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“Road to World War III” – Former Merkel Adviser Against Delivery of Heavy Weapons
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Ukraine needs heavy weapons – Scholz still hesitates
Ukraine continues to ask for more weapons as a major Russian offensive in Donbass threatens. Foreign Minister Baerbock has spoken out in favor of now also supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine. Chancellor Scholz, on the other hand, is hesitant.
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German main battle tanks would be of no use to Ukraine, says Erich Vad, a former brigadier general. As the complex weapons systems require years of training, they are currently of no military use for the Ukrainians.
The former political-military adviser to former Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Brigadier General Erich Vad, spoke out against the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine. These deliveries are potentially a “road to the third world war”, said Vad of the German Press Agency.
Also, you can only operate and use complex weapon systems like the Leopard battle tank or the Marder infantry fighting vehicle after years of training, Vad said. They are useless to Ukrainians militarily at the moment and in the near future.
Erich Vad is the former security agent of former Chancellor Angela Merkel
Source: pa/AAPimages/Timm
“We’re doing a lot of war rhetoric right now – outside of good alignment ethics,” Vad said. “But, as we all know, the road to hell is always paved with good intentions. We must think about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine from the end. If we don’t want World War III, sooner or later we will have to get out of this logic of military escalation and start negotiations.”
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Vad warned against denying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s humanity and labeling him a pathological despot who can no longer be talked to. As terrible as the war in Ukraine is a violation of international law, it is part of a chain of comparable wars of recent date. “Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan – it’s not all so new,” Vad said. Unfortunately, the excessive number of civilians killed and the massacres that took place in the Ukrainian war are not exceptional.
“Putin is not out of the ordinary”
“In war, innocent people are killed. That’s war. Unfortunately, that’s inherent in the system.” Vad recalled the Iraq war in 2003. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in that war and during the subsequent occupation of the country. “Compared to that, Putin is not unusual. Here you have to leave the church in the village – however much shocking as the photos are.”
For example, when the Russians are said to have burned down a maternity hospital, the implication is that this was done on purpose. “But it certainly wasn’t Putin’s intention – why should he do that? He’s being criticized all over the world for it. As terrible as it is, we’ve had that and the acceptance of thousands of civilians killed in Iraq, Libya, in Afghanistan too.” So far, so-called collateral damage in Ukraine has been much less than in Iraq or Afghanistan.
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It is equally false to accuse Putin of counting Ukraine and Crimea as part of Russia’s geopolitical sphere of influence. It is then said that this is an obsolete view of the 19th century. “But the Monroe Doctrine, which states that no intervention by foreign powers will be tolerated on the American continent, still applies to Americans today. And the Caribbean is certainly a sphere of influence too, and not just since the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Even if one wants to advance in the democratization of the world with good intentions, it is always a matter of expanding the spheres of influence in fact and in terms of power politics.
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The security expert and military analyst assumes that Putin has given up on the regime change he originally wanted in Ukraine after the extensive withdrawal from the Kiev area.
“That’s why the chances of negotiations are not really bad,” said Vad. “Both sides can get out of there saving face. The Ukrainians have proven that they have effectively defended their capital Kiev and are also capable of successfully defending themselves against a superior opponent.”
The Russians, in turn, would have made some land gains in the east and along the Black Sea coast. “These are not the worst conditions for a ceasefire and peace talks and are better for both sides than letting themselves be dragged further into the swamp of a long war with an uncertain outcome.”