‘Brink of catastrophe’: Demonizing Russia dangerous for world, Nobel peace prize winner warns West
The scapegoating of Russia, which is actively promoted by the West, is “inexcusable” as it pushes the world back into the Cold War era and puts it on the brink of a disaster, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire has warned.
Russia has become the latest victim of the blame game hysteria, which the US and its western allies engage in to justify their ever-increasing military spending, Maguire wrote in an opinion piece. “All armies must have an enemy to deem them necessary,” she said, adding that people “must be convinced that there is need for action to safeguard the freedom of their country.”
What also apparently drives the Western elites mad is the prospect of losing their perceived superiority and global hegemony in the view of the new rising powers such as Russia and China, the peace activist said. “Do we honestly believe that the Western allies are going to give up their power? My suggestion is: not easily,” Maguire wrote.
“The old dying empires will fight tooth and nail to protect their financial interests such as the petrol dollar and the many benefits that come through their power over poverty-stricken countries,” she warned.
“The demonization of Russia is, I believe, one of the most dangerous things that is happening in our world today,” Maguire said as she denounced the “scapegoating of Russia” as an “inexcusable game” while saying the amount of propaganda spread by the western media is literally “a throwback to the Cold War era.” She also called on people to wake up to the real results of the West’s self-declared fight for freedom, which left millions in despair but greatly benefited the elites that “financially gained from war.”
“The people of the world have been subjected to war propaganda based on lies and misinformation and we have seen the results of invasions and occupations by NATO disguised as ‘humanitarian intervention’ and ‘right to protect’,” Maguire said as she accused the US and its allies, the UK and France, of being “the most military minded countries,” which are absolutely unable to resolve conflicts through dialog.
The peace activist then demanded that “the policies of demonization of political leaders as a means of preparing the way for invasions and wars” be stopped “immediately.” “Surely it is time that we in Europe refuse to be put in a position where we are forced to choose between [Russia and the US],” Maguire added.
She then called for sanctions against Russia to be lifted and trust among the nations to be rebuilt. “It is time for political leaders and each individual to move us back from the brink of catastrophe to begin to build relationships with our Russian brothers and sisters,” she wrote.
Mairead Maguire is a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was one of the co-founders of the Women for Peace movement, which later became the Community for Peace People, aimed at helping to resolve the conflict in the region. For her peace efforts, she was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize together with Betty Williams in 1976.
Maguire has become an outspoken critic of the US and British policy in the Middle East, including the western invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan. She particularly refused to attend the 2012 Nobel summit in Chicago as it was hosted by the US State Department, which, according to Maguire, “is continuing with war, removing basic civil liberties and human rights and international law.” She has also been a vocal critic of Israel’s policies towards Palestine.
In 2009, she slammed the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the US President Barack Obama.
“They say this is for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples and yet he continues the policy of militarism and occupation of Afghanistan, instead of dialogue and negotiations with all the parties to the conflict,” she said at the time.
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