A small war can grow into a great war. Superpowers may confront each other. In fact, it’s happening now. The world’s superpowers are suppressing Islamists in Iraq and Chechnya. Adjoining each conflict is another conflict, ready to flare up. On May 6 the Russian press declared: Russia-Georgia ‘close to war’, Tbilisi to blame – Russian NATO envoy. At the same time, Russia has warned the U.S. against preemptively striking Iran. The Americans are presented with a dilemma. If the U.S. doesn’t strike Iran before the November presidential election then Israel will launch a strike. Either way, the Middle East comes unhinged within seven months.
Many pundits assume that Russia and America are natural partners in the War on Terror. If only they could find common ground and work together. This idea is mistaken, however, since Russia’s war against Islamic terror isn’t the same as America’s war. The difference between the two superpowers is most obvious, most glaring when we realize that Russia is not afraid to pass nuclear secrets to Iran. She is not afraid to arm Palestinian terrorists or Latin American terrorists. From the very start, the war in Chechnya was a provocation. The speaker of the Chechen parliament, Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov, has publicly stated that “Russia created Dudaev, Maskhadov and Basayev [the leaders of the Chechen revolt].” He added that Basayev “was a GRU officer in Abkhazia….” He also said that Chechnya had “saved Russia from NATO” and would save Russia in the future. To understand his remark you must understand Russia’s long range policy. The entire Chechen War, with all its death and tragedy, was used by Moscow to justify Russia’s totalitarian revival under Putin. It feeds the vital diversionary rumor that Al Qaeda smuggled nuclear weapons out of Russia via Chechnya. Therefore, when Russian nuclear weapons are detonated in New York and Washington, Moscow will not be blamed. The Chechen alibi is in place.
Earlier this month U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that Russia is modernizing and improving its missile and nuclear weapon technology. Russia is also building a highly professional army, based on mobile concepts and advanced weaponry. Early last year, in testimony before Congress, Gates noted that Russia and China are both “Pursuing sophisticated military modernization programs” that threaten U.S. security.
These are not new developments. They are ongoing developments that government officials, pundits and the media have generally chosen to ignore – with occasional exceptions. One such exception occurred on Aug. 8, 1998 when Stanislav Lunev testified before the Military Research and Development Subcommittee of the House of Representatives. Lunev was formerly a colonel in the GRU (Russian military intelligence) with knowledge of Russian military intentions. As the subcommittee chairman explained, Lunev’s testimony suggests that Moscow “continues to perfect war plans that would assassinate U.S. political and military leaders and sabotage key targets in the United States by using small man-portable nuclear weapons.”
But didn’t the Cold War end with the collapse of the Soviet Union?
According to Lunev’s 1998 testimony, “Russian intelligence activity against this country [America] is much more active than it was in time of the former Soviet Union…. And this activity … is much more dangerous for this country than it was before.” He further warned, “you can accept my information or not. But I can tell you … that before the USSR disintegration, we worked very hard trying to penetrate through this country’s national security secrets. And sometimes we were successful….”
Before the events of 9/11, before the American people knew anything about al Qaeda, Lunev was warning about Kremlin nukes being smuggled into the United States. “According Soviet military plans,” said Lunev, “very well in advance, maybe few months, maybe few weeks … before real war … Russian Special Operations Forces [will] come here to pick up weapons systems, because they will fly here as tourists, businessmen.” Once inside the United States they would locate prepositioned weapons of mass destruction. According to Lunev, “They need to come here with clean hands, only with documents. Maybe some money, that is all. But according to their tasking, in a few hours they need to physically destroy [and] eliminate American military chains of command, President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Vice President, Speaker of the House, military commanders, especially to cut [the] head from American military chain of command. They need to destroy communications system in this country and grow panic and chaos in this country before real war would be in place.”
Lunev defected from the GRU. He was familiar with Russian military plans. According to these plans, Russian military teams will come to America, pick up weapon systems, and fulfill their operational mission. When a Congressman tried to account for all this as Russian paranoia, Lunev corrected him: “they are not paranoid; they are really smart people. And they know if their policy will push to the next world war, it would be thermonuclear war…. As a result of this, they constructed huge underground facilities in Moscow, close to Moscow, with communications, underground communications with other places and cities, including Yamantau [Mountain]….”
Russian war preparations have continued through the 1990s up to the present moment. Congressman Owen Pickett of Virginia made the following statement before Lunev’s testimony: “I understand Col. Lunev will share with us his belief that Russian military service and intelligence personnel still regard the United States as the enemy, consider war between our two nations as inevitable, and that they are actively planning for a World War III.”
There is something else out of Russia that confirms Lunev’s testimony. It is the so-called “Surikov document” described by Weldon as “an internal Russian advisory document which also says that ultimately the United States will be Russia’s long-term enemy [and] considers a war with the United States as likely and even inevitable….” This document also refers to a future merging of Russia’s interests with those of various rogue states (i.e., Libya, Iraq, Syria, etc.). One should also consider Russia’s official military doctrine, confirmed in 1999, which emphasizes nuclear first strike “under a broad range of scenarios.”
Some will say this is old news. What everyone seems to miss is the steady consistency of Russian policy. The Kremlin knows where it is going and stays on course. Russian belligerence has become even more apparent since 1998, with the assassination of prominent dissidents like Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko. Through murder, oppression and support of rogue regimes the Kremlin has tipped its hand for all to see. Unfortunately, men are deluded by false concepts and wishful thinking. The Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset once wrote: “To create a concept is to leave reality behind.” Propaganda is superficially thought to consist in simplistic arguments or slogans to promote a cause. But there are higher, intellectual weapons available. With the aid of false concepts, facts can be misinterpreted. Reality itself can be distorted. The masses can be aroused against their leaders, the patriot can be led into treason, and the proletariat can be mobilized against the bourgeoisie. Just as naval supremacy gives an advantage in time of war, disinformation supremacy provides an even greater advantage – scrambling the enemy’s brain, dividing and conquering the various groups within the enemy camp.
False concepts pave the way to false facts which our liberals and conservatives readily take to heart. Bush and America are vilified, even by Americans. Communism is spreading throughout Latin America. The Third World is beating a path to Moscow and Beijing. Someone’s propaganda is succeeding. Look around you today. Is the information you’ve entertained leading you to positions consistent with national unity and final victory? Or have you been led to positions that make you vulnerable to the enemy’s scheme of attack?
