of Ali Haj Suleiman]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/5O0B2436.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
![snowstorms affecting IDPs in northwestern Syria, in Sheikh Bilal Camp in Afrin. [Courtesy of Ali Haj Suleiman]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/5O0B2586.jpg?resize=770%2C513)









