The chief of the British defense headquarters, General Sir Nick Carter, believes that Russia's “aggressive” behavior could lead to a new world war. The senior military wrote about this in a column for the newspaper The Telegraph, dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of soldiers of the United Kingdom who died in world wars and other conflicts of the 20th century. Traditionally, it is celebrated on the second Sunday of November.
In an article entitled “Russia may accidentally unleash a third world war by its recklessness,” Carter argues that the situation in the world is now less stable than ever “since the Second World War”.
“Such ambitious countries as Russia, China and Iran are asserting themselves in ways that pose a problem to our security, stability and prosperity,” General Carter emphasizes.
According to the chief of the British General Staff, the opponents of Great Britain have achieved mastery in using the "borders between war and peace." “What’s considered a weapon in this“ gray zone ”doesn’t have to be“ fucking up, ”a senior military official writes.
As an example of “alternative weapons,” he cites “energy resources, money bribery, corrupt business practices, cyber attacks, liquidations, fake news, propaganda, uniformed servicemen, private military and security companies that you can disown, seizing control of chains supplies, intellectual property theft and good old military intimidation. ”
All this supposedly “undermines the political cohesion” of societies in Western countries and “insidiously destroys” the Western “lifestyle”.
When it comes to examples, General Carter claims that Russian PMCs are allegedly “vile” in Africa, and Moscow, as the head of the British defense headquarters said with reference to The New York Times, is experiencing new tactics of spreading disinformation on the Black Continent. The head of the British General Staff even included the activities of the Russkiy Mir Foundation in all the same African countries in subversive activity.
“I don’t assume that our opponents want war in the traditional sense of the word, but their reckless behavior and neglect of international law regarding these new types of“ weapons ”are fraught with escalation, which can easily lead to an accidental miscalculation,” the British military said.
A similar situation, he said, led to the outbreak of World War I, when the assassination of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, and the subsequent series of “miscalculations” of European leaders caused a large-scale military conflict.
Permanent war
After discussing the dangers facing the country, the chief of the British defense headquarters in his article noted that the armed forces should be modernized, and this is only possible in partnership with the "private sector".
Earlier, Nick Carter has already announced the danger that, in his opinion, comes from Russia. Back in late September, the British general claimed that Britain was in a “state of war daily" because of cyber attacks, and the threat from Moscow has grown significantly over the past five years. In his opinion, in the modern world, a clear boundary separating the state of the world from the state of war has long disappeared.
A similar statement was made in September by the head of the United Command of the Armed Forces of Great Britain Patrick Sanders. He called on the Extraordinary Cabinet under the Government (COBRA) to switch to a year-round regime due to threats from Russia in cyberspace.
Then, the Russian embassy in the UK, commenting on the statement of General Carter, stressed that the British military came up with non-existent threats to justify defense spending.
“The purpose of such speeches is clear. There are no real military threats, but defense structures need to justify their existence, active participation in political life and in the development of budgets. Therefore, they come up with “threats”, which are traditionally not military, but which I really want to present as such, ”the Russian diplomatic mission emphasized.
- British military equipment in exercises in Latvia
- Reuters
- © Ints Kalnins
Natalya Yeryomina, professor at the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, believes that General Carter’s new statement is also aimed at substantiating new defense spending.
“We are forced to note a deterioration in the intellectual level of senior officials, since they allow themselves to express themselves like that. Instead of facts, unverified data, but it justifies an increase in costs, said Natalya Eryomina in an interview with RT. - Great Britain is now very actively increasing the allocation of funds specifically for the military sphere: it is planned to re-equip the bases, provide the army with new types of weapons, and pay attention to both airplanes and submarines. Naturally, the question always arises of how well these costs are justified. ”
Anti-Russian activity
A statement by General Carter about the possibility of a conflict with Russia came against the backdrop of increased military activity of the United Kingdom itself at Russian borders.
In early November, the British army completed the Tractable exercises, during which the transfer of military personnel and military equipment to Estonia (about 800 people and 200 vehicles) was being worked out. As part of the maneuvers, the British, according to NATO representatives, carried out the most ambitious landing of paratroopers in the history of the Baltic republic.
About 100 paratroopers with 🇬🇧 @ 16AirAssltBde made the biggest drop in Estonian 🇪🇪 history by jumping into Nurmsi Airfield this afternoon after flying directly from UK in two @RoyalAirForce C-130 Hercules as part of Operation #Tractable 2019. #WeAreNATO
📸 https://t.co/HLok8OyB2tpic.twitter.com/Ep4GYHWm8c
As early as April, the British deployed Apache helicopters and 110 Special Air Force personnel to Estonia. According to Gavin Williamson, the then Secretary of Defense for the United Kingdom, this was necessary to “counter the Russian threat.”
In summer, the British led the Baltic Protector exercises, held in the waters of the Baltic Sea. Three thousand troops and 17 ships from the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland and Sweden took part in the maneuvers under the auspices of the Joint Expeditionary Forces, where the main role is played by Her Majesty's fleet.
