2022-10-30

Who is demonizing Russia, and why

It should be clear to everyone that there is a group in the West that simply will not admit that Russia had absolutely legitimate concerns about Ukraine joining NATO.
For those who deny the legitimacy of those concerns, 
I suggest they consider the following question:

How would the U.S. had reacted in the 1970s and 1980s if Mexico had expressed a desire to join the Warsaw Pact, and let the WP establish bases, including missile bases, there?
For such missile bases on other NATO nations close to Russia, see:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/world/europe/poland-missile-base-russia-ukraine.html
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/12/putin-russia-us-missile-defense-nato-ukraine/



2022-10-29

Recommended (required) reading about Ukraine

I don't have the ability to require anything of anybody, 
but if I did there are four articles about the situation between Russia and Ukraine
that I think should be required reading for just about everyone interested in that situation.

Two are by Mike Whitney and deal with the general Russia-Ukraine situation.
Two are by Ted Galen Carpenter and deal more specifically with Ukraine.

By Mike Whitney:

2022-10-09
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/some-of-us-dont-think-the-russian-invasion-was-aggression-heres-why/

2022-10-22
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/the-war-in-ukraine-made-in-washington-not-moscow/

By Ted Galen Carpenter:

2022-04-06
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/whitewashing-ukraines-corruption/
or
https://www.cato.org/commentary/whitewashing-ukraines-corruption

2022-10-24
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washingtons-whoppers-on-the-war-in-ukraine/


There is considerable redundancy between the above articles.
But then there is great redundancy between the various MSM articles 
pushing the party line on Russia and Ukraine.
See:

2022-05-22
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-media-fumbles-again-on-ukraine/
"Coverage of the Ukraine crisis has been as biased as anything in the run-up to previous wars."


-------

For a video review of the Ukraine situation 
by a person who spent many years as a Russian analyst at the CIA, 
watch this one-hour video from Ray McGovern:

"Historical Context for Conflicts in Ukraine"
https://youtu.be/1gLzsQA3UGY

Also see his extensive, informative, and interesting website:
https://raymcgovern.com/

---------
Also see Stephen M. Walt
on the inability of the U.S. "liberal democracy" to show foreign policy restraint:

https://archive.vn/2022.12.13-231259/https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/13/the-united-states-couldnt-stop-being-stupid-if-it-wanted-to/

And Col. Douglas Macgregor on 2022-12-20:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washington-is-prolonging-ukraines-suffering/

And Henry Kissinger on 2022-12-17
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-push-for-peace/

Ukraine has become a major state in Central Europe for the first time in modern history. Aided by its allies and inspired by its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine has stymied the Russian conventional forces which have been overhanging Europe since the second world war. And the international system – including China – is opposing Russia’s threat or use of its nuclear weapons.

This process has mooted the original issues regarding Ukraine’s membership in Nato. Ukraine has acquired one of the largest and most effective land armies in Europe, equipped by America and its allies.

...

The preferred outcome for some is a Russia rendered impotent by the war. I disagree. For all its propensity to violence, Russia has made decisive contributions to the global equilibrium and to the balance of power for over half a millennium. Its historical role should not be degraded.

2022-10-23

Staring into the abyss

We Americans are, in 2022, 
"staring into the abyss" 
on at least two counts:

1. The prolonged decline in the fertility rate, 
which simply as a matter of fact, not of opinion, 
puts the white race on the path to extinction.
In a slightly technical phrase, it is an example of "exponential decay" (as opposed to "exponential growth").

2. Due to the remarkable desire of various parts of the American elite 
(in the media, in politics, in the "think tanks", among the intelligentsia) 
to challenge what could quite reasonably be considered 
Russia's quite reasonable national interests
(see especially:
2022-10-09
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/some-of-us-dont-think-the-russian-invasion-was-aggression-heres-why/ ; 
perhaps also:
2022-10-22
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/the-war-in-ukraine-made-in-washington-not-moscow/ ),
now, IMO, America faces as great a threat of nuclear war 
(which would amount to a nuclear Armageddon or nuclear holocaust) 
as at any time in its history (other than the 1962 Cuban missile crisis).

