Why Is Europe Making Itself Irrelevant By Paul Craig Roberts!
(2025-03-06 at 07:01:55 )

Why Is Europe Making Itself Irrelevant By Paul Craig Roberts!

Readers want to know why the United Kingdom PM and European leaders-really, non-readers, misleaders, bad leaders-want war with Russia over Ukraine. My answer is that they do not.

What would they go to war with? According to the European "leaders," they already have given all their weapons to Ukraine and have nothing with which o fight a war. The only way Europe can send any money to Ukraine is to get the EU central bank to print euros to send to Ukraine. Moreover, the NATO force structure depends on the United States. Without the US, Europe lacks a force structure that can support a war. Trump has ruled out war with Russia and read Zelensky the riot act. Unless Putin makes a fantastic mistake, I expect the conflict to end.

Perhaps what is going on with Europe is that EU governments, after sending so much money and weapons to Ukraine backed by claims that Ukraine was winning and would win, want to be able to say that Trump sold out Ukraine in order to avoid accountability to the deceived populations of Europe. They can blame Trump for denying Ukraine and NATO a victory.

The European talk of sending "peacekeepers" to Ukraine is nonsense. Putin intends a settlement, an over-and-done-with event, not a ceasefire with European "peacekeepers." Trump can not get a settlement if he sides with the EU against Putin. If Trump and Putin do not accept "peacekeepers," it can not happen.

Here is a thought. Trump sees economic growth as fed by opportunity. He sees more opportunity in business deals with Russia, India, China, the rest of Asia, and Africa than he sees in Europe. Trump understands that it was sanctions and the weaponization of the dollar that produced BRICS and the search for an alternative for central bank reserves and international payments. To save the dollars role as reserve currency, Washington,D.C. needs to stop bullying. Trump, like Putin, wants deals that work for everyone, not wars. In a world in which the dollar is not used as a weapon against other countries, BRICS is not necessary.

Trump sees tariffs in a different way than indoctrinated free-market economists. Tariffs do not prevent trade. They ensure that countries have something with which to trade. Moreover, tariffs are a tax on consumption, not a tax on factors of production such as labor and capital. And as I emphasize, tariffs in place of income tax eliminates the resurrection of a form of slavery established in 1913 when government was given partial ownership of the labor of every working citizen.

We have little to lose by supporting Trump and keeping him focused on his agenda. We should not add to problems for Ukraines sake, or for Israels sake, or some other non-American interest. There are sufficient unaddressed threats around, such as AI and the creation and release of another virus, to knock Trumps agenda off balance.

Life is a challenge. Making good decisions is a difficult thing to do. Let us try for a change to meet the real challenges and to make good decisions. Trump has given us an opportunity we have not had for a long time. Be thankful for it.

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