Smoke, Mirrors & Amnesty
The Curious Timing Of The Release Of Amnesty International’s Report On Alleged Ukrainian War Crimes
On the 3rd of August, Amnesty International published a report alleging that the tactics of Ukrainian Armed forces had “put civilians in harms way, by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas.” The report was keen to stress that even though these were their findings that it in no way vindicated the Russian invasion. In fact, the report further stressed that over 60 other such reports demonstrated Russian Armed Forces were engaged in indiscriminate shelling of civilian neighbourhoods in Ukraine and had repeatedly committed war crimes. The disparate treatment of the two armies while not immediately apparent is glaring. It seems that a lot of effort was taken to anodise alleged war crimes committed by the Ukrainian Army. In essence, it does seem that they received some sort of amnesty. The Russians have however received no such treatment. This reeks of ideological bias. A board member of Amnesty International Finland has pointed out that the organisation has downplayed or not reported on some alleged Ukrainian war crimes in the past for the duration of the war. The timing of this report is rather suspicious and begs the question, why now and why at this juncture in the war.
I’m willing to posit that Zelensky wasn’t just given enough rope to hang himself, he was given a long enough leash to do as he pleased. Now that the war has become an untenable inconvenience, he is about to be cut loose and be thrown out to the wolves.
Keli.
It has been an open secret for months that Ukrainian soldiers were using civilians as human shields. A prominent example of this is when Azov battalion members chose to hide in the Azovstol steel plant with women and children. I suspect that these were nought more than human shields being used to delay the inevitable. The Russian Army could not launch any attack on their positions because of the presence of these women and children. The optics would have been horrible and would have portrayed them as butchers, even to those who could see through the ploy. Corporate mainstream media outlets have been blowing a lot of smoke from the start of the war. I suspect we have now entered into mirrors territory in the propaganda equation as it does seem that there is now sustained criticism of President Zelensky. Responding to the report, Zelensky has criticised Amnesty international as transforming the aggressor into the victim. Via an opinion piece, The New York Times have let on that there is little trust for Zelensky amongst America’s power structure. CBS is promoting an upcoming documentary covering the loss of some of the funds that have been sent over to Ukraine. I’m willing to posit that Zelensky wasn’t just given enough rope to hang himself, he was given a long enough leash to do as he pleased. Now that the war has become an untenable inconvenience, he is about to be cut loose and be thrown out to the wolves.
Since the release of the report by Amnesty International, “#Zelenskyisawarcriminal” has been trending on twitter. A rather inconvenient hashtag especially for one who is seeking support for more weapons to be sent through to the battlefield. This being said, the media’s conditioning of the public from the start of the war has worked and anything even slightly critical of Zelensky’s war effort is seen as pro-Kremlin propaganda. For its part in publishing the report, Amnesty International is receiving severe backlash as a pro-Putin outfit. Corporate mainstream media has duped the public into believing Ukraine was winning this war. I wager that many will eventually collapse into disappointments embrace when they realise this was a lost cause and that the only way out of this war is either through it or through a diplomatic solution. Unfortunately, it does seem that the Overton window for negotiations has shifted and though not impossible, the Russians are no longer interested in coming to the table and are determined to see their war through. The cost of this war has been staggering. Not only on Americans but the rest of the world. Each war that America and their NATO allies are involved in is always billed as one that is for freedom and one that is necessary. So far, these have all been bunk statements made to promote wars that were fought over manufactured reasons. This war is shaping out to be no different.
It will be remiss if I don’t point out that John Kirby has also stated that climate change is responsible for the fighting in Syria. This is rather peculiar because climate change has also been a source of Prince Harry’s woes who claims to be feeling battered and helpless as a result of the latter.
Keli.
Noam Chomsky, a prominent left leaning individual, commenting on the war recently pointed out that we can be certain that the war was provoked because virtually every media outlet has been proclaiming that the war is unprovoked. In late March this year, a Washington Post columnist pointed out that Ukraine had a strategy of placing munitions in the vicinity of Civilian areas which would make them vulnerable to Russian attacks. Amnesty is not doing a service to the general public of reporting this now. I suspect that the fact that Zelensky is now facing headwinds from major publications with regard to this indicates a shift in the war. It has been alleged that Ukrainians used American made HIMARS missile systems to strike a prison that was housing some of the captured Azov Battalion regiment in the Donetsk People’s Republic. John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator, was quick to point out that the Russians had shelled an area under their control and staged a false flag event using captured HIMARS missile systems and parts. It will be remiss if I don’t point out that John Kirby has also stated that climate change is responsible for the fighting in Syria. This is rather peculiar because climate change has also been a source of Prince Harry’s woes who claims to be feeling battered and helpless as a result of the latter. However, I do suspect that this is made up nonsense used to justify the funding of cockamamie schemes using American tax payer money.
Late last month, Vogue was in Ukraine doing a spread on President Zelensky and Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska. The photo shoot and corresponding piece was aptly titled “Portrait of Bravery” that was used to highlight the role of women in the ongoing war in Ukraine. I suspect that the purpose of this glamour piece was to appeal to the sensibilities of America’s public. In my opinion, this was a cheap PR stunt and nothing more meant to woo western audiences into supporting a failed war effort. It remains to be seen as to whether it had the desired effect on its intended audience. Activists have signed petitions to ask Zelensky to legalise gay marriage in Ukraine which recognises marriage only between men and women. I suspect that Ukraine is a thoroughly conservative country and trying to ram through a liberal wishlist during a time of war will not go down well with the populace. It seems that there is a coordinated effort to bathe Ukraine in rays of western liberalism and show it in a more favourable light to “western audiences.” In my opinion, the shamelessness of such brazen tactics doesn’t speak of desperation, it speaks of purpose. For the most part, it has been American money that has been sustaining this war. America’s foreign policy class will collect their debts sooner or later and they will reap handsome dividends from the chaos they have sowed in Eastern Europe.
Image credit in order of appearance: Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay; Image by Prawny from Pixabay