ONE of the amusing things to do of a morning these days is to check in for the latest on the war in Ukraine. The stories are almost always sourced to “intelligence officials” or “Ukrainian officials.” In other words, they were drafted by the CIA or the British MoD. Nearly two months after this and other sites ridiculed the “Ghost of Kiev,” The Times published ‘news’ of his death and his 40 kills. Not one journalist or subeditor at News Corp raised an eyebrow. Even if a few were sceptical, they weren’t prepared to risk being blacklisted as “pro-Putin.” Yesterday, anonymous “officials in Kiev and London” (ABC) and “military analysts” (The Times) reported that a drone-smartphone-radar wonder weapon ‘wiped out’ an entire Russian battalion last week in a single blitzkrieg attack at a pontoon bridge over the Siversky Donets River. No evidence was presented that it happened but The Times did quote – and I’m not making this up – two Ukrainian cutouts named Volodymyr and Victor who supposedly invented the wunderwaffe. This is so obviously an attempt by the United States to create a local backstory for its own participation in the war that no reputable newspaper should have published it without a disinformation warning.
The Ghost Strike of Siversky Donets was as well-timed narratively as it purportedly was kinetically. It has, after all, been a bad month for Ukraine’s own most storied battalion. For weeks, the media struggled to know what to say about the Azov nazis hiding behind women and children at a razed steelworks in Mariupol. They went with heroism, of course, despite Azov commanders whining on Facebook like bored millennials and lashing out against their own government. The men wouldn’t surrender, we were told, because of their Spartan defiance and an aversion to being collared by the Russians whose kinfolk they spent several years killing. Of the human shields, Western audiences were told they were being given ‘shelter.’ Russia simply alternated bombardment with ceasefire to enable evacuations. Ukraine was caught in a military/PR pincer. The never-say-die theatrics were negligent by March, teetering by April and moot by May. Mariupol proved – if proof, post-covid, were still needed – that unquestioning acceptance of regime-curated news angles is dangerous and eventually pointless. The Azov men were spoiling for a showdown with Russia for a decade. They finally got what they wanted and were obliterated. That’s the truth.
The crookedness of the straight news out of Ukraine is appalling but the op-edding is worse. Greg Sheridan – whose two writerly interests are endless war and Jesus – argued last week that apart from admirable Brexit solidity, Boris Johnson “has surrendered to all the woke pieties of the day and has no Conservative agenda going forward. As opposed to that, he looks strong on Ukraine…” As opposed to that? Really? Try of a piece with that. The Russo-American War is the wokest ever. Don’t take my word for it. Ask Justin Trudeau, Sean Penn, Bono and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. President Zelensky has become the new Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and celebrities are lining up to be seen with him. Nobody scoffs because disrespecting the Zed is against the rules.
And the rules for columnists are apparently strict. Thematic references to von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Thucydides or Hannibal might be shopworn but are still recommended. Repeated comparisons of all present realities with Hitler, Churchill and Chamberlain are compulsory. You’ll wait in vain for an essay whose crowning epigraph is Bishop Butler reminding the world that “Everything is what it is, and not another thing.” No criticism of Zelensky and his money-laundering friends is permitted, nor that the President has banned democracy, banned political parties, banned uncensored media and ordered “traitors” – including little old ladies – to be rounded up by SBU goons. Officially, the history of the war – even of Ukraine itself – begins in 2021. There were no war crimes, kidnappings or ethnic cleansing savageries committed against Russians in the Donbas oblasts eight years ago – despite what Amnesty International and the OHCHR claimed at the time. The present government is completely above board and was never at all reliant on the red herrings, black ops and brown paper bags of Washington, several of whose finest families attest to Ukraine’s cleanliness by doing business there. If you think this is journalism I have a pontoon bridge to sell you.
