Ginni Thomas urged Mark Meadows to overturn the 2020 election by any means necessary—while her husband was ruling on cases attempting to overturn the election.
— Read on www.rawstory.com/ginni-thomas-texts-mark-meadows/
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THURSDAY 24 MARCH 2022: 1 pm
MSNBC
- The new sanctions are targeting the defense industry in Russia.
- Ben Rhodes: (Note: It’s always interesting to hear what Ben Rhodes has to say. I think he’s one of the few people who has a soul.) We are restructuring NATO’S presence on the Russian flank. A statement was made that if chemical weapons were used it would evoke a direct response.
- Michael Crowley, NYT: People are offended by the reluctance to call Putin a “war criminal.” They are leaving out Putin’s name from the war crimes statements. (Note: They are now on the intent thing with Putin and war crimes.)
- Mitchell: We are told that he 100,000 refugees is aspirational. (Note: So, like so much else, this is Biden talking tough and really meaning inaction).
- Amna Nawaz: Most of the refugees want to stay near Ukraine.
CNN
- Abby Phillips echoed one of the narratives being propagated on corporate news. She asked if Zelensky was still “not satisfied” with concrete actions by the U.S. This is a narrative creeping into the coverage, that Zelensky is somehow not grateful enough.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
- Boris Johnson says that it is “very difficult” to give Ukraine the tanks and jets it needs. He says that NATO and the EU feel “agony” about their “inability to do more to help.” (Note: This is bullshit.)
- NATO does not intend to send troops into Ukraine.
- Russian occupiers in Kharkiv entice local collaborators to kidnap children in order to terrorize the population.
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The former prosecutor who investigated Donald J. Trump believed that the former president was “guilty of numerous felony violations.”
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/nyregion/mark-pomerantz-resignation-letter.html -
THURSDAY 24 MARCH 2022: 12 NOON
The works of Ukrainian artist Arhip Kuindji, born in Mariupol, were on display in a museum dedicated to his artistry. Some of the paintings were removed but original works by Ivan Aivazovsky, Jablonskaia, Mykola Gluschenko,Tatiana Yablonska, Mykhailo Deregus and others were destroyed.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
- There was a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
- In Kharkiv, Russians fired long-range weapons at the post office where people were receiving humanitarian aid.
- The Mayor of Kherson has set up a service to report disappearances because of kidnappings.
- Russia is transferring weapons to Belarus and Crimea to make an attempt to encircle Kyiv.
- Only 3% of Belarusians approve of the deployment of Belarusian troops in Ukraine.
- Zelensky asked for 1% of the alliance’s aircraft, tanks and rocket systems so that Ukraine can “unlock cities where Russia is holding hundreds of thousands of people hostage.” “…we don’t have a clear answer.”
HROMADSKE Int.
- Occupation forces are driving through Mariupol, under blockade, with loudspeakers and declaring that Zaporizhzhia no longer accepts evacuees and that citizens must go to Russia. They are also saying that Odesa “is already taken by Russians.”
- Russia has targeted journalists, killing at least five and wounding seven. One journalist is missing.
- When citizens of Mariupol are deported their passports and other documents are confiscated.
- Anonymous hacked Central Bank of Russia.
- A month of war has led to the displacement of 4.3 million children, more than half the country’s child population.
- Lukashenko has expelled 12 Ukrainian diplomats from Belarus.
- Responding to panic, Russians are preparing to block traffic on the Crimean bridge. They are trying to prevent the flight from Crimea of Russian citizens who illegally moved there after February 2014.
- Russian intelligence chiefs Nikolai Patrushev (Security Council secretay), Alexander Bortnikov (Federal Security Service), Sergei Naryshkin (Foreign Intelligence Service) also disappeared from the “systematic and critical protocol statements.”
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THURSDAY 24 MARCH 2022
CNN
- The Ukrainians are reporting that the Russians are moving equipment into Belarus in preparation for Belarus joining the war.
- The Ukrainians have destroyed a large Russian ship in the port city of Berdyansk.
- Biden is meeting with G7 leaders.
- Blitzer is advancing the narrative that Biden has prepared all his life for this challenge. (Note: The corporate media is binge worthy in its readiness to create some kind of emotional story out of events.)
MSNBC
- Human Rights Watch has reported the use of phosphorus bombs in Ukraine.
- Richard Engel: Phosphorous bombs are also used by the US military. But, there are limits on how these weapons can be used – i.e., to protect troops. The ship in Berdyansk was bringing in supplies for Russian troops.
- Zelensky: Don’t tell us that the Ukrainian army doesn’t meet the NATO standards.
- Iuliia Mendal interviewed: US rejects to supply fighter planes. Poland was talking about peace keeping mission and partial no-fly zone. These proposals have not been accepted.