Is Ukraine a democracy?
It has banned political parties:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-law-bans-pro-russia-parties-zelenskiy-signs/31849737.html
Government control of the media? See:
https://deadline.com/2022/03/ukraine-president-vologymyr-zelensky-combines-all-national-tv-channels-to-combat-alleged-misinformation-1234982814/
See also:
https://kyivindependent.com/national/how-zelensky-administration-moves-to-dismantle-press-freedom-in-ukraine
And especially, by Ted Galen Carpenter:
2022-04-06, 
https://www.cato.org/commentary/whitewashing-ukraines-corruption
2022-10-24:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washingtons-whoppers-on-the-war-in-ukraine/

Some democracy! Talk about misinformation.

Either of the above two issues can quite properly be considered an "existential issue" for the America I knew.

------

A news article:

2022-10-24

Reuters: Russia hits Ukraine homes, evacuates Kherson, warns of escalation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-hits-ukraine-homes-evacuates-kherson-warns-escalation-2022-10-24/

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his French counterpart in a telephone call on Sunday that 
the situation in Ukraine was rapidly deteriorating and 
<b>trending towards "uncontrolled escalation".</b>

2022-10-13

Demonizing the police

As a brief reminisce of times past,
when I was growing up in the 1950s, 
the police of any given town were routinely described as
"[that town]'s finest".
Thus in Peoria, say, they would be "Peoria's finest".

I can't recall the last time I heard police so described.

As a result of a concerted effort to demonize the police,
now, in 2022, we have such sociopathic outcomes as:

2022-10-13 (Thursday)
Fox News: Fraternal Order of Police hammers 'culture of lawlessness' after 12 officers shot since Monday.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/fraternal-order-police-hammers-culture-lawlessness-12-officers-shot-since-monday

What a tragedy!
Where are the media voices that will decry 
the epidemic of the killing of police officers?
As far as I can tell, 
this did not even make it onto the Washington Post website!!!

Hear, hear to the FOP for standing up for those brave officers who have, sadly and tragically, fallen.

2022-10-10

We are rapidly climbing the escalation ladder

For historical comparisons that are all too relevant, see

<i>The Sleepwalkers: 
How Europe Went to War in 1914</i>
by Christopher Clark

<I>The War That Ended Peace:
The Road to 1914</I>
by Margaret MacMillan (a great -granddaughter of David Lloyd George)

and the first chapters of 

<i>The Guns of August</i>
by Barbara W. Tuchman


IMO, Ukraine is playing the role Serbia played in 1914.
There are clear differences in their situations,
but the similarity is that, 
in each case, 
great powers neared, or are nearing, war 
over something that was (or is), 
for one or more powers,
utterly peripheral to their central interests.

For news articles and other commentary, see:

2022-10-12
Newsweek: Exclusive: As Ukraine Gets Closer to Victory, Nuclear War Gets Closer Too.
https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-ukraine-gets-closer-victory-nuclear-war-gets-closer-too-1751084 

"Putin has now fully demonstrated that he has no regard for our values or principles," 
a second senior military officer said. 
"What would drive him to use nuclear weapons, 
not what would satisfy some Washington pundit, 
is the question we should be seized with." 

All the officials agreed that pontification by U.S. officials over the consequences from the use of nuclear weapons misses the main point of deterring their use. 
They called for a clearer articulation of a nuclear-deterrence message, 
while finding a way for Putin to avoid any feeling that he has no choice but to utilize them.


------
2022-10-24

Reuters: Russia hits Ukraine homes, evacuates Kherson, warns of escalation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-hits-ukraine-homes-evacuates-kherson-warns-escalation-2022-10-24/

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his French counterpart in a telephone call on Sunday that the situation in Ukraine was rapidly deteriorating and 
<b>trending towards "uncontrolled escalation".</b>


2022-12-09

https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-says-one-missile-trigger-hundreds-warheads-stark-message-nuclear-deterrence

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday once again drew international attention when he warned that if even one missile enters Russian territory, "hundreds" of warheads will respond.

"I assure you, after the early warning system receives a signal of a missile attack, hundreds of our missiles are in the air," Putin said from a summit in Kyrgyzstan, Russian news outlet RIA reported. "It is impossible to stop them."

