https://www.theepochtimes.com/youre-being-lied-to-about-the-war-in-ukraine_5029268.html
This isn’t a surprise to any honest observer of international politics.
It has therefore been frustrating to hear voices that many of us
trust repeating the same tropes about “evil Vladimir Putin” and the
“fight for democracy.” Likewise, as if reading off reports straight from
the U.S. State Department or a CNN teleprompter, they tell us that the
fascistic Russian regime is going to come tumbling down any day now.
All we need to do is continue to increase our support for the
Zelenskyy administration—more money, more weapons, more “I stand with
Ukraine” bumper stickers on the back of soccer moms’ minivans. No need
to be concerned with the risk of escalation and potential nuclear war.
Why? Because, so they tell us, the United States-led transatlantic
alliance (of which Ukraine is a mere proxy) is on the right side of
history.
Spreading democracy, defending national sovereignty, ensuring human rights for all.
How quickly the speculating class returns to their neoconservative worldview.
Democracy?
Here in the United States we’ve seen our own electoral system totally upended in the past three years, a criminal justice system turned into a tool of political oppression, and half of the country demonized for “white supremacy” and portrayed as blood-thirsty fascists. The Twitter Files
revealed that public discourse—what can be said and what can’t be
said—was being curated by federal law enforcement attempting to directly
influence the outcome of U.S. elections.
National sovereignty?
Every month, record numbers of unvetted foreign aliens pour across
our wide-open Southern Border. Rather than seek to stem this flow,
politicians argue about how these individuals should be provided with a
path to naturalization, and some even support their right to vote
(pre-naturalization), entirely destroying the concept of citizenship.
Human rights?
The President of the United States tried to mandate
that the experimental COVID-19 mRNA shot be required in order for
Americans to earn a living. We saw vaccination passports put in place
around the Western world, and elites in every country attempted to turn
neighbor against neighbor by spreading the lie that the unvaccinated
were a physical threat
to the vaccinated. Again, the Twitter Files showed how the right to
free speech—one of our most fundamental “human rights”—was largely a
joke.
Yet, we’re told that we must be cheering for the destruction of
Russia and the liberation of Ukraine. Why, so that Ukraine can perform
double mastectomies on minors for “gender-affirming care,” or host drag queen story hour
where sexually perverted men dress up as women and interact with
children? Is Vladimir Putin any worse than the above? At least his
people don’t doubt the fact that he actually likes his country, which is
more than we can say about our ruling class.
This isn’t a defense of any side. Not to tout my own predictions, but
I’ve tried my best to write as a neutral observer of international
trends. Here
I wrote in July 2021 for the Euromaidan Press—a Ukraine-based online
publication that’s obviously extremely pro-Kiev (or Kyiv, as they call
it)—that the Western world should be paying attention to Putin’s hostile
words as a precursor to future actions.
As a Russian speaker, I’ve also been able to see Moscow’s side of the
story, and watch their reporting since 2014 on the continued Ukrainian
assaults on the Donbass region. In October of 2021—five months before
the beginning of the war—I noted how Kyiv’s attacks on the latter
increased with the election of Joe Biden as president. I subsequently predicted
that the decreased funds flowing to Ukraine may lead the Zelenskyy
administration to further provoke conflict in an effort to open the cash
spigot back up, inducing a reaction from Russia.
Considering that Biden on Jan. 31 just approved
another $2.2 billion weapons package for Ukraine, including
“longer-range” missiles, I’d say that Kyiv is certainly good for money
now. Total aid is currently somewhere up around $100 billion.
I’m not saying I was right, but only that I attempted to honestly
follow my observations. In comparison, others have simply seized on
whatever their respective side tells them is the truth and used it to
support the exact same thesis, left or right, Russian or Western: “Our
side is going to win.”
Here’s a smattering of some of the numbers floating around from each side.
Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley recently claimed Russian casualties (killed and wounded collectively) in Ukraine stand at over 100,000.
Similarly, Hervé Bléjean, the director general of the European Union Military Staff, stated
in early January that Russia had lost 60 percent of the total reserve
of its military tanks. According to his estimates, total casualties for
Moscow amount to nearly 250,000. Likewise, Ukraine previously reported that Russia had lost 20,000 troops (killed) in one single month of fighting alone.
Conversely, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed
several months ago that Russian deaths stood at less than 6,000, with
Ukraine suffering over 100,000 casualties. According to the Kremlin, its
Special Military Operation is proceeding perfectly apace in line with
the strategic goals set out at the beginning of the war.
Sure, I’ll accept that Shoigu is lying.
But you expect me to trust Mark Milley? The same Mark Milley, DC darling who called
the highest-ranking military officials in the Chinese Communist Party
to tell them that he would preemptively warn them of an approaching U.S.
attack because he personally hated Donald Trump?
Is Vladimir Putin “evil?” I don’t know. And neither does anyone else
(at least in this world), regardless of what they tell you. But I do
know that my own government has explicitly stated its hate for my
political beliefs and attempted to portray me as an evil individual who
is a threat to “democracy.”
So sorry, but I don’t “stand with Ukraine.” I stand with the United
States of America, which I believe is more than the current individuals
running our country can say. I don’t have the hubris to claim that I’m
on the right side of history, but I will say that I believe myself to be
on the side that loves this country—my country.
Any piece that attempts to moralize the war in Ukraine should be
immediately met with your skepticism. Likewise, whoever says that Russia
is finished any day now doesn’t have some insider information that you
or I don’t know about—they’re merely playing the part of regime
propaganda mouthpiece.
You, like me, are almost certainly not interested in hearing the
grandstanding and fawning over Zelenskyy and the fight against big, bad
Putin. If we did, we would simply tune into the Golden Globes or a Biden
press statement.
It’s hard to know exactly where the Russo-Ukraine War is going, or
who will “win” in the end (whatever that term even entails), but for now
there’s one thing that we can conclude beyond a shadow of a doubt:
We’re being lied to.