by Ben Schreiner
1. No One Knows What a No-Fly Zone Is
A no-fly zone is merely a euphemism for war, and in the case of the present Ukraine crisis, it’s a euphemism for nuclear war. Utterly terrifying, then, just how many people are now agitating for NATO to “close the skies.”
It’s probably safe to assume that most people don’t actually know what a no-fly zone entails. Or maybe it’s that most people don’t actually know what nuclear war entails. Perhaps it’s time for a national screening of The Day After, the nuclear apocalypse movie that famously got no less than Ronald Reagan to finally realize that there is no such thing as prevailing in a nuclear war.
2. Nuclear War is on The Table
All the loose talk of no-fly zones, or even ‘limited’ no-fly zones, from those who absolutely know exactly what that would unleash makes it clear that nuclear war is clearly on the table for a segment of the U.S. establishment.
If there was ever a thought crime worth prosecuting, it would be the musings of those mad enough to ponder nuclear war.
3. Peace is Not on The Table
Washington has reportedly been working for months, if not much longer, to flood Ukraine with arms and train its forces for the explicit purpose of stoking a prolonged insurgency against Russia. It's a cynical proxy war policy, which seemingly seeks to relegate Ukrainains to mere cannon fodder.
2. Nuclear War is on The Table
All the loose talk of no-fly zones, or even ‘limited’ no-fly zones, from those who absolutely know exactly what that would unleash makes it clear that nuclear war is clearly on the table for a segment of the U.S. establishment.
If there was ever a thought crime worth prosecuting, it would be the musings of those mad enough to ponder nuclear war.
3. Peace is Not on The Table
Washington has reportedly been working for months, if not much longer, to flood Ukraine with arms and train its forces for the explicit purpose of stoking a prolonged insurgency against Russia. It's a cynical proxy war policy, which seemingly seeks to relegate Ukrainains to mere cannon fodder.
That's clearly not a policy of peace, unless war is peace.
4. Sanctions Remain The Weapon of Choice, Their Effectiveness and Risks Be Damned
Given the bipartisan urge to “do something," it was no surprise to see U.S. sanctions so swiftly deployed against Russia. No nation, after all, levies more sanctions than the U.S.
The problem with sanctions, however, is that they don’t work. As the New York Times reported, “sanctions are often detrimental for human rights, democracy, gender equality, press freedom and public health.” They can also have “the counterintuitive effect of consolidating the power of an authoritarian government.”
In the present case, they also very well may push Putin into a corner. That would be the same Putin we are now told has gone mad. Why would we ever want to push such a man into a corner?
And yet, Washington ploughs forward with more and more sanctions—their ultimate effect and risks be damned.
5. Hubris Still Drives American Foreign Policy
One may have thought the defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq would have humbled U.S. foreign policy. But there’s been no Vietnam syndrome in the wake of this century’s imperial adventures. The hubris is still very much alive and unchecked.
So it is that Washington continues to act as if only it and its pure intentions can stop the evils in this world, while blissfully ignoring all the evils in this world directly caused by such supposedly pure intentions.
The horrors in Ukraine then, we are told, can only be stopped by America. It’s America’s world in the end. And the only way America perceives problems globally is through the prism of force and violence. Hence the flood of American armaments washing over Ukraine.
6. Killing Russians Is What’s Most Important
The Green New Deal? Stalled, if not dead. Medicare for All? Never even considered. A humane Covid response? Nope. Arms for Ukrainians to kill more Russians? Rushed through Congress at lightning speed.
Indeed, Congress this week maneuvered to strip approximately $15 billion from Covid relief funds only to then swiftly allocate them toward further military aid to Ukraine. Lawmakers reportedly balked at spending any more on Covid relief, but rushed to double the amount the White House initially requested for Kyiv.
4. Sanctions Remain The Weapon of Choice, Their Effectiveness and Risks Be Damned
Given the bipartisan urge to “do something," it was no surprise to see U.S. sanctions so swiftly deployed against Russia. No nation, after all, levies more sanctions than the U.S.
The problem with sanctions, however, is that they don’t work. As the New York Times reported, “sanctions are often detrimental for human rights, democracy, gender equality, press freedom and public health.” They can also have “the counterintuitive effect of consolidating the power of an authoritarian government.”
In the present case, they also very well may push Putin into a corner. That would be the same Putin we are now told has gone mad. Why would we ever want to push such a man into a corner?
