What is going on? Could Washington and London be privy to Russian invasion plans they are withholding from Kiev? This is implausible in the extreme. There is no conceivable reason why Britain and the US would keep this information from Ukraine if they have it.

The separatist authorities in Donetsk and Lugansk warn of a troop build-up by Ukraine on the line of control. Russia and the United States both promote the idea that one actor in this drama — Russia according to the US, Ukraine according to Russia — is planning a “false flag” operation to justify starting a war.

The Donbass region is pregnant with danger, with the Ukrainian armed forces incorporating neonazi “volunteer” battalions and assorted guns for hire from around the world; an outbreak of fighting cannot be ruled out and both sides are sure to claim that the other started it.

But if Russia is planning a false flag attack, there is no evidence — at least, no evidence the US or Britain is prepared to share with Ukraine. And if Ukraine is, it would be ratcheting up the war scare, not indignantly protesting that “the biggest enemy is panic” and pleading with Washington and London to stop spreading the rumours.

So why the panic? Why is the US pulling embassy staff out of Kiev, quickly followed by several allies?

Why does British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace need a confrontation so badly that his response to French and German attempts to resolve the crisis is to sneer about “a whiff of Munich in the air” — an unfortunate historical reference given Britain’s abandonment of Czechoslovakia to Hitler at Munich was part of a plan to unleash the Nazi war machine on the Soviet Union, and especially tasteless given the rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators within modern Ukraine?

It is hard to escape the conclusion that the war scare is entirely artificial. Nothing else can explain the Ukrainian government’s attitude. So who does it serve?

The US war machine’s game is strategic. Fear of Russia justifies a Nato troop build-up in eastern Europe. It could stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany coming into operation, potentially boosting US shale gas exports.

President Joe Biden’s shift from conciliatory comments late last year to full-blown warmongering suggests powerful forces in the US are pressing him to take a more aggressive line, perhaps worried that the new cold war on China could see it retreat from military domination of Europe to focus its resources elsewhere.

Military chiefs remain committed to “global power parity,” the doctrine that the US must be able to match any other country’s forces anywhere in the world.

They may resent attempts by France to raise its profile across the Middle East following the US humiliation in Afghanistan, and Franco-German policy on Ukraine suggests an attempt to develop an EU foreign policy independent of Washington.

Britain’s line may reflect its longstanding role as an outrider for US policy in Europe, or simply the convenience of war rhetoric for domestic consumption — for the government it distracts from a cost-of-living crisis drawing thousands onto the streets in protest, while for the Labour leadership it provides an opportunity to renew its vicious internal attacks on the left.

The situation is dangerous — an artificial crisis is still a crisis and false scares can provoke real wars. The peace movement must hit back at Establishment smears and face down the warmongers.

And the labour movement should dismiss this weapon of mass distraction. The real threat to millions in this country is posed by soaring prices and shrinking incomes. Politicians must not be allowed to forget it. (IPA Service)