"There will be nothing left of the enemy, because it is impossible to intercept a hundred missiles. This, of course, is a deterrent — a serious deterrent," he added. 

...

"What this was, from the intelligence standpoint, is 'strategic messaging,'" she said, adding that Putin’s comments signaled that "Russia may use nuclear weapons in Ukraine if the US/NATO continue to provide weapons to Ukraine — especially those that Ukraine can use to strike deep into Russia proper."
...
"Based on the existing Russian doctrine, Russia can respond with nuclear strikes, because Engels airbase is the home to nuclear-capable bombers that are considered strategic assets, worthy of defending with nukes," Koffler explained. 

.. 

"There’s no question that Russia and the U.S. are climbing an escalatory ladder in Ukraine, which may end up in Putin’s use of nuclear weapons," she told Fox News Digital. "Neither side wants to end up in a direct conflict, but they are climbing this ladder unintentionally due to the misunderstanding of each other’s posture."

"Both sides are betting that the other one will blink first," she added. 


------
2023-01-19

Larry Johnson

WESTERN ESCALATION THREATENS TO WIDEN WORLD WAR III

https://sonar21.com/western-escalation-threatens-to-widen-world-war-iii/

<B>World War III has started.</b>
I hope that more Americans are starting to understand that 
<B>the war in Ukraine is not a battle between the forces of Kiev and the forces of Moscow. 
Ukraine is a mere proxy. 
<I>>Russia is fighting NATO</I></b> 
and Russia fully understands this. 
Russia realizes it confronts an existential threat 
and is conducting itself accordingly.
.. 
[R]ecent decisions by the U.S. and NATO countries 
to send more weapons and vehicles to Ukraine in a desperate bid to stave off Ukraine’s defeat on the battlefield 
risks a dramatic expansion of the conflict beyond the borders of Ukraine.
...
Russia is prepared for the possibility that Ukraine, with the encouragement of the U.S. and NATO, 
will launch an attack on Moscow with missiles or drones supplied by the West. 
If that happens, then that will mark a terrible watershed for an escalation in this war.

If or when a US or European munition hits a target in Crimea or Moscow, 
Russia will ratchet things up and will likely go after US or European targets in Ukraine. 
Depending on the severity of the attack, 
I believe that Russia would be ready to hit bases in Poland or Germany being used to train Ukrainian forces. 

-----------

2023-01-22

https://www.politico.eu/article/top-russia-official-vyacheslav-volodin-threatens-west-with-global-catastrophe-over-weapons-to-ukraine-war/

Top Russia official threatens West with <b>‘global catastrophe’</b> over weapons to Ukraine
The chairman of Russia’s lower house invoked the use of nuclear weapons in a social media post.

In his Telegram post, Russia’s Volodin said: 
“With their decisions, 
Washington and Brussels are leading the world to a terrible war … 
foreign politicians making such decisions need to understand that this could end in a global tragedy that will destroy their countries.”

It’s not the first time that top Russian politicians threaten a nuclear escalation. 
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has invoked the use of nuclear weapons more than once since the outbreak of the conflict 11 months ago.

----
2023-01-24
CNN

CNN: The Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/world/doomsday-clock-2023-climate-scn/index.html

On Tuesday [2023-01-24], the clock was set at 90 seconds until midnight — 
the closest to the hour it has ever been,
...
Midnight represents the moment at which we will have made Earth uninhabitable for humanity.


------
2023-02-02

BBC: Ukraine war: 80 years on, we are facing German tanks again - Putin.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64502504

Speaking in Volgograd - the modern name for Stalingrad - 
Mr Putin hinted that he could seek to move beyond conventional weapons.

"Those who hope to defeat Russia on the battlefield do not understand, it seems, that a modern war with Russia will be very different for them," the 70-year-old leader said. 
"We are not sending our tanks to their borders, but we have the means to respond. 
It won't be limited to the use of armoured hardware. 
Everyone must understand this."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to elaborate on Mr Putin's comments, but did tell reporters that 
"as new weapons are delivered by the collective West, 
Russia will make greater use of its potential to respond".