And yet, Washington ploughs forward with more and more sanctions—their ultimate effect and risks be damned.
5. Hubris Still Drives American Foreign Policy
One may have thought the defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq would have humbled U.S. foreign policy. But there’s been no Vietnam syndrome in the wake of this century’s imperial adventures. The hubris is still very much alive and unchecked.
So it is that Washington continues to act as if only it and its pure intentions can stop the evils in this world, while blissfully ignoring all the evils in this world directly caused by such supposedly pure intentions.
The horrors in Ukraine then, we are told, can only be stopped by America. It’s America’s world in the end. And the only way America perceives problems globally is through the prism of force and violence. Hence the flood of American armaments washing over Ukraine.
6. Killing Russians Is What’s Most Important
The Green New Deal? Stalled, if not dead. Medicare for All? Never even considered. A humane Covid response? Nope. Arms for Ukrainians to kill more Russians? Rushed through Congress at lightning speed.
Indeed, Congress this week maneuvered to strip approximately $15 billion from Covid relief funds only to then swiftly allocate them toward further military aid to Ukraine. Lawmakers reportedly balked at spending any more on Covid relief, but rushed to double the amount the White House initially requested for Kyiv.
Guns over butter, especially when those guns are to be aimed at Russian soldiers.
7. The Russian Menace is Still a Marketing Gimmick Used to Sell More American Arms
One moment we’re told the Russian army will overwhelm Kyiv in only a matter of days. Next, we’re told the Russians are already bogged down, their tactics as pitiful as their armaments. Then later still, that we must send ever deadlier weapons to Ukraine to stop those pitiful Russian hordes from marching straight into the heart of Europe itself.
The Russian army is both an overwhelming juggernaut and a paper tiger. That’s because the Russian menace is now, and long has been, one of the best marketing gimmicks available to help sell more American arms. For no matter the line of the day—Russia as weak or Russia as strong—the solution is always the same: more arms!
In the present context, Russia as a juggernaut dictates more arms must flow to help defend against imminent slaughter. Meanwhile, Russia as a paper tiger dictates more arms must flow because Kyiv might just win this thing. Either way, cha-ching!
8. U.S. Media Could Have Ended Prior U.S. Military Interventions
It's honestly a bit jolting to see so much U.S. mainstream media attention fixated on the innocent victims of warfare. This, after all, is the same media so fond of embedding with American troops in our own wars. But for the moment at least, American screens are filled by the horrors of war. Suddenly everything from CNN to Fox News is Democracy Now. Watch American television and just about everyone will be left condemning Moscow for this war.
7. The Russian Menace is Still a Marketing Gimmick Used to Sell More American Arms
One moment we’re told the Russian army will overwhelm Kyiv in only a matter of days. Next, we’re told the Russians are already bogged down, their tactics as pitiful as their armaments. Then later still, that we must send ever deadlier weapons to Ukraine to stop those pitiful Russian hordes from marching straight into the heart of Europe itself.
The Russian army is both an overwhelming juggernaut and a paper tiger. That’s because the Russian menace is now, and long has been, one of the best marketing gimmicks available to help sell more American arms. For no matter the line of the day—Russia as weak or Russia as strong—the solution is always the same: more arms!
In the present context, Russia as a juggernaut dictates more arms must flow to help defend against imminent slaughter. Meanwhile, Russia as a paper tiger dictates more arms must flow because Kyiv might just win this thing. Either way, cha-ching!
8. U.S. Media Could Have Ended Prior U.S. Military Interventions
It's honestly a bit jolting to see so much U.S. mainstream media attention fixated on the innocent victims of warfare. This, after all, is the same media so fond of embedding with American troops in our own wars. But for the moment at least, American screens are filled by the horrors of war. Suddenly everything from CNN to Fox News is Democracy Now. Watch American television and just about everyone will be left condemning Moscow for this war.
Imagine such coverage of the U.S. wars of aggression. Imagine Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper deeming the U.S. attack on the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan a war crime, rather than a mistake. Imagine the New York TImes publishing photos of civilian casualties in Iraq on the front page, rather than writing dryly of collateral damage. Imagine the urgent debates such coverage would set off on what punishing sanctions Washington ought to levy upon itself.
But that will never happen. The courage of the U.S. media in exposing the brutality and repulsiveness of war so clearly begins and ends with the wars of official enemies.
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