We’re All Ukrainians Now

Ukraine’s suffering is under every eye…

Russia’s desecration of Ukraine appalls all right-thinking men. Yet many of these men insist you know of their appallment.

We believe the term is “virtue signaling.”

They appear daily on the television, wringing their hands, rending their cloths… and gnashing their teeth.

They yell about the march of evil. The murder of innocents. The fading of freedom, the suspension of civilization and the death of democracy.

How much more suffering, they lament, must the people of Ukraine endure before the United States mounts its white horse?

What could go wrong? Nothing… of course.

Where Is Ukraine Again?

Meantime, the flag of Ukraine is a very common sight. Even our local town hall is illuminated nightly in the Ukrainian colors.

We are unaware of any local Ukrainian presence. Yet the city of Annapolis wishes us to know it stands with poor, beleaguered Ukraine.

The Ukrainian flag likewise festoons “social media” postings… as Black Lives Matter symbols festooned social media postings in the year 2020.

Could these sympathists identify Ukraine’s flag before Mr. Putin’s barbarities?

We hazard many could not… much less fix Ukraine’s position upon the Eurasian landmass.

Yet we are all Ukrainians now.

A Morality Tale

Many social media concerns have deep financial interests in China. If China were to invade democratic Taiwan… would these outfits moan about China as they presently moan about Russia?

We are not convinced they would.

Mr. Putin is of course the high villain in this morality tale — and justly so. His hands are red with the blood of many, many thousands. He can never rinse it away.

And we would remind the Russian autocrat: As all men, he will one day stand before St. Peter. His deeds will judge him, regardless of his earthly station.

We do not expect Peter to stamp the fellow’s passport.

Yet we would caution the United States government against moralistic self-patting of the back.

It sobs openly for Ukraine, it is true. Yet in critical respects it sheds the crocodile’s tears.

That is, the United States government cares less about minimizing Ukraine’s agonies… than it cares about maximizing Russia’s agonies.

“Let’s You and Him Fight”

The longer the war, the weaker the Russia. If more Ukrainians must perish in extended warfare, well, that is of course unfortunate. Unfortunate — but tolerable. It is perhaps even necessary.

As the late Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said of the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children due to United States sanctions:

“We think the price is worth it.”

No one asked the Iraqi youths. Nor is anyone asking the Ukrainians.

“Let’s you and him fight,” says the United States government. The United States will defend Ukraine to the very last platelet of Ukrainian blood.

This week Defense Secretary Austin has confirmed our suspicions: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.”

Should Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin come to terms tomorrow… and call it all off… the United States government would yell about “appeasing Russian aggression,” “letting aggression stand” and “betraying our democratic values.”

Washington would recall Mr. Zelenskyy to his duties as the leader of a free nation:

“What would Winston Churchill think of you? He refused to negotiate with Hitler and here you are settling with today’s Hitler. Shame on you. Fight for your freedom!”

$33 Billion for Ukraine

It is no surprise, then, that the administration would hand over another $33 billion to fortify Ukraine. Portions of the funding would:

Counter Russian disinformation and propaganda narratives, promote accountability for Russian human rights violation, and support activists, journalists, and independent media to defend freedom of expression.

Did you catch it? To “support… independent media to defend freedom of expression”?

Please do not laugh. Tweets Journalist Michael Tracey:

White House fact-sheet says part of the mammoth $33 billion spending package it’s requesting for Ukraine will be to “support independent media.” Because nothing screams “independent” like being directly funded by the US Government as part of its “information warfare” initiative.

The “information warfare” — propaganda, if you rather — is already in swing…

Ukraine Must Be Invincible

Thus we discover that only Russia sustains combat losses of men and equipment. Each day we are treated to clips of exploding Russian tanks and crashing Russian aircraft.

We have yet to witness one item of wrecked Ukrainian materiel. We must conclude Ukrainian equipment is indestructible — even though it is often the identical equipment of Russia’s.

Likewise, we are informed that Russian military deaths and woundings approach 50,000. More than 15,000 of the 50,000 are presently dead and in hell.

How many casualties has Ukraine’s military endured? The media outlets rarely hazard a figure — to our awareness at least.

Yet they report eagerly Ukraine’s civilian fatalities, presently estimated near 2,500… and rising.

Video clips of suffering humanity naturally accompany these reports. We do not question the suffering — merely the reliability of those doing the reporting.

Credible reports implicate Ukrainian forces in a certain number of atrocities against civilians. You will not find them on nightly television of course. Yet they exist.

Good Luck Finding Balance

We simply do not know what to believe. We have no doubt that Russia has undertaken some very serious roughhouse. We do not absolve it in the least.

Yet is Ukraine fully innocent? What if it is a balanced perspective you seek?

You will find it only with difficulty. Journalist Glenn Greenwald:

If one wishes to be exposed to news, information or perspective that contravenes the prevailing U.S./NATO view on the war in Ukraine, a rigorous search is required. And there is no guarantee that search will succeed. That is because the state/corporate censorship regime that has been imposed in the West with regard to this war is stunningly aggressive, rapid and comprehensive…

So prolific and fast-moving is this censorship regime that it is virtually impossible to count how many platforms, agencies and individuals have been banished for the crime of expressing views deemed “pro-Russian”…

Note that this censorship regime is completely one-sided and, as usual, entirely aligned with U.S. foreign policy. Western news outlets and social media platforms have been flooded with pro-Ukrainian propaganda and outright lies from the start of the war…

The censorship goes only in one direction: to silence any voices deemed “pro-Russian,” regardless of whether they spread disinformation.

And yet — and yet — the United States government purports to “support… independent media to defend freedom of expression.”

“The point of modern propaganda,” argues Gary Kasparov, “isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”

And what, again, is the initial casualty of war?

Regards,

Brian Maher
Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning