This story plays out almost like something from a James Bond movie from the 1960s.
Yesterday, as Biden was wrapping up the NATO Conference, it was released that US Intelligence authorities had discovered a plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall. For those who do not know, Rheinmetall is one of the largest arms manufacturers in Europe, and it is the leading manufacturer in Germany producing 155mm artillery shells. Rheinmetall is planning to increase its production capacity to be able to produce an 700,000 shells annually. 155mm artillery shells are the principal ammunition used in artillery pieces of NATO and now Ukraine. Just in February of 2024, Rheinmetall had also announced that it would open an ammunition factory in Ukraine itself which would also operate to repair Ukrainian armored vehicles.
This plan to assassinate Armin Papperger was revealed to be part of a larger plot to assassinate multiple other defense industry executives throughout Europe. According to Papperger, security for himself and Rheinmetall have been increased. German authorities themselves confirmed that they had received warnings from the US of the Russian assassination scheme. Rheinmetall expressed that it has long been the target of Russian hybrid attacks, and that it would not, “let this divert ourselves from the decisive action to support Ukraine.”
www.theguardian.com/…
All of this comes in light of what has been a suspected “revenge campaign” of sabotage through Europe by Russia. European authorities have reported arson attacks on warehouses and shopping centers and espionage which they believe to have been carried out by Russian Agents.
www.theguardian.com/…
As though the Cold War never ended. Hearing that this is becoming the norm again is a lot to take in. All of this, however, just shows how tone deaf Putin really is to the West, and how little he understands his manufactured “adversary.” I say manufactured because, as we all know, Europe had no interests in attacking Russia. Russia is the one who just could not let sleeping dogs lie.
Just ask anyone who lived in Europe during the Cold War, and I am certain they would tell you they do not want to live through those times again. Equally certainly, if asked what they would do to protect themselves from Russian aggression, probably not much would be off the table. In 2021, there were many in the US and Europe who really did not care what Putin or Russia were up to. But after the Ukraine Invasion? Since then, everyone is reliving the trauma of the Cold War and WWII in their minds as they watch Russia and Putin go utterly insane. And now with Russia’s overt attempts to assassinate nationals of European Countries and commit sabotage for the sake of revenge, now people are realizing that this is larger than Ukraine. Now people are realizing, “Oh God. He [Putin] is trying to kill us in our own homes!”
Putin believes this will be effective in silencing his enemies. Putin believes this will make Europe cower and back down. Putin is dead wrong.
Every time Putin has made more threats. Every time Putin has taken more and more extreme actions. What has been Europe’s reply?
European military spending between 2022 and 2023 increased from around 330 billion Euros to 552 billion Euros. www.euronews.com/.…
European nations have supplied more than 500,000 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine, as of March 2024. As Biden stated in his July 11th press release, Europe is now also working to create more industrial sites to manufacture more arms faster to satisfy defense and aide goals.
European nations have been, and are continuing to, supply Ukraine with a plethora of arms, including F16 fighter jets.
Finland and Sweden also got admitted into the NATO Alliance.
All of this was before Putin’s assassination schemes were revealed to the public. Europe has not bowed down to Putin’s thuggish attempts to tame them. Putin’s latest attempts at assassination and sabotage will not bend Europe to his will, they will only encourage Europe to fight harder.
Like analysts have said, by invading Ukraine, Russia has already lost the war (www.theguardian.com/...). No amount of threats or espionage will change the strategic situation for Russia. Russia is in China’s pocket, relying on North Korea for ammunition. Russia is now a global pariah state. Russia is suffering atrociously on the battlefield. The world caught on to Putin’s gambit, and it did not pay off.
The danger world actors, like Putin, pose to all of us are why we have to get our heads in the game and win this election in 2024. The game is larger than just the United States, whether we like that or not.