NEW YORK TIMES
- The U.S. will accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
- North Korea tested another missile.
- Conservatives are pressuring Manchin and Sinema to vote against Brown Jackson.
UKRAINE WORLD (@ukraine_world) and podcast
- The US imposed new sanctions including sanctioning the head of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank Herman Gref, 328 members of the State Duma and the State Duma itself, as well as companies from Russia’s defense industry.
- Ukraine publishes in German.
- Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland is predicting aggression against Poland.
TWITTER
- Anastasiia Lapatina (@lapatina_) in Lviv reports that Russians are targeting Ukraine’s cultural heritage, raiding libraries, destroying Ukrainian history books especially those that mention the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, Russia’s war in Donbas and Soviet repressions.
- Lapatina also reports that in Russia, Ukrainians are “offered” official employment. Those who agree receive documents banning them from leaving the assigned regions for two years. Offered regions include Sakhalin, the island close to Japan.
- Earlier, Lapatina reported that Russians were deporting Ukrainians from Mariupol to Russia. At least 6,000 people have already been displaced.
- Andrei Kurkov (@AKurkov) reports that Putin accomplices Shoigu and Naryshkin have not been seen in public since 11 of March.
- Kurkov reported that Russian opposition journalist Oksana Baulina who worked with Navalny had to flee from Moscow to Kyiv and was killed yesterday in Kyiv.
- Kurkov: The director of Kherson Theatre was released by the Russians after mass protests in and outside Kherson.
- Kurkov: Arhip Kuindji, born in Mariupol. There was a museum dedicated to his works. This has now been destroyed.
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In the Kremlin, faith and force go hand in hand.
March 5, 2022
A moment of maximum danger could arise if the Kremlin does something that Western leaders may not expect: blend nuclear threats with religious rhetoric.
Since the Soviet Union’s collapse, the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russian identity, domestic politics, and national security has grown immensely. Putin has introduced religious conservatism into Russia’s national ideology and used religious analogies to discuss security issues. He has framed this war in historical, almost transcendental terms. And Russia’s state-church nexus is most visible in the military—especially within the nuclear weapons complex.
NUCLEAR HOLY WAR
If Western establishments continue to dismiss Moscow’s nuclear signaling, as they have done with Putin’s recent order, Moscow may not only raise the stakes even higher. It may also add a religious, apocalyptic twist to its activity.
The world has entered the nuclear realm against the backdrop of a three-decades-old nexus between the Russian Orthodox Church, the country’s defense establishment, and its nuclear forces—a phenomenon known as Russian nuclear orthodoxy. The latter is a metaphor for a widely circulating public belief, which Putin himself shares, that in order to preserve its traditional national values and Orthodox character, Russia needs to ensure it is a strong nuclear power (and vice versa).
In 2007, for example, Putin publicly remarked that nuclear weapons and Orthodoxy are the two pillars of Russian statehood: the first the main guarantor of external security, and the second the principal source of the nation’s moral-spiritual wellbeing. Not everyone in Russia’s establishment has fully subscribed to this mystic notion. But Russia’s defense elites have generally bought into a mix of nationalism, militarism, and conservative philosophy. Unsurprisingly, the Russian Orthodox clergy that work within the military have penetrated all levels of command within the nuclear triad and positioned themselves as a guardian of the state’s strategic potential.
Putin’s religious and philosophical views, meanwhile, have become integrated into his geopolitical vision and policy choices. The Kremlin occasionally offered messianic and religious framing for its war goals in Crimea and in Syria, and it literally parachuted clerics along with troops into combat zones.
There is a similar state-church nexus in the current war. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has sought to publicly distance himself from the operation. But the Kremlin frames the invasion as the liberation of Slavic brothers, and several days before the first bombs fell, the patriarch delivered a sermon on “the return of the prodigal son.” On the third day of war, he referred to the conflict in Ukraine and asked God to save the historical Russian lands—Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine—from internal enemies and the external forces of evil (without explicitly mentioning the operation). He also thanked the commander of the Airborne troops, an elite part of the Russian military currently fighting in Ukraine, on his 60th birthday, for contributing to Russian national security.
Putin sees himself as a historical figure, called upon by providence to protect the Russian civilization.
Putin, and many in his immediate entourage, risk losing everything in the Ukrainian operation. They cannot afford to be defeated. They are therefore unlikely to retreat and might be willing to climb very high on the escalation ladder, up to the nuclear stair.
If the invasion goes awry, for example, they will seek to escalate so they can terminate the war on Russian terms, even if doing so requires unprecedented nuclear coercion. That means their threats might target both the West and Ukraine: the former to deter NATO from reinforcing the Ukrainian military, and the latter to make Kyiv accept a settlement if conventional means do not let Moscow impose its will. This will be in keeping with Russia’s theory of victory—scare enemies from intervening, dissuade them from arming Ukraine, and compel Kyiv to make peace.