For the first time in living memory, no leaders, nations or international agencies are pressing for an international conference to resolve a tragic, bloody disaster that some of the most distinguished and hawkish practitioners of anti-Soviet statecraft warned about decades ago. When, in 1998, he said the expansion of NATO would be a “tragic mistake,” George Kennan – the man who founded anti-communist containment policy in the 1940s – was not uttering a prophecy but an orthodoxy. The scatterbrained advocates of regime change, assassination and “long war” are as morally distant from him as they are from Jefferson. They are not great men but nihilistic boys pretending to be. It may be taken as read, of course, that Vladimir Putin would yield nothing at a negotiating table but that should make no difference to peacemakers. They are blessed for trying alone. The same is true for reporters. It isn’t reasonable to expect them to always be right but they should always be telling the whole story. Our liberties and our lives depend on it.
Well said. The western world is busy destroying it’s credibility, and creating enormous problems but heaven forbid you suggest a peace deal would be preferable. Let alone suggest it could have been avaided.
Superb C.L. I’ve noted, from the early days of this conflict the strange silence of the UN. This silence shouldn’t surprise me, after all the UN’s priorities are to screech and scream about non-existent climate change and to screech and scream about the sole Jewish state on the planet. I’ve wondered, where are the peacemakers shuffling between Moscow, Kiev and Washington trying to halt the conflict? I’ve noted that calls for a truce or ceasefire have been somewhat mute, in fact I’ve haven’t heard any calls. The closest thing approaching sense are President Macron’s remarks last week. Methinks that Macron, with no election to worry about now, might now be waking up to the reality of the situation.
Yet it’s people like you and me, with our eyes wide open, who are smeared as “Putinists”. Gosh, even scum like Matt Kean, deputy leader of the NSW Liberals, joins in the act and tries to smear the base of the Liberal Party, those ordinary men and women who think that it mightn’t be a good idea for biological males to compete against biological females or that it’s wrong for male perverts who identify as women to invade female only spaces, well according to Mr Kean, in a desperate attempt to save wet Liberals like Zimmerman and Sharma, apparently people like you and me are turning the Liberal Party into the party of Trump and the party of Putin sympathisers and anti-vaxxers.
Meanwhile, with Finland rushing to join NATO, it isn’t the drums of war I hear, it’s the drums of Washington and those drums are getting louder and louder.
There’s nothing to laugh about but only a few short years ago the progressive left and their mouth pieces in the MSM and on social media howled that Donald Trump would bring us close to World War III…………..and now I can’t stop laughing.
As a friend said to me the other day. We need to pray because prayer is powerful.
Great piece again CL. I thought the Europeans were smarter than this. More fool me. They must like being manipulated into wars. Wait until lots of ratbag groups get hold of those Javelins. Central and South America are looking better and better.
Europeans were smarter? ROFL.
Anyone with any sense and drive left for the colonies four or five generations ago.
Excellent analysis, CL. ISW is often quoted by western media where it is portrayed as an independent source of intelligence on the progress of war.
What they don’t reveal is that ISW was established by Victoria Nuland’s brother-in-law’s wife. Nuland is the current Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States and engineered the Ukrainian coup of 2014.
ISW is a US spook outfit, no more, no less.
This is not a war for freedom – it’s a cover-up operation by the West’s “elites” so the World will not find out what they’ve been doing there.
And they’ll fight to the last Ukrainian.
Nuclear war would be preferable to them than sunshine on their activities. They’ll have their underground bunkers to see it through.
For that matter, is there yet any evidence of the ‘hundreds’ killed in the bombing of the Mariupol theatre? If you go looking, one of the first things you find is this piece which is the Associated Press reporting on its own reporting.
I know nothing about military hardware but I’m always puzzled when tv news reporting on Russian missile strikes in Ukraine show, as evidence, the largely intact fuselages of these missiles. Aren’t these things supposed to destroy themselves on impact? “And if you don’t believe me, I’ve got the missile right here!”
A curious feature of the reported crushing Ukranian victory over Russian armour on the bank Siversky Donets River is the complete lack of images taken on the ground being circulated by the media.
