NATO’s Dangerous Fantasy World Exposed

As tens of billions of dollars of weapons and financial aid have flowed from the U.S. and NATO countries to Ukraine, a steady stream of propaganda from those same nations has asserted that the coming “counter-offensive” would lead to the defeat of Russia. “The Russian army is cracking” is a typical headline, next to one asserting that “Putin Is Weak” and “Putin’s Regime Is Crumbling.” These stories are repeated ad nauseum by media commentators and leading Congressional war hawks, and by a parade of military consultants featured in media and in testimony before Congressional committees. If anyone questions these narratives, they are accused of being “mouthpieces” of Putin.

And yet, while these stories are pumped out, many military officials privately acknowledge that they are fake. Two sets of classified documents leaked in April 2023, by Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, included assessments from Pentagon and CIA officials contradicting the positive public evaluations of Ukraine’s capabilities released by the same agencies. After a momentary hub-bub, focused mainly on who had released the docs, the story faded from the front pages, and spokesmen again bragged about the expected gains from the counter-offensive, even as evidence of gains have been negligible.

For example, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said last week, “We believe Ukraine will meet success,” while Polish President Duda insisted that Ukraine will oust Russia “from all occupied territories.”

A very different picture emerged from a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on July 22, which reports that Western officials know that the counter-offensive will not succeed. The article points to a lack of supplies reaching the front lines, despite billions of dollars allocated to arm Ukrainian troops. It cites a shortage of troops, and of those fighting, a lack of training despite major efforts by NATO trainers to upgrade the Ukrainian combatants. Most important, it identifies the inability to counter Russian air superiority, and confirms the difficulties among NATO nations to deliver fighter jets. Finally, it points to the shortfalls in military production of NATO countries, which are running short of most categories of artillery.

The article provides an estimate of at least 26,000 dead since the counter-offensive began, with 3,000 pieces of hardware lost. Previous reports have mentioned a high rate of Bradley fighting vehicles and German Leopard tanks disabled, and the difficulty in repairing those not completely destroyed.

As a result of these problems, the WSJ cites “downgraded expectations” among Pentagon officials, who have been “alarmed by results.” With the results falling far short of the hype, NATO’s options are limited: either escalate, which could include deploying NATO troops directly into the conflict, or reach a negotiated settlement, which NATO has repeatedly rejected.

In the meantime, NATO’s Zelensky regime is sending more Ukrainians to a pointless death.