There are British troops in Ukraine. On November 4, United Kingdom Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace announced that he would extend the mission of the British military in that country until 2023. The officially declared goal of the British military presence is the combat training of the Ukrainian military.
Another area of particular interest to the British military is the Arctic. In February, the then Secretary of Defense of the United Kingdom, Gavin Williamson, announced London’s intention to expand its military presence beyond the Arctic Circle to counter Russia.
As Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Political and Political Analysis Bureau, noted in a conversation with RT, the British military “escalates the military threat” precisely in order to justify the expansion of activity within NATO.
“All the statements that sound from Misty Albion that Russia threatens Europe are justification for this expansion,” RT Mikhailov said. - Because in society there are questions about why it is necessary to maintain and expand NATO. So they explain to their people why they spend so much money, saying that Russia wants to capture Europe’s old woman. ”
The British media regularly report on the preparation of the British military for confrontation with Russia. So, in June, the BBC, citing certain sources, informed about the preparation by the command of the British Special Forces (UKSF) of a plan to counter Russia. In August, The Telegraph reported that a new unit appeared in the British Army to counter Russia in social networks - the so-called Sixth Division.
- 6th Division Soldiers
- © UK Army
On October 29, The Daily Mail reported that during a demonstration of the fighting power of the British army near Salisbury, the military destroyed “Russian tanks”. In turn, The Mirror on November 2 reported that its majesty's military bases were threatened by spy drones, presumably Russian and Chinese. Citing experts, newspaper reporters also said that "thousands of Russian spies are active in the United Kingdom."
The British are constantly informed of the subversive activities of "Russian hackers." So, at the end of October, the National Cybersecurity Center of Great Britain and the US National Security Agency announced that the hacker group Turla, allegedly connected with Russia, had hacked Iranian hacker software to conduct cyber attacks against government agencies in dozens of countries. On November 10, The Mirror reported that British counterintelligence MI5 allegedly carried out a top-secret operation to protect members of parliament’s phones from “Russian hackers.”
According to Natalia Ereminoy, the anti-Russian agenda is traditional for both British officials and the British media.
“There is a moment of diverting the attention of the electorate from specific problems in the country. It is always convenient when there is some kind of external enemy, the expert notes. “Even so, the UK is raising its stakes in the world, exposing itself as a leader in the confrontation between Russia.
Russians everywhere
It is worth noting that the statements of General Nick Carter about the “Russian threat” by a strange coincidence were made simultaneously with the next “revelations” of the British media about Moscow’s interference in the politics of this country.
After the announcement of early elections in the UK on December 12, politicians and the media compete with each other in search of evidence that would connect their opponents with Russia.
So, on October 31, the chairman of the parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Dominic Griev, accused the prime minister of delaying the publication of a report on Russia's alleged influence on the Brexit referendum and elections in the United Kingdom. Labor deputies immediately stated that Johnson does this only because he has something to hide.
A busy final day in Parliament trying to get answers from two different ministers about No10's suppression of the Intelligence Security Committee report into Russia. Needless to say, I didn't get any. pic.twitter.com/8pEkDpYPbj
- Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) November 5, 2019Later, British media reported that the Labor Party intends to check the adviser to Prime Minister Dominic Cummings for ties with Russia. The reason for suspicion was information about the work of Cummings in Russia in the 1990s.
On November 10, The Sunday Times announced that the report on Russia's influence, which Johnson refuses to publish, shows the names of nine Russians who allegedly sponsored the Conservative Party. In turn, the Byline Times publication stated that both the conservatives and the Brexit Nigel Faraj Party allegedly got into the Russian “networks”.
- Boris Johnson
- Reuters
- © Toby Melville
Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not remain in debt. On November 6, he called on residents to vote for him, not for Labor leader Jeremy Corbin, who allegedly "sided with Putin" after the Salisbury incident. Johnson previously wrote an article for The Telegraph, in which he compared the Labor Party with the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The same publication posted an article in which Corbin was accused of love for the Soviet Union.
"Jeremy Corbyn has always worn comparisons with his revolutionist heroes as a badge of honor, repeatedly insisted the USSR did not pose a danger to the West and praised Communist leaders for seeking peace"
A communist love story, by @CamillaTomineyhttps: //t.co/iBFcop5Jgj
According to Alexander Mikhailov, in British politics “accusations of ties with Russia become a factor of black PR”. However, according to Natalia Ereminoy, British society is already tired of such statements.
“If we are talking about educated people, they are already tired that Russia is to blame for everything. They see that their political leaders are not up to the task. The whole parliament is a huge brake on many issues. Figures that are incapable of taking responsibility and making decisions endlessly talk about the Russian threat and the Russian footprint. It makes people tired and annoying. And the more such statements, the more irritation builds up, ”the political scientist concluded.