The drone footage does not allow ready identification of the provenance of destroyed armour.
The Ukrainians are usually so savvy with propaganda.
Still, Ukraine “won” Eurovision, so Putin’s days are numbered.
The Collapse of Russia Will Be the Beginning of the End of the West
Will divine guidance save the West one more time?
Fri May 13, 2022Alexander Maistrovoy
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/05/collapse-russia-will-be-beginning-end-west-alexander-maistrovoy/
I also posted it here,
https://freedomaustralia.freeforums.net/thread/2353/collapse-russia-west
cross posted at https://freedomaustralia.freeforums.net/thread/2359/dispatches-woke-war
It’s Official! Zelenzkyy Signs Law This Weekend Banning Opposition Parties and Seizing Their Property
By Jim Hoft
Published May 15, 2022 at 6:40pm
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/05/official-zelenzkyy-signs-law-weekend-banning-opposition-parties-seizing-property/
Events of eight years ago are justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
In the manner of the old left, CL and others seem to concoct any excuse for Putin. Purely, I suspect, because they are avowed critics of the “West”.
CL: is this the revival of the old Communist Party of Australia? If so, which version? (I presume Maoism is out)
Artic.e in the Oz on the war.Lots of comments the majority of which seem to favour ful, on war with Russia and seemingly its obliteration .No analysis of what might occur if we proceed on this path just a desire to punis
Russka has obviously crossed a lot of lines but I am not certain that a full scale war will fix it.The only public figure suggesting peace talks is that well known warmonger DJT
Hello Greg Sheridan!
What if C.L. is a secret garage nasty?
Which was based on zero evidence, except that Orange Man “bad”, “fascist”, or even a “Nazi.”
I notice, on the other hand, that those same Trump-haters are quick to absolve Biden and the State Department of any blame for the war.
Ironically, several weeks ago, Noam Chomsky, of all people, commented that Trump was the only world leader who was arguing for a diplomatic end to the Ukraine war.
Obviously since the civil war the “events” (cmon – say it now this is a safe space: the violent revolutionary overthrow of Ukraine’s elected government in 2014) was still going on this year and is the stated reason for Russia’s invasion into that exact region.
There was no justification for the invasion.
The russians have done badly even now with the butcher in charge they are still doing badly.
This is the third time the Russians have indulged in war crimes although this time most of the media are following it.
how di Putin become sooo wealthy when he merely worked in the KGB and then in politics
Try getting an IStandWithUkrainer to talk about the violent revolution in 2014, in 2022. It’s all now just “events”.
Back when it happened they were as hysterically emotional about the need to violently remove Ukraine’s democratic government they didn’t personally like, as they now, it’s Democracy! and Freedom! Euromaidan, Poroshenko!
Then try get them to talk about what Zelensky himself did to their Euromaidan revolutionary darling leader as soon as he gained power.
Hind sight being illuminating you now have to wonder, again, about the entire Trump-Russia hoax.
The Scum, including so called Australians being part of Scum, were opposed to Trump because he, and his inner finance gurus, knew how to make economic peace in our real time.
Now the Scum are pretending they will defeat The Russian Bear when it was done yay back.
How di Zelenksy become soo wealthy when he merely worked as a comedian and then in politics
Twostix: I use the word to avoid the emotive. Clearly you don’t. The reason is that the “facts” of that time are disputed. You clearly are completely sold on the Putin line. I’m not.
How did Biden, Pelosi etc become soo wealthy when they’ve only ever merely worked in politics?
How did Trump become soo wealthy when here merely, oh wait…
In 2014 people like me were fighting retard conservatives who backed Obama / Hillary and Germany (via the EU) overthrowing Ukraine’s elected government to install a puppet in order to upset Russia and turn the country into a giant democrat money laundering centre.