Prior to the war, Moscow presumed that in any contest within its periphery, Russia’s adversaries would inherently perceive its nuclear threats as credible and back off because the balance of interests at stake favors Moscow. But now that both Russia and the West are more deeply involved, Russia may believe that conventional threats alone are insufficient. But by cultivating a reputation as a faith-driven actor, Russia could get the West to perceive it as mad, helping in wartime coercive bargaining.
If Putin promotes himself as a messianic strategic actor in the eyes of his competitors, and saturates nuclear threats with apocalyptic rhetoric, his coercion could be especially effective. Religious actors often come across as being undeterrable, enhancing the credibility of their threats. Putin has certainly played into this role. The Russian president made various messianic statements prior to this crisis, and he has framed the war as a clash between the forces of light and the forces of evil. Putin apparently sees himself as a historical figure, almost called upon by providence to protect Russian civilization. As a result, the West, which already questions his rationality, may now see him as unafraid of escalation.
But if Putin merges religious rhetoric and nuclear brandishing, it does not mean that he is insane. Instead, it is a unique combination of his genuine worldview coupled with practical considerations. Putin’s strategic, madman calculations and natural emotions can be mutually reinforcing. When cornered, frustrated, and concerned about his own survival, Russia’s president may become more messianic. At the same time, he may deliberately exploit an apocalyptic image to enhance coercion, especially if the West further escalates and the war in Ukraine does not go as planned. Religious statements that Russia’s military, defense officials, and politicians have used in previous conflicts will help the Kremlin further leverage ambiguity and increase Western confusion.
RELIGIOUS SCHISMS
If the Kremlin tries to exploit the image of itself as a faith-driven actor, it may be destabilizing both externally and internally. No one has ever dealt with messianic nuclear signaling from a state. Analysts struggle to decipher a “regular” Putin; a “religious-nuclear” one will be even more puzzling. This could paralyze NATO and lead it to back off, paving the way for more conventional Russian escalation. It could also prompt NATO toward preemption, which would probably mean launching strikes designed to disarm Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Both options would lead to catastrophes, both for the Ukrainian people and for humankind.
Religious nuclear posturing could prompt internal instability as well. The more uncomfortable Russia’s elites, public, and military become with the losses, war aims, and their country’s own brutality, the higher the chances that Moscow resorts to reckless nuclear coercion to try and quickly win the conflict. But doing so will demand internal justification, and the resulting rhetoric is again likely to be messianic and religious.
This time, however, the rhetoric will be addressed at Russians. The question of military obedience, especially in the nuclear forces, will then become acute. The extraordinary nexus of church and military is deepest within the nuclear corps, but there is no way to determine whether the priests within the corps will enhance or inhibit stable command and control of the system. On the one hand, there are reasons to assume that it would lead to more obedience and commitment if an order—including to conduct a strike—arrives. It is not inconceivable, however, that the clergy would encourage nuclear operators to defy a directive. The civilian Russian ecclesiastical establishment is hierarchical but not monolithic, and the current war might further radicalize competing camps within the church, including its members within the nuclear community. Messianic nuclear signaling could be a double-edged sword. Putin’s nuclear brandishing might also catalyze internal instability should the governing elite and the military seek to remove the reckless president from power—and other groups from within the security establishment push back.
END TIMES
The world is on a risky path. Driven by a messianic self-perception, Putin is looking to correct what he sees as historical mistakes and increase Russian geopolitical power. He is unlikely to back down. Washington, in turn, seeks to contain and mercilessly punish him, sees any compromise as unacceptable appeasement, and is using this war to dissuade Beijing from being similarly assertive in Asia or elsewhere. These attitudes mean that Moscow and Washington are not leaving each other a way out. Instead, they continue to climb the escalation ladder as death, devastation, and tragedy mount in Ukraine. Adding a religious ingredient will further complicate matters.
DMITRY (DIMA) ADAMSKY is a Professor at the School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Reichman University, Israel. He is the author of Russian Nuclear Orthodoxy: Religion, Politics, and Strategy
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Over the last decade, Putin has turned his government into a personalist regime: a system in which he monopolizes meaningful authority.
— Read on www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2022-03-16/worlds-most-dangerous-manPutin’s extreme secrecy helps account for some of the most puzzling aspects of the war.
On the day the first Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Russia’s central bank still had more than half of its assets in overseas accounts where they could be easily frozen—a major strategic oversight that baffled foreign observers..
The nearly 70-year-old Russian leader saw the war as an opportunity to reestablish Russian dominance on the global stage. Now that it has done the opposite, he is likely more desperate than ever for a decisive victory.
