As the Russia-Ukraine conflict heats up, the bloc is now portraying itself as a first responder to the flames it helped to fan

The French have a wonderful term: the firefighter-arsonist. It’s used to describe a person or entity that lights a match and creates a firestorm, only to subsequently rush and put out the flames to heroic applause and accolades. At this stage of the conflict in Ukraine, it’s hard to imagine a better term for NATO.

There’s currently a concerted effort underway within the transatlantic alliance to portray the conflict in Ukraine as a Russia-Ukraine standoff unrelated to NATO. Except that the US-led West, of which NATO is key pillar, was largely responsible for not only the ignition of the conflict, but also for amassing the tinder in the form of “foreign aid” to civil society groups known for mobilizing public opinion against Russia, for delivering weapons, for ear-bending public officials with promises of NATO or European Union integration, and for its clandestine training of anti-Russian neo-Nazi proxy fighters. The Canadian military is currently investigating how on earth its personnel allegedly became involved in the last of those endeavours, despite being warned as early as 2015 before the training operation began.

The whole idea of clandestine operations is that NATO’s footprint is reduced along with its visibility. It’s mission accomplished in that sense, apparently, since there’s no denying that many people honestly believe the thrust of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s statement in a March 8 press conference that “We do not seek conflict with Russia.”

Full article at: RT International

Background image via AFP, modified by me.