“It’ll lead to WW3” we cried, “you can’t run a global empire on pure unadulterated hypocrisy” we said, “post Libya, post Arab Spring, you are seriously going to follow Obama regime into overthrowing a democratically elected government in Ukraine?” we asked with incredulity. The answer: yes. Fortunately Trump, and the Russiagate lunacy – much incubated inside then post-coup democrat loyalist stronghold Ukraine, made many old cold-war conservatives wake up to themselves.
A few Trump years later the US’s dear darling anti-Russian puppet Poroshenko is extraordinarily forced to run to the protection of Russia to be protected from his successor: this maniac anti-democrat autocrat Zelenksky with his insane treason accusations and investigations of “russian links” against all of his enemies (doesn’t this sound familiar??).
And now it’s all “poroshenwho?” “maidan what??”, “civil war where??”, “SHUTUP WE MUST HAVE WW3 – NOBODY COULD SEE THIS COMING” from these senile suicidal imbeciles.
Only by complete imbeciles.
There is denialism and then there is complete and utter Pig Ignorance!
https://freedomaustralia.freeforums.net/thread/2354/denialism-pig-ignorance
In 2014 neocons destroyed the modern “Ukraine” – a completely fake, hyper corrupt country, which was at least pretending to be a semi-functioning democracy up until that moment.
Now eight years later they’re all “how did this happen??” MUST BE PUTIN.
Just spend two seconds digging, and not one of them knows their chosen and installed 2014 “pro-western” puppet Poroshenko recently had to flee to Russia to escape a nakedly political treason investigation launched by Zelensky. Just consider the level of callous indifference it takes to spend months in 2014, 2015 hysterically emoting over a country you’d never heard of and supporting a US / EU backed violent coup there because Reasons(tm), then ignoring the subsequent internal fracture and civil war that caused, and later still the fake treason accusation against their once hero – neocon puppet Poroshenko, by their new hero – the new neocon puppet Zelensky.
Like Libya, they just wanted to watch a country burn then go on with their comfy lives ignoring the consquences of what they did. Post neo-con Libya produced ISIS, post neo-con Ukraine will produce global thermonuclear war if they’re allowed to finish the job there.
And the fanboy support for it all is a kind of slacktivism, but on a geo thermonuclear war stage. These idiots and their goldfish-like memories will get us all killed.
Non Mentis
Putting aside your various assertions (When were the war crimes trials held?), let’s look at one point.
how di Putin become sooo wealthy when he merely worked in the KGB and then in politics
I dunno, possibly the same way Zelensky did, playing the piano with his penis? And the same question for Biden, who didn’t even work in the KGB, but lived in politics?
biden is not very wealthy and given the fees on the speaking circuit it isn’t hard to see when and how his income jumped.
Zelenksy is not in the same class as Putin. One of the reasons he took territories from Ukraine earlier was because of his many holiday resorts he has there. funny how the man who pointed this out is in gaol . He went to germany to as only they could help him as was put in gaol because of it.
Poor Putin he can’t declare war although he needs to and the war which is not a war is not going well.
Ukrainians rose up as they did not want to be puppets of russia.
ROFLMAO!
Non Mentis
biden is not very wealthy and given the fees on the speaking circuit it isn’t hard to see when and how his income jumped.
Suuure Homer. Not wealthy on the public record might be what you mean. Speakers fees? Like Bill Clinton getting half a mil for a one hour speech in Moscow?
Zelenksy is not in the same class as Putin.
He hasn’t (yet) had as much time, but he is certainly off and running.
Poor Putin he can’t declare war although he needs to and the war which is not a war is not going well.
Of course not, Biden only gave him the nod for a “minor incursion”.
Ukrainians rose up as they did not want to be puppets of russia.
At last, an accurate statement.
Ha ha ha. Do you actually believe there are people who would pay to hear that demented, inarticulate fool speak? What would they learn? Anyone paying to sit through that torture is doing it for the same reason they buy Hunter’s paintings. Money laundering.
John, sounds as though he hasn’t grasped the concept “off the books.”
You can guarantee that many politicians who have been around as long as Biden has would have it down to a fine art.
