In February 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan where the US-backed ‘Islamists’ were confronting the Soviet Union between 1979-89. However, after the defeat of western-backed terrorists fighting the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria at the hands of the Syrian Army, it seems the West is going to arm civilian Ukrainians and veteran NATO foreign fighters to confront Russia in Ukraine.

“The US and its satellites invaded and destroyed Afghanistan. After 20 years, they withdrew in disorder,” Michael Springmann, author of “Goodbye Europe? Hello, Chaos? Merkel’s Migrant Bomb,” told Al-Mayadeen English.

“Prior to sending regular forces, President Jimmy Carter and National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski spent vast sums of money to draw the Soviets in and recruited terrorists from all over to fight them in a Guerilla war,” said Springmann.

He added, “If they could do the same in Ukraine, the Americans and Europeans would be happy, [but that] will cost them dearly.”

“Islamists were not more controllable”

Asked why the West is recruiting veteran NATO fighters not Islamists to fight Russia in Ukraine, Springmann said, “the West, especially the US, are tied to Zelenskyy & Groysman the PM...”

“... And it was Nuland [undersecretary for political affairs] who helped overthrow the legitimate Ukrainian government in 2014."

“However, I would not say they are not recruiting Islamists ... I think they want more control over mercenary actions if westerners are used," Springmann, a former diplomat to Saudi Arabia, told Al-Mayadeen English.

“Illegal under US law”

On Feb 27, the BuzzFeedNews reported that “a group of 10 special operations forces veterans is staging in Poland and preparing to cross into Ukraine, where they plan to take up President Volodymyr Zelensky on his offer to 'join the defense of Ukraine, Europe, and the world,'" according to a US Army veteran arranging their passage.

BuzzFeedNews reported the group is composed of “six US citizens, three Brits, and a German, who are NATO-trained and experienced in close combat and counterterrorism,” without giving their names. It also pointed out that “they want to be among the first to officially join the new International Legion of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine that Zelensky announced Sunday."

Two former American infantry officers, according to BuzzFeedNews, are also making plans to come to Ukraine to provide “leadership” for the group.

“Sending Americans and others to fight Russians and train Ukrainians is illegal under US law since the 19th century I think,” Springmann told Al Mayadeen English. “It’s like the start of Vietnam war with ‘advisors’ helping ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam)”

Asked if the West is preparing to recruit Islamists to fight in Ukraine, or did the defeat in Syria make the West decide not to bring them on the table, so they are recruiting NATO veterans instead, Springmann said the Islamists in Syria are "still aided by the US."

“I would assume that is the case, recruiting more crazies [NATO veterans] to fight Russia... Although Chechens are seeking to join Russia,” Springmann told Al Mayadeen English in a Skype interview.

US and UK want to drain European Union 

Adel Al-Assar, a Yemeni journalist, told Al Mayadeen English that “Washington and Britain are seeking from what is happening in Ukraine not only to drain Russia militarily and economically but also to drain the European Union that shares close economic and political relations with Russia."

These relations, according to Al-Assar, “has angered Washington and doubled its fears about Europe’s tendency toward Moscow. Today, it is investing in the Ukrainian crisis to destroy European-Russian relations and bring them to the stage of economic war from whose effects both sides will suffer, and this lies in the interest of America and Britain that seek to impose their hegemony on European politics.”

Al-Assar said the West arming of civilians and recruiting Veteran NATO fighters as paramilitaries will not affect Russia for two reasons.

“The first is that Russia did not implement the military operation in Ukraine in a hurry, but came according to well-thought-out plans in which Russia's leaders anticipated all possibilities,” Al-Assar told Al Mayadeen English. “The second reason is that Washington is seeking, by declaring the recruitment of groups to fight Russia in Ukraine, to raise the fears of Russian leaders of a repeat of the Afghanistan scenario.”

“All the military data and the composition of the population in Ukraine indicate that Russia will not be affected by the US-British plans that seek to drain it militarily and economically or undermine its internal security.

“In addition, the sanctions imposed by Washington and London, which forced the European Union countries to follow suit, will not affect Russia as much as the European Union countries will suffer from their effects on the short and long terms.”

“Arming civilians makes them legitimate targets for Russian soldiers”

The Guardian reported on February 20 that “secret discussions are underway between western allies over how to arm what they expect to be fierce Ukrainian resistance in the event of a Russian invasion that topples the Kiev government.” 

It also pointed out that arming Ukrainians was underscored in a meeting between Boris Johnson and Volodymyr Zelensky on the margins of the Munich Conference where “the two men predicted a fierce resistance to an invasion.”

The Guardian stressed that “similar discussions have been taking place in the US, where reports suggest the country’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, has told senators that the US is willing to arm a resistance and is not going to accept a Russian military victory that erases the principles of national self-determination.”

The West, including the United States of America and the UK, has been supporting terrorists to fight the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, in an attempt to repeat the scenario of Afghanistan in Syria but in vain.

“Arming civilians makes them legitimate targets for Russian soldiers,” Springmann told Al Mayadeen English.

‘Our history with proxy wars is littered with folly’

Responsible Statecraft published an article by Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, with the title “Why arming Ukrainian ‘resistance fighters’ would be a really bad idea. He said that the US is under “pressure to get involved if there is a full-scale invasion, but our history with proxy wars is littered with folly.”

"The current front-runner for a more robust response is a scheme to fund and arm Ukrainian fighters to mount a resistance to a Russian occupation. Indeed, there are news reports that CIA operatives already are busily training Ukrainian paramilitary units,” wrote Carpenter.

“It is a spectacularly bad idea. Assisting guerrillas to maim and kill Russian soldiers might well create an irreparable breach between Russia and the West. The new cold war already is chilly enough without adding to the dangerous tensions."

Zach Dorfman, the National Security Correspondent of Yahoo News, published on January 13 a report titled “CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries may take central role if Russia invades.”

“If the Russians launch a new invasion, there’s going to be people who make their life miserable,” a former senior intelligence official told Yahoo News.

Yahoo News' report added that “the CIA-trained paramilitaries will organize the resistance using the specialized training they’ve received."

“All that stuff that happened to us in Afghanistan,” said the former senior intelligence official, “they can expect to see that in spades with these guys.”

Asked if Russia can win this battle, Springmann said Russia's fighting in Syria against terrorists has gained it an experience.

“I think Russian experience in the Middle East, as well as its upgraded equipment and training, will aid in speedy Ukrainian surrender in the Donbass region in the east where the majority are Russian and have been attacked by Kiev for years,” Springmann told Al Mayadeen English. 

“NATO is responsible for this war”

Michael Jones, editor of Culture Wars Magazine, told Al Mayadeen English that the war in Ukraine was created by “Jewish Neoconservatives like Victoria Nuland, wife of Rober Kagan, because of ancestral Jewish animosity against Russia. NATO is responsible for this war, not Russia.”

“... Zelensky cannot win the war by arming civilians,” Jones told Al Mayadeen English in an email interview. “But he can get a lot of foolish people killed this way. He probably knows that, and he is probably planning to blame those casualties on the Russians.”

“Russia will fight the Banderites in the same way they fought the Chechen uprising in Grozny,” Jones noted.