Even without a formal invocation of NATO’s Article 5, the United States and its allies may have little choice but to respond to Russian cyberattacks with cyberattacks of their own, especially if by that point they have already exhausted the full menu of viable economic sanctions. It is impossible to know for certain how such a pattern of retaliatory cyber-strikes would unfold, given the largely unprecedented nature of this sort of escalation, but it could very well spill over into the conventional military arena—substantially increasing the risk of a major armed conflict.
These risks underscore the need for extreme caution when considering how to respond to Russian cyberattacks. Before jumping headlong into a potentially dangerous spiral of cyber-escalation, the United States and its allies should first use all of the economic tools at their disposal.
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WEDNESDAY 23 MARCH 2022: 10:30 pm
CNN
- Georgian president says that Putin’s instinct is toward expansion.
TWITTER
- Ted Lieu is arguing that we should provide MIG’s to Ukraine.
- Vindman posts an excerpt from his book “Here Right Matters.” “Russia is adept at a technique – it’s part of a uniquely Russian doctrine called “reflexive control” – in which it conveys information that inclines an opponent to overreact to a risk and to self-deter, thus making the very decision Russia desires.”
- Vindman follows “War on the Rocks” a podcast worth listening to.
WAR ON THE ROCKS, “UNDERSTANDING PUTIN’S NUCLEAR DECISION-MAKING” (3/22/22)
- Norwegian authorities recently notified all families to keep a stock of iodine at home for children and people under 40 in case of a nuclear incident.
- Some argue “his (Putin’s) nuclear decision-making may have acquired religious overtones.”
- “The prevalent explanation is that the move from an authoritarian system to a personalist dictatorship has produced idiosyncratic decision-making, including a situation where military commanders were notified at the very last minute of operations in Ukraine.”
- “…claiming that military leaders and the General Staff were kept in the dark remains speculative.”
- “There is no way Russian commanders and military planners did not know, even if they did not know the fine details.” (Note: This notion has become part of the accepted narrative.)
- “The nuclear activity we have seen so far suggests that Putin is not the sole decision-maker impacting nuclear movements.”
- Putin does not have exclusive ability to push a button for a nuclear attack. There are at least three “buttons,” and most reporting indicates that at least two of them are needed to trigger an attack.
- “The general staff would also need to accept the order as valid before it went out into the military unit controlling the nuclear weapons.”
- (Note: Defense Minister Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov. Shoigu was one of the ones who looked particularly unhappy when Putin did the announcement of the “special combat regime.” Shoigu is the man many point to when speculating about a coup.)
- (Note: The General staff of the Main Operational Directorate conducts nuclear planning.)
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Editor’s note: Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Ukraine invasion has instigated a soul-searching of
— Read on warontherocks.com/2022/03/understanding-putins-nuclear-decision-making/ -
WEDNESDAY 23 MARCH 2022
UKRAINE UPDATE:
UKRAINE WORLD
- Director of the Kherson Drama Theatre, Oleksandr Knyha, was kidnapped this morning.
- The video from Mariupol looks like WWII Germany
- In Kharkiv, more than a thousand high-rise buildings have already been destroyed.
- Zelensky appeals to Japan for more economic sanctions.
- Zelensky also noted that the UN Security Council had not been effective.
- The EU approved an agreement with Ukraine to allow it to share classified information such as satellite images.
- Poland is considering expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Russian intelligence.
- Phosphorus bombs are reported to have been in use in Hostomel-Irpin.
- Putin aims to block Russian citizens’ departure from illegally annexed Crimea.
TWITTER: Alexander Vindman
- Alexander Vindman has posted a letter from the UK defense attaché at the Moscow Embassy, Carl Scott. Scott notes that it is incorrect to say that “no one expected this aggression from the Kremlin.” Scott served as defense attaché from 2011-2016.
- Scott notes that at that time “the long dark march to war was obvious…We reported the inevitability of conflict….with the despair of Cassandra….The evidence of Putin’s chosen path was never concealed. His many declarations were meant to be heard and understood: the colossal rearmament programme, the demand for more complex, more lethal weaponry; the militarization of society; the distortion and seizure of the popular narrative; domination of education, the media and the courts to exclude contrasting views and ultimately, the alienation and destruction of those among the Russian people who understood the folly of his declared ambition.”
- “The list is remorseless, and the consequences could not be ignored. But they were….It was only when I returned to the UK on the eve of our withdrawal from the EU, a manoeuvre which greatly emboldened those in Moscow, that I understood how our society had changed…”
- “All was subjugated to the City, all served the interests of our lucrative status as a safe haven for corrupt, and corrupting, wealth. The values we were demanding of other nations had long since faded from our own actions.”
