Tag Archives: Ukraine

How Many Chicken Hawks Are in Ukraine? By Jacob G. Hornberger

Just as its easy to spend other people’s money, it’s easy to send other people off to war. Let’s see some skin in the game from the pro-war crowd. From Jacob G. Hornberger at fff.org:

How many American chicken hawks are in Ukraine? I could be wrong but my hunch is zero. That’s right: Not one single American chicken hawk is over there helping the Ukrainians to defend their country against Russia’s attack. They are all sitting here at home, safely ensconced in their living rooms or offices.

How many American chicken hawks are there? That’s, of course, impossible to say. But you can find lots of them in Congress and in the executive branch. You can also find them on the commentary pages of America’s mainstream newspapers.

Oh, yes, they are exclaiming against the horrors of the invasion. They are expressing their deepest sympathies with the people of Ukraine. They are calling on President Biden to impose maximum sanctions on Russia. But they are all still here at home rather than over there helping the Ukrainian people in their hour of need.

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Biden Warns Russia That If They Don’t Stop He Will Deploy Deadly Trans Admiral

From The Babylon Bee:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With Russia poised to tear through Eastern Europe with terrifying military power, Biden warned Putin that if he doesn’t stop advancing his army, he will be forced to deploy his deadly trans admiral.

“You think I’m joking, Vlad! I ain’t messin’ around here! You don’t want me to use this!” said Biden to Putin in a Zoom call, motioning to a portrait of transgender admiral and Assistant HHS Secretary Admiral Rachel Levine. “This is the deadliest weapon the United States has ever produced, and I won’t hesitate to use it on you! Watch out!”

Diversity and inclusion experts speculate the firepower in just one trans admiral is capable of leveling 3 Russian cities to the ground using the incredible destructive power of intersectional identity politics. Foreign policy experts believe Russia is outmatched by America’s stunning diversity and inclusion capabilities and will soon be forced to surrender.

Sources say Ukrainian citizens will certainly sleep better tonight knowing the power of diversity is on their side.

https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-warns-russia-that-if-they-dont-stop-he-will-deploy-deadly-trans-admiral

Putin Ushers in the New Geopolitical Game Board, by Tom Luongo

The U.S. empire is over. From Tom Luongo at tomluongo.me:

Up until February 23rd, 2022, the powerful countries of the world played a very rarified game.

Too many people try to analyze geopolitics like it is a game of chess. Move, counter-move. Push a pawn? Threaten a knight, that type of thing. It’s easy to understand and makes for good copy.

In the past I’ve tried to liken it to a multi-player version of Go, with anywhere from four to 6 different colored stones on the board trying to take territory. It was a better metaphor but nearly impossible to describe adequately. In fact, at times, it was exhausting.

The reality is that neither of these metaphors are explanatory.

Because the only accurate model for geopolitics is actually Calvinball.

You know that game. That’s the one from Calvin & Hobbes.

Contrary to your memory of the legendary comic strip, there were rules to Calvinball that went something like this. Calvin got to make the rules up as he went along.

In geopolitics it pretty much comes down to whoever the strongest player got that power.

Here’s the thing. Up until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (and yes, it is an invasion, justifiable or otherwise) there was something called the ‘rules-based order’ promoted by mainly the US but also supported directly by the European Union and the Commonwealth.

The rules of the ‘rules-based order’ were simple. We make the rules, you follow them. We reserve the right to change the rules whenever we want to suit our purpose.

It was the geopolitical equivalent of Sam Francis’ idea of ‘anarcho-tyranny,’ which boils down to, “rules for thee, but not for me.”

We’ve heard the Russian diplomats complain about this for years. Why have these rules if they are not ever enforced?

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Biden Squawks Amid Headless Chickens, by Finian Cunningham

The U.S. and Europe don’t have a semblance of a coherent plan to deal with Russia in Ukraine. From Finian Cunningham at strategic-culture.org:

There’s a whole lot of theatrical squawking and feathers in the surreal world of Western politicians.

U.S. President Joe Biden put on his best disdainful face to tell the American nation how unacceptable it was for Russia to recognize Ukraine’s breakaway republics.

Biden was commenting after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Russia would recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors?” The American president demanded his nation in exasperation. “This is a flagrant violation of international law and it demands a firm response from the international community.”

The squawk of hypocrisy is laughable. In his half-century as a top politician, Biden has been instrumental in the U.S. breaking up dozens of countries and redrawing borders sometimes with new names. He was involved in the dismemberment and bombing of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the destabilization of the Balkans which continues to this day, as well as engineering the 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine that has led to today’s crisis.