Lee
Far worse. He will not even consider that corrupt monies will not actually appear on Income Tax returns, nor does he seem to be aware of the practice of offshore banking in locations that keep secrets.
OTOH, if it was a conservative politician, he would be all over it like a bad rash.
I would love to grab Mitch McConnell by the ankles and give him a good shake.
Whether Putin is more corrupt than Biden or Zelensky emphasises that politics is universally corrupt.
The bad thing is that it seems to be driving Russia into the arms of China, and China has made it clear that we are not their friends.
One good thing is that it has shown up the Woke Left as hypocritical warmongers.
Cui Bono from a long war? The usual suspects maybe, but not Russia, or Ukraine.
This is what the Kennan generation of grown-ups always feared.
After the collapse of the USSR, the mission was to build bridges with one of the world’s biggest Christian cultures against China’s heathen communist hordes. That was hard enough given Russia’s Third Rome mentality and the chip on its shoulder. But it was serious work for serious people and it would take time.
What Joe Biden has achieved in a matter of months is the formalisation of the biggest land/population/nuclear alliance in history and the lumbering of American taxpayers with the defence bills for another two European states.
China benefits for sure … presuming they can refrain from setting fire to their own cities … the waiting game is in their favour right now.
Biden ain’t getting any younger and the Democrats have no good options in the pipeline. America is economically sabotaging itself with MMT and endless angsty-good-cause kind of wastage and misallocation of capital.
Most of the American people will not submit to Maoism, so I dunno where this ends up.
CL George F Kennan was an interesting voice, quite prescient in many ways. I wonder how the Third Rome chip on the shoulder will accommodate their position as China’s junior partner.
Setting aside the military implications, a Ruble/Yuan trading zone underpinned by Gold and Energy resources looks stronger than one based on US paper dollars. It seems that MMT holds that quantative easing does not cause inflation. From Weimar to Zimbabwe, it seems to end up at the same place.
Magisterial essay, C.L.
China is likely to step away from Russia because China doesn’t like losers. It’s also got a lot to lose and its main trading interests are carefully avoiding any trade that might lead to sanctions.
Putin is a criminal and gets away with a lot by threat – this is how he spooked Obama into refusing Ukraine lethal weapons. The way to beat him is to up the stakes faster than he does.
Arguments here that run the various Putin lines are all premised on the idea that Ukrainians are either Nazis or have no agency. The Nazi line is somewhat silly, given that Zelensky is Jewish. The agency question has been somewhat quashed by the fact of Ukrainians’ resistance to Putin’s invasion.
What I cannot understand is why anyone would defend this invasion and the brutality that has come with it.
False Equivalence
What I cannot understand is why anyone would defend this invasion and the brutality that has come with it.
In a world that accepts abortion up to the time of birth, why should anyone in Australia, other than those of Russian or Ukrainian birth, even have an opinion?
so here we have it. biden is very wealthy but no-one cam put a figure on it. A pity it is at odds with his tax returns.
Only a complete moron would believe the USA has adopted MMT. they have not and never will.
Cl does not believe the USa should help out Ukraine. typical for a Putin apologist.
Then the primary school drop out wants to be ring in abortion. Whoa.
Defending a nation that was invaded is not warmongering.
A pity it is at odds with his tax returns.
Poor old Non Mentis, still too stupid to understand the wide world beyond being a bank teller. News at seven, it is not unknown for people to fudge their tax returns.
Then the primary school drop out wants to be ring in abortion.
Even by your poor standards, this is an absolute reading comprehension fail.
Boambee: tribalism clearly has had its effect.
And the rest of us here are supposedly the “stupid” ones, John!
Only in Bizarro World does tax evasion, money laundering and the Cayman Islands not exist.
Lee
I doubt that Non Mentis is the sharpest tool in the shed. Either that or he willfully ignores reality.
Still, if he ran the ATO, life would be much easier!
It certainly would be, John!