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TUESDAY 22 MARCH 2022
KYIV INDEPENDENT
- The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has transferred money to zoos in Ukraine since the invasion.
- One of the journalists who has been held since March 15, has been released. Viktoria Roshchina.
- The Russian military has burned down a stable in Hostomel near Kyiv with the horses inside.
- A children’s hospital has been shelled in Severdonetsk.
- Ukrainian photojournalist, Maks Levin, has gone missing.
- Zelensky told the Italian government they should freeze Russian assets, impose an embargo on Russian goods and block seaports for Russian vessels.
- Zelensky also warned of a grain shortages that would effect exports.
- Russia completes 300 aircraft sorties over Ukraine in 24 hours. (Despite the repeated mantra that Ukraine doesn’t need a no-fly zone, that most of the damage is coming from the ground.)
UKRAINE WORLD
- Italy supports Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.
- Approximately 5,000 Belarusian troops are formed and lined up along Ukraine’s border.
- In Russia due to lack of reserves, men with debts and those who have to pay alimony are offered forgiveness if they join the military.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
- Greek Foreign Minister says he wants o lead a humanitarian mission to Mariupol in person.
- A released journalist, Roshchna had to say that Russians did not hold her captive and that they saved her life. Russian media broadcast the video today.
- Anonymous announced that it had released the database of Nestle, emails, passwords of business customers.
- Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev ordered bombing of maternity hospital, children’s hospital, drama theatre and civilian houses in Mariupol.
- This is day 27.
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21 MARCH 2022, 4 PM
MSNBC
- It is estimated that 3.5 million people have been forced to leave Ukraine.
- The vaccinated rate in Ukraine is low and therefore there is likely to be another COVId outbreak.
- U.S. is not accepting many refugees from Ukraine. Why?
- Filtration camps? People being evacuated and transported.
- Miles Taylor: We have lived in a bubble of international legal norms. Russians don’t play by those rules. We assume that both sides have an interest in international norms and rules.
- Elise Labott: The flow of refugees is making the receiving, neighboring countries weaker and that suits Putin as well.
- Russian military is targeting journalists in order to stop accurate reporting.
- “We were the last journalists in Mariupol.” Journalist who escaped Mariupol. They were told that if they were captured, they would be put before a camera and made to say that everything they has previously reported was a lie.
CNN
- Gen. Kimmit: This is not a stalemate. The Russians continue to soften up the target. They are getting to a point where they can send troops in without risking big casualties.
KYIV INDEPENDENT
- Zelensky: “NATO should either say now that they are accepting us, or openly say they are not accepting us because they are afraid of Russia – which is true.”
- Zelensky: “The only way they can seize the cities is to kill everyone, and take the empty city.”
- EU must prepare for 8 million refugees.
- Zelensky to EU: “You must support us because your life depends on it, too.”
- Russian warships shell residential buildings in Odesa.
- There was an early morning attack and shelling of the Sumykhimprom chemical plant and an ammonia tank lead.
- Russians steal five grain carriers from Berdyansk port. Russia wishes to turn Ukrainians into serfs providing them grain.
- Over 900 people detained in an anti=war protest in Russia.
UKRAINE WORLD, Podcast
- People are trying to use the fact that the Azov Battalion is defending the city of Mariupol as evidence that the Ukrainians are supporting Nazis.
- People are in despair about trying to close the airspace.
NYT
- A shopping mall was destroyed in Kyiv. At least six are dead.
- Zelensky said that a relief convoy near Kharkiv had been hijacked by Russian forces.
- Ukrainian officials say that the Russians are forcibly deporting people, including children.
- Ukraine’s foreign ministry said that 2,389 children were taken from their parents in the Donbas region and sent to Russia in a single day, Saturday.
- The U.S. is opposing Poland’s proposal for a NATO peacekeeping mission? What?
- Poland is proposing a mission which would be able to defend itself and operate on Ukrainian territory.
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MONDAY 21 MARCH 2022
Like Elie Mystal, I could not sit in front of the Judiciary Committee and maintain decorum listening to these fascist morons. Someone said that working as a public defender meant that you didn’t respect the law. My God, it’s exactly the opposite. The public defender system is something we should be proud of and should be funded at a much higher rate than it is. There are some bad public defenders (Kevin Gough is one current example), but there are also so many brilliant, courageous, principled, dedicated men and women working as public defenders. It is the work of God (and I don’t even believe in God).
On the subject of the work of God, we sit another day and watch Ukraine being destroyed. It is a shameful act.
MSNBC
• The Ukrainians have refused to surrender Mariupol.
• The Russians are trying to destroy as much as possible in order to extract concessions from the Ukrainian government.