Meanwhile, Washington’s European allies are resembling the fluster of headless chickens as they scrabble to unite a response to Russia’s move to recognize the Donbass republics.

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Timeline: Euromaidan, the original “Ukraine Crisis”, by Kit Knightly

Euromaidan was a U.S. sponsored color revolution in Ukraine in 2014, and it’s set the stage for everything that’s occurred since. From Kit Knightly at off-guardian.org:

As Russia actually do launch an invasion or “special operation” in Ukraine, we thought now was a good time to recap on how we got here.

The historical, political and ethnic divisions in Ukraine go back decades, if not centuries, but we don’t have the space for that kind of deep-dive. For now, we’ll be keeping it to three simple parts: The fall of Viktor Yanukovych, the Crimean referendum, and the ensuing civil war which puts the region in a direct path to the events of today.

Much like our 30 Facts on Covid, this piece is intended as a quick reference guide to help get friends and family up to speed on the recent history of Ukraine, a handy index of contemporary sources, or a refresher course for those who’ve forgotten the details.

Anyway, let’s get to it.

1990

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, multiple Western leaders give both written and spoken assurances to then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, that NATO does not plan to increase its territory eastwards.

To quote US Secretary of State James Baker:

not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.”

1997

The Charter on a Distinctive Partnership is signed by representatives of both NATO and Ukraine. This document is a long-term agreement that Ukraine will move gradually into cooperation with NATO and eventually become a member. This is in direct violation of the assurances given above.

2002

NATO publishes their NATO-Ukraine Action Plan, re-affirming their commitment to “closer ties” with Ukraine, and outlining a long term plan for “reforms” in Ukraine that will make it suitable for “full Euro-Atlantic integration”.

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China Might “Be There Tomorrow” – Warns Chinese State Pundit In Dire Taiwan, Ukraine Comparison, by Tyler Durden

Has the Russian invasion of Ukraine given China any ideas about Taiwan? From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

Update(11:28am): The influential former editor and current commentator for China’s state-run English daily Global Times issued a shocking comment hours into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Hu Xijin weighed in on Thursday’s PLA fighter jet breach of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone by saying “Get used to it. There may be more PLA aircraft fly[ing] there tomorrow.”

While the prominent state-linked English language pundit is known for trolling the West and denouncing Washington policy in Taiwan and the South China Sea broadly, he also typically echoes the thinking of top CCP officials in Beijing.

Did he just warn the West that China is about to move on Taiwan – at a “perfect storm” moment that all eyes are on the war in Ukraine? Did Putin just set the example for near-term Chinese military action? 

* * *

Taiwan was quick to issue official statement vehemently condemning Russia’s early morning launch of war on Ukraine. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou denounced the attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty, at a tense moment that Beijing continues to eye Taiwan as its own territory

“Ukrainian cities like Kyiv has been attacked by gunfire, leading to fears of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine,” she said. “We call on all sides to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose the use of violence or coercion to change the status quo.”

At the same time China’s initial reaction noticeably failed to condemn the invasion, with the Chinese foreign ministry calling for all sides to “exercise restraint” – while ultimately castigating the United States for “fueling fire” in the build-up of tensions.

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George Kennan Warned NATO Expansion Would Lead to This, by David Stockman

Words from 24 years ago are looking incredibly prophetic. From David Stockman at antiwar.com:

We are now deep into the weeds with respect to Ukraine. So deep, in fact, that the underlying architecture of the situation doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in the hot place of getting even a fleeting mention in the 24/7 war news cycle.

So let’s call a spade a spade. The current fraught situation has nothing at all to do with the rule of international law or the sovereignty of national borders or the spread of democracy; and certainly not even remotely with any kind of threat to the safety and security of the American homeland posed by Russia.

To the contrary, it all goes back to the fall of 1991 when the old Soviet Union slithered off the pages of history, but the Washington-based military industrial complex refused to go quietly into the good night. Instead, it busied itself with policing the far-flung precincts of the planet as if the Cold War had not even ended, and extending Washington’s hegemony to any and every vacuum left behind by the vanished Soviet Union and its former satellites, allies and vassals.

Foremost among these misbegotten projects was the perpetuation of NATO and its subsequent extension to most of the former Warsaw Pact nations. At the time the senate approved the treaty admitting the first three new members – Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic – in 1998, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman had the good sense to track down the single wisest voice in America about the matter.

