War hawks reset the Doomsday Clock

The latest geo-political developments indicate that 2023 and beyond may prove to be the most challenging period for those concerned with the maintenance of global peace as well as for the survival of humanity.

Acknowledgement comes from the resetting of the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight due largely to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the increased risk of nuclear escalation.

Previously set at 100 seconds in 2020 the new Clock time is also influenced by the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks from advanced technologies and biological threats such as COVID-19.

According to Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:

"The Doomsday Clock is sounding an alarm for the whole of humanity. We are on the brink of a precipice. But our leaders are not acting at sufficient speed or scale to secure a peaceful and liveable planet. From cutting carbon emissions to strengthening arms control treaties and investing in pandemic preparedness, we know what needs to be done. The science is clear, but the political will is lacking. This must change in 2023 if we are to avert catastrophe. We are facing multiple, existential crises. Leaders need a crisis mindset."

What is missing in her and other Western leaders' comments is that the major factor behind this development is that the West led by the United States is determined to accelerate the momentum towards war with Russia and China, thus increasing the risk of nuclear conflict.

Western war hawks

The mindset of the war hawks in Washington and its allies can be discerned from these two most recent reports following the resetting of the Doomsday clock

• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaking at a Council of Europe meeting in Strasbourg declared that "we are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other". This admission is contrary to the earlier German government claim that it is seeking a peaceful end to the conflict.

Germany has also now abandoned its previous policy of not providing weapons to conflict zones through its decision to deliver Ukraine with Leopard tanks. This has been followed by the announcements of other NATO members and the US that they will deliver similar weapons to enable Ukraine to win its war against Russia

• US four star general, Mike Munihan, head of American Air Mobility command has ordered the 50,000 members and 500 planes under his command to get ready for war with China. This war he predicts will take place in 2025.

In his signed memo widely sighted by American media and making news round the world, he advised his commanders to report all major efforts to prepare for the China fight to report to him by Feb 28. Further he directed all personnel to prepare by firing "a clip" at a 7-metre target, and to "aim for the head"; that is, to shoot to kill.

Russia's response

In response to the German and NATO escalation, Konstantin Gavrilov, the head of the Russia Delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in a statement noted on behalf of the Russian Government:

"We warn Western sponsors of the Kyiv military machine from encouraging nuclear provocations and blackmail.

We know that the Leopard 2 tank, as well as the Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, are armed with uranium-core armour-piercing projectiles, the use of which leads to contamination of the area, as happened in Yugoslavia and Iraq.

If Kyiv is supplied with such shells for NATO heavy military equipment, we will consider this as the use of dirty nuclear bombs against Russia with all the ensuing consequences."

What is clear in the Russian statement is that ensuing consequences may include Russia's use - by intention or miscalculation - of nuclear weaponry in the battlefield in Ukraine. This will effectively reset the Doomsday Clock at zero.

China's response

Beijing has not commented on Gen Munihan's war prediction and shoot to kill memo. Perhaps China's military leaders think that talk is cheap. But they will surely be taking notice and will be preparing for a worst case scenario as the US and its allies intensify efforts to bring down China.

For now, China's concern appears to be focused on the visit by Nato's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, who is on a campaign to stir up anti-China sentiment in Japan. In a speech at Keio University in Tokyo he warned that Russia and China's growing relationship poses a threat to Asia and Europe.

In response, China foreign policy spokesperson noted that "NATO has constantly sought to reach beyond its traditional defence zone and scope, strengthen military and security ties with Asia Pacific countries and played up China's threats. I would like to stress that the Asia-Pacific is not a battlefield for the geopolitical contest and does not welcome the cold war mentality and bloc confrontation."

The rest of the world

The rest of the world should not take lightly the ratcheting by the West's war hawks, which together with western mainstream media for several years now, have been brainwashing the West and allies to hate China, and now Russia.

This hate campaign is being upped several notches so as to soften the ground for military strikes against Russia and China.

Supporters of US and European war hawks in Europe and Asia should be reminded that they will be the main victims of a US strategy that has sucked NATO into the Ukraine war, and is determined to start another over Taiwan, with Japan, Australia and India already drawn into the US-led anti China coalition.

Two war fronts, without involving US soldiers and expenditure, is the Biden dream strategy aimed at the maintenance of US hegemony. Through this the US can also continue being the world's foremost military arms and weapons manufacturer and merchant.

It is not surprising that the strongest stocks in the US in recent years have been those of military and defence stocks such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon.

Nothing is sacred to preserve US supremacy in the world of politics and economics.

Not even the possibility of a nuclear war!

Postscript

My colleague, Carl Vadivella Belle provided the following comment on a draft of this

In this context you might be interested in an article that appeared in the 19 January issue of the London Review of Books entitled "Friends with Benefits" and written by Tom Stevenson. The two books reviewed are "The Secret of the Five Eyes" (Richard Kerbaj), and "Sub-Imperial Power: Australia in the International Era" (Clinton Ferdandes). The books reveal, inter alia, how deeply Australia is enmeshed in the world of US intelligence, and how, in effect, any deeper Australian independence is a nonsense. We are inexorably wedded to the US, whether we like it or not. The fate of the Whitlam government stands as a warning to any Prime Minister who might decide to pursue an independent line. The recent Aukus submarine deal was justified to the Australian public as required to protect Australian trade - however, to quote Stevenson: "There is an irony here. Since China is Australia's major trading partner, Australia is in effect claiming to be 'protecting trade with China from China.'" It's all like something out of Gilbert and Sullivan.