Ex-FBI Special Agent: "The Pentagon may be pushing back against [US RINO/Biden] Neocon and UK Deep State efforts to escalate the proxy war to a direct war"
Mark Wauck, a retired FBI special agent and RealClear Politics as well as American Thinker contributor, has written an important piece, "Two Significant Ukraine Stories":
The second story suggests—to me, anyway—that the Pentagon may be pushing back against Neocon and UK Deep State efforts to escalate the proxy war to a direct war:
Pentagon Treats Azov Claims Of Russian Chemical Attack With Caution After UK Amplified Them
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday addressed Monday allegations out of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol that Russian forces had used chemical weapons there. Reuters describes of his words that "the United States is not in a position to confirm anything when it comes to reports of the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine." He added however that "We're in direct conversation with partners to try to determine what actually has happened. So this is a real concern," he said to reporters.
Crucially, he added that the US has "credible information" that Russia might use 'chemical agents' in Ukraine, it's being reported further. But he seemed to suggest it was more related to riot control gear and not necessarily major battlefield deployments: "We had credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas, mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger symptoms...This is a real concern..." he said. "We shared that information with Ukraine, as well as with other partners."
His ambiguous words came less than 12 hours after Pentagon spokesman John Kirby the evening before appeared to downplay the claims coming out of Azov militants in Mariupol, which were also treated with skepticism by many journalists and analysts.
"We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine," Kirby had said Monday. "We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely."
"These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine," Kirby added.
But it was the British government which had earlier on Monday served to amplify Azov's completely unverified claims - alarming given that UK state media itself had long before the Ukraine invasion labeled Azov battalion as a neo-Nazi organization.
The UK had actually stated that if chem warfare had occurred no possible response would be “off the table”—which sounded very much like a threat of nuclear escalation based on “completely unverified claims.” The Pentagon, seemingly, has no desire to go where US Neocons and the UK Deep State want to go. [Mark Wauck from Meaning In History (meaninginhistory@substack.com): If you liked this post from Meaning In History, why not share it?]