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What Putin Says Are the Causes & Aims of Russia’s Military Action, by Joe Lauria

It’s never a bad idea to try to figure out what your opponent is thinking. From Joe Lauria at consortiumnews.com:

Russia says it has no intentions of controlling Ukraine and its military operation is only to “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine in an action taken after 30 years of the U.S. pushing Russia too far, writes Joe Lauria.

Putin explaining his reasons for going to war. (AP screenshot from YouTube)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a TV address Thursday morning that the goal of Russia’s military operation was not to take control of Ukraine, but to “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” the country.  Moments after he spoke, explosions were heard in several Ukrainian cities.

The Russian Defense Ministry said these were “precision” attacks against Ukrainian military installations and that civilians were not being targeted.  It said Ukraine’s air force on the ground and its air defenses had been destroyed.

The Ukrainian government, which declared a state of emergency and broke off diplomatic relations with Russia, said an invasion was underway and that Russia had landed forces at the port city of Odessa, on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, as well as entering from Belarus in the north.  It said it had killed 50 Russian troops and shot down six Russian fighter jets, which Russia denied.

Putin said one of the operation’s aims was to arrest certain people in Ukraine, likely the neo-Nazis who burned dozens of unarmed people alive in a building in Odessa in 2014. In his speech Monday, Putin said  Moscow knows who they are.  Russia said it aims to destroy neo-Nazi brigades, such as Right Sector and the Azov Battalion.

Putin said the aim was not to occupy Ukraine, but he gave no indication when Russia might leave. It could be over quickly if Russia’s objectives are met. But war has its own logic and often lays waste to military plans.

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The day Russia’s patience ran out, by Dmitry Orlov

Russia simply got tired of confusion, unfounded accusations, propaganda, double-dealing, and trying to negotiate when the U.S. and NATO had no good faith intention to negotiate. From Dmitry Orlov at saker.is:

Today’s date, commonly written out as 22.02.2022, will be an easy one for future schoolchildren to remember. Various people will remember it in various ways. The residents of Donetsk and Lugansk, the two formerly Ukrainian, now once again Russian cities that have been subjected to conditions bordering on genocide since the US-instigated government overthrow of 2014 will remember jubilantly dancing in the streets, shooting off lots of fireworks, waving Russian flags and hollering the Russian national anthem. For them, this is the day on which new hope arrived that their eight-year nightmare would soon be over and life would finally return to normal.

The badly informed new German chancellor inadvertently helped to resolve the situation by saying that the idea of a Ukrainian-caused genocide in the Donbass is ridiculous. Given the history of the region, the public spectacle of a German leader using the words “genocide” and “ridiculous” in the same sentence made the moment pregnant with possibilities. Here is the information the seemingly rather dim-witted chancellor was missing. There were 9,282 dead on the Donbass side (70% of them civilians) and 114 children. The dead on the Ukrainian side (the Ukrainian troops and various assorted mercenaries that had been attacking and laying siege to the Donbass since 2014) numbered 20,186. This was prior to the renewed Ukrainian shelling of recent days. There were also over two million Donbass refugees in Russia, more than one million in the Ukraine and around 50 thousand in Belarus.

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Washington Should Threaten War Only if it Is Willing To Go to War: And Ukraine Does Not Justify War, by Doug Bandow

Threatening war should never be a bluff, especially if you can’t back it up. From Doug Bandow at antiwar.com:

Even before Moscow’s recognition of the separatist Ukrainian “republics” and introduction of “peacekeeping” troops, President Joe Biden’s strongest critics were members of Washington’s omnipresent War Party. Its members were horrified when he ended US involvement in Afghanistan last August after only two decades of conflict. What’s wrong with forever, they wondered?

Now they are mad that the president refused to go to war or at least threaten war with Russia over Ukraine. He said in January: “There is not going to be any American forces moving into Ukraine.” And we should be especially thankful now, with Moscow’s advance into the Donbass region, that none went.

However, that is not the position of Washington’s sizable kettle of military hawks. War always and forever should be their slogan. Given their druthers, some of them would have started dropping bombs already.

For instance, though retired Gen. Kevin Ryan of Harvard’s Belfer Center accepted the president’s refusal to directly threaten war, he suggested taking indirect actions that could risk hostilities. He proposed supporting Georgian and Moldovan military action against Russian-backed separatists in, respectively, Abkhazia/South Ossetia and Transnistria, even though secessionist sentiments reflect local grievances and predate Vladimir Putin. Ryan also proposed blockading Russia’s isolated territory in Kaliningrad, an act of war. Although not easily countered by Moscow, such a step might spark comparable Russian action against the Baltic states, a dangerous escalation on the way to full-scale war.

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