• Mehdi Hassan joined the “chickenshit left” last night, criticizing the White House press corps for asking questions about what more we could do for Ukraine. (Note: I was surprised but shouldn’t have been.)
•
UKRAINE WORLD (@ukraine_world)
• The Russian Duma approved the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” as “independent.” They greenlighted Crimea’s annexation as well.
• In Sumy oblast, Russians are forcing civilians to sit on the streets at night near the equipment of the Russian army, using them as human shields.
• Ukrainian human rights activist, Olksandra Matviichuk asked Joe Biden for more weapons for Ukraine. She is repeating her request. “Small tactical weapons will not allow us to repel Putin.”
• Over 2,000 children have been deported by Russian occupation forces from Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia. What is happening to these children?
• In Kyiv, there have been 70 residential buildings damaged.
• Russians kidnapped four journalists in Melitopol. Three were released. One is still being held.
• Russians fired on protesters in Kherson.
NOTES:
• CNN and MSNBC have become little more than a campaign outlet for members of Congress. I do not understand who thinks that interviewing them about the situation in Ukraine is useful, or indeed interviewing them about anything. They make focus-group tested statements which are written to say nothing.
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THURSDAY 17 MARCH 2022
What kind of a people are we to sit and watch the destruction of Ukraine?
People in the United States fell all over themselves to get the military into Iraq and Afghanistan, conveniently ignoring Saudi Arabia. But now? Where are those people who wanted so desperately to support a war? There is a clearly illegal attack against a sovereign country conducted by the leader of a mafia state. Putin is purposefully targeting schools, hospitals and even people waiting in bread lines. We stumbled all over ourselves to go to was with a country who had not attacked us and was only a danger to us in the minds of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. We invaded and kidnapped the leader of a sovereign country, Panama, because a man who had clearly been our son-of-a-bitch was becoming other people’s son-of-a-bitch.
But, now, when there is a clear attack by an authoritarian megalomaniac which will change the post-WWII world order, we fumble and stumble and make excuses. The Biden administration seems terrified of taking any direct defensive step to save Ukraine. Blinken and Price and others are whining about provocation, debating what will and what will not be considered provocation. Since presumably they have access to back channels in Russia, we must have literally asked if a no-fly zone or fighter jets would be considered a provocation. This means we are asking an aggressor state’s permission to intervene on the behalf of the country being obliterated.
Is that the country you thought you lived in? Did you think you were living in what we are repeatedly told you is the “greatest country in the world” only to find out that that country has to ask permission to intervene on behalf of attacked people. The very fact that they have asked Putin is bad enough, but what did they think he was going to say? Did they think Putin was going to say, hey yeah, go ahead and send those fighter jets, establish a no-fly zone. I wouldn’t dream of considering that a provocation or an escalation.
It seems to me (and most Ukrainians) that we have already seen the “escalation” the “provocation” the “war.” Why is attacking civilians, invading another country, kidnapping their local leaders, holding civilians hostage, taking possession of nuclear power plants considered a given, but everything we do short of humanitarian assistance “provocation?”
I suppose before the invasion started, Biden did an Obama, i.e., unilaterally took off the table US or NATO troops on the ground because he didn’t want to be provocative, escalate the war. So, given that promise, or considering that promise, Putin just opened the invasion door and walked in.
Biden refused to implement meaningful sanctions before the invasion (even though for a few weeks, we were told ad nauseum that “crippling” sanctions would follow an invasion) to try to prevent an invasion. After the invasion, the “crippling” sanctions that were touted so often before the invasion, seemed not so “crippling.” We were immediately told that the sanctions would take weeks, months to take effect. Some of us wanted to scream: That’s why we wanted you to implement then before the invasion. But, those of us calling for sanctions before the invasion and tougher sanctions after the invasion were written off as hysterical, “emotional,” not grown up enough to be part of the professional class who made decisions for us. Still, the US has rolled out sanctions but still they are not sanctioning as many people as the EU. After threatening to remove Russia from SWIFT, when push came to shove and people demanded this after the invasion, the US only removed some banks from SWIFT and gave others a free pass. In addition, they started lecturing us on how the SWIFT exclusion just wasn’t as effective as the peons thought. It was certainly touted as effective up until the time when it would have to be used.
Every day I sit and ask myself:
How can decent people sit and watch the devastation on the television and oppose intervention. How can they talk about “restraint” and “discipline?” How can they warn against an “emotional reaction?” In the elite-speak, the reasoning goes: we must not allow ourselves to be affected by the heartbreaking suffering of fellow human beings. This is being naïve, “emotonal.’ The real cool professionals like Ned Price and Jen Psaki don’t fall for such amateurish human reactions. No, they sit back and coolly, abstractly consider the wider implications of gas prices and disrupting the Russian money housed in hedge funds. This is another of those: “You gonna believe me or your lying eyes” narratives.
But, we can see the people suffering, being destroyed. How in God’s name can this Clinton/Biden/Obama professional class scold and disapprove of us for feeling emotion? How can they try to turn perfectly human distress and emotion and desire to help into something we should fight against?
Given the usual superficial “People Magazine” coverage of the two corporate news channels CNN and MSNBC, I usually turn to podcasts for an intelligent discussion of world affairs.
Podcasts like Ukraine World were essential even before the invasion. Hour long discussions with English speaking Ukrainians were fascinating and instructive.
Not so with American podcasts by (what Malcolm Nance calls) the anti-war left. I very quickly became unable to listen to them. This morning, I tried to listen to the Majority Report with Sam Seder. The Majority Report is usually one of the most literate and interesting podcasts out there. Their read on domestic events is usually close to mine and I learn an extraordinary amount from their discussions. This started to change when Biden withdrew from Afghanistan.
I simply could not believe my ears when I heard people with extraordinary intellects whose judgement I generally trusted, not only support the withdrawal, but blind themselves to the disaster that it engendered.
I could not believe that they were watching the same set of events unfolding as I was. As disaster followed disaster, Seder and Viegland steadfastly maintained that withdrawal was the right course of action and that the withdrawal was not a crushing betrayal of the Afghan people.
Just to get matters straight, I have never supported an American military intervention in my life – not Afghanistan, not Iraq, I wrote a book about the invasion of Panama (which the military still calls Operation Just Cause), not Grenada, not Vietnam. But, when you have occupied a country for twenty years you cannot just pack your bags and walk out. After twenty years you have a responsibility to understand that a large part to the economy depends on US money. Seder and Viegland cheered the withdrawal, absolutely convinced it was the right thing to do, and just ignored the implications for the future of the country (the US and Afghanistan).
I just could not believe that they were not talking about the long-term implications of the betrayal of trust. Who would trust us after this, after we walked out on the Afghanistanis? Why should anybody trust us after this? But, Biden was portrayed as a hero for walking out.
We walked out and left the country we spent twenty years freeing from the Taliban and handed it over to the Taliban. There was no evidence that the Taliban had suddenly transformed themselves into a group focused on democracy or women’s rights. But, we didn’t care. We were going to get out of Afghanistan.
We even secured Taliban protection (protection from people we had fought for twenty years and spend a ga-billion of dollars fighting) of our soldiers to ensure that there would be no embarrassing U.S. casualties on our way out. And, even this didn’t work. But, on Majority Report, the blown up servicemen was just what you got when you withdrew from a country. They told us that these casualties would have happened whenever we withdraw from Afghanistan.
What they were dead set against realizing that these kinds of casualties were not inevitable no matter WHEN and HOW WE WITHDREW.
Women and little girls who had, at least in the urban areas, been given access to a semi-western life, were abandoned, thrown back into a world where their genitals would be mutilated to satisfy the sadism of religious fanatics. Translators and contractors to whom we had promised loyalty were abandoned to be considered by the Taliban as enemies.
THURSDAY 17 MARCH 2022
What kind of a people are we to sit and watch this destruction go on. I just don’t know anymore who we are.
We fell all over ourselves to get to Iraq and Afghanistan, conveniently ignoring Saudi Arabia. But now? When there is a clear attack by an authoritarian megalomaniac? We are whining about provocation, virtually asking Putin’s permission to protect a people who are being destroyed. We brag about the amount of financial assistance we are giving, but we adamantly refuse to even leave troops and no-fly zones on the table.
We refused to implement meaningful sanctions (even though the Biden administration promised at every turn, crippling sanctions) before the invasion to try to prevent it from happening. Even after the invasion, we have trickled the sanctions out and still are not sanctioning as many people as the EU.
How can decent people sit and watch the devastation on the television and talk about “restraint” and “discipline?” How can they warn against an “emotional reaction?” In the elite-speak we must not allow ourselves to be affected by the heartbreaking suffering of fellow human beings. This is naïve. The real cool professionals like Ned Price and Jen Psaki don’t fall for such amateurish feelings. No, they sit back and coolly, abstractly consider wider implications. For God’s sake, we can see the people suffering, being destroyed. How in God’s name can you scold and disapprove of us for feeling emotion?
Given the usual superficial “People Magazine” coverage of the two corporate news channels CNN and MSNBC, I usually turn to podcasts for an intelligent discussion of world affairs.
But, recently I have been unable to listen to them. This morning, I tried to listen to the Majority Report with Sam Seder. The Majority Report is one of the most literate and interesting podcasts out there. Their read is usually something like mine. This started to change with the Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan.
I could not believe that people who’s intellects I respected were watching the same set of events unfolding. As disaster followed disaster, Seder and Viegland steadfastly maintained that this was the right course of action and that the withdrawal was not a crushing betrayal of the Afghan people. I have never supported an American military intervention in my life – not Afghanistan, not Iraq, I wrote a book about the invasion of Panama (which the military still calls Operation Just Cause), not Grenada, not Vietnam. But, when you have occupied a country for twenty years you cannot just pack your bags and walk out. After twenty years you have a responsibility. Seder and Viegland cheered the withdrawal and just ignored the implications for the future of the country. There was the abandonment of the people of Afghanistan and the inevitable sucking out of the economy of all the money, but then there was also what this withdrawal did to our position in the world. Who would trust us after this? Why should anybody trust us after this?
Americans walked out and left the country we spent twenty years freeing from the Taliban to the Taliban. We secured Taliban protection of our soldiers to ensure that there would be no embarrassing U.S. casualties on our way out. And, even this didn’t work. Women and little girls who had, at least in the urban areas, been given access to a semi-western life, education, free will, were abandoned. Translators and contractors who we had promised loyalty if they worked for us were abandoned. We couldn’t even get the bureaucracy to work efficiently enough to process visa applications before the withdrawal much less afterward.
After twenty years, a large part of the economy depended on U.S. money, U.S. contractors, NGOs. Not only did we just walk out knowing that this walking out would destroy the economy, we then took part of the money due to the Afghanistan government and made it available to 9/11 victims’ families. Anybody with sense, anybody even mildly aware of what was going on could see that this was going to be an unmitigated disaster. And it was.
When the economy fell apart, and there were some guarded reports of famine and how many women and children were going to starve in Afghanistan, Seder and Viegland had the unmitigated gall to lament the situation. So, I guess it was good that we cut and run, but who could have anticipated the devastation that followed? Well, almost anybody who was paying half attention.
What in god’s name did Seder and Viegland think was going to happen if we withdrew without any plans for how the economy was going to survive? Cheerlead the withdrawal and lament the resultant devastation. Did they think that after withdrawing we were going to hand over billions of dollars to the Taliban to administer?
Then, there was Ukraine. I was just astounded as I listened to the whining on the part of the anti-war left about Russia and Putin. I couldn’t even bear to listen to much of it. The one time I turned on the Majority Report, Viegland was lamenting the demise of Putin. They sense weakness, she said of the United States, and they want to kick him (Putin) while he’s down. Just think about that. The Majority Report is not only taking the side of Putin, but lamenting the gross unfairness with which he is being treated. Vladamir Putin is the head of a mafia state, a criminal enterprise that stole the wealth ordinary Russians had spent decades building up. Putin was the death of any hope of a socialist state in Russia. He turned the country into an oligarchic mafia state.
After he does this, we are supposed to feel sorry for him? I just don’t get it.
There is nothing, nothing positive to say about Vladimir Putin. He is part of an authoritarian oligarchy who divided up and stole the accumulated wealth of the people in the Soviet Union like they were three Romans sitting in a tent dividing up the known world. The wild west, uncontrolled exploitative capitalism that is now Russia is Putin’s playing field. He helped bring this rapacious capitalism into being and he has benefited royally from it. He is willing to jail political enemies, assassinate them steps from the Kremlin, send hit men to poison political foes with lethal radioactive substances. He is willing to send men to throw enemies out of windows and even blow up neighborhoods of his own people in order to establish his own kleptocracy. Kick him while he’s down? Who wouldn’t?
With regard to Ukraine, Viegland condescendingly noted that most people (that’s us) have “no understanding of what a no-fly zone is.” This lecturing narrative is common among the liberal professional class. Viegland then goes on to use one of the most unappealing lines of argument I have heard about the no-fly zones. She says that people don’t understand what a no-fly zone is and that the only times we have tried to establish a no-fly zone it was against vastly inferior militaries. There is no irony at all when people use this argument.
But the meaning of this statement is that we are only prepared to use no-fly zones against people who can’t really fight back. And, that’s supposed to be an argument that makes us feel good about not implementing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Because we are bullies? I just don’t get it.
In the most recent podcast I listened to, Seder and Viegland were mocking the White House press corp. Now, I have very little respect for the White House press myself, but not because they ask difficult questions. Seder and Viegland played a clip of WH press reporters asking about Zelensky’s pleading for a no-fly zone. How did the administration respond to that? They asked. Was there something more we could do to help the Ukrainians?
I fail to see why these questions are worthy of derision. What is wrong with the press asking whether we should be doing more? But for Seder and Viegland to even ask the question is an example of “war mongering.”
Over on The Young Turks, things are not better. I just don’t get it.
Law, Power, and Justice 